---

Editor Note: The images used for this story were purchased and used under royalty-free license* from Istockphoto.com . ~Sephrena
Author Note: Please email me at AngelJediGirl (at) gmail (dot) com before posting this story to any other site. Posting to a pay site is prohibited.

Comments and suggestions are also welcome at the above email address.

*  *  *

Sarah Carerra Book 2: Summer Medley

Chapter 2.18 - Fly Like an Angel

I woke up in pain on Thursday. The only thing that kept me from trying to cancel the rest of the video shoot was the long, relaxing shower that I took. By the time I was dressed and ready to go, the hot water had relaxed me enough that the pain was bearable.

Then I somehow, even though I didn’t know how I did it, managed to convince Dad to let me drive. But as I pulled out of the driveway, I once again wished that I had somebody other than my dad going with me this morning.

I was happy that Emily had a summer job. It would really help her later in life. But it sucked not to have a friend to go with me to Sarah's commitments. Ethan could have come, but despite the fact that we were 'just friends' for now, our relationship was still strained. He still avoided me when Emily wasn't around. I hoped that we would overcome some of the awkwardness I had created, but it didn't seem to be abating yet.

The drive to the shoot was uneventful. I managed to keep Dad from yelling at me, but I think he was still nervous as we drove. He didn't say anything about my driving, though. If I did something he didn't like, I was pretty sure he would have told me about it.

As I pulled into the parking spot that they had reserved for me at the shoot, I noticed that there was already a small crowd formed around the cordoned off area where the trailers and tents used for the production were set up. Yesterday, I hadn't seen anyone other than adults hanging around, but it was apparent that word had spread. I could see a number of kids looking at my car excitedly as I opened the door and stepped out.

The small crowd started cheering when they saw me, and after locking my car I smiled and walked to where they were standing. It took me at least 15 minutes to sign autographs, take pictures, and greet the crowd before they were satisfied so that I could get to work for the day.

When Dad and I approached the area where Jonothon and his assistant Katrina were waiting for me, they smiled and stood up.

"Good morning, Sarah," Jonothon greeted me. "Are you ready to get to work?"

"Yes," I replied. I was worried that he might be mad at me for taking the time to greet the crowd, but his smile and calm demeanor told me that he was okay with it. He even had a sparkle in his eye that made me think he was happy that I had done it.

"Good," he broke the smile. "First, we'd like to perform a small sound check on the roof. It's highly unlikely that we will be using any audio from your performances today, but we'd still like to capture it anyway. There may be some things that will be useful."

"Okay," I replied. "Do you want me to change first?"

"No, Katrina will lead you up to the roof," Jonothon explained. "We'll let you and the band warm up, and then we'll let you change and start the shooting. Katrina?"

I turned my attention to his assistant, who smiled at me and then turned to walk toward the alley. I quickly caught up to her.

"It's an honor to be working with you," she said once we were no longer on the street. "I'm finishing my degree next semester, and I was lucky enough to get this internship with Jonothon."

"The pleasure is mine," I replied, even though I hadn't had very much contact with her during the filming to base that opinion on. The smile that broadened across her face told me that those were the right words, though.

"I'm a big fan, too," she continued after we had started up the steps. "I can't wait to see you in concert. I'll be down at the fairgrounds tomorrow morning to buy tickets."

I immediately began to laugh. Then I turned toward her. "Talk to my manager; I'm sure he'd be able to get you some tickets without having you wait in line."

"I don't know," she looked really eager for the opportunity, but she was reluctant to accept them for some reason. "I shouldn't."

"Why not?" I asked her, hiding the surprise that I had felt that she wouldn't want the tickets.

"I don't know how well Jonothon would take it if I accepted a gift from you," she said. She then frowned, and I knew she wanted the tickets. I decided that I would talk to Dad, so that he would give tickets to Katrina.

When we reached the top of the stairs, I found the band putting the finishing touches on their equipment while Sophie and Holly were sitting on the edge of the small stage, waiting for something to do.

"Hi, guys," I said as I approached. The girls looked relieved to see me, and I got a quick smile and "hello" from the guys before they went back to their equipment.

"I'm so glad you're here," Sophie said while standing up. "It's really hot and boring waiting for something to happen."

I laughed at her words. It was already shaping up to be a warm day. Yesterday’s temperature had been pleasant, but the temperature was forecast to be higher today. Hopefully we could get the shoot done quickly.

"Ready for a sound check?" Jason broke in before I could reply to her. I nodded, and we each took our places on the stage. I was happy to see that the microphone my dad had bought for me would be in the video. I grabbed the sleek, white handle and turned toward Jason.

"What did you have in mind?" I asked.

"As much as I'd like to play something else before we spend the rest of the day on one song, I think we should stick with 'You Can't Hurt Me'," he replied. I agreed and then closed my eyes, waiting for the song to start. While there wasn't an audience on the roof to watch us, I was confident the fans down below would be able to hear the song.

