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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.

Author Note: Many of the songs that Sarah sings are "inspired" by real life songs. I'm not a songwriter, but I can tell a story. A special thanks should be given to the artists that helped shape the music that is Sarah Carerra. Embedded in this chapter are the songs that inspired this part of the concert for you to enjoy if you wish to.

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

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Sarah Carerra Book 3: Concerto in A-

Chapter 3.05 - Red Rocks Amphitheatre

I was awakened on Saturday morning by a knock on the door to my room. After all the fun I'd had with the girls during the Starshine party, I had actually managed to get a really good night’s sleep on the bus. I found Dad waiting for me when I cracked the door open. He was smiling, which I was able to return this morning.

"Good morning, Princess," he greeted me. I pulled the door open further to respond.

"Morning, Daddy," I replied.

"Sound check is in an hour and a half," he told me. "A van will be here to take you up to the venue when you are ready. I'm going to take your mother and Austin up now to get some breakfast."

"Okay," I replied. I glanced at the alarm clock. It read 9:30. I didn't get to sleep in like this often, so I was grateful that Dad had let me. "I'll be out in a bit," I told him. He nodded, and I closed the door as he turned away.

Soon I was ready, and Amy and Mason were waiting for me on the couch at the front of the bus. Fortunately, nobody was waiting for me outside this morning, so we were quickly on the van and heading up the hill to the venue. I closed my eyes during the short trip and let the rush start to build.

I loved performance days! It was like a non-stop rush of adrenaline all day. I couldn't imagine doing anything else for a living anymore. Being up on stage was my drug, and I was totally ecstatic that it was legal.

When we arrived backstage Mason, Amy, and I made our way to the dining room where the crew was eating to get our own breakfast. My family was just finishing up, but stayed to talk while we ate.

The sound check then came and went without any problems, and I was able to hang out with some crew members in The Observatory for a while. Then I ate lunch with the band and with my family in the cafeteria again. After lunch, I took a van back down to my bus to take a nap, because I would be up late tonight with the concert and the after party.

A crowd had once again formed outside my bus while I slept. It was much larger than the crowd that had come out the day before, and I started to understand what Mom had meant when she said it was hard to get my attention on the day of a concert. They cheered and some even cried when I stepped off the bus. But I didn't get to spend as much time with them as I had with the group yesterday. Soon I was ushered into the van to take me back up to the backstage area.

There were still a couple of hours before 'Poptacular', the band opening for me, took the stage. I lounged in the dressing room with my band. I was a bit of an outcast from them, because I was the star and because I was several years younger than they were. Nevertheless, we were good friends, and I enjoyed any time that I got to spend with them.

"Have you seen the tunnel yet?" Stacy asked me.

"The what?" I queried back. I had no idea what he was talking about.

"The tunnel," he stated. "It goes up to a sound booth or something. But, well...come and see."

He stood up and motioned for me to follow as he moved toward the door. I stood to follow, and the rest of the band followed me. Stacy had piqued my curiosity now.

Stacy led us through a couple of hallways. I had not been in this part of the backstage area. But when he turned another corner and walked through a door into a concrete stairwell, I was stunned. Lining the walls and even some of the steps were signatures and dedications!

"Whoa," escaped my lips as I started moving up the stairs and reading some of the names. There were some BIG performers listed!

"I guess performers here have been signing their names for a while now," Stacy explained. Then I noticed his grin as he pulled out a large, permanent marker. I smiled back and took the proffered item from him.

It took us a while to find a space big enough, but after signing my name and dating it, I happily handed the marker back to Stacy so he could do the same. Seeing all five of their names signed next to mine reminded me just how lucky I was to have them in my life.

That same feeling flowed through me once again a few hours later when I squeezed the band's Carerra Bear as hard as I could while imagining us having an amazing performance. Afterward I took a deep breath and passed the bear to Sophie, who did the same thing.

When I was 10 I had been in a bad car accident. I had ended up in the hospital with some major injuries that had first led my family and me to start questioning my gender. While I was there, my dad had given me a teddy bear. Over the years I had hugged that bear any time I needed something to hug - something to take away the worries in my life. I'd had Dad make some smaller replicas of those bears with Sarah's signature on them that I could give to the fans who really touched me. But I had also had him get another one that was the same size as the original, and which had all of our signatures on it.

It was made for this purpose. Once each of the band members had held the bear they passed it back to me. I then held it out in front of me at arm's length, and each of them reached out and placed their hand on it.

"Let's get this party started!" we yelled together before once more laughing at our antics. Perhaps it was a silly pre-concert ritual, but it always brought us together and prepared us for what was to come.

