Chapter 49: Talent Showcase
On the last night of Camp Harmony, all the pack members were gearing up for the talent show to wrap up the camp and the campers have been looking forward to this for the past seven weeks to show it off and let their talents shine. Most of them were nervous, but excited at the same time because they get to see what they're made of, but of all the pack members, Ryan became the most nervous out of everyone because he knows he's gonna perform in front of everyone and is just worried that he might mess up or let his nerves take over him, but he received a comforting embrace from Kendall and assured him that everything will be okay and just believe in himself. One look into Kendall's eyes and a gentle stroke of his hand on his hair helped give Ryan confidence to go forward with this and Kendall said, "I'll be right beside you. You won't even know I'm there."
"Okay." Ryan replied, nodding his head.
Meanwhile, the audience is packed full of counselors and parents coming in support of their kids' talent and most of them are excited or nervous to see what to expect, but whatever happens on that stage will be nothing short of phenomenal for anyone to witness. Just then, 10 minutes after everyone has been seated, the emcee comes over to the stage while holding the mic and saying, "How's everyone doing tonight?"
All of them were cheering and applauding with so much enthusiasm from the audience and are excited for this talent show and the emcee said, "All right! Well, it's the moment you've all been waiting for as we showcase our campers' talents! As you know, we do this every year, but this year is gonna be different! There is no competition this year! We've all decided as a unit to throw out the competitive nature of this because at the end of the day, everyone's talented here!"
That brought the crowd to their feet as they were cheering loudly and the emcee said, "Now, we've got some fresh talent tonight and I think you'll be amazed at what our campers did! They worked really hard within these seven weeks and we're more proud to show them to you all!"
In less than a few minutes, every single camper brought out their talents by groups whether it's by dancing, singing or coming out with original stuff like poetry and slam poetry that really brought the crowd to their feet and when it came time for Casey to perform, he took a deep breath and just walked towards the stage with his guitar and sat down with a stool and began singing a cover of a something that he related to, but without all the pop sensibility into it and bring it to a huge amount of realness.
Once upon a time, a few mistakes ago
I was in your sights, you got me alone
You found me, you found me, you found me
I guess you didn't care and I guess I liked that
But then I fell hard and you took a step back
Without me, without me, without me
And she's long gone
when she's next to me
And I realize
the blame is on me
Cuz I knew you were trouble when you walked in
So stupid me
Flew me to places I've never been
Till you smacked me down
Oh, I knew you were trouble when you walked in
So stupid me
Flew me to places I've never been
Now I'm dying on the cold hard ground
Hey, oh...trouble, trouble, trouble
Hey, oh...trouble, trouble, trouble
No apologies
She'll never see you cry
Pretends she doesn't know
that she's the reason why
You're drowning, you're drowning, you're drowning
Now I heard you've moved on
from whispers on the room
A new notch in your belt
it's all I'll be to you
And now I see, now I see, now I see...
She was long gone
when she met me
And I realize
The butt of the joke is on me
I knew you were trouble when you walked in
So stupid me
Flew me to places I've never been
when you smacked me down
I knew you were trouble when you walked in
So stupid me
Flew me to places I've never been
Now I'm buried on the cold hard ground
Hey, oh...trouble, trouble, trouble
Hey, oh...trouble, trouble, trouble
And the tragic fear
comes sinking in
That you never gave a crap about me
or him or anyone or anything
You're such a selfish bitch and always will be!
Cuz I knew you were trouble when you walked in
So stupid me
Flew me to places I've been
till you smacked me down
Cuz I knew you were trouble when you waled in
So stupid me
Flew me to places I've never been
Now I'm buried in the cold hard ground
Hey, oh...trouble, trouble, trouble
Hey, oh...trouble, trouble, trouble
I knew you were trouble when you walked in
Trouble, trouble, trouble
I knew you were trouble when you walked in
Trouble, trouble, trouble
I knew you were trouble when you walked in
What a freaking shame on me...
After the final strum, most of the audience were cheering and applauding for Casey and some of them were in standing ovation and for the pack, they can tell that Casey's talking about someone that he knows, but Marcus could tell that was about Casey's crazy ex-girlfriend that he had talked about back in their cabin and from those twists on the lyrics, it was like putting her out on blast and as Casey took a few bows, he walked backstage and he was exhaling deeply and said, "I got that out of my chest."
