Madman

“Joe, Mick, I want you to do your parts right now.” I said.

They nodded, standing, and took a deep breath.

Italic=Mickey Bold=Joe Underline=Both

Countless hours of learning more,
countless hours of knowing less,
can't slip behind you, you have to look, ahead

So many doubts running through your mind
all the excuses, don't have the time
all the rejection you have to leave behind

Leave it all behind

I shook my head. “Joe, you need to go a little higher in the harmony. You’re too low. Mickey, sing ‘leave it all behind.’”

She nodded, and we both sang.

“See? Do only that part.” I said, giving Joe a nod.

They sang it, and he did it perfectly.

I smiled. “Perfect! Jake, lemme hear the piano.”

He nodded, and started.

I shook my head, walking up there.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, shocked.

“Your tempo is wrong. It goes bum bum bum, bum bum bum bum.” I said, clapping my hands.

He nodded, then played. I grinned. “Great!”

“Orchestra, let me hear the end sequence. Start at measure…152.” I said, getting out a copy of their music sheets. They nodded, and I signaled for them to start. They did, and I listened, closing my eyes. This was exactly what I pictured it would sound like.

I opened my eyes once everyone finished. “Amazing! Everyone take a half hour break. You deserve it. Then we have a meeting afterwards.”

They nodded, cheering, and went their separate ways. Nick stayed behind though.

“You’re doing amazingly.” He smiled, putting his arms around me.

I sighed, resting my head on his chest. “It’s so tiring. I’m exhausted.”

He chuckled. “No one said it would be easy.”

“True.” I smiled, pulling back. “You know, the last time we were alone in here we kissed.”

He laughed, nodding. “Trust me, I remember. It was the best kiss of my life.”

I blushed, looking at my feet. “You’re just saying that because I’m right here….”

“No, I’m not.” He said, his voice just above a whisper. He used his index finger to lift my face, looking in my eyes. “I’d do it again, too.”

“Then do it.” I whispered.

He leaned down, touching his lips softly against mine, but it was just enough to send chills down my spine.

“Yo! Nick!” Someone burst through the door, causing Nick and I to pull back quickly. It was Joe. Of course. “Oh, am I interrupting something?” He smirked.

“No, no. We were just talking.” Nick mumbled.

“Mhm, sure.” Joe winked. “I’ll let you two continue…talking.” And with that he left.

Nick turned to me, an embarrassed smile on his face.

I laughed lightly, grabbing his hand. “You wanna continue talking, or something else?”

He smiled. “You know, I think we need to talk some more.”

“I think so too.” I smiled, and kissed him again.

He pulled back after a long moment, and put his forehead on mine. He took a deep breath. “So where does this leave us?”

I bit my lip. “I don’t know….”

“Marley…will you be my girlfriend?” He asked nervously.

I grinned, kissing him again. “Yes!”

He laughed, pulling me into a hug. “Thank God.”



[a week later]
“Okay, so, how many people think we still need to practice before we actually perform?” I asked the whole band. No one raised their hand. I raised my eyebrows, shocked. “Oh, wow, okay.” I laughed. “Who wants to perform it at the concert?” Everyone raised their hands, some both hands.

I laughed, clapping my hands together. “Great! We’ll do it tonight!”



I started pacing, biting my fingers, waiting for the concert to start.

"You need to calm down." I heard someone chuckled, putting their arms around my waist.

I took a deep, shaky breath. "What if they don't like it, Derek?"

"They'll love it." He said. "I'm sure of it. It's an amazing song."

"I hope so." I said, feeling more arms wrap around me.

"Marley...you're going to do amazingly." Jake said.

"Yeah! You'll be beasting it!"Aiden and Drake said.

I smiled. "I love you guys."

"We love you too, Mar." Derek said.

"The Scene up in two minutes!" The stage manager said.

"Let's do this guys." I grinned, hearing the boys announce the 'special surprise' to the audience.



The lights were shut off and people were dead silent as they waited to see what the special surprise was.

I nodded towards the violins, and they started playing.

Suddenly, a single spotlight lit on Mickey, and the violins stopped, and Jake started playing the piano

Mickey:
'Countless hours of learning more
Countless hours of knowing less
Can't look behind you
You have to look ahead'

A spotlight shone on Joe. They were on opposite sides too the stage, slowly meeting each other in the middle.

Joe:
'So many doubts running through your mind
All the excuses
Don't have the time
All the rejection you have to leave behind'

Both:
Leave it all behind

The spotlight was shone on me, and disappeared from Joe and Mickey.

Marley:
'Hold your dreams
Don't ever let it go
Be yourself
And let the world take notice
You'll find strength
When people bring you down
They will see
If you would only, only believe'

I went up the stairs, the spotlight following me as i stood next to Nick behind the bongos. Jake played the piano, the violins slowly joining one my one, then finally all together, the orchestra.

Then, with all the lights going on in many different colors, showing the whole band, violins, orchestra, and choir, Nick and I started pounding on the bongos.

We played our hearts out, both in sync. Once we were done, I ran in the middle of the stage with my microphone.

Choir (Marley's part in parentises):
Someway, Somehow (Yeah, yeah, yeah)
Don't give up now (Don't give up)
Don't be afraid to succeed (to succeed, yeah)

Someway, somehow (Come on, everybody)
The time is right now (It's our time, yeah)
Don't be afraid to succeed (to succeed, yeah!)

Nick started pounding on the drums, the whole band soon joining in. Drake was on the guitar, Derek on the drums, Aiden on the bass, Jake on the piano, Kevin with tamborine, and Joe and Mickey joined the choir.

Marley:
Hold your dreams
Don't ever let it go
Be yourself
And let the world take notice
You'll find strength
When people being you down
They will see
If you would only, only believe

The orchestra did the end sequence, the lights slowly dimming as they finished the song. Once they hit the final note, the lights shut off.

A few seconds later, no one was cheering, not even making a sound.

Finally, someone in the audience started cheering, cause everyone to go wild, making the stage shake, and my ears go deaf.

I don't think I've ever smiled so much in my life that night. It was all done. All the hard work everyone put into this song, was finally over, and the audeince couldn't've responded any better. They loved it. It was all a success. It felt amazing.

We took a bow, standing and waving for another ten minutes as the crowd was still going wild.

Nick took my hand and took a step forward, then took a step back, leaving me in front of everyone. The crowd cheered louder.

"Carter Scott, everyone!" Nick shouted, and the crowd roared even louder, although I didn't think that was possible.

The feeling was absolutely amazing, and I knew I would never, ever forget this night.