Writer's Conference

Yesterday, I went to a writers conference for Jr. High students. I was there as an aid to one of the professionals. The kids were divided up into groups where they read their pieces out loud to the rest of the group to be critiqued. It was a really neat to be around other people, particularly kids, who enjoy to write. I haven't written much fiction in a long time. Sadly, most of my writing is school oriented (essays and journalism). Outside of class, I blog and journal, but I'm not sure if that counts as real writing. I did do a lot of fiction in middle school though. When I got home from the conference, I went digging to see if I could find any of it. "The Perfect Band" was one of my favorite short stories. I've come a long way since then. Enjoy.

"The Perfect Band"

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Becky Carson was never the easiest person to get along with. Most people would call somebody like her a control freak or snob.

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Becky was a few inches over five feet. She was slim but not twig-like. Her hair was golden blonde. It was very strait. Every hair on her head was cut the same exact length. Her golden hair was longer than shoulder-length but didn’t quite reach her belly button. It was silky, soft, hair. The kind of hair people like to run their hands through. Her eyes were blue. They were round and watchful like an owl's. She also had dimples that showed when she smiled her ear to ear smile. Her nose was as pointy as the tip of a pencil. It was speckled with a few faint freckles.

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Becky’s favorite thing to do is sing. She grew up in Nashville and always dreamed of being a star. She would trade anything in the world to be a famous singer. Becky would sing on the bus, between classes, during meals, and any other time or place.

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Becky’s best friend is Samantha Dillon. Samantha is extremely short. Her skin was tan. Her hair is short and curly. She wears it in a ponytail tied with a pink ribbon. Her eyes are almond shaped. She wears glasses which makes it hard to see her beautiful dark brown eyes underneath them. To Becky, Samantha looks dorky.

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Becky and Samantha go to Glenmont Middle School. Glenmont was fairly new. The lockers were blue and the walls were white. It’s a generally small school. Becky and Samantha are in all of the same classes. The two usually do most of their talking during study hall.

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“So Samantha,” said Becky, “are you coming to band practice today?”

“Um...” Samantha hesitates, “I don’t think so.”

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“What do you mean you don’t think so?”

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“I may not be able to come”

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“You can’t come?”

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“I have to…”

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Becky cuts her off. “Samantha, you know we have practice every Tuesday and Thursday. You know that. You’ll have to rearrange your schedule.”

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“Whatever”

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The bell rings signaling a class change. Becky and Samantha pack their things and walk towards their next class. While they pass the school bulletin board Becky notices a flier. The flier read,

Youth Talent Contest

The Youth Talent Contest is February 9, 2004.
We invite all talents.
Winners will receive $500.00!
Please sign up in the front office.
If you plan to enter, please sign up by February 1st.
Good Luck.

Becky’s eyes widened with excitement. If she could win this contest there would be a chance she would become famous. She wasted no time. She entered herself and her band in the Youth Talent Contest right away.

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After school Becky and the rest of the band members met at Becky’s house for their regular band practice. The band practiced in the garage. The garage was dusty and dark like any other garage. The first thing you saw when you walk in the garage is the drum set. It was placed smack dab in the middle of the room. Underneath is set a big rug. The rug was green. Soda and snack stains were spotted all over. Next to the drum set was a keyboard. This was the keyboard Samantha played on. The keyboard was black and covered in dust. Sheets of music were left scattered on top of it. On the other side of the drum set there were two music stands. One was for each guitar player in the band. There was a microphone about 4 feet in front of the drum set. It was for Becky to sing into. The garage had posters of band after band on all four walls. Every poster was perfectly strait. None were wrinkled or bent.

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“Okay everybody, I have a surprise for you,” Becky announced. “I have entered our band in The Youth Talent Contest going on at our school. So we’re really going to have to work hard if we want to win. This may mean extra practices and things like that. But I’m sure you guys won’t mind. Besides, the winners get $500.”

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The band’s jaws dropped. But they didn’t look as excited as Becky expected.

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“You what!” Yelled Rick. Rick was the lead guitar player in the band. He was tall, about 6 feet.

His hair was a midnight black color. He spiked it up like the rock stars he saw on television. Rick had green braces that matched his green eyes. Rick and Becky never agreed on anything. They would argue for hours on who was right and who was wrong about the silly things.

