Sequel: Soria Girl ›
Status: Regular updates every Sunday and Wednesday.
Renny Boy
Anonymous
Bombs snapped me out of thought - not literally, but it sounded like a giant explosion as the opening band, called Fiberlight, kicked off the show with an excellent rendition of Boston’s “Foreplay/Long Time.”
After the intro, the tempo slowed down and the band continued the soothing melody. Soothing for the crowd maybe, but not me. The girl started singing, and immediately I could tell that they were completely prepared. I recognized her from my chorus class, but I’d never heard anyone sing like that - it was pure talent, and I tried my best not to be jealous.
Obviously, they had to shorten the song since it was like seven minutes long, but I don’t thing the crowd minded so much. They were cheering loudly, even if their bassist was totally offbeat.
That eased my mind a little bit. But I was no bassist, I was the singer. And if I screwed up, everyone would notice.
Soria and the others were standing behind me and they were clapping, clearly applauding Fiberlight. She looked at me and a huge knowing grin broke out across her face. Inside, I cringed. Hell really do hath no fury like a woman scorned.
Fiberlight made their way backstage and smiled at us, the girl singer wishing us a “good luck.”
Psh, I’d need more than luck. I’d need Jesus as my microphone stand and God as my guitar pick.
Mrs. Richardson - our principal, also the announcer of the Claymore Middle Talent Show - stepped up to the microphone and read off of a card. “And now, ladies and gentlemen, give a warm welcome to…Plaster Caster!”
My heart quit beating, I’m positive. But I kept on moving.
It felt like a dream as I stepped out into the hotter-than-normal cafetorium lights, but I resisted the urge to slap myself. All those faces of my peers and parents and teachers were surreal. Like at the carnival; was this the life I was living?
Soria couldn’t have been more right. This was my chance. Make or break, kid, I told myself. This was the thing that I’d been freaking out about, but I knew this had been my dream for so long.
When I blinked, I saw all the lights from the carnival flashing around me. I heard all the music blasting from the speakers, and I felt the gravity pushing and pulling me down to the earth. I heard the others ask me if I was alright and I felt myself lie straight to their faces.
And nothing else matters.
My skin heated while the lights seemed to grow more intense and it dawned on me. This was happening now.
This was my life. This was exactly the moment I’d been waiting for all throughout my life, wanting to make a name for myself, and all through 2007 when I finally learned how to confide in people. There was no reason for me to be so ungrateful for an opportunity I’d begged for.
All that crap raced through my mind in five seconds onstage, before Brendan began to pound out the drum intro to “Anonymous.”
After four sequences, Soria and Luke got the signal and the stage exploded with pure...music. Not just noise. Organized noise that could solve the mystery of life. They were grinning and strumming and I was too, playing the old Fender my dad gave me. He looked proud in the crowd once I struck the strings, giving Soria silent permission to put her spin on a scale and do the opening riff. I was backing them up, and they were backing me up in more ways than one.
Time for the first verse.
“I hope I’m dreaming!
Or maybe that my brain’s just leaking
I need a hand on this shoulder!
Negative ten air in my lungs!
Screaming just to know I’m breathing
Your love of lackluster’s blinding me!”
My heart was pounding in the heat of the moment. So far, so good. Nobody was screwing up, and the people in the crowd were bobbing their heads along with us. My mom had her hands over her mouth like she was crying, and my dad was conversing with Mr. Zach. Luke’s foster parents were smiling harder than anybody else. Brendan’s parents were rolling the camera for future generations and his two older brothers looked like they were arguing.
Nothing could have felt better.
“Stand as strong as angels
Fall as weak as demons
Maybe I just burnt out!
It’s my blessing in disguise
Can’t ignore those charming lies
Unbelievably perfect disaster!”
For the first time in my life, I was really, really lucky to be alive, I felt like. Onstage I almost smacked myself for thinking I’d puke all over the stage because I…I was high. Not on drugs. On air.
It was right then that I decided this was what I’d live for.
