Polaroids and Postcards | ✔️

Chapter 9: Not a Waste

"You don't have to be rich to travel well."

•••

The announcer's voice rang out through the entirety of the venue. "And now, the moment we've all been waiting for... it's time to announce the winner of tonight's Open Mic Contest!"

The crowd cheered. Della squeaked in my ear, slapping me in the arm like an overly-excited child. I wanted to win. But who was I kidding... I needed to win. I needed that money to push myself a little closer to realizing my dream.

"You've got this in the bag, I just know it!" Della hissed, now choosing to squeeze my arm instead of slap it.

"Yeah... sure," I mutter. I don't wanna get my hopes up.

The announcer-dude stands up straighter as an envelope is passed to him. "Aha! Here goes nothing, folks. Tonight, we are privileged to present the $1,000 prize to..."      

A moment of silence. I feel my heart pounding in my ears.

"Trent Barrows and the Soul Brothers from Kentucky State! C'mon up here, boys!"

The crowd cheered, but I barely heard them. It was suddenly hard to breathe and my chest tightened. Somehow, the crowd didn't seem to be as loud as they were when I played. But maybe that was just me. I was numb. The leader of the winning band came up on stage, accepting the cash prize with a grin.

Why wasn't that me?

I glanced over at Della, who was clapping politely. But she wasn't smiling. In fact, the glitter that was in her eyes a few moments ago seemed to have waned significantly in the past 12-and-a-half seconds. Somehow, that only made me feel worse.

"Let's just go, Della," I huffed, turning to leave. "No point in staying."

"That should've been you, ya know."

I spun sound, only to see that my purple-locked companion was standing exactly where I left her. "What?"

She turned her head to look me in the eye. "You should have won tonight. You were by far better than anyone else out there."

"Thanks," I said, uncomfortably. "But it's not a big deal. That's the way it is in music. You get the gig or you don't. Plain and simple. Sometimes these things are just a waste of time and—"

"—I'm sorry you didn't win," she interrupted, "but I don't regret making you come."

I blinked. "Come again?"

"I know you think this was a waste and I know you regret coming, but I'm gonna tell you straight up that this was not a waste of time, Jason Lovett."

Two blinks.

"You literally glowed with potential out there tonight. When you were on that stage with your guitar, you were real. You weren't busy caring about what others thought or about making things perfect or about planning it out. You were just doing. Being. Living."

She totally summed it up. That's how I feel when I perform. I just... am.

How does she...?

"Everyone here got to witness something amazing tonight," Della continued, "and if they were too blind to see it, then I feel so sad and sorry for them. For me, it was a privilege to watch you perform, Jason. And I am so proud to say that we're friends."

•••

We tried to just slip out the front door, but there was a crowd of people we had forgotten about. We pushed, shoved, and squeezed, but it took forever to make any progress. And then, just as I saw the light of the front door, I heard Della yell.

"Jason, hold on!"

I glanced around, noting that she was several feet away, jumping up and down, waving her arms like a crazy person.

What now?

As I snaked my way back into the crowd, I was confused to see that Della was not alone. Standing beside her was Mark, the signup guy. And he did not look happy.

Crap. He found out.

"Hey, Della. Hey Mark." I sidled over to where they were standing. "Is there a problem?"

"Yeah, we do have a bit of an issue," Mark stated, rubbing the back of his neck. His arms looked a little bigger than I remembered earlier. And he's taller than me. I didn't notice that earlier. I don't know if I could take him or not.

Della tossed her unicorn mane over her shoulder, unconcerned. "Well what is it? Can we do anything to help?"

Always cool and collected.

"Listen, I'm just gonna be frank with you guys. A lot of people here are pissed that you didn't win. And even though I shouldn't be getting involved personally in this situation, I felt like you should have won too. You were loads better than all of those guys and you deserved the prize."

This was bizarre. I thought Della was just being nice when she told me those things earlier. I guess I was wrong again.

"Anyway, the owner of this establishment liked you too and he feels like you were done wrong by not winning. So he was wondering if you'd stay and play for a while longer and let him set up a tip jar so all of your fans can show their appreciation. Just a few songs! You won't have to play the whole evening. Just long enough for everyone to support you and say thanks for coming."

I couldn't believe it. They actually liked me! And they wanted to pay me.

"Mark, that would be splendid!" Della butt in, "And perfect timing too, because we were about to leave when you stopped us."

"Yeah, I'm glad I caught you. There would've been hell to pay if I hadn't."

"When do you need him to play?"

Della... always on top of things.

"How does ten minutes sound?" Mark asked, looking back at me. "That'll give you a couple of minutes to pick a few songs and get in place."

"That works perfectly," Della replied for me, "Thank you so much, Mark."

"No problem, ma'am. Can't wait to hear you again, Mr. Lovett."

I watch Mark walk away in a daze.
That totally just happened.

"Waste of time, huh?"

I faced Della, who was smiling smugly yet again. She seemed quite satisfied.

"Not a waste," I admitted, squeezing the handle on my guitar, "not by a long shot."

•••••••••

Hey, lovelies!! I'M BACKKKKK!!!! So glad to be back & share more of Jason & Della with all of you. I'm sorry it's been so long, but college is a crazy, bloodthirsty beast who like to devour writers before they are done writing stories. However, no need to fear. It's time for summer break. So I should have lots of time to update the story & share with all of you. Thanks for being kind & patient.

~Did you think Jason was going to win this whole time?

~Do you think Della knew about the extra singing all along?

~What do you think will happen next?

{Be sure to comment, vote, follow, and share! Help me get this story off the ground again & get some more readers! More readers = more interaction = more FUN!!}