I sang through the song while the band played, giving those below the best performance that I could. They likely wouldn't stay for long once they realized they wouldn't be able to see anything we were doing, so I figured I'd give them a show and let them go on their way. Unfortunately, I found out about half way through the sound check that my assumption was wrong.

There were a few buildings around the one that we were performing on that were the same height or higher. It didn't take long for people to start to congregate on their own roofs, and I knew that we were going to be watched the entire day. Just as long as they stayed out of the way, I didn't have a problem with them watching.

Once the sound check was complete, Katrina walked me back down the stairs toward the dressing tent. There was another roar of approval when the crowd that was still gathered on the street saw me. I guessed they had liked the show. I quickly ducked into the tent after giving them a wave.

Julia was waiting for me again, and she had an excited smile across her face. "Good morning, Sarah," she greeted me.

"Good morning, Julia" I replied. Then I gasped at the dress that was hanging next to her. Her smile widened.

"Do you like it?" she asked.

"Most definitely!" was the only answer that I could give her. The dress was white, and appeared to be fitted through where my waist would be. The dress left most of my shoulders bare, with only a thin strip of the white satiny material holding it on over my shoulder. From the waist down, it had three layers of skirts that fell to about mid-thigh. But what really caught the eye, and I was certain Julia considered the "glam" was the thin feathery layer of fabric that sat on top of each skirt layer. I couldn't tell what it was made of, but it kept catching the light like a prism, causing the skirts to dance with a myriad of colors. It was like seeing a rainbow out of the corner of one’s eye. I knew I could see something, but if I looked at it carefully, all I might see was a silvery light overtop of the dress.

It was beautiful!

"Let me help you put it on," Julia broke into my thoughts. "It can be a little tricky."

I nodded, and started undressing. I was conscious of the fact that this was the first time that I had undressed in front of her since the first day she had come over to my house to teach me about "the rules" that dictated how I should dress as Sarah. But even more so now than at that time, I wasn't worried. I had nothing to hide from her. Even if she saw some of the bruising that was still healing between my legs, she knew that I'd had surgery. It was public knowledge now that I'd had a blockage during my period. She just didn't know the full extent.

If she did notice anything amiss, she didn't say anything about it. I did catch her glance down once I was down to my undies, but there wasn't anything to see. I was healing well, and the little discoloration that I still had was completely covered.

The dress felt as light as it looked when I slipped it on. It covered everything without being indecent, but it felt like I wasn't wearing anything at all. Julia finished the outfit by placing all of the accessories I had worn yesterday back into their proper positions on my body. They looked even better when complementing the dress. She finished the outfit off by slipping my feet into a pair of open toed pumps which left me hoping I'd make it up the stairs without breaking my neck.

Stephanie then got her hands on me. She was slightly peeved that Julia had thrust me into a white dress before I'd had my makeup done, but she covered me in a wrap that prevented any makeup from getting on the dress while she worked.

After they were done putting their finishing touches on me, I stepped in front of the mirror. I was immediately struck with the similarity between this outfit and the one that adorned my favorite poster of Sarah Carerra. The poster, which I had first seen in the mall that fateful day that Emily and Ethan had found out the truth about Sarah Carerra, had me in a white dress with a silver headband. The pose and the headband had combined to create an image that was almost angelic. This dress did nearly the same thing. I blew myself a kiss into the mirror before turning toward the exit of the tent.

Katrina had told me that we were first going to film the scenes of the band playing the song this morning, and then follow with the shots of me reaching the top of the stairs and joining the band. If all went according to plan, we would be done early today. If it didn't...well, we had tomorrow scheduled as an extra filming day. I knew that I was supposed to meet with 'The Jive' people sometime tomorrow, but that was likely flexible. I hoped we'd be done by the end of today.

When I stepped back out of the dressing tent, I was immediately reminded of the crowd that was watching from nearby. A few flashes caught my eye, and I could hear the clicks of more cameras as I smiled and gave them a pose before heading for the alley. Dad, Jonothon, and Katrina were all waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. I happily took my dad's outstretched arm and let him help me up the stairs. The stairs themselves had a small decorative design cut out of each step, and it took some fancy footwork to get me, and the thin heels, up to the top.

"Wow!" was the first word that came out of Sophie's mouth when she saw me. Unquestionably, this dress constituted one of the more elaborate outfits that Julia had gotten me into. If we weren't using the dress in a music video, it definitely would have worked up on stage.

Before anyone else could comment, Jonothon brought us together.

"Alright, everyone," he said. "Are you ready to get started?" After we all nodded our assent, he continued. "Each of you will have an earpiece that will be playing your recorded version of the song. We want to try to match that as exactly as possible to the video. Doing so will enable us to use the studio version."