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“I entered us in The Youth Talent Contest,” Becky replied.

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“Why didn’t you ask us if we wanted to enter first?” Rick demanded.

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“I thought it was a good idea.” Becky said.

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Samantha joined the conversation, “Becky, I don’t really have a lot of extra time to practice. Do you think we’ll be ready in time for the performance? When is it?”

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“It’s on February 9.”

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“But that only gives us 2 weeks. We’ll never be ready in time. That’s insane.” Rick said.

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“Look everybody, we’ll just have to work hard. Plus the winners get $500 in cash” Becky said.

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“That’s kind of cool” said Marie. Marie played the base guitar in the band. She had long spiral

like hair that reached her waist. It was a dusty brown color. Marie didn’t talk a lot. She mostly just kept to herself and followed what everyone else did. She was very mellow but hard not to notice because she was the tallest member of the band. Marie chewed gum constantly. She was never seen without a stick of gum in her mouth. The teachers didn’t even bother asking her to spit it out because they knew she’d just put another piece of gum in her mouth while they weren’t looking.

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“Yeah dude,” said Greg. Greg was the drummer in the band. Greg and Marie were twins. He had the same curly, dusty brown colored hair as his sister only his hair was much shorter. His hair was always a complete mess. Greg, like his sister, didn’t talk a lot. He mostly only talked when spoken to. When he did talk he said words like “Dude” and “Yeah man.” Greg and Rick were best friends. Greg couldn’t stand Becky. But he kept it to himself because he knew this was the only band he’d find with members his age that actually had some potential.

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“Okay, I guess it wouldn’t be so bad. We don’t really have anything to loose.” Said Rick.

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“Good, I’m glad you see it my way.” Becky snottily said, “Samantha what about you? Are you in?”

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Samantha looked at the other band members. They, like her, weren’t very enthusiastic about the idea. She looked at Becky.

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“Okay, but I may need to miss a few practices because of tests and stuff. I guess I’ll do my

best.”

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“Great, then it’s settled. Practice is every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday for now on. We need all the practice we can get! Samantha, did you say something about a new song?” Becky said.

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“Yeah, it’s really good too. I think it’s my best song yet,” Replied Samantha.

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Samantha passed out her music to Greg, Marie, and Rick. She gave a copy of the lyrics to Becky. The band diddled on their instruments a little trying to read the music.”

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“Hey Samantha, this is really good,” Said Rick. “It’ll be a hit for sure.”

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Becky quickly looked at Samantha. Becky had the look of jealousy in her eyes. Becky wanted to learn to read music but would never admit it. She wanted everyone to think she was perfect. She was scared to ask a fellow band member to teach her because she’s scared they might make fun of her. Becky also wanted to write music. She had tried writing lyrics before but they were never as good as Samantha’s. Samantha had natural music ability and Becky knew that. Becky hid her jealousy by acting like music didn’t matter. She was constantly asking the band why they needed their music written down anyway.

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“Thank you,” Samantha replied with a bit smile.

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“I don’t see how you guys can read music. It makes no sense. Besides, I always thought real artist just felt the music,” Said Becky.

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“What does it matter to you?” asked Rick, “The only musical talent you have is singing. What’s the challenge in that?”

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Becky pretended not to hear him. She went back to humming the lyrics to herself.

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“Do you think you guys have looked over the music enough times so we can actually try and play it?” Becky asked sarcastically.

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The rest of the band moaned at her question and nodded their heads.

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“Good, let’s play.”

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The band played their new song. It was a little rough but they’d play it great if they get enough practice. The song was upbeat and kind of fun. The finished playing their new song when Rick motioned for them to stop.

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“Do you think we could have a guitar solo in this song?” he asked.

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“Or maybe even a drum solo?” Greg added.

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“That’s a really good idea!” said Samantha. “Yeah Rick, just start your solo when we’re getting near the end.”

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“I don’t think so,” cried Becky, “That’s a stupid idea.”

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“You’re just jealous because you don’t get a solo!” Rick yelled back.

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“Am not!”

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“Look I got to go. Practice is over. I’ll see y’all Thursday.” said Samantha. With that, she grabbed her music and left. The rest of the band trailed behind her.

