[3rd Party POV]
"Loud tempting music, mingling of bodies in the rave, and promiscuous people being devils in disguise trying to lead you astray! I'm sorry Jacob for my lacking enthusiasm for this concert you've tricked your dad into going." Mrs Green said with a nagging tone..
The Green family had received the tickets for the concert. After some begging, crying and even pulling the puppy dog eyes, in an epic combination of all of the above, Mrs Green finally allowed her family to go to the concert, but in return they would get extra sermons from the christian mother and join her for a confession after that.
The Viking-style Mr Green snorted as he heard the sermon, making Mrs Green glared at him and said, "What?"
"Nothing. I guess you've forgotten the things we did while we were young." Mr Green said as he remembered the good times with his wife in a nudist rave back in the 80s.
"Shut up! That's exactly the kind of thing I'm trying to prevent our son from falling into." Mrs Green angrily turned her head toward the backseat of the car, and growled at Jacob.
"Don't get too close with her. Move away!" She said while aggressively gesturing to Jacob to move further away from Elsa who was sitting beside him.
"Mom! Stop, you're embarrassing me in front of my girlfriend!" Jacob leaned forward and whispered to his mother in a begging tone.
"Hmph! You're still too young to have a girlfriend!" She snorted. Then, she turned her face to Elsa while wearing a kind expression and said, "I don't hate you dear. I'm just saying that Jacob is too immature to have a girlfriend. And a pretty girl like you would need to have a lot of patience to even begin to deal with him."
With a determined expression, Elsa pumped her fist in the air while saying, "I'll do my best Mrs Green."
"Please. Call me Kitty." Mrs Green said happily as she wanted to have at least one daughter coming out of her womb, but fate has it she only gave birth to 3 boys. Now, she has had 2 girls with her that sprayed a little bit of color in her dull life.
"What about me Mrs Green? Am I not pretty too?" Jenna asked sulkily as she had hitched a ride with the Green's family along with her best friend. She was sitting behind the driver, Elsa sitting in the middle, and Jacob was sitting behind Mrs Green.
"Of course Jenna. I like you the most among all of Jacob's friends as you're the only one who went to a catholic school before." Mrs Green smiled sincerely as she comforted the sulking Jenna. Finally, Jenna laughed after Mrs Green's comment.
Jacob and Elsa looked at each other in confusion, and were communicating using their eyes. Both were confused when they heard Mrs Green's statement but they didn't think to expose Jenna's blatant lie to the Catholic mother as it was helping their case right now.
'If a whore wants to pretend to be a catholic girl, then I should support her.' Elsa thought secretly.
Jenna didn't have much experience in going on family trips . In fact, she had no experience at all. All the vacations she had with her mother were just business trips so this was actually a first for her. But right now, she was super happy and having so much fun traveling with the Green's family that it made her feel a bit jealous that Jacob had such a loving family.
When she told her mom about going to a concert right after Jacob shared about the event and got the ticket for both her and Elsa, her mom just designated a few bodyguards to go with her instead of going to the concert herself. Her mom said she had a meeting with some producers, which Jenna knew was just a euphemism for doing it.
Therefore she was feeling a bit sulky for a few days with her mother and decided to hitch a ride with the Greens instead of going alone.
"Still…Edward didn't think to invite us huh. I guess we're not even considered as one of his friends." Jenna muttered sadly as she looked at the clear blue sky on their way to Santa Barbara.
"Well…he… kinda forgot to invite me too." Jacob said while scratching his cheek, causing both Elsa and Jenna to turn their faces to him in confusion.
"What do you mean?" Elsa asked.
Jacob avoided the girl's gaze and said, "I texted him when he didn't come to school on Thursday. He told me that he's preparing for the concert. And then he asked me if I had already gotten the ticket. I was confused by that, so I told him he didn't tell me anything about it…And he said, and I quote…'Ahh…I forgot to tell you'."
"Ah, so he just forgot about it?" Elsa asked, but Jenna was unconvinced and said sulkily, "He still didn't invite us though."
Although she was deeply worried when Edward didn't attend the school, especially after the party , she didn't have his phone number therefore she couldn't ask him about it.
