Casey Barnes Eponymous - By E.A. Rigg Page 0,45
had she gotten teased for being that way? No, she was probably smart enough to evade torture. But would she have gotten up at talent show auditions and played the Maxine French song? Y-E-S.
3. Song 3 -“Passion Pit” by Moth’s Wings. Candy pop with a touch of rebellion. Car commercials with lip gloss. Get up on that stage and DO it, Casey Barnes.
Ben was sitting in the front row looking morose when Casey and Sukh arrived for auditions.
“Are you ready?” Sukh with an enthusiasm completely lacking in knowledge of what was going on between Ben and Casey.
“I suppose,” Ben muttered. He gave Casey a wary look.
She ignored him and began to tune her guitar. She had seen Alex Deal with the other members of Air Morocco as she entered the auditorium. She did not even bother to make eye contact or say hi. Through the corner of her eye, she saw movement in the area where Alex and co were seated: a swish of long hair and a short cheerleading skirt.
“Do you see this?” Sukh hissed, “Maxine French is here.”
Casey shot him the thumbs-up sign. Ben spoke without taking his eyes from the stage where Note Mountain was singing something from South Pacific. “We can still change the plan.”
“I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t speak while The Mother Fuckers are performing,” Casey said.
Ben looked at her. “I guess I’ll take that as a no?”
“Yes, Ben. That’s a no.”
When Note Mountain finished they walked by Ms. Vernon. She gave them a nod and quickly looked to see if Casey had caught it, which, of course, she had. Casey waved broadly at her. Ms. Vernon frowned and turned back around.
“It was a weak Note Mountain showing, Casey,” Sukh said, “We have nothing to worry about.”
Casey looked at Ben but he maintained poker face. Air Morocco took the stage. From the area of the auditorium where they were sitting a female voice hooted encouragement. Casey did not have to turn to see who it was. She scooted down lower in her seat. But a few bars into their audition song, a nice little thing happened: some kids started talking in the back of the auditorium. This was not exactly extraordinary. The gathered masses were teenagers and school was done for the day. But the reason it was noteworthy was that the day before everyone had been too awed to make noise during Air Morocco’s audition. On that second day, however, this was not the case. Plus the song they played could easily have passed for the one from the day before.
They finished and got off the stage. Casey’s heartbeat sped up. Samantha approached. “You guys ready?” They nodded, followed her to the stage, and ascended. Casey plugged in her guitar.
Ben hesitated before walking to the drum kit. “Last chance to change our minds on this one.”
She stared at him. She then looked out at the audience and saw that, for the first time since talent show auditions began, she had Alex Deal’s attention. Next to him Maxine French folded her arms over her chest and smirked. Casey looked back to Ben and realized he had seen her watching Alex Deal. He walked back to his drum kit.
She motioned for Sukh to come closer. “Lower your bass line during the chorus. That way everyone’ll really hear it when I talk about her you-know-what.”
“Whenever you’re ready,” Samantha said.
Casey nodded and launched into the first chord. For a second, just as she began, she got a panicked feeling. What was she getting herself into and who did she think she was to get herself into it? But then she remembered something Clayton Gould said once, before Ben and Sukh and Alex Deal and Pop Wire, when he was trying to convince Casey to play her rock songs in front of others. He said that the secret to public speaking, doing anything in front of a crowd, really, was imagining that everyone in front of you had no clothes on.
She forced the image into her head. It grossed her out. But she did relax. She then tried the trick where she made herself see Alex and herself leaving auditions together. Her playing got better. There was a textured, woodsy tone that, up until then, her voice had only gotten when she played guitar in her room. In that moment, however, the tone came out.
They were still on the first verse. They had not yet gone into the chorus that would out Maxine French and her adventures in