Chapter Twenty-Eight
As the Friday class period ends, people buzz around the Songwriting contest poster impatiently. There's so much of a crowd around the bulletin board that I can't even see the poster myself.
"Madoka-san!" I hear a voice call. I turn around, expecting Gumi or Miku. However, a girl with long pearl hair that is twisted into to two braids in the front comes running toward me. I wave back. I recognize the girl as Ia, from Dance Committee. She's also Luka and Yuma's younger sister.
"Hi, Ia-san!" I greet her. Her shoulders sink down.
"Madoka-san, Miku said her song was the best song ever, and she had the best band, and the best outfits-"
"Ia, she's just bragging," I interrupt lightheartedly, "Don't let her get to you."
"But," Ia says, "I just wanted to ask you a question."
"Sure. What is it?"
"Uh, Madoka-san, are you in Miku's band?" she asks timidly. I pause.
"Yes, but why does that make a difference?" I ask patiently.
"Great," Ia says to herself, "Now I have to go up against you and my brother," she sighs.
"Oh, I-I'm sorry, I didn't, uh… It wasn't my fault," I try, not knowing what to say. "Sorry," I mumble. Ia shrugs. "But good luck, Ia-san," I say, trying to lighten the mood. She smiles feebly.
"Thanks, Madoka-san, you're a good friend, even though I'm going up against you," she says with a light shrug.
"Oh, uh, no problem," I say as she walks away. Strange girl.
"Oh, uh, no problem," echoes a cheery voice from behind. I spin around. In front of me stand Lily and Meiko. I smile at them. Suddenly, they burst into laughter, rolling their eyes at me. Then, they both sigh and their faces drop into serious icy expressions. "Who do you think you are, trying to go up against us?" asks Lily. My face drops as well.
"What do you mean?" I say in shock.
"You know what we're talking about," Meiko glares. Lily flips her shiny blonde hair and puts her hand on her tiny waist with a sassy touch.
"Look, Madoka. Why even try to go up against us if you know you're going to lose? You might as well quit now while you still can," Lily threatens. I gasp, searching frantically for the right words. I've never been good with words- especially not at times like this one.
"Quit?" I repeat defiantly, "There's no way I'm going to quit after all my band and I have been through!" I declare.
"Aw, how sweet," Lily says deceptively, placing a hand on her heart. Wow, she really is no different than Neru…
"Look, Lily, if you and Meiko are just too shallow to realize the-"
"Save it for the show," Lily snaps, rolling her eyes ignorantly and turning around to walk away, her black high heel boots clicking on the tile floor.
"Yeah," Meiko retorts, following her. I roll my eyes at how shallow and superficial the two of them are. They're just two big fake duplicates of Neru.
"Are you okay?" asks a quiet, timid voice from behind. I turn around silently. I'm surprised to see Teto standing in front of me with her hands folded in front of her. The expression on her face is completely troubled.
"Me?" I mumble softly. Stupid question- I couldn't have said anything better? "Uh, I'm fine, they're no big deal," I mutter as Teto's shoulders sink.
"You sure?" Teto asks, "You look really hurt, Madoka-san," she points out.
"Yeah, they're nothing," I say looking away. Teto opens her mouth to say something else, but she shuts it before she does. She hesitates, and then opens it again.
"I hate my band," she sighs, sliding down against the hallway wall. My eyebrows furrow as I sit down next to her.
"Why?" I ask.
"I knew you wouldn't understand- you have the perfect band," she mumbles. And when they don't understand, you end up wanting to be alone… "Just leave me alone," she says, her voice cracking.
"No, tell me why. I don't like them too much either, but at-"
"They never listen. I'm trying to write a good song for them, but with Neru as the band leader, she gets the only say in what goes into it," she interrupts me. Why not add up all the words you were just trying to scream out, put them to a bunch of notes and let me sing them…
"Teto, write a song," I suggest, "And sing it."
"I can't sing! I'll only ruin my voice- You've heard me before!" she argues. Let me sing them…
"Then I'll sing it. Write a song for me to sing," I say. She looks up in interest.
"F-For the band competition?"
"No, just…" I start, "Just… to do it. Just to get your point across!"
"I-I can't, who's even going to listen?" she asks. But you wouldn't give up…
"I'll make sure someone does… Just… don't give up already!" I squeak.
"I never even agreed to do it in the first place!" Teto half-yells.
"Teto, you don't understand… You can't leave me alone with this idea!" I implore. And when they don't understand, you end up wanting to be a- Stop. I stop the voice in my head. I don't want to be alone in this. I can't.
"Madoka-san, I'll talk to you about this later," Teto sighs, standing up and brushing off her charcoal grey skirt. As if on cue, the bell rings.