"He told me to invite…and I quote again… 'the two troublemakers who can't shut their mouth'. So I guessed he was referring to you both and gave you the tickets." Jacob explained.
Jenna widened her eyes, leaned forward to Jacob while pushing her chest onto Elsa's face– burying her friend inside of it, and asked excitedly, "Did he really ask you to invite us?"
"I-I-I think so." Jacob answered flabbergasted with a red face as Jenna was too close. Elsa got annoyed by his reaction and decided to bite Jenna's chest that was dangling in front of her mouth.
"OUCH!" Jenna returned to her spot after she got bitten. "What are you doing, you toddler!?"
Elsa hugged Jacob's hand and said menacingly, "He's mine. Back off."
"Bad Jacob. Bad." Mrs Green sprayed water into Jacob's face using a water spray bottle as he was touching his girlfriend.
"I'm not the one who did it." Jacob objected pitifully as he was drenched in holy water.
"BAD!" Mrs Green sprayed his face once more as he dared to talk back to his mother.
[Edward POV]
"Phew, I can't help but feel a little bit nervous." I muttered as I reached the concert venue with my dad. I walked a bit farther from the car park and jumped and stood on the 1 meter tall brick wall to scout the venue with my eyes. Luckily I was wearing a simple red track suit and hadn't changed into my performance outfits yet so I could be a little roguish.
The concert would be an open field concert, taking place at Santa Barbara Bowl amphitheater that could house almost 5000 people. As performers for today, we could park the car directly at the empty concert venue as we need to make the last preparations there.
"My heart is going… dup dup dup dup…" With my right hand feeling the heartbeat on my chest, I had an expectant smile on my face as I imagined the empty seats in front of the stage being filled today.
Taking out the luggages from the trunk of the car, my dad who was wearing a tight gray shirt and black jeans said, "It'd actually be more weird if you didn't feel nervous. Are you feeling okay? Do you want to take some anxiety pills?"
He slammed the trunk of the car after and pulled the two luggages – once , one in each hand to where I was standing. His arm muscles were prominent, and his belly fat had decreased a little bit as I kept making him healthy food ever since I got my adult memories. Right now he looked more like a retired bodyguard than a father with a dad bod.
"Nah I'm fine Mr. Stagehand." I said as I jumped down from the wall and landed on my feet lightly. "It is exhilaration instead of anxiety."
Ted broke into a soft smile and said, "You really okay huh?...Even before…you would be quaking in your boots every time before you started performing."
I pointed my index finger at my dad and said, "That was classical music. This is pop music. I don't have to please some snobbish idiots here, so I can be more free, and do my own music instead of following the scoresheet."
Ted smirked and said, "Aren't you a snob too?"
Throwing my right hand to the side lazily, I said, "That's all in the past. I'm an easy going guy now. Come on, let's go in. I don't want to be late."
"We're an hour early. How could we be late?" Dad snorted derisively as he heard it.
"It's better to be early than to be late. It's better to be the one waiting for the people instead of them waiting for us." I muttered.
Ted was confused and asked, "Who told you that?"
Pausing for a moment, I said, "A grandmother that I used to know."
As I walked toward the backstage, I couldn't help but reminiscing about my time as a classical music performer.
The taunts of the defeated participants of the competition rang clear inside my mind.
[Did you hear? Newgate got the first prize again. Disgusting…Does he have no other life than playing instruments?]
The ugly remarks from snobbish adults that hid their venom behind a smiling mask..
[Why don't you rest for a year? You're already a great performer. Why do you need to enter every single competition?]
The criticism and scorn of the judges and juries that nitpick on every single thing I did.
[Not smooth enough! Not impactful enough! Bury your emotion, you only need to follow the score. Why can't you understand that?!]
[You perform really well, but your facial expression was too happy for a sad arrangement, therefore I will deduct your mark for that.]
'It was as if I was a machine instead of a human being.'
From the moment I took the instruments at the age of 5, till the age of 12, my initial excitement in the field of performance art died down slowly. Rather than having fun, it becomes a job to do instead. To keep my reputation intact. To keep my parents happy.
'Life was really shitty back then.'
[Why can't you do this? You could do this before!]
