Solo Star (7 page)

Chloe's stomach did a flip, and she took a deep breath. Soon, very soon, she would be standing on that gleaming white floor doing her sound check. And then, a little later, she would be giving the performance of her life.

It wasn't long before Chloe and the rest of the band were called for their sound check. Nervously, they made their way to the performance space and Danny slid behind the drum set. Chloe had to wait while the sound engineer listened to Danny play each of his drums in turn. And once the levels were set for the way Danny played the drums, the engineer asked Jeff to play a few bars of his bass. It was Lenny's turn next and then Zil's.

Chloe swallowed. Her throat felt terribly dry. Would she be able to make any sound at all when the engineer wanted to set the level for her voice? It was one thing to sing a few lines at school for Mr. Timms so he could set the levels right for a performance or a recording in the school studio, but this was different. Would this engineer be impatient with her if she messed things up?

But it was all right. To Chloe's relief, he was very friendly and she was well able to sing a couple of lines into her microphone for him.

“That's fine,” he told her. “Could you all play together now, please?”

Danny counted them in and they ran through their song.

“That's it,” said the engineer. “Your sound levels are good. Do you have any problems?”

“I can't hear myself very well,” said Chloe.

Until she had sung with the band, Chloe had sometimes wondered what the black boxes were that all bands seemed to have in front of them when they played. Now she knew. The audience could hear a band because the speakers pointed out toward them, but the band needed to hear what they were doing as well. The black boxes were extra speakers called monitors that played the band's music back to them. In the Rock Department, Chloe's voice was played back to her through a monitor, but the studio had given her a small earpiece to wear instead and the sound wasn't coming through.

“What's the problem?” asked the engineer.

“Zil's guitar is too loud in my ear,” said Chloe. “I need less of him and more of me.”

The engineer adjusted the sounds going into Chloe's earpiece and they tried again.

“It's still not right,” she said, feeling really embarrassed and very worried. But it wasn't her fault that the levels weren't quite right, and it was vital for her to be able to hear well.

The engineer played around with all the levels, but poor Chloe still wasn't getting the right sound. Everybody was beginning to look jittery. Time was ticking by and there were other acts to sound-check before the start of the program.

“How is it now?” asked the engineer.

But this time Chloe couldn't hear
anything
in her earpiece at all. “I'm sorry,” she said, close to tears. She was losing her confidence now. Maybe it wasn't a technical problem. Was she doing something stupid? It was awful having such an important thing go wrong just before the program was supposed to start.
What will I do if they can't figure it out?
Chloe asked herself.
If I can't hear, I might come in at the wrong time and ruin the whole song!
It was every singer's worst nightmare and it was happening now, at the Rising Stars Concert.

The engineer's assistant brought Chloe another earpiece. “Maybe the problem is at this end,” she told her kindly. “Let's try this one.”

Sure enough, it was the earpiece that had caused all the problems. Chloe gave a great sigh of relief.

“These things happen,” said the assistant, smiling encouragingly at Chloe. “Don't let it throw you off.”

Chloe knew the assistant was right. She shouldn't allow a technical hitch to unsettle her just before she was scheduled to perform.

“How are the levels for you now?” asked the engineer.

Chloe gave him the thumbs-up. “It's
much
better, thank you,” she told him. “Now I can hear what I'm doing and what everyone else is playing, too.”

They ran through the song again and this time it went really well. But there were still the cameras to consider.

“Make the camera your friend,” the producer advised them. “Yes, you have a small live audience, but don't neglect the camera. That is your audience, too.”

Chloe was thrilled at this piece of advice. She'd read about making the camera her friend a long time ago, before she'd even gotten to Rockley Park School. She'd practiced in her bedroom long before she'd had any idea that she would be able to do it for real. Now she could put all her practice to the test!

When the sound checks were finished, the students went back to their rehearsal room to wait for their call. It was difficult, all this waiting. While they were doing something, Chloe's nervousness disappeared, but as soon as she sat down in the rehearsal room, her anxiety came flooding back. So she found a quiet corner and did some breathing exercises that Mr. Player had taught her. They did calm her down, but Chloe was sure the only thing that would really help would be to get back onto that small white circle and perform. She joined the others again. There really wasn't long to go now.

“I wonder what everyone is doing back at school?” she said to Danny, who was trying to twirl his drumsticks and not doing it very well, although he was usually very good at it.

He looked at his watch. “It's almost time for dinner,” he said. “They'll be coming out of French.” He twirled his sticks again and dropped them both.

“I don't think you should try that on TV,” said Zil.

“Don't worry,” said Danny. “I won't!”

Just then, Chloe's cell phone vibrated and she pulled it out of her pocket.

“Mine's going off too!” said Danny.

Chloe looked at her text.
Thinking of you. Break a leg. Love Lolly, Pop, and Tara.

“I got one from them as well,” said Danny, when Chloe showed him the text. “Oh, and Marmalade's sent one, too. He never usually texts people.” He showed her his cell phone. “Look, it's for you as well.”

Chloe read the text.
Friends, make me proud!
it said. Chloe giggled. Trust Marmalade not to put anything obvious like “good luck.” But it was nice to know that people were thinking about them. Everyone at school knew what time the performance was going to take place, so they must have realized that dinnertime was a good opportunity to send their best wishes.

Very soon now the audience would be arriving and settling into their seats. No one knew exactly who would show up, but there would certainly be some important people there. That knowledge only added to Chloe's last-minute nerves.

