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Editor Note: The images used for this story were purchased and used under royalty-free license* from Istockphoto.com . ~Sephrena
Author Note: Please email me at AngelJediGirl (at) gmail (dot) com before posting this story to any other site. Posting to a pay site is prohibited.

Comments and suggestions are also welcome at the above email address.

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Sarah Carerra Book 2: Summer Medley

Chapter 2.10 - The Woman behind the Wig

After taking a shower the next morning, I returned to my own room to get ready. Just the idea of working on Sarah's music without being dressed up like her was odd. But we were the same person, and I knew that we had the same talents. After all, I'd written the songs without the wig.

But I think it was the presence of the band that was the real issue. The idea of not wearing the wig in front of them almost felt like I would be standing naked in front of them. It felt like I was being exposed more than I ever had before.

I put on a pair of jeans and a tee, pulled my hair back into a ponytail, put on my makeup, and stepped back out of my room. I was hoping that I had time for some breakfast before everyone arrived, but as I approached the door to Sarah's room I heard the guys inside setting up their instruments. I had to laugh at some of the things they were saying while they worked. They definitely did not appreciate the room's decor like I did. I was about to go in and see how they were doing when the doorbell rang.

Instead of stepping inside of Sarah's room, I walked down the hallway to the front room. Mom was coming out of the kitchen, and smiled when she saw me.

"I got it," I told her and she stepped back into the kitchen where it smelled like she was making a really good breakfast. I should have known that we would be feeding the band.

Sophie was standing on the doorstep when I opened the door, and she looked up at me in confusion for a moment before recognition swept across her face.

"Megan?" she asked. I smiled a quirky grin back at her.

"Hi, Sophie," I said and then stepped back and opened the door further. "Come on in."

She stepped inside, but she didn't stop looking at me the whole time.

"Not what you expected, huh?" I asked her. All she could do was nod for a moment.

"You look so different!" she finally said. "I mean, I never would have guessed that you were Sarah Carerra if you hadn't told me."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment," I told her. "I don't want to be recognized."

She nodded, but didn't know what else to say.

"Have you had anything to eat?" I asked her. She shook her head.

"Don said that breakfast would be provided," she said and it was my turn to nod.

"Mom's making it right now and it smells really good," I stepped over to the door to the kitchen, motioning for Sophie to follow me. Once we were inside, Mom looked up at us.

"Mom, this is Sophie," I told her. My mom broke out in a warm smile directed at Sophie.

"Hi, Sophie," she said. "I don't think we properly met at the concert. It's nice to finally meet you. Are you hungry?"

Sophie looked around at the many pots and pans that Mom had been using. She had gone all out; there were pancakes, waffles, sausage, bacon, eggs, and hash browns. If someone wanted it for breakfast, my mom had probably made it.

"Wow, Mom! That's a lot of food!" I stated.

"I wanted the band to feel at home this morning," Mom explained. "Perhaps they won't be so shocked to meet you if their stomachs are full."

I laughed at her silly joke, and Sophie smiled.

"It's almost ready," Mom continued. "If you want to go get the boys, we can get started. Your dad should be back in a moment. He went to get some more milk."

"Okay," I told her. "I'll go get them."

Stepping back out of the kitchen and into the hall, I looked back to see Sophie following me. I walked down to Sarah's door and pushed it open. Inside the couch had been moved to the side, leaving a large open area where the band was setting up a lot of equipment. The guys looked up at my entrance, but didn't smile until Sophie came in behind me. I stepped closer to where they were standing, and stuck my hand out for Jason to take. He was confused at the gesture.

"Hi, Jason," I said. "My name is Megan, and I'll be singing with you this morning."

He was totally confused, and both Connor and Stacy stared at me. Jason took my hand and gave it a shake, but he didn't seem to know what to say.

"Who are you?" he finally managed to get out after he had let go of my hand. I gave him a wide smile before turning and walking over to where the armoire was and punched in the access code.

"You mean you don't recognize me?" I asked after I heard the click that told me the armoire was now unlocked. I knew they didn't, it was written all over their faces. I pulled open the armoire and pulled out the wig they were so familiar with. "What if I put this on?"

"Sarah?" Connor finally asked before I'd had to resort to putting the wig on. I smiled warmly at him. At least one of them seemed to show some signs of recognition.

"Yeah, it's me," I said while placing the wig back on the foam head. "My dad and I felt that you guys deserve to know the truth about me. Sarah Carerra is my stage name. My real name is Megan."

"You and your dad?" Jason asked. I rolled my eyes. How much more dense could these guys be?

"I'm her dad," someone said from the doorway. We all turned to see Dad standing there, with a smile on his face. The guys remained confused for another moment, before a light started to shine in their eyes.

