---

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 3: Concerto in A-

Chapter 3.18 - Practice Makes Perfect

Our flight home to Los Angeles wasn't scheduled until late in the afternoon. That meant that my family and I spent the morning lounging around watching the crew take down the stage and pack up everything for the trip back to the storage area in Los Angeles. One of the first things that I had done after becoming CEO of my own company was to approve my accountant's request to move the busses and trucks from the expensive outdoor parking lot - where I had first seen my bus - to a warehouse that we had purchased instead. In the long run owning my own storage space was supposed to save me money.

Eventually we departed and we were able to listen to the weekly countdown as we drove back toward the airport. This would be the first week that 'Ever After' would have a chance to appear on the countdown, and I was anxious to see how it would fare against my other songs. My first two singles had debuted in the top ten, but that didn't guarantee that 'Ever After' would do the same thing.

I was lying on the couch with my head in my mom's lap when 'Ever After' was introduced on the countdown for the first time. I frowned, but continued listening.

"Sarah Carerra has certainly made a name for herself since the release of her first song this past summer," the host of the show said. "She's had two singles debut in the top ten. Her latest single is getting a lot of attention too. Debuting at #12 for the first time, here is 'Ever After'."

Even debuting at #12 was no small feat, but as I listened to the song Emily and I had written before my life turned into a whirlwind, I was disappointed that it didn't have the same impact as the other two singles I had released. It was likely to rise in the coming weeks, but I had really hoped that it would mirror at least 'Intuition' for Emily's sake.

We continued to listen after 'Ever After' ended and I was pleased to see that 'You Can't Hurt Me' was still in the top ten, even if it had dropped to #5. I knew it was on its way down the charts, but it seemed to be taking its time getting there. I could live with that. I still loved the song, probably more than any other song I had written.

The flight back home was uneventful and I moped around the house for the rest of the evening. I didn't have a concert to look forward to at the end of the week to make school bearable. But with the VMA awards happening next Sunday night I had a busy schedule of practices and dress fittings to occupy my time. Josh Holliday was even going to be in town this weekend and we would be recording our duet on Saturday. When I had agreed to sing ‘I Need You’ with him at his concert it came with the agreement that we would be recording the song together. Now wasn’t exactly the best time in my life to record it with him, but I had agreed to do it.

When I finally went to sleep I knew that life as Sarah would go on. There was way too much to look forward to that I would be able to pull myself out of any funk I might have fallen into.

* * *

School the next day wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The other students had come to accept me for the most part. Every once in a while I would meet someone who didn't see eye to eye with me, but the abuse was becoming less common as the school year progressed. It seemed that people were starting to realize that I was what I actually appeared to be.

But I knew it was going to be a bad day when I walked inside and found Mr. Benson glowing. The last time I had seen him like that I was required to sing in front of the class and Mark and I had been voted as lead singers. I took my seat, unsure if I wanted to stay in the class any longer.

"It's time to start practicing for our first performance," he told us after he started the class. I slumped down in my seat, a move that wasn't lost on our teacher. I saw his smile falter for a moment before he continued. "We'll be performing a small Halloween concert for the school the Friday before Halloween. We'll mix some Halloween type songs together with some newer pieces."

There was some murmuring from the class as some of the students became excited, some were indifferent about the performance, and some of us - primarily me - wanted to transfer into any other class. I knew that Mr. Benson would try to promote me as one of the talents in the group, but I was still opposed to that idea. Especially since the concert would occur the week after I performed for the school as Sarah.

"That gives us four weeks to learn to sing as a group," Mr. Benson told us. "But we are also going to be learning some choreography to go with the performance. Learning the choreography will help us be better prepared for what Sarah Carerra is going to want us to do."

I was shocked by that statement! I knew that it was likely I would be asking for some choreography from the group when I finally got around to planning out the Christmas concert, so I was somewhat grateful that Mr. Benson was trying to prepare the class the best he could. But he still should have asked me first.

The rest of the class period was spent going over the songs he had chosen. None of them made me feel like they would give away my secret if I had to sing them for an audience, but that didn't mean that I would be safe. I knew that I was going to have to be very careful, but I thought I could get away with being the lead on one or two of the songs. I still thought that it would be helpful to get Jane to sing some of the songs, but I wasn't sure that Mr. Benson would let me.

It still didn't make me feel any better about the performance, however.

