Solo Star (3 page)

As soon as Chloe, Danny, and the others met in the library at lunchtime, Zil Gibson took control. “Let's see if we can make a few decisions right away,” he said. “What type of songs do you like to perform, Chloe?” he asked.

“I always sing pop songs,” she told him.

He grimaced and exchanged glances with the rest of the band. They looked totally unimpressed, while Danny avoided catching Chloe's eye. He was looking almost as worried as she felt.

“No way!” said Zil with a decided shake of his head. “We're into rock. We can't have a
pop
singer as our vocalist. Your stuff would be much too light for us. It would sound terrible.”

“But—” said Chloe.

“You should be singing to a simple backing track, not performing with us,” Zil told her.

“I know that,” agreed Chloe miserably. “That's what I thought I'd be doing. But it's not my fault. I didn't ask to share an act with a group of rock musicians.” Her heart sank. It had obviously been a mistake to think that this might be fun.

“That's true,” agreed Danny, and Chloe looked at him gratefully. “So can't we make the best of it?” he went on. “Can't we come up with some kind of compromise?”

“But that would mean none of us would be able to perform the kind of music we like best!” protested Lenny Parsons, the rhythm guitarist.

“That's right,” agreed Zil. “We don't want to play pop. Look, we outnumber you, Chloe. You'll just have to make the best of it.”

“Um . . . I've got an idea,” said Danny quickly.

Chloe felt close to tears. She looked at her friend anxiously, eager for any help he could give.

“Haven't you been working on a song that Charlie Owen's dad wrote?” Danny asked Chloe.

She nodded. “Yes. It's on their latest album. But I've been giving it a very different treatment.”

“Now we're getting somewhere,” said Zil a bit more enthusiastically. “What's the song?”

Chloe told them. “But when I sing it, it's a light ballad,” she protested. “Mr. Player has changed the tempo and everything. I couldn't possibly sing it as a rock anthem.”

“At least you know the words!” said Jeff Crocker, the band's bassist. “It's a good start. And if you like the song, you can't be
totally
antirock.”

“I'm
not
,” said Chloe. “It's just that I don't like the idea of singing the song that way.”

“Can everyone get to a rehearsal after dinner?” said Zil, ignoring Chloe's last remark. “We need to have a run-through of the song as soon as possible. I can lend you a copy of the CD if you don't have one,” he added to Chloe. “You'll need to listen to how the vocalist sings it, won't you?”

During dinner, Chloe tried to imagine herself singing the song as heavy rock, but the gentle arrangement Mr. Player had created for it was the one that filled her mind. She'd just have to hope the boys would tone down their version a little, and come up with something she could cope with.

Chloe didn't want to be late for her first rehearsal, but somehow her feet dragged as she made her way over to the Rock Department, where they had decided to meet. When she got there, the band was set up and jamming together. They were obviously getting along fine musically. It was impressive, because it was the first time they had all played as a band and they sounded good. But Chloe was completely excluded. All she could do was wait until they had finished the song they were playing.

“Great!” said Zil when the song came to an end.

“With a little work we'll be fine,” agreed Lenny.

They all seemed pretty happy, but then Zil turned to Chloe, who was standing awkwardly nearby.

“You're late,” he told her.

“Sorry,” she mumbled.

“Why didn't you join in?” he said accusingly. “Don't you even know that song? We chose a very famous one so we could all try to get comfortable with each other.”

“Sorry,” she said again. “Yes, I do know it, but I wasn't sure if you wanted me to. . . sorry.”

Danny was giving her a sympathetic smile, but Chloe couldn't return it. She felt terrible. She didn't have any problem with confidence when she was performing alone, but she couldn't possibly have simply marched in and started singing along with the boys. She had no idea that this was what they had expected her to do.

Nervously, she put her bag down and went up to a spare microphone mounted on a stand. While she fiddled with it to make the stand the right height for herself, the boys played a few riffs. Standing among all the amps and cables, Chloe could feel a little ripple of the excitement that went with electrified music, but it was far outweighed by her fear. She was used to a large, uncluttered space in which to sing, but here there were guitar leads to trip over and Danny's drums right behind her. The neck of Zil's guitar seemed worryingly close to Chloe's head and it moved around at the edge of her sight when he played. It was bound to ruin her concentration.

“Okay. Let's try your song, then,” said Zil. “None of us have played it before, so don't expect perfection.”

It's not my song,
thought Chloe resentfully.
Don't blame me if you can't play it. I didn't choose it, did I?

But there was no time to argue. Zil nodded at Danny to count them in and they were off.

Danny set a galloping pace and everyone had to scramble to keep up. After the first couple of bars he slowed down a little, but the tempo was still much faster than Chloe was used to singing the song at. It was true that she knew the lyrics really well, but she was unable to put any sort of feeling into her voice. It was simply a matter of getting the words out.

When they'd finished the song, there was a short silence. “Well, it's a start,” said Zil in a resigned voice, unplugging his guitar. “I've got to go. Same time tomorrow?”

Everyone nodded and Chloe went to pick up her bag. As she was heading for the door, she heard Lenny speak to Danny.

“I thought you said she had an awesome voice,” he said.

Chloe didn't wait for Danny's reply. She pushed the door open and ran out of the rehearsal room. How was she going to get through the next couple of weeks? She had dreamed of being a Rising Star for so long, but now the dream had turned into a horrible nightmare.

 
Mr. Player came to the next rehearsal. “I know you're just getting started,” he said to the band afterward. “But . . . is that the song you all want to perform?”

“Yes,” said Zil. “It has good opportunities for drum and guitar solos and Chloe already knew the words, so it made sense.”

“Okay. I'll work on it with Chloe, then,” he said without further comment.

