Music Camp { A Short Luke Hemmings Novel }

N i n e

Valery counts down and the guitars start to play some riff. You can already tell they didn't practice very well since they both look at each other with that what-the-hell-are-you-doing expression. They have a not so weird choice of instruments, just two guitars, a bass and a drummer. The song goes terribly wrong and they don't even make it to the end.

It's plainly embarrassing and you really feel for them. Valery gets up from her safe spot behind the drums and walks to one of the others to yell in his face. ''I thought we discussed this! You wouldn't mess up,'' she tells him while everyone is listening. The boy awkwardly stares at his feet as he holds his guitar. This is where Mr. Smith starts talking, trying to soothe them.

''Well, what can I say about this? I really hoped you all would learn how to deal with certain situations and just do the right thing, but apparently you didn't. Hereby I disqualify you from this contest, because you didn't understand this assignment at all and didn't even finish your song,'' he says the well spoken words everyone was thinking.

The band angrily leaves the stage and plops down on their places in the crowd again, everyone's laughing and you're actually happy, because Valery finally got what she deserved: justice. They messed up their song because they were all too busy ruining others' their lives. The other three persons in the band also were a bunch of bullies, just nasty persons.

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''Okay, band number thirteen,'' the Andrea says. You know this is Calum and Michael's band, they already got to the stage five minutes ago. Every band has to gather behind the scenes when the band before them is playing. You wonder what it will be like when band number nineteen is playing and you will be getting yourselves ready for your performance.

Every minute you're getting more and more scared, you hope you'll manage.

Calum, Michael, Dana and Faye, the other girl, enter the stage. Calum has his really cool looking bass in his hands, Michael his guitar, Dana sits down behind the drums and Faye grabs the microphone. You heard she can sing very well, which should be interesting. Calum and Michael will be singing some parts to, and you're really curious about the whole song. They get their cue and Dana starts to count down by colliding her sticks.

The song starts and you listen to it with a bright smile. The intro already sounds really good and as soon as Faye starts singing the smile even grows. She could use some tips, but she's a really good singer. It is nice, spicy and has a nice beat in it. They've really done their best and managed to make a good song, which is refreshing. You've heard some good songs from other bands, but also some really bad ones.

There was even a band with only classical instruments that tried to stand out... They messed up in the middle of the song and never got back to the right rhythm, that must have sucked. You felt bad for them, but it would also mean you had more chances to win. Even though they were really small already.

You can't help but feel proud when you see your friends up there. It looks like they're having fun, and the judges also seem really impressed. The chorus just started again and you softly hum along with the melody. Bethany looks at you and smiles. ''This is really nice, isn't it?'' She asks, and you heavily nod. ''Yeah, I love it,

''Me too,'' she says before turning her head back towards the stage and listening to the music as the song slowly comes to an end. When the song's finished they all give each other a big hug, after which Dana and Calum smile at each other. Before you even realize what's happening, his lips are on hers and you 'awe' at the sight of it.

''Young love,'' Bethany sighs and you chuckle. ''They're cute,'' you point out. You look at Luke, who's just sitting there with a blank expression on his face. ''Hey, what's up?'' You ask him. '