Would she remember all that she'd learned? When the program was eventually shown on TV, she knew all her friends from Rockley Park and beyond would be watching. Her family would watch it, too. She simply couldn't let all those people down. And what about Mr. Player? He had spent hours helping her to get the best out of her voice. Now Chloe wanted to show him that she had taken to heart all that he had said. She wanted to do it for him and for Judge Jim, who had always encouraged her. She wanted to do it for her friends and family, too, but most of all, Chloe wanted to make a success of this concert for herself and the rest of the band.

As Chloe was thinking this, everyone else was quiet, too, mentally readying themselves for the performance of their lives. Then the door opened and Julie came in.

“It's time,” she said.

The first act followed Julie out of the room, and the remaining students cheered them on.

“Go for it!”

“Break a leg.”

“You can do it!”

The door closed behind them and the room fell silent. The other band had looked very nervous. Chloe hoped they'd be all right. Just then, a screen mounted high on the wall flickered into life, and the students could see the studio for themselves. The audience was there and waiting for the first act to appear.

“Fantastic!” said Zil. “I didn't realize we'd be able to see the concert, too.”

The band got into position and their drummer counted them in. Chloe watched carefully. Shots from all the cameras were being fed to the monitor and sometimes she could see clips of the audience reaction.

“Mrs. Sharkey is there!” said Jeff, pointing at the screen.

“Where?” asked Chloe.

“I just caught a glimpse of her as the camera panned over the audience.”

Then they saw her again. Mr. Player laughed at the students' excitement. “You didn't think the principal would miss this, did you? It's the high point of the school year for her.”

“I guess so,” said Lenny. “It just hadn't occurred to me she'd be there. I feel much better now that I know she's backing us up.”

Chloe felt the same. Mrs. Sharkey could be pretty scary, but somehow it
was
reassuring to see her in the audience.

In no time, the first band had finished their performance. They arrived back in the room looking relieved that it was over. Ayesha and Rob were already on their feet.

“Break a leg!” Chloe called out as the two singers disappeared with Julie.

Danny picked up his drumsticks and put them down again. He beat out a nervous rhythm with his fingers on his leg. It was almost their turn.

Ayesha and Rob were fantastic. They sang wonderfully together, and Chloe was sure the TV audience would love them. Their performance was impressive and truly professional.

But now Julie was back, waiting to take Chloe and the boys along to the studio. Chloe jumped up. Suddenly she didn't feel ready, even after all the time they'd spent waiting for this moment. But she had wanted to be a Rising Star ever since she had started at Rockley Park. She
had
to be ready. She took a deep breath.

I can do this,
she told herself.
Of course I can
.
I'll be fine.
It felt so right being here. This was what she was made for. Yes. Of course she could do it. As long as no one made a mistake.

“Make sure you leave your cell phones behind,” warned Julie.

Chloe put her phone on the table, the makeup lady flicked a last spot of powder on her cheeks, and they were ready to go.

Chloe exchanged a nervous smile with Danny. This was it. It was their turn now. She and the boys bunched together behind Julie.

“Ready?” she asked. They all nodded nervously. In a moment, they were in the narrow hallway heading toward the brightly lit studio. Rob and Ayesha were coming toward them, and Chloe could see that Ayesha's eyes were bright with excitement.

“Give it all you've got,” she said to Chloe as they met. But there was no time for a reply. Chloe had to hurry to keep up with the boys. Then they were at the studio door and Julie opened it for them. All the lights were on and the space was ready.

It was strange walking back onto the white circle with rows of people watching. Chloe had never before had a real audience so close to where she was performing, before. As she and the band appeared, the audience applauded but the clapping sounded very thin because there were so few people there. It felt very hot under the powerful lights, and Chloe had to work hard not to lose her concentration.

She had been told to watch for the small light on each camera that showed when it was filming.
Think of the camera as your friend
, she told herself firmly, and smiled into camera two as if she didn't have a care in the world. Danny slid behind the drum set and the rest of the boys picked up their guitars. Chloe took her microphone from its stand, Zil played the opening chord, and they were off!

For the first couple of bars they were feeling their way and Chloe was afraid that the song wouldn't sound confident enough. Then she reminded herself to listen to Danny. He was playing away as reliably as ever. All they had to do was listen to his beat and keep to the same rhythm. If they did that, they couldn't go wrong. She turned toward the band to give them some encouragement and just then Zil caught her eye and grinned. Chloe felt herself grinning back and hoped that the cameras had caught the moment.

But now they were reaching the critical part of the song. Lenny's riff was coming up and Chloe's heart started thumping.

Keep calm,
she told herself. She couldn't allow herself to panic or her breathing would be affected and then she wouldn't be able to sing properly.
Come on, Lenny. You can do it,
she thought.
Don't make me have to help you out!

She turned to glance at him and to her horror she could see that he was beginning to panic, too. She had to sing one more line and then his riff would take over, but poor Lenny looked as if he'd already decided that he would probably flub it. She gave him an encouraging look and delivered her line perfectly for him, willing him to succeed.

His first few notes were fine, but then he got to the part he often stumbled over and began to mess it up. Chloe couldn't leave him hanging. She had to do something to help. If he had a few seconds to compose himself, maybe he would be able to manage it if they could give him a chance to try again?

There were no words to go with the riff, so Chloe opened her mouth and sang the notes once for him in her clear voice. She looked at Zil, who nodded slightly and played up to the riff again. Chloe repeated the line for Lenny. He was still struggling, so she sang the riff once more. This time, when it came around again, Lenny was ready. He nodded at her gratefully and took over.

He was so nearly note-perfect that Chloe felt like cheering. Instead she allowed herself another glance in Lenny's direction. Their eyes met and Lenny smiled. But it was important that Chloe didn't miss her cue to sing the next verse and Zil was watching her anxiously. She beamed him a smile and he looked reassured.