* * *

The cheer of the crowd echoed throughout the amphitheatre once again as I finished singing a cover of The Corr's 'Breathless' for them. I was wearing the sophisticated little black dress that Julia, my image consultant, had picked out for the "elegant" section of the concert that I had just completed. The rush of adrenaline pumping through my body was at an all-time high again as I relished in the screaming and clapping of the crowd. I had just played two cover songs in a row, and I was about to drop into a third, yet they cheered just as hard as if the songs had been my own.

Once the crowd started to die down a bit, I turned to introducing the next song.

"We've talked a lot about the beginning of relationships this evening," I told the crowd. "But unfortunately most relationships also have an end. I thought it would only be fitting to take some time and explore the other side of a relationship. What do you think?"

A small cheer echoed throughout the venue once more. I doubted they really cared what I sang about as long as I kept singing.

"Not all relationships end in heartache," I told the crowd. "Some end with a mutual understanding. One or both people might realize that it just isn't working. But many times after those relationships there are regrets. Was it the right decision? Could it have worked?"

I paused for a moment to let that sink in. "Usually one of the people in these types of breakups doesn’t want it to end. They tell you to 'Stay', and if you don't, they secretly hope that the next time they see you, you'll reply, 'I Missed You'."

A low rumble passed through the crowd. Some of them realized what I was going to sing, but most of them didn't. However, as the soft chords coming from Jason's guitar echoed off the two large rocks to either side of the venue, the rumble grew. Those who didn't know Lisa Loeb's 'Stay (I Missed You)' were in for a treat. Those who had heard the song before seemed to enjoy it as I continued to sing the cover. This song was older than I was, but that didn't mean that I couldn't love it as much as anyone that had listened to it when it was on the radio.

When the song came to an end and I lowered the microphone, the audience agreed with me. They roared as loudly as they had for any of my own songs, and I reveled in it for a moment. I liked each of the covers that I was singing during my concert, but they still didn't hold a candle in my heart like my own music did.

As I returned to my own music after singing three covers in a row, I had an extra large smile on my face. The band had written this next song for me, and I had done my best to honor them with it. This time would be no exception.

"Sometimes relationships end badly," I told the crowd. I knew this song had been inspired by relationships that the band members had been in during their lives. I knew that it meant something to them, even if I hadn't experienced the emotions the song talked about in my own life. "People sometimes stray. Sometimes I worry about what they are doing when I'm not around. But the truth is always revealed when they look 'Into My Eyes'."

Jason and I launched into the song immediately with a fast, upbeat tempo that raised the energy in the amphitheatre immediately. I continued to sing through the first verse that talked about the guy I was with, and how I was starting to get suspicious about his activities. Then just before we ramped up into the chorus I questioned him. After looking into my eyes, I knew that he was lying to me. There was someone else.

The chorus brought with it an even faster pace, and I confronted him with the realization that I'd had. I told him how easy it was to read him, and how happy I was to be leaving this relationship. How happy I was that he no longer had a hold on me.

The song then slowed back into the second verse where he tried to explain. He tried to win me back. He did all of the things he'd been doing for months to convince me that nothing else was going on. But I'd seen it in his eyes, and I didn't believe him anymore. We ramped back up into the chorus so that I could once again show him how happy I was to be rid of him. He couldn't hurt me anymore.

To emphasize the point the song slowed once more, and with little accompaniment I sang through the chorus again, telling him that he couldn't lie to me anymore. He wasn't good enough for me. He had to go. When he refused, we ramped back up into the chorus and the power of the song pushed him out of my life.

A cheer exploded around the arena as Jason's guitar played the last chord. I smiled once again, because this song was a lot of fun. But it didn't compare to what was coming next. It was almost time for one of my favorite parts of the concert.

Dancers moved on and off the stage as they prepared for the next song. I basked in the warmth that the cheering crowd had caused to build up within me. The fire, the rush that I felt when performing, always started its rise to the climax as we went into this section of the concert. Every single one of my songs that I loved the most was still waiting to be sung. There were others intermixed with them, but the fun started now.

"Many times we don't see the relationship ending until it is over," I told the crowd when their roar started to die down. "But sometimes...sometimes we see it coming a mile away. Sometimes, our relationship is the target of someone else. How many people here have had a boyfriend or girlfriend stolen away from them?"

I raised my hand along with the majority of the crowd that was now screaming in the affirmative. Josh Holliday's heart had been stolen away from me, even if it had been in an odd, twisted sort of way. I knew the emotions that I had felt when I found out that another girl had captured him had come into play when the band and I had written this song together. I also knew that Jason had particularly felt vindictive about this after watching a girl he had really loved be swept away by who he thought was a friend. I knew what it felt like to feel helpless in getting him back. I knew what it felt like to wish there was something I could do, only to be left disappointed.

