Page 40 of Take My Place

“Nothing like an actor’s ego to fill the room,” laughs Declan.

He gives my hand a final reassuring squeeze as Pilkington announces us.

“We’ve saved the best for last,” the Head says. “As you’ve seen, we’ve got a number of very talented students in our midst, but these two are something special. I have absolutely no doubt that we’ll see them at the top of the charts someday very soon. Please put your hands together and give a big round of applause for Ivy Archaic and Declan Dauphin!”

“This is it,” Declan whispers to me. “We’ve got this!”

We walk out together, guitars in hand, to where the stagehands have put a couple of stools out for us. We each sit down and the stagehands put mic stands in front of us. I reach up to adjust the mic so it is in the right position for me to sing.

“Good evening, everyone.” Declan speaks into his mic, waving to the crowd. “Are you all having a good time?”

The crowd roars their response.

“Glad to hear it. This is a song Ivy and I wrote together. It’s calledAll That You Knew.”

He nods at me and I start playing the chords to the introduction. He pick out a little riff over them, taking the lead while I establish the rhythm.

I close my eyes, letting the music take control. Declan is right. Now that I‘m on stage and doing what I do best, I didn’t care about anything else.

I have the first line to sing, and I put my heart and soul into it.

“You thought you had it sorted. You thought you had it made.”

Declan takes over the next line.

“But if only you had known you were the one who’s being played.”

We continue to take it in turn, singing a line until we come together for the chorus.

“For all that you knew, I really loved you. For all that you knew, I’d given you my heart. But now you know it’s not like that and you were wrong from the start. I was the one in charge all along, and all that you knew is gone.”

We sing that song the best we ever had, but as the last notes fade away, we are greeted with silence. I look over at Declan anxiously, but then the hall explodes into raucous cheers and whistles.

“I told you they’d love you.” I read on Declan’s lips. It’s impossible to hear him over the standing ovation.

“More! More! More!” People are stomping the floor, pounding away as they demand we sing another song.

“New School, New Start?” Declan suggests. I shrug my shoulders and nod at the suggestion of one of my songs.

“Thank you, guys, thank you.” Declan has to raise his hands to gesture for silence as the audience continues to yell their praises. “If you want another song, we’ll give it to you, but you need to be quiet to hear it!”

At last the crowd calms down. Declan looks at me and smiles.

We start strumming together, an upbeat rhythm that soon has everyone clapping along. In contrast to the beautiful ballad of our first song, this is a fast-pace rock number, and I always love singing it because it is so much fun.

I don’t think it’s possible for the audience to get any louder, but I am wrong. Their cheers are deafening to the point I wish I’d worn earplugs.

I scan the front row. Just as I thought, my father has a smug grin on his face and I knew he’d be taking credit for my performance later. On the other hand, Romy looks so proud he could burst. Seeing me catch his eye, he mouthsI love you, pointing to himself, drawing a heart in the air and then pointing to me. I smile and blow him a kiss.

“Okay, everyone, I’ve got one more song for you.”

My head whips around to look at Declan.

“Don’t worry, Ivy.” He put his hand over the mic to address me directly. “I’m going to do this one solo.” He turns back to speak to the audience. “This is a little number I’ve been working on by myself and I figured tonight would be a good change to test it out in front of an audience. It’s calledLoving You From Afar.”

He closes his eyes as he plays a delicate little tune. He sways from side to side as he weaves notes together in an interesting chord progression, moving from minor to major and back again.

And then he sings, and I wish the floor would open and swallow me up. The lyrics were aboutme. Nobody else would possibly know what the references to ‘stolen kisses’ and ‘kidnapped sighs’ could mean, but it is clear that Declan is telling me that he loved me in front of a crowded hall–with my fiancé watching!

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