Camp Rock: Chapter 11 ~Good and Broken~ Part Two
As Kevin shut the door behind him, he took a long look around the campus. Where were the tools he needed? Could they be to his far left near the cabins? Could they be up in the parking lot on the tour bus? The tour bus, there had to be some string or at least some pliers or glue if worst came to worst. He took a deep breath and made his way down the stairs. He quickened his pace when he hit heads with somebody; he slapped his hand to his forehead shaking it off.
“Ow! Kevin!” Nick said automatically wondering if his brother was even paying attention to where he was walking, or who he was walking in to.
“Sorry Nick.” Kevin mumbled not taking his eyes off the direction he needed to go. Nick began laughing seeing his brother’s urgency to leave.
“Kevin where’s the fire?” He asked.
“I didn’t get into the marshmallows I swear!” Joe confessed.
Nick and Joe doubled over in laughter. “Nice one Joe!” He said and gave his brother a high five. Kevin wasn’t laughing and looked annoyed more than ever.
“Never mind inside joke.” Joe said trying to explain himself. Nick was still trying to control his laughter.
“Look Joe, not everything is a joke!” He said heated.
“Woah, sorry Kevin.” Joe replied and backed away slowly. “But you have to admit that it was kind of funny.”
“No Joe, I’m not going to admit anything is funny when I’m tired! I’m tired of Bridgette! What makes her think that she can come here tonight and…” Kevin began to say before Nick cut him off in concern.
“Kevin, explain yourself what happened? Is Emma okay?” He said quickly.
“She’s better now, but Bridgette really did a number on her verbally earlier. Plus she broke a necklace that Emma was wearing earlier, it seems really important to Emma, all that’s left is a piece she was holding so hard her fingers were turning purple and this broken chain.” He replied holding up the chain so that his brothers could see, Joe’s mouth almost dropped instantly.
“A necklace? What kind of necklace?” Joe and Nick said at the same time, their emotions dry and furious. Joe gave a sharp look to Nick and gulped.
“I’m not sure guys; I didn’t get a very good look at it. But I promised that I would find a new chain for her so that I could fix it, I don’t really know what’s going to be good as this chain.” He said point-blankly. Kevin explained the rest of the night’s events to Nick and Joe, but Joe wasn’t listening.
He was busy unraveling a steady metal guitar string from his wrist. After removing the knot, he grabbed at Kevin’s hands and opened up his palm with the broken chain inside. He placed the long guitar string inside, Kevin looked down stunned.
“Joe. No that’s the guitar string isn’t it the one that nearly missed your neck?” Kevin asked finally.
“Yeah so?”
“It hurt you…” Nick piped in.
“Yeah but not anymore!” Joe said briskly. “I mean it doesn’t have to keep haunting me, because I have you as brothers and that’s real to me more than anything, I don’t care about fame anymore, I care about moving on, and this guitar string helped me move on. I think that Emma has to learn to move on, her past is not going to haunt her anymore as far as I’m concerned and I think you guys know that too.” The three brothers nodded in unison. “So let’s help her move on, and this guitar string would be a really great reminder around her neck, as the new necklace chain.” He stated, Kevin peeled away from his brothers all smiles, and headed towards the cafeteria, hoping he could grab a few cups of hot tea to soothe Emma’s nerves as well as his brothers.
“Oh hey Nick and Joe!” He called back stopping off the path. “When I left, Emma was just getting to sleep, let her rest and I’ll be back with some tea and than the nurse said she’s good to go!” The two brothers waved at Kevin to show they agreed and than slowly let the door open, they could see the nurse picking up an ice pack off the floor and clicking her tongue. Joe made his way over towards the nurse, to see if it was okay if they stayed for Emma, as Nick couldn’t keep his eyes off Emma. She looked so tired and drained that it seemed to radiate off her. As the nurse walked away giving the okay, Nick took her place. His eyes instantly were drawn to the purple bruise that was on her neck, but it wasn’t just the fact that she had a big bruise as a souvenir of Bridgette’s latest visit or that she also got bruises if she casually walked into her locker when she was talking to Nick and Kevin and not paying attention, it was more of the placement of the bruise.