* * *

Fortunately, I had the Video Music Awards to get ready for. We had confirmed that I would perform during the show, and we were scheduled to rehearse on stage Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. Then there was my final fitting for my dress on Thursday afternoon so that I would be ready for the awards show Sunday night. If I thought that the end of the concert tour had meant that Sarah's schedule wouldn't be as busy then I was mistaken! I was also recording a duet with Josh on Saturday because he was in town for the awards also.

I was surprised when I arrived at the theatre where the awards were being held Tuesday evening. There were a number of Paparazzi and fans hanging outside of the theatre to watch the celebrities come and go, but I wasn't given any time to interact with them. I was led straight past them and to the stage where my band and dancers were already waiting for me.

We began working immediately. Apparently time was a premium as they tried to get stage time for all performers to allow them to work out any issues before the big night. My performance was similar to what we had done during each of my concerts. We had to make a few adjustments to accommodate the stage in the theatre, but that wasn't anything new to my experienced crew. Kate Abernathy, my choreographer, was on hand to help us, but in reality it was just like any other concert performance. There would be a few differences in the theatrics that the show directors wanted to include, but our choreography and performance were generally unchanged.

Practice Tuesday evening was the worst sound check I'd ever had. I felt rushed the entire night because we wanted to get in as many attempts as we could on the actual stage before our time ended. There were still other performers practicing after us, so we couldn't take too much time.

Wednesday night was even worse. We had full dress rehearsals on Wednesday night. I was considered to be one of the "big" performers for the evening, which gave me some leeway as we practiced, but there was still a strict timeframe and we had no time to dally. By the end of the night, I was more tense than I'd ever been while practicing. Nevertheless, I believed that the show would be spectacular.

* * *

More singing in chorus on Thursday. Mr. Benson hadn't actually tried to pull Mark or me out of the crowd yet, so I was somewhat grateful. It probably wouldn’t be long before we started working on the songs that were supposed to spotlight us, however. But the longer we waited, the better I felt. Mark was starting to become upset, however.

When I walked into my house after school, my excitement started to grow. I was supposed to have my dress fitting with the designer whom Julia and I had chosen to make my VMA dress. Julia was really excited to be working with this designer, but I had never met Avalon Sirocco before. We had given her an idea of what we were looking for in the dress, and I couldn't wait to see what she had come up with.

"Ready to go?" I asked Emily when she showed up at our door not long after I had finished getting ready and putting on the wig. She had run home to change into Chloe.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, because she was as excited as I was. I nodded and led her out to my car, and then we headed off for Beverly Hills. Avalon's boutique was just off of Rodeo Drive.

Amazingly I was able to pull my car into a parking spot right in front of the small shop, right behind a very familiar silver Lexus. Almost immediately people started to look our way. When I stepped out of my car, I was worried about being late if I needed to sign any autographs, but the owner of the Lexus came out of the door to the shop almost immediately to usher me inside.

"Hi, Julia," I greeted her warmly while walking around my car and giving her a small hug.

"Hi, Sarah," she replied, smiling as we separated. Then she turned to Chloe. "It's nice to see you again, Chloe."

Emily's face lit up immediately at the recognition, and I saw the corner of Julia's mouth curl upward too. Julia and I had become close over the summer and I knew that I was one of her best clients. She had confessed to me that she did more work for me than any of her other clients. I started to worry for a moment before she had smiled and told me that she wouldn't have it any other way. But I was very happy that she was also willing to get to know my friends.

"Come on inside," Julia continued. "Avalon has a dress for you that I think you are going to love."

I smiled at her words, and I nodded. I followed her to the door, waving at a few fans while I did. The inside of the shop was a mix between a high end boutique and some of the clothes shops that Emily and I often shopped at. I spent a lot more on clothes now than I did at the beginning of the summer, and I thankfully had a budget that allowed me to do so. But it wasn't often that we went shopping in this area.

I was greeted immediately by a young woman who couldn't be any older than 27 or 28. Her blonde hair fell to her shoulders, and she looked more like she was ready to go to the beach than she was to attend a fashion show. She certainly didn't look like what I expected from a fashion designer.

"Sarah!" she greeted me excitedly before embracing me in a hug like we were old friends. "I'm so glad you're here!"

Her enthusiasm was so great that I knew immediately how excited she was to be dressing me for an awards show. As I looked around the shop I got the impression that she didn't do a lot of designing for celebrities. However, I already knew that some of my more famous pieces had been designed by her, most notably the amazing dress that had been featured in the music video for 'You Can't Hurt Me'.