I remember mother yelling as I made a mistake on a simple musical arrangement again. Without me realizing it, my fingers were shivering as I recalled the memories.
[Just do what I told you to do!]
She constantly ignored my apprehension on practicing, and forced me to practice for hours on end, making it torturous for me to pass the day.
'I was just a child.' I thought as I balled up my hand into a fist, gripping it tightly as I tried to push the thoughts away.
All those experiences made me develop a deep hatred for classical music to such a point that any association with it would trigger feelings of fear and anxiety. The relentless pursuit for perfection was too much for my young mind to take.
[Maybe, it would have… been better if I never held a violin in my life]
That was the last thought I had, a second before I fainted in the middle of the stage.
Taking a deep breath as I held the doorknob, I couldn't help but hesitate to walk in.
'Performing is fun right now, but will it continue to stay the same way after I walk through this door?'
'If…the life I'm pursuing right now is similar to my life in the past, then why the hell am I here? Just to put myself into that misery once more?'
Dark thoughts couldn't help but bubble up inside my mind. Standing behind me, dad seemed to notice my internal struggle. Putting his hand on my shoulder, he said, "It's good that you're more cautious."
Turning my head toward him, I asked in confusion, "What?"
"It means you're now more mature. I don't know what will happen when you walk through that door, or what your future will be when you decide to become an artist."
"But…whatever happens, remember. You can always count on me to have your back."
He turned the doorknob for me, and the dark hallways within my memory were illuminated and replaced with the sight I was looking at right now as the door was opened.
"OHH THE STAR IS HERE~!" Kaya and Anna shouted in excitement as they noticed me coming into the amphitheater.
"Eddy, he's drinking beer now!" A young, 25 years old black guitarist named Ken with his hair tied up in a bun pointed at the drummer beside him.
"Shit! HE TOLD ME TO!" The drummer, a 20 years old white dude with tattoos-filled arms named McGee tried to fight the guitarist for setting him up.
The keyboardist, a 18 years old asian girl with straight bangs on her shoulder length hair named Jess gazed expressionlessly at me, then she waved shyly before running away from any sorts of eye contact with people.
The bassist and stage conductor were bickering – not because of faulty mishaps, but because they were long time friends.
"Hahaha, just wait till you see his performance." Johnson, the old bassist said.
"Like hell I will swoon. After Bieber all sorts of people are popping out right now." The stage conductor, Mr. Killington said.
"Believe me, that kid is better than that brat." Johnson slapped the conductor's back extremely hard as he said that.
"You fuck-" Mr. Killington's eyes were teary from the pain and tried to rub his back with both of his hands. Johnson finally saw me and shouted, "Hey! THE GENIUS IS HERE!"
The cheerful atmosphere backstage instantly drowned out any of the bad memories I had in the past, and I couldn't help but smile a little.
"Thanks, dad." I said as I walked inside.
"Anytime, son." Dad said as he followed me from behind.
…
2.30 pm.
The crowd started to enter the venue, and thousands of seats were being filled slowly.
"ED!" Phil opened the door suddenly, startling me and the hairdresser who was focusing before this. He ran toward me as I was getting my hair ready at the vanity set – a dressing table with lightbulbs on the edge of it. The female, latina makeup artist and hairdresser was glaring at Phil, however he had no idea why she was irritated as he entered.
"Phil. Slow down!"
I heard Claire's voice from afar when Phil entered the dressing room. Not turning back, I used the mirror to look at Phil.
"Hey, nice shirt." I was touched as I saw the shirt design made specially for me. "Did Jay make it?" I asked.
"You guessed it right." Phil said and walked closer to where I was sitting. "Did Alex tell you?"
"Nah. I'm Sherlock, remember?" I said playfully as the hairdresser sprayed some stuff onto my hair and trimmed the edge of it to make it look neater.
"Are you nervous?" Phil asked.
"A little bit now that people are starting to gather." I replied. Without looking at him, I asked, "...is Abby coming backstage?"
"No. She and Haley are currently sitting at the VIP seats." Phil answered.
"Good." I said with a smile.
