Uzziel – an angel whose name means "the strength of God."
The following week, I worked with the local band that Denise hired to perform at the concert. They’re called ‘Dark Rose’. I was quite happy because Dominic, the guy I used to work with at Strung, was part of it.
“I have missed you, girl!” he greeted me with a hug.
“You too!” I hugged him back.
I heard Chaise coughing behind me, forcing me to pull away from Dominic’s embrace.
“Oh, Dom, this is Chaise. Chaise, this is Dominic. We worked together at Strung.”
Chaise shook Dominic’s hand. I didn’t miss the warning look he gave him. Dominic merely raised a brow, giving Chaise a smirk.
Boys! And I’m not even romantically interested with either of them.
Dominic turned to me. “You should play with us.”
“What?”
“Good luck convincing her,” Chaise murmured.
I shook my head. “I’m not exactly stage material, you know.”
“No, I don’t know,” Dominic said. “Because I’ve always thought you were pretty.”
I was pretty sure he said that just to spite Chaise. Dominic was never attracted to me. I’d met his girlfriend, and she was gorgeous.
“Come on. In case you haven’t noticed my scars, let me show them to you,” I said, pulling my hair away from my face.
“I see a patch of broken skin,” Dominic said. “Nothing makeup couldn’t fix. I’m sure you have concealers for that. Or better yet, let’s highlight it. Get a temporary cheek tat. That would look really cool.”
“A tattoo?” I echoed.
Dominic nodded. “Yeah. You get those erasable ones. Or we paint some flower designs on that. It would hide the scars and it would look cool.”
“Please, let’s not get there. I’m not going to play,” I said firmly. “Now, you guys practice and Chaise and I will listen. Pretend we’re not even here. We’ll choose a list of songs for you to play.”
“Alright. But if you ever change your mind in the coming days, just let me know.”
Two days before the concert, Denise stepped up her game. She was pressuring us more than ever. The concert was the final highlight of the immersion program and she wanted everything to be impeccable. That was why I was making sure Dark Rose performed well on Friday night.
I sat in the cafeteria alone. Denise was obviously busy with a lot of things, and maybe she asked Chaise to run another errand for her. I quickly ate my sandwich because I wanted to call Dominic and give him some additional playlists.
“Why are you curious about her?” I heard somebody say from the table behind me. I think it was Chelsea. “No one is interested in her. If someone ever was, it’s because she looks hideous!”
Yep. No doubt she was talking about me again.
As if that would affect me. That wasn’t the first time Chelsea or one of her myriad of brainless followers talked down on me.
“Some of our boys are curious,” another girl replied.
There was a series of laughter.
“I’m sure they’re only curious because of her scars. But other than that, nothing about her was ever interesting! I mean… maybe she could have been cute if she was flawless. But she’s not. She’s a monster.”
In fairness to them, I think they were really unaware that I was on the table behind them and I could hear every word that they were saying.
“Well, there were rumors that somebody saw her with Hunter on the beach.”
“Seriously? Hunter Vaughn?”
“That’s why Tania was so worried. She heard the rumors that Hunter was carrying that girl around on the beach.”
“What?!”
I wish I could turn around to see their white, shocked faces. But I didn’t want to give up my position yet, and reveal that their conversation wasn’t really private anymore.
“That’s absurd! Why would Hunter Vaughn even give her the time of day?”
“He’s probably the snobbiest person on the planet. He ignores everybody. He doesn’t know how to smile, he looks angry all the time. Why would he even look at that vermin?”
“Tania was fuming when she heard. She confronted Hunter about it.”
“And what did he say?”
Suddenly, I was curious about the answer to that question too.
“Nothing.”
“See? That means that’s not true,” Chelsea breathed in a sigh of relief. “Hunter won’t even bother explaining her to his girlfriend. She’s not worth the effort. Tania shouldn’t be worried. That girl had nothing on her.”
“Even if it were true, I’m sure Hunter would never admit it. I mean… maybe she needed his help for something. Maybe they were just in the same place at the same time. But he won’t even tell people about it because… he’d be ashamed to be seen with her.”
I sank on my seat. That girl had a point. Hunter wouldn’t even bother talking about me. I have a big hunch that he knew who I was. But now that he could finally see again, he was ashamed of our past.
“It’s bad enough that she got Chaise under her spell…”
“Yeah. I think she’s practicing voodoo. Tell Tania not to let Hunter near her again. Maybe he’s her next target.”
They all laughed. “Oh no. No amount of love potion can come between those two. They have a long history together. Their parents were friends. They knew each other from kindergarten. Maybe they’re even arranged to be married to each other. If Hunter didn’t get into an accident, they wouldn’t have separated.”
“Tania is convincing Hunter to come back to Jacksonville. He had a perfect life there. He had nothing to stay for here.”
“Hunter’s father asked Tania to talk sense into him. He refused to see his father, that’s why he’s here. But if there’s anyone who could convince him, it’s Tania.”
I felt like my heart was somewhere on the floor and those girls were trampling on it over and over.
“Even if he stays, Tania has nothing to worry about. If I can’t even successfully attract Hunter Vaughn, no one will.” Chelsea said, and they all laughed.
I figured I’d heard enough. I quietly slipped out of my seat and walked away without getting noticed.
All afternoon, I recalled their conversation in my head. Tania was Hunter’s girlfriend in Jacksonville. Funny that I discovered that, because he told me that I was the best date he’d ever had and he never mentioned having a girlfriend when we were dating at the center.
The girls were right. Tania was gorgeous. I wouldn’t hold a candle to her and seriously, why would Hunter choose me over her supermodel body and Hollywood starlet face?