"Wow...I would never say that if that was my ex-girlfriend, let alone say it in song." Cody added.
Marcus looked up at Casey and he said with a smile, "You did good, man."
"Thanks, Marcus." Casey said, smiling.
Throughout the duration of the talent show, the rest of the pack members also took the stage to showcased their talents to rock out on stage, make an amazing mash-up of assorted genres of punk and hip-hop and even strip it down with just a guitar and just sing from the heart and each of those performances blew the crowd away more than anything. Kendall was next on stage as he performs an instrumental, emotional song that he made by himself in a very rough period in his life and as he played it, the emotions have touched everyone's heartstrings from the acoustic guitar to the full orchestral strings on the background that really got a hold on everyone.
Not long afterwards, Ryan's name was called to the stage and he was very nervous, but something sparked inside him to just go out there and accomplish this performance and with Kendall's support, he walks towards the stage with the guitar and he just looks up at the crowd and just blinked his eyes a few times and as he sits down on the stool, he notices something very different...he had imagined that only the pack was in the audience and Kendall was in the front row and once that image popped in, he was able to concentrate on performing as he strummed his guitar and played an acoustic, vulnerable version of a song that he loved on the radio.
This is a story
that I have never told
I gotta get this off my chest
and let it go
I need to take back
the lives that you stole
You're a criminal
and you steal like you're a pro
All the pain and the truth
I wear it like a battle worn
So ashamed and confused
I was broken and bruised
Now I'm a warrior
Now I've got thicker skin
I'm a warrior
I'm stronger than I've ever been
And my armor
is made of steel
You can't get in
I'm a warrior
and you can never hurt me again...
Out of the ashes
I'm burning like a fire
You can save your apologies
You're nothing but a liar
I've got shame
I've got scars
That I will never show
I'm a survivor
In more ways than you know
Cuz all the pain and the truth
I wear it like a battle worn
So ashamed and confused
I'm not broken nor bruised
Cuz now I'm a warrior
Now I got thicker skin
I'm a warrior
I'm stronger than I've ever been
And my armor
is made of steel
You can't get in
I'm a warrior
And you can never hurt me
There's a part of me I can't get back
A little boy grew up too fast
All it took was one turn
It'll never be the same
Now I'm taking back my life today
Nothing left that you can take
Cuz you would never take the blame anyway
Now I'm a warrior
I've got thicker skin
I'm a warrior
I'm stronger than I've ever been
And my armor
is made of steel
You can't get in
I'm a warrior
And you can never hurt me again...
You can never hurt me again...
That final strum of the song mixed with Ryan's tears coming out of his eyes drew in a huge standing ovation from the crowd and as Ryan heard the thunderous applause and cheering, he could definitely feel that his performance left a ginormous impact on the audience, including the teenagers that are watching a person speaking to an entire generation of disenfranchised and misunderstood kids that feel the same way.
And it was a brilliant end to the talent show as Ryan took a few bows and smiled while his tears rolled down his face and just walked off the stage with humility and once he got backstage, Kendall teared up as well and he walked towards him and he said, "You did me proud, Ry."
"Thanks to you, Kendall." Ryan said, smiling.
The emcee went onstage and said, "Wow...that last performance really got me. Well, thank you all for attending this amazing talent showcase this year at Camp Harmony! Hope you've enjoyed it and we hope to see you next year! If you came to pick up your campers, please report to the front lodge where you'll see half of their bags on the front steps."
Most of the pack members can't believe that this summer is coming to an end, but they knew for a fact that this is one summer that they'll never forget and for their new pack members, it's definitely something to remember by. As Kendall and Ryan sat down on the steps of their cabin, they looked at the full moon and as they did so, their sparks flew quickly as they looked at each other and just kissed for 7 minutes as their love completely grows more from here on out.
"This is the best summer of my life." Ryan said, smiling.
"Mine too." Kendall replied in agreement.
Some of Ryan and Kendall's cabinmates popped in with just their towels on and one of them said, "Can we join in whatever you guys were gonna do?"
Ryan and Kendall looked at each other and replied, "Sure!"
All of them came in the room and closed the door and whatever went on in that cabin is anyone's guess...