Claire suddenly walked in after talking to my dad for a while and said, "Why were you insisting that she came here anyway? Aren't you guys broken up?"
"Ouch." I exclaimed flatly as I heard her.
"Claire, be more careful. He's a 14 years old boy. It's a sensitive time for them."
"He's not a normal 14 years old." Claire said and approached me before she asked again, "Are you going to answer my question or not?"
Contemplating for a while, I decided to tell Claire the truth, "Well…Although I had written a few songs before this, Abby was the one who encouraged me to go find a band, or go sing in public. She was the one who encouraged me to return to the stage. I would never be here if it wasn't for her."
And after I went to audition for a band, I cursed the mothers of the entire band member there and even their girlfriends before I decided to not enter the music industry ever again. Then, everything changed after I got my memories from my past life.
Claire and Phil looked at each other before Claire broke the silence. "I didn't expect that. I thought you were getting her here to seduce her back."
Shrugging my shoulders, I said, "Maybe that too. Who knows."
Mitchell, Cam, Gloria, Jay, Manny, Luke, Alex, Haley came to give me words of encouragement one by one, but to be honest I was tuning them all out. Not because I was unhappy to see them, but as the time drew closer, my nerves became high strung.
"Hey, good luck out there." Haley said as the last visitor. Her doe eyes were strangely calming me down which then weirded me out.
"Thank you Haley." I said as I stood up from the chair and looked her in the eyes. "I really appreciate you coming here even though I know you don't like me that much right now."
Haley's eyes shook and she said, "I don't…(sigh) Anyway, just because Abby is my friend doesn't mean I will stop being friends with you." She hit my arm and said, "Break a leg."
"That's something terrible to wish for another person." I said as I pretended to be horrified.
"Wh- No! THAT WHAT PEOPLE SAY BEFORE A PERFORMANCE!" Haley explained herself immediately.
"Pff-" I couldn't keep a straight face and laughed, making Haley feel extremely embarrassed by her overreaction.
"Jerk!" She said and stomped away angrily to get back to the VIP seat.
"Phew." I let out a long sigh as there were only 15 minutes left before my performance. Finally, I finished my makeover and changed into the outfit I created on my own.
A black leather jacket with white colored, graffiti-like patterns strewn all over, black jeans and black shoes, a wolf chain on my neck and a white undershirt.
"Damn, you look good." Kaya said as she saw me when I had finished getting ready.
"Thanks, this would look way better if I got some tattoos though." I said as I was feeling proud of my design.
"NO TATTOOS!" Pepper suddenly appeared out of knowhere and admonished me.
Outside, the emcee had started to hype the crowd up, and the university representatives were giving a speech before the concert started. Half of the crowd was from California university and the other half were Taylor's fans.
"Don't worry, when you are performing next time, I'm sure that the crowd will go there for you. I'm sure of it." Pepper gave me his words of encouragement as he stayed beside me with my dad after the backstage visitations ended.
Nodding at his words, I looked around and saw the dancers' with ashen faces. I walked right up to them and asked, "Where's Taylor?"
"Her award show is running late. She won't be able to arrive on time." Kaya explained.
"Oh damn." I exclaimed unconsciously as I heard that. Suddenly, the stage conductor rushed to me and Pepper.
"Hey, you must already know by now, right? That Taylor is running late." Mr Killington said with huffing breath.
"Yeah…"
"Can you extend your show for another 10 minutes? She is rushing here right now, but she won't be able to come on time."
"That's impossible Mr Killington. You can't just spry this matter on him at the last minute! This is highly irresponsible and unprofessional behavior!" Pepper got mad instantly as he was trying to protect me and calm my nerves before my first debut.
Pausing to think, I then said, "It's okay Pepper. I think…I can add one more song, but that's it."
Grabbing my hand suddenly, Mr Killington shook it up and down vigorously while saying, "Thank you Mr NEWGATE!"
"Ed, you don't have to do this!" Pepper said hurriedly.
"Nah, it's alright. I want to do it. Who knows when I will get a chance to perform again,..you know, with school and all that..." I said with a confident look on my face that stopped Pepper from saying anything else.
He glared at the stage conductor and said, "I'll expect him to get additional payment for this."