But that was not what the next song was about.

"There's only one thing to do," I told the crowd, pouring vehemence into my voice. The happy, carefree aura that had settled on the venue was now going to be singed by the blackness of hatred. With a single word I would convert all of the positive energy in the amphitheatre into a powerful force that I could direct into one of my favorite songs to perform.

Before the audience realized what I was talking about, the blare of Stacy's drums drowned the entire area in a frenzy of noise. When Jason and Connor joined him moments later it was with a speed and passion that put my previous song to shame. The dancers and I were frenetically moving around the stage to help sell the scene.

This continued for over 15 seconds before I slowed down and moved toward the center of the stage. Two of the male dancers slowed and followed me. As the volume in the stadium dropped ever so slightly they reached out and grabbed either side of my dress.

"Revenge."

The word I growled lit the amphitheatre like an explosion. Red and amber lights cast a menacing aura on the stage. The two dancers tugged and moved away from me, taking the little black dress I had been wearing with them. I was now clad only in a tight, short red dress that shimmered with every move.

A cheer reached me from the audience, but I was already preparing for the first verse. As the frenetic pace slowed, one of the male dancers started slowly dancing with me. I started singing about how happy I was with my boyfriend, until she showed up. The dancer representing the girl didn't look like much, which was why I sang about how much I had underestimated the girl who was stealing my boyfriend away. I finished the first verse with a vow that I would never forget what she had done.

Stacy's drums amped us back up for the first chorus, in which I sang some choice phrases about the type of girl whom I was dealing with as I watched the two of them dancing around the stage together. Then I took the time to remind her how good I was at exacting my revenge.

The second verse was about how happy she felt being with the guy who had taken my heart with him. He no longer gave me the time of day and she never looked at me without a smug look on her face. But I vowed once more, promising that she would never forget what she had done.

When we moved into the second chorus I could feel the energy and see the crowd moving in time with the beat. I relished in the energy and poured it into singing the song with as much menace as I could without it turning dark.

As the second chorus wound down the pace stayed high as we moved into another section of the song. In this section I sang about how unhappy she would be if she too lost the boy she had worked so hard to take from me. I ended with another promise. This time I vowed that he would never forget what she had done.

There was a short interlude where I moved closer to the two dancers who had been representing the boy and girl on stage. Then, I sang the chorus once again and as I approached the two of them, I reached between them, pushing the boy away from the girl. The girl had a confused look on her face as she looked around for the boy, who was now on the far side of the stage.

The whole scene was symbolic. The song didn't actually say what I did to exact my revenge. Only a change in the sound and demeanor indicated that something had happened.

But happened it had. As the chorus ended, the shift in sound occurred and I flat out sang to the girl, asking her if she still felt she had won. At first, it was apparent that she didn't know what I was talking about, but as the song came to a sudden, abrupt ending I smiled evilly. Her face turned to one of horror as she realized I was the cause of the missing boy. The stage lights went dark, and only the two of us were bathed in a red spotlight as she fell to the ground, motionless. A moment later, the venue went pitch black.

* * *

After I left the stage and took a shower, Mom insisted that I wear simple jeans and a tee instead of putting the wig and glam back on. Stephanie then reapplied my makeup, but it was quite different than how I normally did it. I looked nothing like Sarah when they were through with me!

Donning a backstage pass with Megan's name on it, instead of Sarah's, I was then led out of my dressing room and toward the Observatory. I didn't know what Mom was planning, but Amy obviously agreed, and as the three of us made our way up to the room I could only hear the excitement from the room grow as we approached.

There were over 20 people in the room when we stepped in, making use of the entertainment center, the ping pong table, and the other activities available. At first the burst of excitement that erupted as we entered started to overwhelm me, and I nearly forgot how I was dressed! When the fans realized I wasn't Sarah the energy immediately dropped, which was something that I wasn't used to. However, it was enough for Amy to get their attention.

"Hi, everyone," she greeted the assembled crowd. They had already been waiting for nearly 30 minutes as I showered and tried to recuperate after the show. "I want to welcome you all to the first ever Star Party." A small cheer rose before Amy could continue. "Sarah and the band will be by shortly," she managed to get out before the room erupted into mayhem.

Normally, I didn't get to see all of this giddiness when I arrived, as I was always quickly overwhelmed by the fans trying to interact with me. Watching them cheer and scream for me at a distance was quite surreal! Even the thought that I would be there in a few minutes was enough to turn many of the young girls and other fans into quivering puddles of excitement.

I looked around the room, mesmerized at how devout these people were. I hadn't done anything other than to write and perform a few songs for them. Yet they showed a devotion to me that I couldn't understand. Yes, I thought I had good music, but was it good enough for this?