I also knew that Julia and Avalon had been best friends growing up. Furthermore, I knew that Julia used her position as an image consultant to refer work to her best friend, but I didn't care. Avalon's designs were beautiful and I would love to be able to wear them. Besides, I knew that I was the first client whom Julia had approached Avalon to design a “red carpet look” for. And I had a feeling that it was because she felt her other clients weren't up to Avalon's standards.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Avalon," I replied as we separated. "I've worn plenty of your amazing work and I'm honored to get to meet the woman who has designed them."

"The honor is all mine," Avalon said with a smile that told me she truly believed that. I felt that I might just be the person who launched Avalon's career to the next level. I hoped that was true, because she really deserved it.

"Come on back," Avalon continued. "Based on what you and Julia decided on, I think you'll like what I've come up with."

I followed Avalon back behind her sales counter and into a fitting room. What I found there brought a huge smile to my face and proved that our decision to let Avalon create my dress was the right one.

The Video Music Awards was more laid back than most award shows. The dresses and clothes that usually hit the red carpet at the VMA's tended toward fun and flirty more than elegant. Avalon had managed to bring a good mix of the two into the dress that she had created.

The dress itself was a canary yellow that had already proven to be a complimentary color to Sarah's looks. It had spaghetti straps holding up a very fitted bodice that flowed into a skirt that fell just below my knees. Sitting on a stand next to the dress was a pair of yellow 4" sandals with a beautiful gold/yellow band across the beginning of my toes and a black strap around the ankle to hold them in place. A few other black stripes offset the yellow in the strap.

I was stunned! "It's beautiful!" fell out of my mouth immediately. We had asked Avalon to come up with a dress that made me look elegant but still left an impression of my true age. Even though I was only 16, the media constantly commented that I looked more like I was 18 or 19. This dress would fit right into place with that look.

"Oh, Avalon," Julia gushed at the sight of the dress. "It's perfect! It's exactly what we were hoping for!"

I nodded, and I had the opportunity to watch a tear fall from her eye and slip down her cheek before she caught it. Right then I knew that despite the location of her store in such a prominent fashion district, she had not been as successful as she hoped she would be. I felt that perhaps it was her relationship with Julia that was still sustaining her business. But I also knew that this dress would place her on the map. Mentally I vowed to drop her name many times Sunday night, and I hoped that she had a line outside her door Monday morning. With my fan base I wouldn't be surprised to find that thought come true.

"Come on," Avalon said while wiping the tear away. "Let's see how it fits."

* * *

Friday was a very relaxing day. It was the only "free" day that I would have from Sarah this week, because I would be recording a duet tomorrow and Sunday would be busy with all of the preparations for the awards show.

I still couldn't believe that I was going to a major awards show with the possibility of taking home an award! I still didn't understand how I had gathered such a big fan following in such a short time. I wasn't complaining, by any means. I loved the spotlight and I couldn't wait to get back up on stage once more. I couldn't wait to hear the crowd screaming my name again.

That was why hearing my name called out in my last class jarred me from my daydreaming.

"Megan," Mr. Benson said again, breaking me out of the reverie that I had been in all day.

"What?" I asked, causing a small chuckle from the class. I knew that he had asked me something, but I hadn't been paying attention.

"Are you ready to start practicing?" he repeated himself to me. "We are working on the first 'signature' piece of the performance."

I slumped my shoulders and frowned. "Not really," I grumbled, nervous about what that would mean.

"Good," he said, ignoring my response. "Everyone please turn to page 10 of your songbook."

I flipped through the pages of the "textbook" we had been given. I sighed when I saw the song that was displayed. I had been hoping that it would be something that I could tell Mr. Benson I wouldn't sing, but the truth was that it was so different from my normal music that I didn't really have an excuse. It was a show choir tune, and I knew that I could probably sing it without risking my identity too much. I would tolerate him for now, but I knew the time was approaching when I was going to have to put my foot down.

* * *

* * *
Want more Sarah Carerra?
Book 1: I Am A Rock Star is now available for the Kindle! Click here for more information. Become a fan of Sarah Carerra by joining her on Facebook or Twitter by clicking the buttons below.
   

If you've read book 1 I'd love it if you shared your opinions with others. Review the Kindle version at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006IZG49M. :)