Sparkle
by Kat
"Here today, gone tomorrow" –
Rooney
PART
8
Katie was feeling down in the dumps. She couldn't
break the singer stride and beg Jess for forgiveness. She
couldn't and wouldn't give into someone like that. As much as it
killed her, she refused.
A week of avoidance had passed. This
was no easy task. Somehow, Katie got through it. The pain was
getting to her. The horrible feeling she felt every time Jessie
tried to talk to her was getting to her. Before Katie got the
chance to give up and just go apologize, Jessie struck out.
Hard.
"Good Morning Sinclair High School. This is Principal
Maguire speaking. Due to your requests, Daytime Defiance is back
on the air, at least until school gets out for the summer.
Without further ado, Daytime Defiance."
"What the hell is
going on?" Katie thought as Maguire clicked off of the loud
speaker. "Daytime Defiance? What was that?" She was about to
find out.
Another click. The voice was familiar, but distant
at the same time. "This is Daytime Defiance here. Today will be
something most people here can probably relate to. Here's `the
last song.' Enjoy and don't forget to file your comments to the
office. Thank you."
Then there was a pause. Katie was so
clueless. She hadn't been here a month yet. This was all new to
her.
Daytime Defiance was consisted of jazz band members,
although no one knew it. On electric lead guitar was Aaron. He
was outgoing, with black spiky hair. Melissa jammed as electric
rhythm guitar. Playing since she was three, would be attending
Julliard in the fall. Keith was on keyboards/piano. The funny
thing about Keith was that he'd only played for a year, but beat
out Roger for the top pianist spot in the jazz band this year.
Brett, the local comedian, Michael, the senior class president,
and Tara, the resident sweetheart, played the violins. The jazz
band drummer by their definition "sucked major ass." Tate was
only there because his father wrote a check for the music
department larger than the total of his future four-year college
tuition to Harvard. Did I mention that would be OUT-OF-STATE tuition? Yeah, so of course he was secured a spot. So Tate was
out of the question to ask. Luckily, Jazz, the extremely
talented ex-jazz band drummer/next Picasso, was in-between gigs.
It took all seven of them to convince her to do it. With the
lineup almost complete, they went in search of a singer. Aaron,
Melissa, or Jazz could have certainly taken over as lead
singers, they were all in chorus, but decided to get someone
else into the mix. Jessie.
Click. Click. Click. Click. A
radio began buzzing, with a string arrangement, consisting of
three violins. As soon as the voice began singing, Katie knew
she was in for it.
The singer grew in a deep breath, grasped
the microphone in her hands, and gave it her all.
"This
may be the last thing that I write for long
Can you hear me
smiling when I sing this song, for you and only
you…"
Authentic sounding garage electric fenders sounded in,
as well as
bass and drums. The scratchy yet amazingly beautiful
and soft
singer's voice continued. Only now, the pain was more
apparent,
making the performance that more powerful. As the song
progressed,
the emphasis of certain lyrics grew more agitated
became clearer.
"As I leave will you be someone to say
good-bye
As I leave will you be someone to wipe your eye
My
foot is out the door, and you can't stop me now
You wanted
the best, it wasn't me, will you give it back
Now I'll take the
lead, when there's no more room to make it grow
I'll see you
again, you'll pretend you're naive, is this what you want
Is this
what you need, how you end up, let me know.
As I go, remember
all the simple things you know,
My mind is just a crutch and I
still hope,
that you will miss me when I'm gone
This is the
last song
The hearts start breaking as the year is
gone
The dream's beginning and the time rolls on
It seems so
surreal, now I sing it.
Somehow I knew that it would be this
way,
Somehow I knew that it would slowly fade.
Now I am gone,
just try and stop me now.
You wanted the best, it wasn't me,
will you give it back
Now I'll take the lead, when there's no
more room to make it grow
I'll see you again, you'll pretend
you're naive, is this what you want
Is this what you need, how
you end up, let me know.
As I go, remember all the simple
things you know,
My mind is just a crutch and I still hope,
that you will miss me when I'm gone
This is the last
song."
The guitars, drums, and bass faded as the violins came
in.
"I just want to say, thanks for the
support."
"Will you need me now, you'll find a way
somehow
You want it too, I want it too."
Slowly the two
sets of instruments switched off fading in and fading off.
"As I go, remember all the simple things you
know,
My mind is just a crutch and I still hope,
that you
will miss me when I'm gone
This is the last song
As I go,
remember all the simple things you know,
My mind is just a crutch
and I still hope,
that you will miss me when I'm gone
This is
the last song."
The guitars faded out. Uproar of cheering and
clapping resonated throughout the halls of Sinclair High.
Everyone from the preps to the burnouts to the punks was
impressed. No one knew who consisted of the band. There were no
stereotypes to be made. You could only listen to the music and
let that be the deciding factor of greatness. Of course they had
only performed cover songs as of yet, but their sound was
something that seemed more original than their predecessors. No
member of Daytime Defiance had revealed himself or herself.
Basking in the school popularity of it all was amazing, even if
no one else knew.
But Katie realized all too soon who the
lead singer was. That was enough to send her into a rampage of
her own…
Katie saw it as a public display of torment. Even
though no one really knew what it really meant, Katie did. That
was enough. Two weeks went by. The fuel inside her was brewing.
"Good Morning Sinclair High School. Principal Maguire
speaking. Daytime Defiance has set off quite a spark. Today will
be a special performance for your listening pleasure. Here's
Rampage Kitty."
Everyone's necks craned in confusion.
Jessie's didn't. "Rampage Kitty" was Katie's screen name. "Here
we go," she thought. The name within itself was a bit of an
oxymoron. "Rampage" was an act or outburst of uncontrolled
violent or riotous behavior or a series of violent or riotous
actions. A kitty was the exact opposite. No one would ever
expect a kitty to go on a rampage and if they did, they'd never
even be considered the suspect. It just didn't happen. Katie liked that sort of irony.
With only an old electric
guitar, two distortion pedals and a microphone, Rampage Kitty
began to play. Her voice was brash with a deep tone of struggle
and pain.
"Oh oh oh, oh oh oh I love you Oh oh oh, oh oh oh I
love you I do, I do
Oh oh oh, oh oh oh I love you Oh oh
oh, oh oh oh I love you I do, I do
But I told her why we just
can't make it I want you still but just can't take it
The
time has come we oughta break it someone has to pay the
price."
Oh oh oh, oh oh oh it's over Oh oh oh, oh oh oh it's
over it's true, it's true
Then came a break of vocals and
a massive guitar solo.
"And I think of times we were together
as time went on it seemed forever
But times have changed now
things are better someone had to pay the price
And I
think of times we were together as time went on it seemed forever
But times have changed now things are better someone
had to pay the price."
By the end of the song both girls
knew. This meant war…or a heavy conversation of apologies. But
would they ever be able to bring themselves together? Thank
heaven for friends. Although I'm pretty sure that's not what
Jessie or Katie thought at first…