| "I- I- I can�t do this!" Natalie shouted, as she hopped off her stool and threw her guitar down dramatically. Nathan and Anna looked at her incredulously from their laying positions on the floor. "Um, why?" Nathan asked slowly. Natalie glared at her best friend. "B- b-� because!" She sunk down to the floor and hugged her knees tightly to her chest, one of the hard legs from her stool digging into her back. "Oh, come on, Nat," Anna said, leaning back on her elbows. "It�s just us." "Today it�s just you guys," she said, sadly, "But next Friday, it�s gonna be a packed crowd at the Crest." Nathan brushed her worry away with a flick of his hand. "Two� two hundred, what's the difference?" Natalie groaned at his joke and buried her head in her arms. The three were enveloped in thick silence, and the largeness of the empty room grew and grew as the quiet lingered longer and longer. "Well, if you�re so nervous," Nathan finally spoke up, "Maybe you should drop out. You know, just not play at the Crest next Friday." Natalie's head shot up and her watery red-rimmed eyes bored furiously into his. "Do you know how hard it was to get that final spot for Friday?" she said, passionately. "I worked my ass off to get that last act, and there is no way in hell I am going to give it up. I�m playing my guitar on Friday night at the Crest even if... even if I were dead. And I'll even swear to that." Nathan shrugged, pleased his tiny idea had worked and brought out the persistent willingness that his friend was so well known for. Anna smiled at Natalie, who had developed a very determined look on her face. Before she could open her mouth to let out another shove of encouragement, Natalie was already seated on her stool, guitar resting lightly on her knee and strings strumming a quick warm up. "That's what I thought," Nathan whispered, as Anna slapped him five away from Natalie's sight. "Hmm?" she asked, looking up from her guitar for the first time since she sat back up. "Nothin'," Anna said quickly, shaking her head. They listened to Natalie strum a few chords, and hum a few herself, before she finally slapped the base of the guitar, waking Nathan and Anna from their peaceful daydreams full of Natalie�s light melodies. "Okay," she said, a deep sigh escaping her lungs, "I�m ready. Here goes-" She strummed one last practice chord, "Nothing." Nathan and Anna listened intently to the melodies of their best friend. Natalie was always the musician. She taught herself to play the guitar at the tiny age of nine and never stopped. Anna was their dancer. Ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, even polka if necessary: Anna�s narrow little feet could groove to it all. Nathan was the smart one: Mr. Brainiac, Mr. Genius, Mr. Smarty-Pants, Mr. Smarty-Ass� They were the kids who were so focused on what life's promising road was leading them to, they just didn't have time for friends. It wasn't a surprise though that they only ended up to become best friends with the other two who were just as determined. Suddenly in the middle of a verse, Natalie stopped. It took Nathan and Anna a few moments to acknowledge the silence. "What happened?" Anna questioned, a puzzled look etched on her delicate porcelain-looking face. "That�s it," Natalie stated, plainly. "I don�t have anything else. I have to-" She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "I have to finish this before, before Friday. I can�t-" She sighed again but scratched her head this time. "I need to be at the Crest with a finished song. I can�t play this." Nathan and Anna gave their friend a sympathetic look, but remained silent. Natalie set her guitar on the ground gently and dragged the stool to the corner, where the rest of the stools were stacked. The two watched worriedly as she paced around, her head down, and muttering to herself. Her head popped up suddenly and she looked in the direction of them, who were still lying comfortably on the soft carpet. "I have to see Derek," she told them, a glazed look over her eyes, "I have to- He has- I need to go see Derek." She shoved her guitar in it�s case and slung it over her shoulder, picked up her bag by the doorway, and slammed the door shut, leaving Nathan and Anna alone. Nathan stood up, and after brushing himself off, offered a hand to Anna. He pulled her up, saying, "It�s okay. She�s okay. She�ll be okay." Anna knew Nathan was being sincere, but she wasn�t sure if he was talking to her or to himself. |