The girls echoed many of the insecurities I had with myself, but they said something I didn’t agree with. They said nothing about me was noteworthy but my scars, and my scars did nothing but make me hideous.
Maybe Chaise was right. It was time I showed these brainless morons what I was really made of.
I went to the girls’ room and dialed Dominic’s number.
“Hey, girl. What’s up?”
“You’re right. Maybe I can play a song or two with you.”
“Atta girl! Let’s practice tonight.”
When I hung up the phone, I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I turned to the side to study the broken skin on my cheek. It reminded me of what my stepfather did to me. He tortured me, broke my body and my spirit. But here I was, standing on the grounds of the most expensive school in town. I had been wounded, but nothing was gonna stop me from living. I was moving on. I was moving forward.
I touched the rough skin on my cheek.
These are not something I should be ashamed of. These do not make me look like a monster. These are my battle scars. They were meant to remind me that I fought… I survived. I won.
***
It was the night of the concert. I was nervous but what the heck! I came here for a battle, and I had every intention to win. I was tired of people at Leighton High thinking they were better than me. They were not! So they shouldn’t really look or think down on me.
When I told Denise and Chaise that I agreed to play a song with the band, they were over the moon. They went out of their way to support me.
Denise lent me a checkered skirt that ended a few inches above my knees and a pair of black boots that she’d never worn. She also got me a black long-sleeved cropped top that teased a peek of my flat tummy.
Dominic brought his girlfriend Kaia, who happened to be a body painter. She took time to paint flowers and swirls on the side of my cheek where my scars were. She also braided my hair to reveal her handiwork on my face. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I was surprised. I couldn’t even tell that I had a scar on the skin she painted on.
“Wow!” Chaise breathed behind me. “You look… beyond amazing.”
I smiled at him through the mirror. “Kaia did a great job on my face paint.”
“She did. But you’re pretty without it anyway,” he said. He spun me around so he could look at me in the eye. “Are you ready to show them who you really are?”
I nodded. I was nervous but at the same time, I was excited. I knew I had nothing to worry about. When I got up the stage, I would have a guitar in my hands, and a microphone in front of my face. I would be in my element. The rest of the people who would watch me? Well, I only cared about one of them. And he didn’t give a shit about me.
So what if I fuck this up? Which I doubt I will.
“I’ll be here at the side,” Chaise told me. “Remember, I’m your biggest fan.”
I laughed. “Denise will disagree with you.”
“So will I,” Dominic said behind us. “You look gorgeous, doll.”
“Thank you,”
“We’re ready for you.” He handed me the electric guitar that I was going to use.
I slung the guitar string over my body, then I took a deep breath.
Here we go!
As I stepped out of the backstage, I could hear the crowd going wild for the band.
“We have a guest performer with us,” Dominic said on the microphone. He took over the role of lead guitarist. He would be playing the guitar with me. It was great because I knew him and I felt more comfortable. “She is one of you.”
The crowd applauded once again.
“Give it up for… Alice!”
The crowd clapped and whistled.
I felt Chaise give me a gentle push towards the stage.
“Break them, babe!” he said.
When I stepped into the stage, the crowd stopped clapping. I felt everyone’s eyes on me. I heard some people say ‘What the fuck?’ but I also heard some say, ‘Wow!’
I stood in front of the microphone, and strummed the strings of my guitar, making sure they were in tune. Dominic also played some notes to cover up for the crowd’s shocked silence.
Then finally, Dominic gave me a nod, signaling me to start playing.
Before I strummed my first note, I said in my mind, I hope you’re out there, Hunter Vaughn! I hope you listen hard. See how much I can challenge your guitar prowess now!
And then I played the intro to Sweet Child O’Mine. Shortly after, Dominic played his part. We looked at each other and he gave me a nod of approval as I walked towards the microphone and started singing, “She’s got a smile and seems to me…”
Hunter Vaughn had been ignoring me far too long now. He would recognize the song that he taught me to play every day at the center. He should definitely remember my voice. After this, he could no longer say that he didn’t remember me. I was done being shoved at the back of his memories!
I played the guitar solo too. It used to be difficult for me, but right now, I played it flawlessly. After the solo, I could hear the crowd cheering already.
When we finished the song, the applause was deafening. Dominic himself was clapping for me.
“Amazing!” he shouted at me.
The audience was shouting, “More!”
I stared at Dominic, waiting for his cue.
“To all you, lovers, out there!” Dominic said to the crowd. “You are welcome to dance to this.”
I strummed a more mellow tune. Then I sang, “Dancing in the dark, middle of the night…”
It was a very romantic song, and I had to concentrate on playing and singing because if I didn’t, I would cry.
The crowd was singing along, and many couples were actually dancing.
I remembered the time that Hunter told me, “I swear, someday, you will play and sing in front of a crowd and you will wow every single one of them… I may not be able to see you, but I sure would hear you.”
If he could hear me now, I wonder what he would be thinking.
Before I strummed my final note, Chaise walked up the stage beside me and gave me a long-stemmed rose.
People were clapping and cheering. The applause was deafening. I could hardly believe these were the same kids who were making fun of me on regular days.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Allison Harley!” Dominic said.
I pushed the guitar towards my back and gave a curtsy and then Chaise took my hand and guided me back to the backstage.
“Oh my God!” I screamed. “I can’t believe I pulled that off!”
Chaise pulled me to him and gave me a hug. “You were amazing! Your voice didn’t buckle at all. You weren’t nervous. You were truly in your element! I’m so proud.”
“Thank you! I couldn’t have done that without you and Denise! Thank you for making me do that!”
“I’ll bet these people didn’t see that coming.” He laughed.
“Well, it doesn’t matter. I didn’t do it for them. I did it for me.”
And for Hunter.