The Music to His Lyrics

There was tension lingering in the air as Bobby, Vicky, and Emma sat down at a rounded table in the school cafeteria to eat our lunch. Bobby and Emma were beaming, counting down the days until graduation. Two months would fly by before they knew it. Remembering that she had begged her to do so just a few days earlier over the phone, Emma told Vicky about her weekend spent with Jared. Vicky made it a priority to seem uninterested in the subject. Emma continued spilling all of the details that went on this weekend, while Vicky simply sat slouching in her chair, munching on an apple, and Bobby rose from his seat several times to help himself to another serving of that day’s lunch special. It was not until Emma had mentioned the twins, Ted and Cole, that Vicky suddenly directed her attention towards Emma for the first time that since that morning. Bobby also happened to come back from the lunch line with his fourth slice of pizza in hand and sat down at the exact same moment.

“Cole’s sick?” Vicky exclaimed in surprise. “Is he going to be okay? Was it something serious?”

“The doctor said that he’ll be fine if he gets his rest. He’s going to be out for at least a week though. They’re even postponing the concert.”

Bobby nearly choked on a bite of his pizza, cleared his throat, and asked, also quite in surprise, “Wait a minute. They’re not going to cancel Night of Dreams, are they?”

Emma shrugged her shoulders, and replied honestly, “It depends on whether or not Cole’s condition improves. I had croup as a kid, and it took a while for me to recover. About a week. We’ll see what happens. Jared actually feels pretty strongly about making that concert pull through. They might just find a drummer for the night and be done with it.”

“I hope everything doesn’t fall through,” Bobby admitted.

Suddenly, a spark of interest flashed across Vicky’s eyes, and she quickly exclaimed, “Did your brother finally tell you what we decided our theme for the concert was going to be?”

“Theme?” Emma asked, a bit confused.

“Okay, so it goes like this,” Bobby began, “Each band performing at some point that night before Downhill Mystery comes out on stage has to pick a different theme to dress up according to their act. That way, it shows that they’re are all together as one band and one full sound when they get up on that stage.”

“Do you have any idea what some of the other bands have decided to do?” Emma asked curiously.

“There’s one that’s going with all of its members dressed as pirates, another group is going as Alice in Wonderland characters, and some guys are planning on going as Ninja Turtles,” Bobby explained.

“We want to be different,” Vicky said. “So I was thinking, we could all go dressed as if we were attending a masquerade ball! But with a bit of mardi gras edge to it.”

“She already sketched up some designs, and they look so sick!” Bobby said.

Vicky turned to Emma and laughed, “You don’t have to be embarrassed of getting up on that stage and showing off your talent. If you’re dressed up and wearing a mask, no one will know it’s you. Not even Jared.”

Emma flipped through the designs Vicky had come up with in her notebook, but her face darkened for a moment.

“Joanna said I wasn’t allowed to leave the house this weekend because I got home late. Apparently she didn’t think the dinner I made yesterday was enough to impress a client of hers.” she sighed.

“Since when have you cared about what Joanna thinks? We‘ve snuck you out before,” Bobby said.

“How am I supposed to leave without her finding out?“ Emma snapped.

“Em, but she’s an airhead!” Bobby stressed the emphasis on the last word of his sentence.

Emma sighed, “You know Claire and Audrey wouldn’t miss seeing Downhill Mystery perform for the world, and if I’m not the one driving them over there, that means Joanna‘s probably going to be the one to take them. She sees me there, and I‘ll be dead.”

“If you’re dressed up, it’ll be way easier to avoid her than you think. As for finding a ride to Night of Dreams, we can still get you out of that house,” Vicky assured her with a wink, “It’ll just be more difficult than last time.”

“What do you think, Em?” Bobby asked, nudging her with his shoulder. “You in?”

Emma came upon the page Vicky had designed for her. A short strapless white taffeta dress with a sweetheart neckline, a red bow at the waist, and layers of red tulle peeking out from under the dress’s hem to be worn with sheer red stockings that at the ankle with red heels. It was the mask design that caught her attention. It was black, white, and red, with two rounded holes for her eyes to show through and with white feathers coming from its sides. The opportunity to escape the troubles of her everyday life and perform onstage in disguise captivated her thoughts.

She could sneak out without Joanna knowing. For just one night, she could do what she wanted without having to pay for it. For once, she could have a not care in the world. No one would know her as Emma Parker, an orphan and personal handmaid to her stepmother. She could raise her head held high and strut out onto that stage as if it were her own world. Her gaze would fall upon her audience, and after the applause came to a halt, she her ears were filled with the wave of silence that had come over the crowd. Her heart would wage a war with this calm atmosphere as the pace of her heartbeat quickened, causing her knees to lock up as she gracefully made her way to stand before the mike stand.

She would hold the mike up to her painted lips, and inhaling the cool night air, await for her cue, when the music from Bobby’s band would begin to play. The song would fill her soul, and the moment she would raise her voice, she would mesmerize the people watching her. She would sing her feelings, and for the first time in ten years, someone would listen.

A broad smile spread across Emma’s face. She raised an eyebrow and asked, “You’re sure we won’t get caught?”

Both Bobby and Vicky nodded their heads in unison, eagerly awaiting Emma’s decision.

Emma closed the notebook and handed it to Vicky.

“I’m in,” she answered.