“And everything you saw as awkward now.
Am I blue yet? I might just be here, yeah.”
Luke leaped in the air and came down, demonstrating the smash of it. Soria walked over and elbowed me, giving a knowing smile that gave me exactly what I needed - confidence.
“Anonymous!
Such a pain just to make a name
Gotta go back to the basics just to find out
Sit and spin
Because the world is a playground!
And I can’t get around
Seeing I don’t know what to do!”
Chorus number one was done. We had successfully melted into verse two with no screw-ups that I could hear, and most importantly, I was doing alright. The music pumped through my veins, replacing the blood with sound waves. I wondered if this was what every singer felt like…
“The ache of elsewhere!
I need a little time to accelerate the life
The days are goin’ by faster!
Let’s go, oh no, road trip!
Sink your soul into something grand…
The sunshine is saying ‘It’s a great day…’
“How do we see with the switchblades at our sides
Wanna say goodbye, can only say good riddance…”
Once again we exploded into that chorus, riling up the people like I never thought I’d be able to do.
I swear, I was the happiest kid on earth.
The butterflies in my stomach had flown away, seeping into the crowd. The only things in my digestive system now were the lyrics, caught in my throat and lifting out of my mouth because gravity was no longer a holdback.
The bridge rocked. Brendan pounded the bass drum and tapped the snare as Luke and Soria went silent. It was just me and him, up to us to make ‘em ours.
“But all this time I thought…you…were…my…friend.
And now it’s over, guess…this…is…the…end.
Please tell me what…I’ve…got…to…lose.
Now it’s like I’m burning…like…a…fuse.”
Judging by the cheers after the last word rolled off my tongue, I think we succeeded. Now it was time to kick into the final chorus, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say I wasn’t that brown-haired kid in the front of the stage with the biggest smile on earth.
“ANONYMOUS!”
Much to our surprise, the crowd shouted that straight back at us.
Some kids pulled out their cell phones and took pictures, flashing just like stars and cities and carnivals all concentrated into little lights.
We recited the normal chorus and I pulled out another one with different lyrics. We wrote it in, like, fifteen minutes a few days before the show, but it stuck to us like a bad case of dandruff.
“ANONYMOUS!
Play the game and play by the rules
Hear me out, I got a lot to learn
This is it, our time’s run out, hey
But I won’t forget
And I won’t regret
Giving my all to you!”
That was epic. I felt the good vibrations from all the amps, and I (accidentally) squeaked a chord from the sensation. And right when I swore it couldn’t get any better, the volume twisted up a notch and we did something that got people jumping even higher.
But higher than my high?
Heck no.
“I HOPE I’M DREAMING
OR MAYBE THAT MY BRAIN’S JUST LEAKING
I NEED A HAND ON THIS SHOULDER…”
I trailed off on the last line, catching my breath the best I could. My face was purple and my lungs were on fire. It was like running a mile in five minutes, except the gym teachers weren’t shouting at us.
The crowd was.
The ovation was more than I could’ve imagined. Soria, Luke, and Brendan ran to the side of the stage with me, waving to them as we went backstage.
We didn’t group hug. We group piled-on, man. All on me. An hour ago, it was like the world was on my shoulders. Now, my friends were on my shoulders. And my entire body, for that matter.
“That was awesome!” Brendan slurred, stumbling across the floor.
Luke gave us all high fives, his grin wider than I’d ever seen. “I think we’ve come a long way from getting kicked out of that party.”
That meant a lot to me. More than any of them probably even realized.
Soria patted my back, smirking the smirk she always seemed to have after a job well done. “You did great, man. I told ya we’d show ‘em who’s boss, and we’d have never done it without you,” she praised.
But who was I to take it all by myself?
“No. No, you all did great. You guys rocked, you kicked total butt and we let them know who Plaster Caster was. Let’s never let this die.”
Group hug?
Nah, group pile-on. Again.
We never did let it die.
And who was I after that night?
I was Ren Hawker, vocalist for Plaster Caster, the supposed best band outta Claymore.