“Joe!” He said slowly. Joe stepped over towards the bed but carefully not to make a creak in the old floorboards, Lily didn’t need to wake up when it took her so long to fall asleep in the first place, it was making her stay here longer than she needed.
“Yeah Nick, what’s up?” Joe asked nonchalantly.
“Look at Lily’s neck a minute, tell me if you see something that I can see right now.” He said pointing his finger down to her soft delicate peach skin and tracing the outline of her bruise in mid-air. It took Joe a few minutes before he slapped his hand against his own neck. He felt around at his neck taking in the reality for a while knowing that by giving Kevin the guitar string who would than give it to Lily, it was just right. It was as if something was pulling at his own heart strings, knowing that it was one guitar string that he had grown accustomed to seeing around his wrist, even scared of it. This guitar string could be the end all to his brothers and their music, but it wasn’t, he had always known that. He didn’t need the guitar string now, he knew where his heart belonged, and it wasn’t back on a dirt road with no tomorrow. It was right here, right in front of his eyes, he had never dreamed of Lily falling to pieces when her past kept coming back, always returning. He hated who he had become; he kept telling himself that everyday he was just scared to admit it. Because he always knew that fame looked a lot better on the outside looking in. He didn’t want Lily to become hurt again and again, and like Joe had been hurt by his own actions, Lily was getting it right and left from her past and her present. Hurt, like a scar. Hurt like a bruise, that was dead center, and dead on the same spot that Joe had his scar spelling out Y and an N.
“Her bruise is in the same spot as my scar where the guitar string hurt me!” He shouted out finally letting the words out that were felt by three people.
Nick got goose bumps and stepped as far away as possible. Joe pulled a chair closer to the bed and watched as Lily moved over on her side her arm dangling off the side of the bed, the guitar pick close to Joe’s knee. Joe felt furious; the guitar pick was broken, almost as broken as Lily’s career now that Bridgette and her family had the record label. He had gotten her that guitar pick as a birthday present, and there was no way that Bridgette was going to inch her way by destroying things that didn’t belong to her, she was no friend of there’s. He stepped towards Nick as they waited for Kevin to return. Kevin knocked on the door as the nurse came around the corner holding a bucket of medical supplies; he stepped inside his arms full of cups. Joe stepped forward first and took away two cups; Nick grabbed the other one and put his mouth to the cup, leaving Kevin holding a huge chocolate chip muffin. Nick blew on the hot substance and took a small sip and Nick knew its sweet relaxing taste would help calm Lily’s nerves, as its main purpose Nick was glad that Kevin had picked chamomile tea.
Ten minutes had passed and Joe had downed his drink first, as if the well of water was going to dry. Kevin had turned the television on with the mute button in effect; he was flipping through channel and paused briefly on a local fast food chain commercial. Thirty seconds it was gone, Joe gave a brief loud yawn.
“I’m hungry and I’m thirsty!” He told his brothers. Nick moved closer and grabbed Joe’s empty Styrofoam cup to throw it away for him. “What?” Joe asked looking Nick’s queer expressions as he eyed the large moist chocolate muffin that Kevin was holding in his other hand.
“Joe you just ate!” Nick said as Joe inched his chair closer to Kevin. Kevin backed away protecting the food and mentioned towards the sleeping girl. Nick sat down in an empty chair at the foot of the bed.
“It’s not yours to eat Joe, I brought it for Emma!” He said firmly.
“Fine, fine!” Joe agreed and than went over to pick up Emma’s cup of boiling tea, even by just picking it up he could smell its strong vapors. He was huddling over Emma, looking down at her, he began whispering in her ear, Nick and Kevin had to get closer to even hear him.