"Teto, wait!" I gasp, reaching out for her. "Teto!" I try again as she walks away from me. With no reason to be kept at a distance from them when every time you tried your hardest… My hand falls down helplessly. "Teto!" I try for the last time, my voice drowning out into the overwhelming noise of the other students filing into the halls.
"Madoka, are you okay?" asks another voice. I sigh. "Madoka?" the voice says again. I am relieved to see Len step around me to talk to me. His cerulean eyes sparkle with curiosity and concern.
"Len, I'm fine," I snap unintentionally. He takes a step back as his face falls.
"Are you sure? You don't sound like it… I mean, I…" he trails off.
"Len, I'm fine," I repeat, my voice wobbling and cracking from the hoarse pain in my throat from forcing my words out. Len shakes his head and takes my hand.
"School's out," Len says simply, "Let's go on a walk."
"A walk? But we have our band competition in fifteen minutes!" I remind him. Len's eyes widen in shock.
"Right! Oh, gosh, how could I have forgotten about that?" he says, placing his fingertips on his forehead in recollection.
"Len, we need to go and get ready," I say, tugging on his arm as he stares blankly at the wall clock. "Len!" I say, frustrated.
"Madoka, cheer up," he says, looking at me in unease. "You've got a song to sing in a couple minutes and you need to be in a good mood if you want us to win!"
"I guess you're right," I sigh, but my spirits hardly lift at all. "Thanks Len," I finally say, looking up at him. In return, he gives me a small smile with a kind twinkle in his cavernous cerulean eyes.
"Come on," he suddenly says, "There's no need to thank me." He grabs my arm lightly and pulls me down the hall. I follow him to the theater, where the competition will be held. My heart starts to beat nervously as we enter. Thump thump, thump thump, thump thump.
"Len," I ask, grabbing his attention, "Are you nervous?"
"Nope, not one bit," he says as we go backstage to get ready. We come to a stop at the dressing rooms. "We're Band 4, I think. Oh, that means we're the last to go," he says, his face somewhere in between concerned and disappointed. "Girl's dressing room is right here," he says, shrugging it off, "Miku's got your outfits ready in there." I nod and wait for him to leave.
I push open the door marked Band 4. Inside the dressing room are Gumi and Miku, putting on the last of their outfit pieces. "Am I late?" I ask, as the door closes and locks behind me. Miku and Gumi both nod their heads furiously.
"Catch!" Gumi says, throwing me my black bag. I catch it without anything falling out. I quickly start changing into the outfit. The metallic parts of it smooth down to fit my skin much quicker this time, probably because I have done it before. "Madoka, you look so cool!" she marvels, fumbling with the finger edges of her gloves.
"Thanks," I say with a smile. I guess my mood has improved a tiny bit.
"How's your voice?" asks Miku, "Are you ready to sing?"
"I'm fine. It doesn't hurt at all, and I've memorized all the words… The bigger question is probably about you guys, though," I point out, changing the direction of the conversation.
"I've been practicing on my guitar," Gumi says, "Especially the key change part. It's my favorite!"
"Same here," Miku says with a shrug, "There's a considerable amount of piano in that song." I nod my head acceptingly.
"Awesome! Do you think Len and Yuma are ready?" I ask, fixing the top of my stocking until it fits perfectly.
"Probably. Where is Len? Was he late too?" questions Miku. I nod.
"I was just walking him up here. Oh, and Meiko and Lily were there too…" I trail off.
"Meiko and Lily?" Gumi repeats, exchanging a disdainful glance with Miku. "What'd they say this time?"
"How'd you know?" I ask.
"They always threaten the new kids," says Miku, "Telling them to quit the competition and stuff. It's all so… sickening," she complains.
"I agree. They're probably not even going to win. I mean, look who's in their band," I point out. "Neru, Meiko, Lily, Rin, and…" my voice falls flat. "And Teto," I finish in a brokenhearted whisper. "Gah~," I sigh, "I hope she'll be okay."
Miku and Gumi look at me in confusion. As if on cue, there's a knock on the door. Since I'm the closest to it, I walk up and twist it open. In front of me stands Yuma in his outfit. "You ladies ready?" he asks, leaning in the doorway. Gumi blushes wildly. I nod. "Alright, we're supposed to wait backstage until they call us out," he says. Well, that really sucks. I kind of wanted to see how the other bands did. "Don't worry, you'll get to see them still, just not from the best possible angle," he adds, as if he read my mind.
"Oh, thank goodness, I really want to see Teto perform," I breathe in relief. Yuma nods in understanding. Suddenly, I hear a muffled roar of applause from the audience. From the best position I can, I sneak my head around the wall to see what is going on. The sounds of the audience get louder until they die out. I gasp, when I hear electronica music playing. Neru struts out onto the stage to the beat, her blonde hair in its usual high side ponytail. I had no idea she was the first to sing. I wait in nervous anticipation as she opens her mouth and takes a breath.