After the intro, the tempo slowed down and the band continued the soothing melody. Soothing for the crowd maybe, but not me. The girl started singing, and immediately I could tell that they were completely prepared. I recognized her from my chorus class, but I’d never heard anyone sing like that - it was pure talent, and I tried my best not to be jealous.
Obviously, they had to shorten the song since it was like seven minutes long, but I don’t thing the crowd minded so much. They were cheering loudly, even if their bassist was totally offbeat.
That eased my mind a little bit. But I was no bassist, I was the singer. And if I screwed up, everyone would notice.
Soria and the others were standing behind me and they were clapping, clearly applauding Fiberlight. She looked at me and a huge knowing grin broke out across her face. Inside, I cringed. Hell really do hath no fury like a woman scorned.
Fiberlight made their way backstage and smiled at us, the girl singer wishing us a “good luck.”
Psh, I’d need more than luck. I’d need Jesus as my microphone stand and God as my guitar pick.
Mrs. Richardson - our principal, also the announcer of the Claymore Middle Talent Show - stepped up to the microphone and read off of a card. “And now, ladies and gentlemen, give a warm welcome to…Plaster Caster!”
My heart quit beating, I’m positive. But I kept on moving.
It felt like a dream as I stepped out into the hotter-than-normal cafetorium lights, but I resisted the urge to slap myself. All those faces of my peers and parents and teachers were surreal. Like at the carnival; was this the life I was living?
Soria couldn’t have been more right. This was my chance. Make or break, kid, I told myself. This was the thing that I’d been freaking out about, but I knew this had been my dream for so long.
When I blinked, I saw all the lights from the carnival flashing around me. I heard all the music blasting from the speakers, and I felt the gravity pushing and pulling me down to the earth. I heard the others ask me if I was alright and I felt myself lie straight to their faces.
And nothing else matters.
My skin heated while the lights seemed to grow more intense and it dawned on me. This was happening now.
This was my life. This was exactly the moment I’d been waiting for all throughout my life, wanting to make a name for myself, and all through 2007 when I finally learned how to confide in people. There was no reason for me to be so ungrateful for an opportunity I’d begged for.
All that crap raced through my mind in five seconds onstage, before Brendan began to pound out the drum intro to “Anonymous.”
After four sequences, Soria and Luke got the signal and the stage exploded with pure...music. Not just noise. Organized noise that could solve the mystery of life. They were grinning and strumming and I was too, playing the old Fender my dad gave me. He looked proud in the crowd once I struck the strings, giving Soria silent permission to put her spin on a scale and do the opening riff. I was backing them up, and they were backing me up in more ways than one.
Time for the first verse.
“I hope I’m dreaming!
Or maybe that my brain’s just leaking
I need a hand on this shoulder!
Negative ten air in my lungs!
Screaming just to know I’m breathing
Your love of lackluster’s blinding me!”
My heart was pounding in the heat of the moment. So far, so good. Nobody was screwing up, and the people in the crowd were bobbing their heads along with us. My mom had her hands over her mouth like she was crying, and my dad was conversing with Mr. Zach. Luke’s foster parents were smiling harder than anybody else. Brendan’s parents were rolling the camera for future generations and his two older brothers looked like they were arguing.
Nothing could have felt better.
“Stand as strong as angels
Fall as weak as demons
Maybe I just burnt out!
It’s my blessing in disguise
Can’t ignore those charming lies
Unbelievably perfect disaster!”
For the first time in my life, I was really, really lucky to be alive, I felt like. Onstage I almost smacked myself for thinking I’d puke all over the stage because I…I was high. Not on drugs. On air.
It was right then that I decided this was what I’d live for.
“And everything you saw as awkward now.
Am I blue yet? I might just be here, yeah.”
Luke leaped in the air and came down, demonstrating the smash of it. Soria walked over and elbowed me, giving a knowing smile that gave me exactly what I needed - confidence.
“Anonymous!