“Emma? Emma are you awake? No? Than I’m going to drink your tea!” He said into her ear, he waited a good two minutes before he placed the cup close her nostrils, he waved it around, Kevin drew closer his hand trying to make Joe move back, his face was no more than a few inches away, Kevin tried struggling to grab the cup away from his brother when Emma gave a small cough as she sprung awake from her dreams, Kevin spun his head around grinning and looking directly in her eyes. Emma felt butterflies tickling her insides as Kevin straighten up, Joe tried to get closer but Kevin told him to back away and give her some air.
“Sorry Emma!” Kevin said looking down at the floor. “We didn’t mean to wake you up; we know that you need to get some rest.”
“Hey sleeping beauty!” Joe said with a big grin on his face. Kevin spun his head around so fast that he almost got a kink in his neck, why was Joe referring to the movie Sleeping Beauty all of a sudden? He couldn’t help think he should be trying to decode the message, but off and away staring into Emma’s eyes again, the periwinkle behind the contacts. But Joe couldn’t help from trying to give Kevin a hint, but it went right over his brother’s head. Kevin grabbed the tea out of Joe’s hands and helped her sit up, he was still gazing into her eyes his face not more than a foot away from Emma’s trying to figure out why every time he looked in them he felt like he had seen them before.
“Kevin?” Lily said noticing his intense stare. “I’m not going anywhere until the nurse says so. You don’t have to keep a watchful eye on me!” She said smiling.
“Was I staring at you?” He asked confused and childish.
“Just a tad Kevin!” Joe said grabbing the muffin out of Kevin’s hands and than pinching his hands together to show Kevin “Just a little bit!”
“I just noticed Emma that your eye color when you’re not wearing contacts is the same hue as my friend Lil….” Kevin started to say, before Joe shuffled his hand forward, causing Emma to snap her head back.
“Muffin?” Joe asked, shielding Emma’s eyes with the chocolate chip muffin and planting it hear her face, Nick cracked up laughing and was on the floor as he bounced out of his chair.
The nurse came over for the last time, helping Nick off the floor by grabbing his hand. The nurse asked to talk to Lily for a while as the brothers headed out the door, Emma headed up, putting her jacket on and holding her lyric book close to her heart. She handed Joe the remainder of her muffin, who took to downing the rest of it diligently.
“Ready to get away from this place?” Nick asked taking Emma’s hand.
“Yeah let’s tear up this town!” She said smiling and jumping down the steps one and a time, Nick lagging behind.
Nick could see that she was feeling better, it was the first time being outside in days for her, and she was with the guys she grew up with.
“Are you ready to rock tonight?” Nick said and put his fingers in the air waving them around, Emma dropped her hand out of Nick’s grasp, Kevin and Joe dropped their jaws at the same time.
“Yeah, not so much Nick!” Joe said seriously as Kevin, Joe and Emma slowly walked away, leaving Nick to stare at their backs. Emma slowly turned around and picked up Nick’s hand.
“Come on rockstar!” She said and than noticed her words, Nick pulled her back letting Joe and Kevin take the lead, Joe started talking to Kevin hoping it would take him off the trail of Lily blurting out her nickname.
They continued on their path making small talk before they were directly between Emma’s bunk house and the guys. Nick handed Emma her key to her bunk house as she thanked him repeatedly for keeping it safe and sound and than entered the room that hadn’t been lived in all weekend. She neatly placed things back in their proper place and placed her room key on the side table. She opened up her lyric book and sat down on the floor.
“Hey guys will you help me figuring something out? This song I’ve been working on it for a while, but I know that I have to finish it now for some reason.” She stopped quickly and giving a side wink to Joe who knew instantly that the song she was having trouble figuring out was due to the class he taught for vocals and guitar the very next day as the students would be performing it with help from the instructors. Because she would be performing her first song ever without the use of her wig she had invited Nick to see her perform as that was his off period, Kevin was too busy that day and she wasn’t about to perform when her secret was still sealed in tight and only two brother’s looking at her this very second knew who she really was. “I mean I don’t like having songs go incomplete and this is pushing the one year line!” She said gleefully.