"Oh," Jason stated, surprised. "Sarah is your daughter?"

"Well, Megan is," Dad replied. "Sarah was created to give her the chance to have a life outside of the spotlight. She didn't want to be hassled every time she stepped out of the house."

The guys lapsed back into silence. It was obvious that they hadn't expected anything like this to happen. I almost felt bad about telling them the truth.

"Look," I said. "The more people who know about me, the more likely it is that the truth will reach the public. I don't want that to happen, and you guys have a lot at stake if that happens too."

"Wait," Connor spoke up, showing some initiative again. "What do you mean we have ‘a lot at stake’?"

Dad replied, "Your contracts with us are to perform with Sarah Carerra. If the truth gets out, and Megan can't perform any longer, you guys could be out of a job. We don't want that to happen."

"Okay," Jason said. He was nodding his head in agreement at not wanting to be out of a job. "What happens now?"

"Nothing," Dad said. "Sarah will always be there with you when you guys perform or practice. Today, we wanted you to meet Megan so that you could better get to know the person behind the music. We aren't trying to make you uncomfortable."

"This is totally the opposite," I added. "If you know who I really am, then I hope that we can be more comfortable with each other. You all are so good at what you do, and I just want to make the best of our relationship so that we can all benefit together."

We lapsed back into silence for a moment. I was hoping to get some type of response from the guys, but they appeared to be at a loss for words. Finally, Jason spoke up.

"Well, this is definitely a surprise, but we feel the same way, Sarah," he said. "We've done the studio gig, and now we've played on stage at a major concert. We like working with you. You're kind, considerate, and don't take all of the glory for yourself. Thank you for telling us."

I smiled brightly back at them. Connor and Stacy were nodding along with Jason's answer, and I knew that I hadn't lost them.

"Come on," Dad said. "Breakfast is ready, and I'm hungry."

The rest of us laughed, but we all agreed. Soon we were all around the dining room table eating a hearty breakfast.

Holly showed up a short time later, and we spent much of breakfast telling her about the events of the morning. My revelation had done the one thing that I had hoped it would do - it brought us closer together.

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"Where do we start?" Jason asked once we were back in Sarah's room. The guys had ribbed me over the decor during breakfast, but they knew I was a girl and had laughed when I told them we could have been practicing at their place instead. But now it was time to get to work.

"Well, I thought I'd play you the songs first," I told them while walking over to retrieve my guitar. "Then we can pick one and start working on adding the other instruments to it. Once we get that done, we can put everything together. What do you think?"

I picked up my guitar case and turned back toward them.

"Sounds good," Jason said. "How many songs do you have?"

"Four," I replied. "I doubt we'll get everything done today, but anything that gets us closer to finishing the album helps."

I walked over to the couch and took a seat next to where Sophie and Holly were waiting. They wouldn't be needed for a while, but they didn't seem to mind being here.

"Do we get to hear 'Love?'," Holly asked with a quirky grin. I'd forgotten that they had been with me during my interview on 'Wake Up!' last week. They knew all about what that song represented.

Before I could respond, I felt myself blush. Without intending to, I'd let it slip on air that the song was about Josh Holliday. I didn't even want to get into that fiasco with the band. It was better to leave that alone and stick to the music.

"Sure," I told them a moment later. "We can start there."

I pulled my guitar out of its case and placed it on my knee. The last time I had played this song for somebody, it had been inadvertent. Madison had walked in on me while I was putting the finishing touches on it, and I had avoided playing it for my family. The less they knew about my love life, the better, especially after my interview on 'Wake Up!'.

This time, I started the song with a bit of trepidation. Madison had really liked the song, but it exposed a part of my heart that I wasn't sure I was ready to expose to the world.

The song started out really slow, with a calm, serene tone that gradually grew until it crashed over in a wave of adoration before calming down again to a close. I felt that I was blushing the whole time I sang.

When I finished four minutes later, I looked around the room. The girls had big smiles on their faces. The guys looked depressed at the thought of playing such a slow, meaningful song. But it was the other people who had crept into the room that really affected me. Mom and Dad were standing at the door, and the look on their faces made me realize just how much they meant to me. I could see the love in their eyes that was spoken about in the song, and immediately I felt tears rush to my own eyes.

I grabbed a tissue and quickly dabbed at them to prevent them from ruining any of my makeup.

"Girl, you are smitten," Holly said after seeing my reaction. I choked out a laugh. That was only part of what I was feeling, but I didn't want to get into the rest. I just smiled back at Mom and Dad.

"Whatever," I said to break the emotions that were lingering in the room. "Can we move on to the others?"

