Hidden in Plain Sight

*Carly's POV*

I sit in my car in the parking lot behind the club. I tap my hands on my steering wheel in hopes it will take my nervous shakes out of my system. I attempt to control my breathing but my nerves just get the better of me. With shaky hands and body, I pull myself out of my black car and walk to the boot. I yank my guitar out of the car and walk to the door.

A large built man with a bald head stands at the back door. He is smiling at me. "Good evening Carly, it's good to see you".

"It's good to see you too Matt" I chirp back. Matt opens the door for me and gestures me inside. With my guitar case in tow, I walk in.

The usual noises of pounding music and masses of people hit my ear drums as I enter the club. It's nothing unusual to me. I work with loud things and loud noises almost everyday. I recognise the song that is playing and internally dance along to it as I make my way through the halls of the club. Soon enough, I find the man I am looking for.

"Carly, lovely, you're here!" Russel walks up to me and hugs me.

"7 o'clock Saturday night, just like you said" I hug Russell back.

"I always love it when you perform. You're such a stunner" Russell laughs.

"I've performed here like 2 times Russell"

"I know, and I love it!" He jumps before leading me to a small 'dressing room' type thing.

He let's me get set up and rehearse some songs. I have half an hour before I go on to perform a couple songs. If you haven't figured it out, I'm a cover artist as well as a record producer and sound technician. I am also experienced in the field of live production too. I'm only 23 years old but I can do a lot of things. Pays to put your mind to things and work hard.

I am also a 'one man band' as Jack Barakat describes me. I excel in guitar and piano, but I can also play bass and drums at a competent level and I can sing. So really I am the ultimate threat. Now usually you won't hear girls say that about themselves. You won't hear them speak so highly of themselves and that's okay. That's them. But me on the other hand, i am a more outgoing person and I like to talk about my achievements and what I am good at. But I guess that's just me.

Growing up, I always had a great interest in music. I was inspired by my grandad. He taught me now to play guitar and piano and the rest I learnt through those mandatory music classes where they make you play different instruments and stuff. Luckily for me, I had a natural talent and aced all my exams. I completed school and went off to a music university. And apart of my course was live production. And so I went to help out at a festival that was playing near where I was and that was where I had met Jack Barakat and All Time Low. And the rest you know from there.

Currently, I am going through my small little set list. I'm aiming for a variety of stuff, but stuff I like. Many people don't like punk rock or pop punk music, but once you turn it into an acoustic song, they won't care. So that's what I do. I acoustically cover songs I like.

My set list is; If it means a lot to you by A day to remember, saviour by black veil brides, Afire Love and I'm a mess by Ed Sheeran and my all time favourite Guts by all time low. I play a different set of songs each time I perform. It makes more interesting for me personally.

Russell soon knocks on my door and tells me I have 5 minutes before I go out. I stand up and look into the full body mirror. I straighten up my clothes, scrunching my black skinny jeans over my blue All Stars and flattening my black and blue print shirt and flipping the hood of my red jacket. I take out my acoustic guitar I had painted black and white and stand it besides me. I take one last breath before I leave the room.

I walk down the halls where Russell stops me. He gives a signal to a guy whom I can't see for the dark lighting backstage. Russell whispers a "you'll be amazing" before a voice booms over the club. "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Miss Carly Fox to the stage". Russell steps from my path and I walk out.

Groups of people sit at tables placed throughout the club and a mass of people stand at the bar. They cheer and they clap with drinks in hands. I love the feeling the sound of cheering and clapping gives me. It makes me feel so good inside. I take my place on a single stool sat centre stage behind a microphone. I plug my guitar in and it gives awful feedback but the sound team fix it instantly.

I mumble a 'oops, sorry' into the microphone before I get comfortable. "Hi guys, I'm Carly and I'm gonna play a couple of songs for you tonight" I say into the microphone, earning a small laugh. "This ones called If It Means A Lot To You".

I begin to play the song, almost instantly becoming lost in the melody. I begin to sing. "And hey darling,
I hope you're good tonight.
And I know you don't feel right when I'm leaving.
Yeah, I want it but no, I don't need it.
Tell me something sweet to get me by,
'Cause I can't come back home till they're singing
La, la la la, la la la,
Till everyone is singing"

The crowd comes alive. They scream and they cheer. They clap their hands in amazement and I can't help but smile. Oh how I love this feeling. I finish the first song and I'm onto Saviour and soon onto I'm a mess. But afire love is one of my favourite songs.

"Darling, hold me in your arms the way you did last night
And we'll lie inside for a little while, here oh
I could look into your eyes until the sun comes up
And we're wrapped in light, in life, in love
Put your open lips on mine and slowly let them shut
For they're designed to be together, oh
With your body next to mine our hearts will beat as one
And we're set alight, we're afire love"

I finish the song and the crowd is still wild, but more people are here. More people are watching and more people are cheering. Some are even singing along if they know the lyrics. I scan the crowd for nothing in particular, but just to look at everyone.

"I've had a great time playing for you guys tonight. Thank you all so much. This last song is a favourite of mine. I wrote it with a couple of friends about two years back. Sing along if you know it. This songs called Guts" I say into the microphone.

I begin to play the riff, instantly taken in by the melody. When I was working with All Time Low, Alex had asked for my help in writing lyrics. But I told him I had no idea how to write decent lyrics and he hardly believed me. But I understand. It's highly ironic. A girl who is a 'one man band' and can record and stuff like that, cannot write lyrics for a song. But I honestly couldn't.

One day I was with Alex and we were driving home from the studio (he had to take me home because I had no car) and he began talking to me about something deeply personal. I was taken aback slightly with Alex sharing deep thoughts but being the person I am, I listened well and tried to give my honest feedback.

"But Carly, I'm scared that I'll just get pushed back down again. I just can't let that happen" Alex said to me, genuinely upset about the situation.

"You know what I think. You have guts. You have the guts to tell someone how you feel and you should use that to your advantage. Use your guts to tell them how you feel and why, and if they shoot you down and you fall down, you can fall knowing you stood up for yourself. You can fall proudly knowing you said what you said and you meant it. Who cares about reputation, you're in a famous band. I'm sure you've got a pretty good reputation. But all in all, use those guts of yours and if you fall down, fall down knowing you could have not done better." I told him deep from my heart.

"Wow, I-I'd-Id never thought of it that way" Alex stumbles.

"And just know, I'll be right there to pick you back up" I smile at him.

"Thank you so much Carly, you have no idea how much that means to me" he looks at me, a genuine smile gracing his face. "Well. Here's your house" he pulled up in my driveway.

"I want to hear about this okay. You tell me everything" I say as I get out.

"Of course you will" Alex waves and I wave back. Alex took off.

And then the next day, Alex had written a song, and I had tears in my eyes. I was so proud and so was the rest of the band.

Exiting my trance, I open my eyes to a standing ovation. A number of people were standing from their tables and from the bar cheering and clapping. I stand up, unplugging my guitar and give the crowd one last scan. And then they appeared in sight.

Notes

Finally, I wrote from Carly's POV. Haha. I'm not trying to portray Carly as a stuck up girl, but as a genuine girl. So I hope that you find I'm not writing a bitch.

As always, please leave me comments. I really love hearing your thoughts and I thrive on your comments, it gives me motivation to write. So please let me know what you think. :)

-Abbie.