But in spite of that, the next few rehearsals weren't much better and it seemed that even when the others made mistakes, Chloe still wasn't blameless.

“You're not acting like part of the team,” Zil complained one day as everyone stopped playing once again when Chloe faltered.

“I'm trying to,” said Chloe, close to tears. “But I'm not used to performing with other people. And you skipped the chorus just now! What am I supposed to do when that happens?”

Zil sighed. “You're not supposed to just stop! I agree that it wasn't your fault, but when things go wrong you have to improvise. You can't simply stop singing and look confused. We all have to cover for each other when we make mistakes. If
you
forgot your words, I'd probably repeat the riff a couple of times until you got yourself together.” He looked at his watch. “Okay. We'd better finish now. Same time tomorrow?”

“Sure.” Danny nodded and put down his drumsticks. Jeff and Lenny looked at each other.

“We're not happy with the way things are going,” said Lenny awkwardly.

“Yeah,” agreed Jeff. “If we're not careful, we'll run out of time. We've got to get this right, and if Chloe can't gel with us, we're in big trouble. I mean, we've toned down the heavy rock style, but Chloe's voice still isn't really working.”

Chloe waited anxiously to hear what Zil had to say. He was the oldest, and very much in charge, but however hurtful Jeff's comments were, Chloe knew in her heart that he and Lenny were right. At the moment she
was
holding them back.

Zil didn't look at Chloe. “Don't worry,” he said to the boys. “It'll be fine. We'll get it together. And if we don't, as a last resort we can always perform it as an instrumental.”

Jeff and Lenny looked relieved, but Chloe was appalled.
Do it without a singer? No!
She just
had
to get this right, otherwise she'd be out of the Rising Stars Concert! Chloe knew that the teachers wouldn't let her jeopardize the others' chance and there was no alternative act she could join. She
had
to make this work or lose the opportunity to perform on television.

Chloe went to her singing lesson later that day very downhearted indeed, but Mr. Player was more upbeat about the situation when she told him about it.

“Remember how determined you were to get a place at this school,” he said. “You didn't let yourself give up then when the odds were against you and you shouldn't give up now. You can do this, Chloe. I'm sure you can. It's just a shame that you've chosen to use a song you've already learned as a ballad.”

“
I
didn't choose it,” Chloe told him. “Danny mentioned that I'd been learning it, and they decided it would be best. I couldn't suggest anything else because I didn't know their favorite songs.”

“Oh dear,” said Mr. Player sympathetically. “That is a shame. If they'd chosen a song that was new to you, you might have found it a bit easier. You just have to keep at it. It'll come in the end. And I know you prefer pop, but your voice is ideal for rock, too, you know. Get some of that awesome power going and you'll be quite a rock chick!” He smiled kindly at her and she tried to smile back, but her mouth turned down and she couldn't manage it.

“Wanting to sing the song as a ballad is part of it,” she agreed. “I really prefer your arrangement of the song. But it's more than that,” she admitted. “I know where I am, singing to the backing track you made on the keyboard. I know every note of every instrument you've put on there inside out. I can do what I want with my voice and the track is always the same. But with four other people playing live, it's so unpredictable. When the others make mistakes, I can't handle it and I know I'm letting them all down.”

“It's good to be a perfectionist,” Mr. Player told her. “But finding perfection in a band means thinking on your feet and adapting to what is happening around you. With five people performing together, the song is bound to be slightly different each time.”

“But I
hate
that,” protested Chloe. “It feels wrong.”

“Well, I've been teaching you how to make a song as perfect as it can be, but you know yourself that no two performances are
exactly
the same. Everyone makes mistakes, and with enough practice you can learn to cover for each other.”

“I suppose,” said Chloe. She bit her lip. “I'm so stupid.”

“No, you're not,” said Mr. Player. “You're just used to your way of doing things and now you have four other people to consider.” He smiled at her. “You know, there are lots of artists who would never think of singing to a backing track. Yes, it's very safe, but compared to a band it can be rather mechanical. It takes a lot of rehearsing together, but when you sing with musicians you trust, you can really let go and the whole performance will fly!” He smiled sympathetically at Chloe's doubtful expression. “When's your next rehearsal?” he asked.

Chloe told him and he looked in his day planner. “I'll come along again and see what I can do to help,” he offered. “You do realize you're very young to be chosen as a Rising Star, don't you?”

“I guess so,” said Chloe again. It had been exciting to be named as a Rising Star, but since then she had spent every day wondering if she was capable of living up to the title.

“The problem with this concert is that we try to shoehorn so many students in,” said Mr. Player. “Usually the singers are no problem, because we can easily have several performing the same song, taking a verse each. But your voice is so powerful and so different, we couldn't do that with you, and at the same time we really had to let the older ones have the solo spots. If you feel you can't cope with singing with the band, there would be no shame in bowing out this time.” He noticed her horrified expression. “You'll be a Rising Star again in the future,” he reassured her. “I'm sure of it. This isn't going to be your only chance.”

Chloe shook her head fiercely. “But I
want
to do it this time,” she told him. “I can't give up now!”

“Even though rock isn't really your thing, and even though you're not happy being a member of a band?”

Chloe looked stubbornly back at him. “It's all singing,” she told him. “I
should
be able to do it.” She felt fierce and determined, but then the fight went out of her. What if she
couldn't
make this treatment of the song really fly, or feel comfortable performing with others? She'd be letting the boys down and that would be terrible.

“I'll give it a few more days,” she told Mr. Player. “But I don't want to ruin things for the band. If I can't get it soon I ... I'll have to give up.” She nearly burst into tears as she said it, but Chloe knew it was the right thing to say. She couldn't ruin the boys' big moment.