Amy tried to continue speaking, but she had lost the crowd by that point. Instead, she turned to indicate that I should actually go get ready to meet them. I nodded, and Mom and I turned to make our way back down the stairs to my dressing room while Amy waited for the chance to be able to answer any of the questions the fans might have and address any other issues that might come up.

"Thank you," I told my mom after we returned to my dressing room. She nodded, and I turned toward the five other people who were sitting in the room with their mouths agape.

"What on earth have you been up to!?" Sophie asked first. I easily heard the curiosity in her voice. It wasn't often that they saw Megan walking around one of the concert venues.

I laughed at her tone, and then I smiled. "My mom took me to see what happens when you tell a bunch of fans that Sarah would be by to meet them," I told them, continuing to laugh at the fond memories I had just made. "And I thought they were insane when they met me. They go crazy just waiting for me to appear!"

The rest of my band, with whom I shared this dressing room, promptly laughed. I felt sure they had seen those reactions before, but I hadn't. It was humbling to see how popular I had become, and now I was excited to get to meet them for real.

The band waited patiently as I changed, replaced the wig, and submitted to Stephanie's administrations. I knew Amy had promised the crowd that I would be by shortly, but it took at least 15 minutes before we left the dressing room for the second time. The general feeling of excitement surrounding the entrance to the Observatory hadn't changed though.

The screams and giddiness that I had experienced earlier were multiplied tenfold when I stepped back into the room. Selfishly, perhaps, I loved the sounds and feelings that washed over me as I entered. I relished in the sheer power of the emotions that these lucky fans felt at meeting me for the first time. I knew I would do everything in my power to make sure that I could call every single one of them a friend by the end of the night.

I didn't make it two steps before I had a little girl launch herself at me. I quickly opened my arms to catch her, and found myself holding an angel who couldn't have been older than 2 or 3. I wasn't all that strong, and she was a bit heavy to carry, but I tried to hold on to her as best as I could while the initial rush surrounded me. I tried to hug, shake hands, or just smile at everyone as they all tried to catch my attention. Words were flying all around me, but I couldn't make out any of them.

It was a good ten minutes before I was able to move myself through the crowd far enough to where I could place the girl down on a couch. She stood on one of the cushions, placing her nearly at shoulder level with me. I wrapped her in a hug, and I felt her clench me tightly. Flashes started to go off, and once her grip lessened I turned to where her mother could take a picture of us. Then I sadly had to turn my attention to the others. I quickly motioned to Amy, lifting my index finger. She nodded immediately and moved to make sure that the little girl and her mother wouldn't leave before I got the chance to talk to them again.

The excitement never died down over the next hour and a half as I met with and learned about the fans who had been chosen to attend the Star Party. Many of them had been chosen because of their outrageous T-shirts or other adornments that had attracted the attention of those staff members who had been charged with finding them. Others had won tickets through radio stations or other contests. Some, like the little girl I found out later, had been hand-picked by my own mother to meet me.

When I finally made it back around to where the little girl and her mother were waiting patiently for me I started to feel my own giddiness at the chance to meet her. She was cute as a button with her long blonde hair and her cheeks face-painted with small hearts and stars. I felt my heart skip a beat just like it did when I got to hold Heather, my cousin Tracy's infant daughter.

"Hi," I said to her, and I watched as her large smile grew even wider. "I'm Sarah. What's your name?"

"Evie," she responded proudly. I laughed at how open she was. Many of the girls her age whom I met as Sarah were shy or scared to actually talk to me, but she pushed right ahead like I was already her best friend.

"Well I am honored to meet you, Evie," I replied, taking a seat next to her on the couch they were sitting on. There was a squeal from the teenage girl who was now on my other side, but I was still focused on Evie. "How old are you?"

"Two and half," she said confidently while holding up three fingers. I chuckled at her, but fell in love all over again.

I spent the next few minutes getting to know my new favorite fan. Every time she opened her mouth and spoke to me in slightly broken sentences, I beamed at her. I hoped that when I had a little girl of my own she would be just as amazing. Eventually Amy appeared, and I graciously took the item she proffered to me before turning back to Evie. Her eyes, for once, were no longer on me as she stared at the little pink bear in my hands.

I held it out to her and she quickly grabbed it and hugged it to her chest, as tightly as I ever held my own.

"Only my most special fans get a Carerra Bear," I whispered to her. I could already feel the jealousy coming from some of the other people assembled around us. "Hug it whenever you are scared or need something, and everything will turn out okay. I promise." Evie nodded. She didn't say anything, but I could see the gratitude in her eyes.

I smiled brightly at her for a moment before I once again had to turn my attention to other fans. I loved all of them, but fans like Evie were the best part of being a rock star.

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