“Let’s look at it than shall we?” Joe said and watched as Emma flipped open the book, it landed up on the ear marked page as Joe quickly glanced over her shoulder, she went to turn the page back but Joe put his hand in front of the page in mid turn.
“Wait is this the song?” He asked.
“No, wrong song!” She said trying to turn the page frantically. Joe could see that she was still nervous about her song in the incubation stage but he tried again to look at it.
“Can I please see it? I think I can add some guitar chords!” He said in a friendly manner, and she couldn’t deny him, he had already helped shape one of her songs, she handed the notebook over while Joe studied the guitar chords, Emma grabbed the other two boys and got up standing.
“Alright I have it memorized and the guitar parts aren’t giving me as much trouble as the actual lyrics, so I’m going to sing it without my guitar and let me know what you think!” She said smiling and took a deep breath. She inhaled slowly and began to sing. She could see a glimmer appear each time she began a new line of lyrics, she had felt like her friends were actually listening to her, she had never sang this much in front of them before, a whole song almost in completion. Kevin felt like he had heard a voice like hers before but he was speechless to even think about it, as Emma’s voice painted a picture of starting over again.
“I have to wonder if this waves too big to ride
Commit or not commit it’s such a crazy tide.
Yet sooner than I thought but you called me out
I lost control and there’s not doubt
I’m gonna start all over.
Out of the fire and into the fire again.
You make me want to forget and,
Start all over.
Here I come,
Straight out of my mind, or worse,
Another chance to get burned,
And start all over.
I’m gonna start all over.
Fantastic and romantic
All a big surprise
You’ve got the warning hesitation pushed aside
Yet sooner than I want
But you caught my heart
I guess I’m ready now to start
I’m gonna start all over.
Out of the fire and into the fire again.
You make me want to forget and,
Start all over.
Here I come,
Straight out of my mind, or worse,
Another chance to get burned,
And start all over.
I’m gonna start all over.”
Nick and Kevin stood there for a few minutes, even Joe had looked up from writing on her notebook and almost finishing his added version with the end of the guitar chords. She thought instantly that the brothers thought it wasn’t a song worth anything, and she felt that it wasn’t how exactly she wanted to come to terms with her life without the record label.
“Well, that’s it all I have created. I wanted to create a bridge to the song but I’m not even sure, I know it’s not worth…” She said before Nick cut her off and interrupted.
“Not worth Bridgette taking away your career! Emma that song was amazing!” Nick said smiling hard; Lily felt instant relief come off her shoulders.
“Emma?” Joe asked in a really small voice.
“Yeah?” She asked unsure.
“Can I talk to you a minute outside, it’s about your song!” Joe said in half a lie as everyone was confused about what song he meant, when he really meant the song she had just sang he raised the notebook up to show that he meant the one hidden in the notebook. She nodded and gave Kevin’s hand a small squeeze; he was still standing there unable to talk but he gave her a strong squeeze back in her hand, a million images of Lily began to swarm inside and he didn’t know why.
They stepped out into the dark evening as Joe sat down immediately on the bench on the porch; Lily stood off to the side and waited for Joe to collect his thoughts. She could hardly hear his voice it seemed to come from deep inside him. First he had to think about the song the she had just sung, his mind was reeling.
“Lily, is fame really like that?” He asked scared. She took to the other side of the bench and faced him straight on.
“It can be, Joe. But…it doesn’t have to be; sometimes you get the start you never had in the first place.”
“I don’t want to ever go back!” He said almost as if it was a scary tunnel he had just came out of, she took his hurt hand against her fingers and gave it a small tap, almost like a drum beat. Joe opened the lyric book its pages rippled trying to pick up and fly away with the soft breeze.