That seemed to make sense. They'd want the video to sync with the music, but there was no way they'd want to use what they would record on the top of a roof for the video.

"Sarah, the girls and you don't have to lip-sync," he continued. "But please try to stick as closely as possible to what you were doing in the studio. You should be able to hear it in your ear pieces."

We all nodded. This was going to be harder than I thought.

"Let's give it a go," Jonothon said. "We'll practice a few times. Once you guys have it down, we can start filming, okay?"

So that's what we did. It was awkward at first. I hadn't realized how much I relied on the feedback that came through the ear piece I wore during my performances. It was unnerving having a completely different sound coming through my ears. All of us had difficulty adjusting to it. It took us about 10 times before we were able to get through the entire song. Every one of us stopped outright at least once.

Eventually we started to get into a rhythm. It helped that it had only been three days since we had recorded the song in the studio, and soon Jonothon called for a stop.

"Good job, everyone," he told us. "If we can do another one like that, we'll have what we are looking for. Take five minutes while we get the cameras set up."

I sighed in relief and took a step off the stage. I was going to sit down, but Julia was there quickly to prevent me from sitting on the edge of the stage in such a pristine white dress. Fortunately, she had a blanket with her and after draping it across the stage, she allowed me to sit. Stephanie and a few other makeup people were there next to make sure that we were still looking good for the cameras.

In no time at all, and long before I was ready, Jonothon told us it was time to start again. I sighed, but stood back up and let Julia fiddle with the dress for a bit before stepping back in front of the microphone.

It took another two hours to satisfy Jonothon. From the word go we tried to give him a performance worthy of a music video, and I thought we sounded as close as we could to the recorded version of the song. But there was always something that Jonothon wanted us to work on. They'd film us doing one take, and then he'd have us adjust something and they'd film it all over again. By the time he was happy I thought for sure they would have had enough takes to piece together a perfect performance.

The day had started to become very warm, and I was very glad for the opportunity to duck into the shade that the dressing tent provided me. Julia was already waiting for me, and I noticed that yesterday’s outfit had been set out again.

The only thing left to film for the music video was the scene where I reached the top of the stairs and joined the band on stage. That scene included a change of outfit on screen. I was supposed to take off the school girl outfit to reveal the dress I was wearing. I think it was meant to signal the transformation between a beaten, scared normal girl and the confident young star that I had become.

I was not thrilled about donning another layer with the heat of the day. But I knew I didn't have another choice. Julia helped me get into the extra layer and showed me how to take it off quickly without damaging either outfit. Eventually, I had everything on, and I was ready to get back to work.

Going up the stairs the second time was much easier wearing the flats I had worn the day before. I was supposed to don the heels when I reached the stage, but until then, things would be easier.

Once I reached the roof, I noticed that everything had been cleared off. The only things left were the stage and the band’s equipment. The only people milling about were the band and Jonothon and Katrina. It looked like it was ready for filming.

"Okay, Sarah," Jonothon said to me. "I want you to start on the second to last step there, and then walk up to the top. A small camera will be waiting for you mounted to a small remote control helicopter that will be flying slightly above you. I want you to look straight at it, smile, and then turn toward the band, walk over to them, and then join them on stage to sing the end of the song, okay?"

"Okay," I replied.

"For this first attempt, don't worry about the clothes. Once we get the movements down we'll work on walking over while taking off the clothes, okay?"

I nodded again.

We tried that for another half hour, while he critiqued my movements until I was following the motions that he wanted me to follow. Then we turned to removing the clothes. They rolled out a couple of mats for the first few attempts, so that I wouldn't drop the clothes onto the dirt and grime of the roof.

Once I became proficient at removing the clothes while walking toward the band, we started filming. The band would start playing at about the end of the second verse, and I'd take the last step up the stairs, look at the camera with a victorious smile, and then turn to walk toward the band. The school clothes had been designed to be removed easily, and it didn't take much to get them off. I'd lose an article here and there and dump it on the ground as I walked toward the stage.

On the stage, right in front of my microphone, the silver pumps were waiting for me. I'd take the step up, stand in front of the microphone, kick the flats off both my feet and the stage at the same time, slip my feet into the pumps, grab the microphone, and start singing with the band.

I had less than 20 seconds to complete the whole trek from the stairs to when I was supposed to be singing. But even with the quick pace, Jonothon thought that it was going to look spectacular. I hoped he was right.

It took us about 10 takes before Jonothon was satisfied with what we had given him; it was much less than I thought we would need, but much more than I had hoped. Taking clothes off and putting them on again became tedious really fast. But I thought that the concept was really cool, and I couldn't wait to see how it would turn out on film.

"That's a wrap!" Jonothon finally called. I smiled. It had been a long, hot day, but I had no doubt that it was all worth it. This video was going to rock.

*  *  *