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Becky was jealous about the guitar solo. She dreamed that she could play some sort of instrument so she could have a solo. She went inside and felt more and more jealous of the rest of the band members.

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The 2 weeks rolled by and it was now time for the band to meet again for their last practice before the contest.

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Samantha had bags under her eyes and looked very tired and stressed.

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“Hi y’all! Let’s get to work,” said Becky cheerfully.
The band jumped right into their new song. They played it great. Everybody was on beat and in key. Not one mistake was made. But that wasn’t good enough for Becky.

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“Okay everybody that was awesome. We’ll win the contest for sure. But there are some things we need to talk about.”

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“Like what?” asked Rick?

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“Well, I think we need to look our best for the contest. So I want each of you to make sure and do all these things for me. Greg, do you think you could actually comb your hair before we go on stage. Marie do you think you could go three minutes without chewing gum. Rick, please don’t smile because your ugly green braces might show. And Samantha, please don’t wear your glasses. You look like a total dweeb.” She said all of this very quickly like she had put a lot of thought into this criticism.

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“Excuse me?” said Rick, “I don’t think that Samantha’s glasses make her look like a dweeb.”

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“And who cares about Marie’s gum?” said Greg.

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“Greg’s hair is cool,” said Samantha.

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“And there’s nothing wrong with braces,” added Marie.

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“I’m just saying…”

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“Well don’t okay!” yelled Rick.

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“Besides Becky, I can’t even see my music without my glasses. You know how bad my eyes

are!” said Samantha.

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“Look everyone, it’s only one song! Anyways, onto other business. I was thinking about how we want to have the announcer person announce us. How about this? "This next band is about to perform a song called 'More Than Perfect' written by our own… Becky Carson.”

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“Written by who?” screamed Rick.

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“Becky Carson”

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“But Samantha wrote that song”

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Samantha’s chin was quivering like she was inches away from crying. Her eyes were watery and cheeks were red.

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“So?” Becky relied.

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“You can’t steal other people’s music. That’s illegal!”

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“Who cares?”

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“Look, Samantha worked really hard on that song. I can’t believe you would even think of doing that! You’re crazy Becky Carson. You are crazy!”

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Tears were running down Samantha’s cheeks. She was staring at Becky as if she just stabbed her. Samantha looked down at the keyboard and then looked back at the rest of the band.

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“I’m really sorry you guys. But I’m not going to be at the contest. I can’t play with someone like Becky. I’ll see you at school later.” She turned to Becky stared at her as if she was going to say something but walked away. All the other band members followed except Becky.

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The next day the band gave Becky the silent treatment. But Becky wasn’t worried about the friendships. She was worried about how she was going to win the contest. After school she bought a karaoke cod she could sing to for the talent contest. She practiced all that night so she could win.

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It was time for the talent contest. The school body filled the gym. Samantha, Rick, Greg, and Marie all sat together. They watched all the acts. Other students did things such as juggling and yodeling. The band knew they could win but realized Becky had gone completely overboard. Near the end of the show it was Becky’s turn to sing. The music she bought started to play through the speakers. It was scratchy. Becky started to sing but something was wrong with her CD. It was skipping and Becky had no working music. Becky’s face looked red. The gym filled with snickers and giggles from the other students. Becky had tears falling across her face.

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Samantha looked at her fellow band members. They all nodded at each other and went down to save Becky. They played their song for the Talent Contest. The students were amazed at how good the band actually was. They played Samantha’s song. Rick even played his guitar solo. It was the best they ever played it. Becky was very thankful. You could see her pride in her eyes. The song was over and the five band members sat on the bleachers.

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“I’m really sorry you guys,” Becky said sobbing.

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“Well it’s okay. You went way over board but that did punishment enough have to go through the embarrassment of a broken CD,” said Samantha.

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“I think we’re going to win,” said Rick.

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“It doesn’t matter any more,” said Becky, “I’m just glad I have friends like you.”

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“Shush.” said Marie, “They’re awarding the winners.”

“The first place price goes to Becky, Rick, Samantha, Greg and Marie for Samantha’s very own song, 'More than perfect'!” said women holding a trophy cup and a $500 check.

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The band spent the money to buy Becky guitar lessons. The band argued here and there but got along better than ever after they won the contest.