Chapter one - pleeeaaase review and let me know if you'd like me to continue posting! Happy reading :)
Carra James awoke to the sound of her cell phone shrilly blasting Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird." Crap, she silently fumed. I knew I should have turned that on silent before I went to sleep! She fumbled around on her nightstand, finally locating her phone.
"It's Alicia. I should have known!" She opened the phone and with an exaggerated yawn murmured a groggy, "Hello?"
"Aren't you up yet!" her friend squealed into her ear.
"Good morning to you, too," returned Carra wryly. "Do you have the bacon and eggs ready?"
"What? No." Alicia was confused and Carra had to stifle a laugh.
"Gravy and biscuits, then? Coffee? Anything?"
"What are you talking about!" huffed Alicia.
"It's not nearly as funny when I have to spell it out to you – I was saying that you woke me up and it had better be for a good reason!"
"Well of course it's for a good reason! Today's the day we get to meet a famous singer!"
Carra rolled over and stared at the ceiling. "So?"
Alicia let out a strangled scream. "You are impossible! You can't tell me you aren't the least bit excited? Or at least curious?"
"Well, sure, I'm curious. But don't you think it's a little fishy that they won't tell us who this guy is? He's probably either someone we've never heard of, or terrible."
"Rob found him; you know he's working in the recording industry out in LA now. Don't you trust him enough to think this guy's at least gotta be pretty good?"
"I don't know, it just seems weird to me. I would think they'd publicize it if someone big was actually coming to our town."
"Maybe the guy likes his privacy."
"Hmm. I guess. Well, now that I'm up I guess I'll go ahead and get ready. I'll see you at rehearsal."
"Okay. Don't be late!"
"I won't."
Carra hung up her phone and buried her head in the pile of pillows surrounding her. There was certainly no going back to sleep now, but she couldn't quite bring herself to get up, either. Instead, she thought ahead to what the day would hold. Yesterday the chair of the music department at her small college had announced that they would be holding a fundraising concert on behalf of their department, and that a famous singer had agreed to come out from California to help. Everyone had wanted to know who it was, but Dr. Smallwood wouldn't say. He just smiled secretively and said they'd have to wait and see.
Finally, the incessant buzz of her alarm clock alerted Carra that it really was time to be up and about. She switched it off and hauled herself out of her bed and into the bathroom. She stood for a moment in front of the full-length mirror, assessing her appearance. Carra was tall but not too tall, with wildly curly shoulder-length brown hair tinted here and there with auburn and blonde highlights – all natural, Carra proudly noted. She had creamy skin that practically refused to tan, a spray of freckles across her nose, thick full lips, and big hazel eyes with incredibly long lashes. She put her hands at her waist – still thicker than it ought to be in spite of the diet, she thought with a shake of her head. She had always been a tad overweight, although it had never seemed to bother anyone but her. She sighed. When her last relationship had gone down the drain, her self-confidence took the plunge right along with it. When she looked in the mirror, she didn't see anything spectacular.
"Well," she said to herself as she climbed in the shower, "at least you've got a voice, girl!"
Forty-five minutes later, Carra was dressed in jean gauchos, a black shirt with pink polka dots, and black converse sneakers. Her hair had been blown dry and cascaded to her shoulders in bouncy curls. Checking her cell phone for the time, she quickly jabbed earrings in her ears and made sure to grab her messenger bag, purse, cell phone, and sunglasses. She put on a lightweight pink jacket against the chill of the October morning and loaded up into her SUV. She had a stop to make before heading to the school and, as usual, was running late. Welcome to my life, she thought with a rueful grin as she backed out of her tiny driveway. She hit the button to turn on her CD player and smiled as the voice of her newest favorite singer, Josh Groban, filled the car. She had "discovered" him just a couple weeks before, and had immediately gone out to buy both his CDs, which she'd listened to nonstop ever since. She hit the seek button until she found "Canto Alla Vita" and began to sing along, warming up her voice a bit before rehearsal. It had taken a little while, but finally she had memorized the beautiful Italian lyrics. The music had a calming effect on her nerves, as always, and she was sorry to have to turn it off when she pulled into a parking space across the street from the music building.