"O-Of course."
Finally, the band and I walked to the stage and set up behind the curtain as the emcee was hyping the crowd.
"The first performer for today, A YOUTUBE SENSATION WITH 5 MILLION VIEWS ON HIS SONGS IN LESS THAN A MONTH! GIVE IT UP FOR…EDWARDDDD NEWGATE!"
'Take a deep breath. You got this.'
The curtain was lifted and I was finally standing in front of the crowd of 5000 people. Thunderous applause and cheers from the crowd sounded the moment I appeared on the stage as they had been waiting for over an hour for the concert to start.
At the center of the stage, while grabbing the microphone on the mic stand with my right hand while the other was holding onto the red, electric guitar, I took a deep breath and started singing immediately after I was introduced.
[♫♪Rixton – Me and My Broken Heart♫♪]
Without any musical accompaniment, I used only my vocals to draw people in.
"♫♪All I need's a little love in my life! All I need's a little love in the daaaAARK~! A little but I'm hoping it might kickstart…Me and my broken heart..♫♪"
The crowd was stunned by the sudden start of the performance and was immediately hooked on the show. The murmurs were forcefully stopped and the band started playing softly.
♫♪I need a little loving tonight…Hold me so I'm not falling apart…A little but I'm hoping it might kickstart…Me and my broken heart♫♪
"Oh my god, he's awesome!" A random crowd member shouted. Haley and Abby were looking at each other before they muttered at the same time, "Yeah He's awesome."
Finally, the nervousness I had before the performance disappeared as I saw the crowd's reaction.
♫♪Yeah♫♪
My eyes searched for my own fans – the Modern Family members and my friends. I could see Abby and Haley looking at me with glittering eyes, so I winked at them. Then, the song's rhythms changed.
♫♪ Shotgun, aimed at my heart, you got one. Tear me apart in this song. How do we call this love?♫♪
Band Member: (woah-oh-oh-oh)
♫♪ I tried, to run away but your eyes, Tell me to stay, oh why, Why do we call this love? (Woah-oh-oh-oh)♫♪
'Wait. Is this song about them?' Haley widened her already big eyes and darted between Abby and Edward.
"Shut up Haley." Abby said.
"I didn't say anything yet!" Haley retorted.
"I can hear your brain thinking." Abby said.
♫♪It seems like we've been losing control…Somebody tell me I'm not alone. When I say..♫♪
♫♪All I need's a little love in my life! All I need's a little love in the dark~! A little but I'm hoping it might kickstart…Me and my broken heart…♫♪
♫♪I need a little loving tonight. Hold me so I'm not falling apart. A little but I'm hoping it might kick start. Me and my broken heart…♫♪
[3rd Person POV]
Ted sighed and said out loud while leaning on the wall. "You know you're the reason for his broken heart."
A feminine voice replied to him from the other side of the wall, "I know."
"Are you still not going to meet him?" Ted asked.
"I want to…but…Not now." A woman in a floral dress and a red stiletto replied before walking away from the backstage.
Ted let out a long sigh afterward before focusing on his son's performance once more.
♫♪ Uh, maybe some part of you just hates me..You pick me up and play me..How do we call this love? (Woah-oh-oh-oh)..♫♪
♫♪One time tell me you need me tonight…To make it easy, you lie…And say it's all for love (woah-oh-oh-oh)♫♪
"See. he knows." Tara said to Abby. "Both of you, shut up." Abby warned both of her friends as they kept running their mouths.
The song reached the climax and finally it reached the last verse.
♫♪All I need's a little love in my life (baby)
All I need's a little love in the dark
A little but I'm hoping it might kick start
Me and my broken heart
I need a little loving tonight
Hold me so I'm not falling apart
A little but I'm hoping it might kick start
Me and my broken heart.♫♪
With some sweat on my forehead, finally I stopped playing the guitar and held the microphone once again. My charismatic face was shown on the huge screen at the side of the stage, displaying me catching my breath.
The crowd cheered loudly as the first song was a huge success in attaining their interest.
"What's UP SANTA BARBARA!" I greeted them using the microphone, and the crowd cheered explosively once more!
(The concert arc will continue next week)