Mistaken For A Girl Singer - Chapter 2

OTHER CHAPTERS | ALL STORY LIST

"You are not wearing that on stage tonight," Terry was scolding her brother while he was wearing a 'Fitch' tee shirt and a pair of baggy jeans.

"We're all wearing our dresses and boots, except Gina because of the drums, but she's all dressed up in a nice top and cute jeans. You can't go on looking like an unmade bed, Chris. Come on."

"Terry, I have no idea what to wear! Tell me what works and I'll wear it."

Terry took a quick look through his closet and drawers and then stood with her hand on her forehead.

"Ok, you have nothing to wear, but we're nearly the same size, so let's see what I can find for you."

Within a few minutes, Terry had pulled out a pair of skinny jeans and a white cotton shirt.

"Here, put these on. It's just a pair of jeans and a loose shirt. It will look nice. Now, get dressed and I'll brush out your hair so you look a little nicer."

Chris was a little hurt that she thought he looked so bad, but, even though Terry was only a few minutes older than him, she really was the older sister when it came to, well, pretty much anything.

And she was usually right about things, so, he went to get dressed.  He came back into Terry's room a few minutes later and he did look a lot better.

"Do those feel ok?"

Terry asked.  "I guess so," he said, "but they smell like you."

"Like me?"

"Like your perfume, you know? I can smell your perfume on the clothes."

"Oh," she laughed, "that's ok, isn't it? Smelling pretty is a good thing. Now, sit for a minute and let me brush out that mess on your head."

Terry brushed it all out and Chris had to admit it felt great. Then she grabbed a hair iron.

"This will just straighten your hair a little so you look a little nicer."

When she was done, his hair, which he always kept in a ponytail tied low, at the base of his skull, was a little longer than he had thought it was; just over the collar of his shirt.

"Close your eyes while I put a little spray on it," Terry ordered him, so he did and she sprayed an ample amount of hairspray into his hair.  Then Terry grabbed a white cowboy hat with a big blue feather in the brim and placed it carefully on his head.

"Ok. Now, you look nice. Margo and the girls will be here in a few minutes. Let's get everything ready."

Within a few minutes, Terry and Chris had everything they needed in the minivan. When the girls pulled up, they threw their equipment in and everyone piled in. Terry was driving with Grace in the shotgun seat.

Gina sat in one of the 2 remaining seats so Margo and Chris shared the last seat together. Margo put her arm around his shoulder to make some extra room. As the minivan backed out of the driveway, Margo took a deep breath and then leaned a little closer to Chris and sniffed again.

"Well, someone smells pretty tonight," she teased Chris. He blushed and smiled in response. She sniffed again, "Vanilla and lavender.

Mmm I like that in a man," Everyone laughed and they headed for the campus.  When they got to the Student Center, things were already in full swing. They signed up for a slot and carried their equipment to the backstage area and then settled in to listen to about 20 acts.

There were comics and dancers and singers - some were pretty good.  Just before their slot, there was a senior named John Holden performing. He came backstage with an acoustic guitar and waited nervously alongside the girls and Chris. Terry knew John from music classes and she knew that he played out in clubs around the area, so she was surprised that he looked unnecessarily nervous about a little gig at the college. He nodded as the girls acknowledged him.

"Are you ok?"

Margo asked John.

"Yeah. Just nervous. You see that guy sitting alone by the door? He's from a record company and he's here to see me. I guess that I'm just feeling a little pressure to do well."

All five of them peeked out to see the tall, well-dressed man in the audience.  Finally, it was John's turn. They wished him luck as he walked out to the microphone and gave a small wave to the smattering of applause. When he sang, it was great. He could have been on American Idol or The Voice.

He sounded like a seasoned pro and the audience loved the three songs he played.  "Great! We have to follow, him!?" complained Gina  "Hush, sweetie.

We'll do fine. It's just our first gig. Stay confident," Terry replied with a reassuring smile.  Chris just stayed quiet and prepared to sing. This was a really big deal to him - the college campus, the college girls, the college audience he didn't want to come off looking like some high school kid who didn't know what he was doing.

Terry was so smart and so much cooler than him; he couldn't let her down.

Then the student acting as the MC for the evening introduced them.

"Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time on any stage, the Student Union is proud to introduce: Dusty Rose!  Chris and the girls hustled out onto the stage. A few seconds later, they were all plugged in and Gina had adjusted the drums to her liking.

Margo smiled out at the audience took a deep breath and noticed that John was sitting in the corner with the promoter and they both had big grins on their faces.

"Good for him,' she thought.

Grace started with a smooth banjo lick for a song that Margo and Terry had written about a week ago, Sideways Glances. As the other instruments joined in, Chris took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and let loose with his beautiful, high voice.

Within sixteen bars of Chris's first note, everyone was silent and listening to the band.

The girls in the band were shocked. What was happening? Everyone was just - well, paying attention to them. Chris' eyes were locked shut as he sang, so he had no idea what was going on, but the girls were all a little thrown by it. They kind of expected to just play their songs while everyone talked, the same as the rest of the acts.

Margo glanced towards the corner where John had been talking to the recording company promoter and even they were paying attention. She turned to catch Terry's eyes and shook her head towards the corner so she could see, too.

Terry just made a confused face, rolled her eyes, and kept on playing.  When the song was over, the place erupted in applause. Everyone was up on their feet clapping, shouting, whistling... Chris opened his eyes and couldn't believe what he was seeing and hearing. At the high school coffee houses, the most he ever got was some polite, "garden party" applause.  They'd prepared a second song, just in case, so Gina tapped her sticks to count it in.

This was a Terry, Margo, and Chris song called Whispers and the audience was just as enthralled with it as the first one. Again, huge applause.  They were about to leave the stage, but the MC came on and said, "Dusty Rose! Ladies and Gents! How about another one!?"

The crowd cheered for more, but Chris only knew two of their songs and they just played those.  "Dus-ty Rose! Dusty Rose!" the audience began a chant.

Dusty Rose! Dusty Rose!"

"You have to know at least one of the other songs we play!"

Gina shouted over the chanting crowd.  "Sorry, girls! I'm a classic rock guy, so..."

"Hey!" Terry said.

"How about Janis Joplin? We could do Bobby McGee."

They all nodded and turned back to the audience while Terry started strumming the song.  Busted flat in Ba'n Rouge Waitin' for a train When I was feeling nearly faded as my dreams...  Again, Chris's voice floated out to the crowd, not like Janis' with the cigarette and whiskey growl, but smooth and sweet and beautiful.

The song ended and they all left the stage as quickly as they could to avoid getting called back for another song.

They threw their instruments into their cases and headed for the door, but a man in a suit jumped between them and the exit and said, "Ladies, you were awesome! Who's in charge of this group?"

They all looked at each other for a moment, and then Terry and Margo kind of shrugged and said in unison, "I guess we are."

The man led the two young women aside for a private chat while Chris, Gina, and Grace loaded the van.