Chapter Thirty
Each and every one of my band members is ready to start. I just have to wait to interrupt the silence in the perfect frame of time. Our silhouettes border our posed bodies as orange and turquoise colored fog fills the air, similar to the one from Meteor. My heartbeat provides the metronome as I raise my head to the microphone.
Miku starts our song with her soothing keyboard. Her arpeggio reverberates throughout the auditorium, creating an electronic yet natural sound that somehow contrasts and complements itself. I take a deep, inaudible breath as she finishes it with a high note like we'd practiced. Yuma starts on the drums, layering on as Miku continues the introduction. I subtly move my hips to the syncopated rhythm as Gumi and Len join in. I open my mouth and begin to sing the first words.
They always laughed at you but you never tried to fight back
And although you tried your best, you could never guess
It would all be swept away by the rain
And when that new umbrella was torn away in the wind
I knew by a print or two that umbrella had
Gone to something like a stray trapped in the rain, ooh
Every color of the rainbow shoots out from inside of me as my voice rings through the air. Prominent shades of turquoise and orange swirl and dance around me as I rock my head to the beat. I let Gumi, Len, Yuma and Miku take over for a couple measures as I rest with my eyes closed delicately.
It's just another day when they hate you being alive
With no reason to be kept at a distance from
Them when every time you tried your hardest
"What did I do to make them all want to leave me behind?"
And when you don't understand you end up wanting to be alone
Suddenly, a driving grin spreads onto my face as my light and emotional voice hovers on top of the colors that spread throughout the entire room. Even some of the younger students from years below us reach out to catch them in their hands with huge smiles on their faces.
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
How could such a bunch of noise be fit for human ears?
But you wouldn't give up
Surely getting better every day that goes by
In an instant you can make me sing for just you and I
So keep your words
And let me sing them for the world to hear
Suddenly, Gumi, Len and Miku start sliding up the scale upliftingly as they had done on the nights that we had practiced. I reach out to the audience on my last line as they sit on the edge of their seats, clearly fascinated by the colors and mesmerized by the expressive melody that my voice is sharing with them. A big smile bursts onto my face- and so do the colors that shoot out from me after I take a big breath to belt out the first line of the chorus.
Create a song and let me sing
And all of those times you wanted to cry and scream
They always passed you by
And make a stand believe in me
I'll never let them hurt you again
For saying what you feel
And then you hear the voices of that odds and ends sound
Ringing out a message they can never keep down
Let me hear it now- the power of your voice
As I finish the chorus, the lights drop and the colors disappear into the air, leaving only our band's silhouettes on the stage. I have no words to describe how quickly the entire mood change happened. It creates the exact same look from the start of the song. I open my mouth to continue singing.
All the words have gone in a second there's nothing
Left to say there is no way to keep this going
Where am I? Is this a dream? It's fading out now
To meet again would now be an impossible dream and yet
If we were ever to see the end
I'd never want us to let this go
Though even though I know it's just a dream
And after all the things have been said and done
Odds and ends would keep a smile
And no matter what, and in your gut
Somehow knew this was the end
You cry and shout the words you held so tight
And had wished with all your might
It's all a lie, you just can't die
But a hush came down on them
Just like my lyrics said, a hush came down on the audience as Miku played her beautiful solo on her keyboard. I opened my eyes, but before I could think, something instantly caught them. Teto watched in awe and amazement from backstage, the colors fading out around her. I moved my head an inch to return her glance with a wink and the slightest smile I had ever given. Suddenly, her shoulders fell and she turned around and left. I felt myself clutching onto the microphone tighter as I began to sing.
Yeah, I know, I'm all alone
Why do I never have the strength to save my only friend?
You always had believed in me
And every tear I'm crying out now, I cry them all for you
As I sing the soft, slow bridge, I can feel a single tear roll dramatically down my pink cheeks. The colors swallow me whole until I can't see- and I'm pretty sure nobody can see me either. At the end of my phrase, I blink back the rest of the tears and quickly shove away the colors, shooting my right arm into the air as the drum hits.
Create a song and change the world
And now this time I hope that you try and see
The beauty in this life
And make a stand, believe in me
I'll never let them hurt you again
As everything is one
And then you hear the voices of that odds and ends sound
Ringing out my message that will change your life now
Let me hear it now- the power of your voice
I freeze as I remember Miku telling me not to sing the last line when I was over at her mansion. I guess she had wanted it to be a surprise. I gulped and took a breath, preparing for whatever fantastic thing was going to happen to me.
And I will never leave you again!
All of a sudden, thousands of colors shoot out of me as the audience roars in applause. My sight suddenly fades to white- or maybe it's the auditorium- I can't tell through the deafening screams and claps of the hundreds of people that fill up the room. The settling feeling of accomplishment and victory overwhelms me as I feel as if I am picked off of the ground and dissolved into the air.
Finally, I can feel my senses again as I am sitting on a chair backstage in the costume room. I look around to see the rest of my band members sprawled out everywhere as well. Miku is on the seat next to me, Yuma sits against the wall, an exhausted Gumi leans on a clothing rack, and Len lies across the floor. Everyone stands up and brushes the imaginary dust off their outfits, breathing in and out and checking frequently to make sure they're still alive and not dreaming.
"You guys, that was amazing," I finally breathe. Suddenly Miku perks up.
"Come on, they're announcing who won!"