Julie peeked out at the crowd from behind
the curtain. There certainly were more people there that night, than there had been previous nights. It made the
butterflies in Julie's stomache flutter more rapidly. The bigger the crowd, the more nervous she felt.
"Whatcha doin' Jules?"
Julie nearly jumped when her best friend, Naiomi, came up behind
her. "Jeesh! Don't do that!" she snapped at Naiomi.
"Sorry," Naiomi apologized, trying to hold back a chuckle.
When she noticed the tense expression on Julie's face, she looked at her friend with concern. "Hey, what's wrong?
You okay?"
Julie looked down and rubbed the back of her neck. "Yeah,"
she hesitated. "I guess I'm just a bit nervous."
Naiomi raised an eyebrow. "A bit?" Julie looked
back up at her and smirked, her face turning pink with embarassment.
"Okay, so maybe a lot," Julie corrected herself. Naiomi
nodded in agreement with her friend's new response. "It's just that," Julie paused as she peeked through the curtains
again, "there's a lot more people out there than usual."
"Well, duh!" Scott, the band's drummer, voiced sarcastically
from behind them. The two girls turned to face him and noticed the other band members, Cece, Grant, and Caprice standing
there as well. "Did you see all the flyers Cedric hung up?" Scott continued.
"Yeah, he's been trying to get more people to come and see
us," Caprice added.
Julie rolled her eyes. "No doubt, it's just another ploy
to try and boost his sales," she mumbled.
Caprice agreed reluctantly, nodding. "And that too, I
guess."
"You've gotta admit though," Cece jumped in, "as much as that
guys gets on our nerves, he has helped us out quite a bit." The others nodded slowly, voicing their agreements.
"Well, speak of the devil," Scott said as he noticed the
pub owner, Cedric, heading their way. "Here he comes," Scott warned in a whisper.
Cedric Donahue was a big and bulky man who looked a lot meaner
than he really was. As an ex-bouncer from a local night club, he had decided to start his own business and opened up
a restauraunt/bar. Caprice had been working for him as a waitress since his restuaraunt opened, a few months before.
She heard him complaining one day, that he couldn't get enough business, so she suggested hiring a band to play a few nights
a week. When he agreed to her idea, Caprice then mentioned the band she and her friends had just started. Cedric
was a bit skeptical at first, but he eventually gave in to Caprice's pleas.
"On one condition," he told her. "You and your friends
won't get paid for the first two weeks, at least."
"Why not?" Caprice had protested.
"Because it's a fair trade already. I get more business
for my restuaraunt and you guys get your first gig," Cedric explained simply. "If you do well, then maybe I'll think
about paying you." The band had agreed reluctantly. It wasn't exactly what they were looking for, but no one was
going to even dare argue with Cedric.
"He does have a good point," Julie had pointed out. "I
mean, about it being our first gig."
Now, three weeks later, the band was becoming a big hit with
the regulars at Cedric's restuaraunt. However, Cedric wanted more than just the regular customers to show up.
From what he could see that night, putting up flyers had certainly helped.
"You kids almost ready?" he asked the group as he approached
them.
Naiomi stood and stared at him with her hands on her hips.
"You know, I hate to tell ya Cedric, but we're not kids."
Cedric just ignored her comment. "Whatever," he mumbled,
rolling his eyes. "Just make sure you're all ready in five. The crowd's getting anxious out there."
"Yeah, yeah," Scott said, waving him off. "We'll be ready.
Just tell 'em to keep their socks on."
Again, the bar owner pretended not to hear what was said.
Instead, he just grunted, turned and walked away. As soon as he was gone, Naiomi gathered up the band for a brief pep
talk.
"Alright gang, five minutes. Are we ready for this?"
she asked, looking around at them.
"Woo hoo! You bet!" Scott cheered enthusiastically.
Caprice and Grant exchanged glances and nodded, as if reading
each other's minds. "Ready when you are," Grant told Naiomi.
"Count me in too!" Cece replied after him. Then they
all looked at Julie, waiting for her reply. She just took a deep breath and nodded slowly.
Naiomi patted her on the shoulder. "You'll be alright,"
she reassured her.
Julie looked at her and forced a smile. "I know."
She looked up at her friends, continuing to smile, and tried to shake off her stage fright. "Alright, I'm ready.
Let's do this!"
To be continued..........
Disclaimer: These stories and characters are based on the original Mighty Ducks: The Animated
Series (owned & copyrighted by Disney), however these stories consist of my own characters based on the series.
And I am, in no way, whatsoever, making a profit off this. Thank You!