Such a pain just to make a name
Gotta go back to the basics just to find out
Sit and spin
Because the world is a playground!
And I can’t get around
Seeing I don’t know what to do!”
Chorus number one was done. We had successfully melted into verse two with no screw-ups that I could hear, and most importantly, I was doing alright. The music pumped through my veins, replacing the blood with sound waves. I wondered if this was what every singer felt like…
“The ache of elsewhere!
I need a little time to accelerate the life
The days are goin’ by faster!
Let’s go, oh no, road trip!
Sink your soul into something grand…
The sunshine is saying ‘It’s a great day…’
“How do we see with the switchblades at our sides
Wanna say goodbye, can only say good riddance…”
Once again we exploded into that chorus, riling up the people like I never thought I’d be able to do.
I swear, I was the happiest kid on earth.
The butterflies in my stomach had flown away, seeping into the crowd. The only things in my digestive system now were the lyrics, caught in my throat and lifting out of my mouth because gravity was no longer a holdback.
The bridge rocked. Brendan pounded the bass drum and tapped the snare as Luke and Soria went silent. It was just me and him, up to us to make ‘em ours.
“But all this time I thought…you…were…my…friend.
And now it’s over, guess…this…is…the…end.
Please tell me what…I’ve…got…to…lose.
Now it’s like I’m burning…like…a…fuse.”
Judging by the cheers after the last word rolled off my tongue, I think we succeeded. Now it was time to kick into the final chorus, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say I wasn’t that brown-haired kid in the front of the stage with the biggest smile on earth.
“ANONYMOUS!”
Much to our surprise, the crowd shouted that straight back at us.
Some kids pulled out their cell phones and took pictures, flashing just like stars and cities and carnivals all concentrated into little lights.
We recited the normal chorus and I pulled out another one with different lyrics. We wrote it in, like, fifteen minutes a few days before the show, but it stuck to us like a bad case of dandruff.
“ANONYMOUS!
Play the game and play by the rules
Hear me out, I got a lot to learn
This is it, our time’s run out, hey
But I won’t forget
And I won’t regret
Giving my all to you!”
That was epic. I felt the good vibrations from all the amps, and I (accidentally) squeaked a chord from the sensation. And right when I swore it couldn’t get any better, the volume twisted up a notch and we did something that got people jumping even higher.
But higher than my high?
Heck no.
“I HOPE I’M DREAMING
OR MAYBE THAT MY BRAIN’S JUST LEAKING
I NEED A HAND ON THIS SHOULDER…”
I trailed off on the last line, catching my breath the best I could. My face was purple and my lungs were on fire. It was like running a mile in five minutes, except the gym teachers weren’t shouting at us.
The crowd was.
The ovation was more than I could’ve imagined. Soria, Luke, and Brendan ran to the side of the stage with me, waving to them as we went backstage.
We didn’t group hug. We group piled-on, man. All on me. An hour ago, it was like the world was on my shoulders. Now, my friends were on my shoulders. And my entire body, for that matter.
“That was awesome!” Brendan slurred, stumbling across the floor.
Luke gave us all high fives, his grin wider than I’d ever seen. “I think we’ve come a long way from getting kicked out of that party.”
That meant a lot to me. More than any of them probably even realized.
Soria patted my back, smirking the smirk she always seemed to have after a job well done. “You did great, man. I told ya we’d show ‘em who’s boss, and we’d have never done it without you,” she praised.
But who was I to take it all by myself?
“No. No, you all did great. You guys rocked, you kicked total butt and we let them know who Plaster Caster was. Let’s never let this die.”
Group hug?
Nah, group pile-on. Again.
We never did let it die.
And who was I after that night?
I was Ren Hawker, vocalist for Plaster Caster, the supposed best band outta Claymore.
♠ ♠ ♠
After this chapter, there's a short little epilogue I'll post on Wednesday. Then I'll wait a few weeks and then it's on to Soria Girl! ~ :DAlso, I changed my username. Guess what Hawker refers to? ;)