Limelight

Nikki Levin

Nikki Levin

“We have to start putting together a package. You know, a CD with our songs, lyrics, a bio of all the members, the flyers, and a video of us at Teal Beach, all that,” I said, folding my arms. I was just repeating what Mel had told me. “Don’t forget – we need to come up with something dynamic to make us stand out.”

Rhea put down the bottle of OPI’s “Sea? I Told You So” shimmery blue nail polish she was using to paint her toes. “Who writes the songs?” she asked, glancing at me.

I smirked, looking at Shadiya, then locking my eyes back on Rhea. “Shadiya.”

Shadiya jumped up in surprise. “What? No! I never said I was writing songs. I can’t write songs!”

I stood up. “You’re a really good actress, Shadiya, but I saw that lyric book of yours. You have, like, ten. I bet you could write a couple more for us, right? And no crap, either.”

“Fine. I’ll get my book,” she grumbled, running to her room. She came back with a notebook. It had a hard, cardboard cover, with pictures of sunsets, beaches, and Shadiya with an older girl taped on it.

“Okay … good, you’ve labeled these,” I murmured, seeing Slow, Medium, and Dance/Party written next to the titles of the songs. I also saw lime-green-ink smiley emoticons next to some.

“If you’re looking for faster stuff, ‘Going/Going/Gone’ is probably my best,” Shadiya offered. “And if you guys can do medium-slow, ‘Just Won’t Say It’ is really good.”

I had no idea what songs were those, but Shadiya did, so I wouldn’t have to make a note of it. I took out my MacBook Pro 2011 (with the multicolored keyboard backlight thingy that looked super cool). “We need individual photos and a band photo. Mel will be taking the photos,” I added.

It seemed Shadiya’s shoulders slumped when I tossed her lyric book onto the coffee table. Whatever. It’s not like I’m throwing it away. I mean, we’re not doing lyrics right now. Did she have to be some emotional?

The “photo shoot” went pretty well. We had Hayden and Casey do their photo together, doing this cool pose where they were leaning forward and clutching their hair. Rhea’s photo had her tipping her head back laughing into a cell phone and holding a clear plastic purse. We got Shadiya to smile shyly while sitting on the balcony, her legs entwined, pretending to strum her acoustic guitar. I did this awesome pose, leaning back and holding my microphone. Then we got all of us to group together, leaning against the balcony so you could see the ocean in the background. They all turned out great. I dialed up Room Service and asked for some drinks – see, that’s the great thing about living in a luxury condo like Angeles Diamond Towers; there was freakin Room Service! Really convenient.

Minutes later, we were all sipping our drinks. I had a virgin lime margarita; Rhea ordered a piña colada; Casey opted for a Shirley Temple while Hayden preferred Sprite; and Shadiya had gotten an iced tea. “Now,” I said, putting down the margarita, directing what I was saying to Shadiya, “we’ll start looking over lyrics.”

I went to shut off the new Avril Lavigne single playing on the radio and grabbed Shadiya’s book. “Since these are your lyrics, you’re in charge,” I deadpanned.

“Thank you,” Shadiya said, snatching the book. “To start, I just have the lyrics and guitar music. Hayden, Casey, do you think you can figure out what to play by ear? Or do you guys have some music genius?”

“It’s fine, we can do it by ear,” Casey grinned.

“And I do have background stuff,” Shadiya affirmed, glancing at me and Rhea.