“Your not going back Joe, you gave me that guitar string because you moved forward, now I have to learn, I know it’s scary Joe but your going to get through this, what you feel right now is stronger than any pain, it’s not hurtful pain it’s love.”
He smiled and knew that she was right, he was hurting because he cared so much for the ones he loved. She looked down at the lyrics and the guitar chords. Joe kept noticing her smile, as she nodded her head, bringing him speeding, and leaving the past behind him.
“You like the song now?” He asked her as if he didn’t know the answer.
“It’s not broken anymore!” She said and than took the pen out of the spiral chord and put a title to the song. “I’m speechless!” She inquired; she looked back at the name of the song, hoping to sing it for Joe one day.
Good and Broken.
Together they walked back into her cabin; Nick was huddled and talking to Kevin. Kevin smiled widely when he saw the two of them return. He almost ran to the bed when he went over to Emma.
“Finished!”
“What do you mean?” She asked unsure.
“We finished the song for you that you sang a cappella for us. The only thing that was missing was something that went slow and was more dramatic. Bridgette has nothing over you!”
Overwhelmed by how easy it had happened, that she should finish two different songs with these guys in one night she fell into a peaceful slumber, sometimes using something you’ve had all your life just works. She went to bed that night, breathing in the fresh air from the open window and anticipating tomorrow’s performance, where Lily would shine through.
Joe was leaning his knee on the desk, he gripped the wooden desk and than let go spinning himself around in the desk chair; he watched the rest of the students finish off working on their blank music sheets. In a few minutes everybody would follow him and another camp instructor who were helping out for technical purposes to the auditorium where they would perform their songs they had been working on, and Joe and his brother Nick would help out with backup guitar and drums as need be. He kept second guessing himself when he let the students pick who would go in what order, but he shook it off as the students got up and turned their papers in on the table, a girl with jet black hair smiled as she turned her paper into Joe, she was to go first. There was a few stranglers as Joe struggled to keep his guitar in one hand and a three-ring binder in the other, his injured hand caused the three-ring binder to hit against the guitar’s neck and fall swiftly with a loud thud to the floor. It was hard to gather the papers on the floor as the cast flat on the pieces of paper made in nearly impossible to grab against the restraints and hard zipper, and his fingers felt the material of the cast more than the paper.
Her golden blonde hair was tied up in a tight ponytail that was wrapped around in place by a pen, her hand grabbed at the stack of papers that were opposite of Joe’s body, she quickly thumbed threw the stack glancing at Joe who’d head was down unaware that she was deathly close. She grabbed the pen from out of her messy bun as her hair fell to her shoulders she added her name to a not so random piece of paper:
Start All Over
Number 21: Bridgette Locke-Reed
Number 26: Lily Allen
Than she was out the door before Joe was done gathering the three-ring binder back together, she took her pen and wrote lyrics on her palm, than she flipped her head over spinning it in her fingers and placing the pen back in it’s golden hues and raw umber and russet strands.
Lily was standing over to the side of the wall in the auditorium her hands shaking and she kept breathing in hard. Her hair was bobby pined into an up-do, delicate curls were layered in the front, her eyes were frazzled as Nick came bounding inside his acoustic guitar in it’s case in his right hand, he saw Lily apart from the crowd and than took to putting one of her curls behind her ear, his lips close to her earlobe he whispered inside.
“You’re going to be great!” He said.
She looked at him and expelled some air out through her lungs; she pushed her hair back over her hair and looked down at her feet. She was second guessing herself more than ever, and she just wished that the audience of students would disappear. She almost forgot that her best friends were standing right in front of her. She felt Nick’s finger on her chin trying to raise it up, her eyes burned as she settled away from the floor and into Nick’s eyes.
“I want to hear you singing, please don’t hide away Lily. The longer you hide…”
“The longer it hurts.” She said in a small voice, Joe had already told her that.