Most of the other people in the room nodded, and I strummed my guitar again, trying to decide which one to play next.

"I started writing this one after the concert," I told them. "That night, after we left the stage, I had the most wonderful feeling. I couldn't sleep. Everything in my life seemed to be so perfect, and I didn't want to let it go. This song doesn't do that feeling justice, but it comes about as close as I could get it. It's called 'My Life'."

I envisioned this song starting with the drums, and that wasn't something that I could duplicate with my guitar. That meant that I had to start the song further in. Even the main chord was designed for Jason's electric, and I could only capture part of the sound I wanted from the song out of my acoustic. But it worked.

This song was much more in the ballpark of what 'Pop Fly' was used to playing. It had a nice beat to it and a catchy melody. I hoped that when we added the drums and a bass guitar, I could get it to a point that it reminded me of the night after the concert, where Emily and I stared out the window of my hotel room together.

I played through this song with just as much emotion as I had with 'Love?'. While the emotions were different, both songs were infused with them, and I hoped that they would touch the heart of anyone who heard them as much as they touched my own.

When the song came to a close, everyone was smiling. I hoped that this song became one of the popular ones from the album, because it meant so much to me. Then again, they all did.

"Okay," I said before anyone else could speak. "Two more. This next one was written after I got home from the hospital with the help of Chloe and Madison." I smirked when I realized the band probably didn't recognize one of those names. "You guys met Madison at 'Wake Up!', right?"

There were nods from the band members indicating that they did remember my cousin, and they had of course met Chloe when I brought both her and Xander to the studio with me before the concert.

"It's called 'Friends Forever'," I told them.

I started playing the third song for them. This one was the fastest of the four I had written, and really had a positive flavor to it. It was all about friends and their connection to your own life. My friendship with Emily and Madison had such a positive effect on me, and I was happy that we could turn that into a song that encompassed much of what we had been through together.

This song wasn't roiled in the deep emotions that the other three were, and it was nice to have another fun, carefree song to share with the world. I couldn't wait to hear what Madison had to say about it when she heard the completed song for the first time.

"I like that one," Stacy said.

"Good," I told him. "Because I have some good ideas for your drums that should help make it even better."

He smiled back at me, and I turned my thoughts toward the last song that I had written. Of the four, this one meant the most to me. This song alone had more power and emotion than the other three songs combined. This song proved not only to the world, but also to me, that I could overcome the challenges that had been thrown at me since I had embarked on my career as Sarah Carerra. This song embodied the strength that I had been able to muster after the press conference just three days earlier.

So much had happened since then, and I couldn't imagine feeling the despair that I had felt at the studio again. I certainly didn't feel that way now. I was embarrassed to have the knowledge of what had happened to me last week talked about by the media. But that despair had been transformed into a strength that was encompassed in this song. It was a strength that had lifted my spirits, and had given me a reason to continue on.

Sure, Brady Townsend had taken me to the lowest point I could remember in my recent life. But he had also given me what I needed to overcome the pitfalls of my new career. The media was going to be watching me, and I was certain that this was only the first of many incidents that would upset me during my lifetime. But I now knew for sure that they couldn't hold me back.

"'You Can't Hurt Me'" I said. I didn't explain to them where this song had come from. They wouldn't need an explanation because the song said it all. I didn't mention the incident at all in the song, but there was no denying what this song was about.

I started playing the melody that opened the song, vocalizing another with my voice. There were no words to start this song, just emotions in the form of music. When I did start singing, the words came out with an edge to them. They were traced with the anger and frustration that I had felt after the press conference on Saturday. As the song continued, the anger was gradually replaced with confidence and strength. In the end, the message was clear, and the last "You Can't Hurt Me!" just before the final note told anyone who listened that no one can control how I feel or what I think. I'm stronger than they are.

As silence filled the room, I gazed once again at those friends and family around me. I hadn't played this song for anyone other than Dad before, but the faces of every person looking back at me had an awestruck quality to them. I knew at that moment that the song truly did get my message across.

Finally, Sophie spoke, “Megan, that is powerful. Really, REALLY powerful." The others merely nodded.

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Hours later I was sitting on the loveseat in the front room, reading a book. Mom and Dad were sitting on the couch watching TV, and Austin had gone out with some friends.

Dad had stopped the band's practice around 3:00 to prevent me from exhausting myself again, and I'd taken the time afterward to take a nap. Now I was trying to read. Reading was something I really enjoyed doing, but I hadn't had much time to read since I'd made my first demo CD, and I was excited to get the chance.

However, I was having a hard time concentrating on the words on the page. There was something bothering me, and I couldn't figure out what it was.

"The band!" I gasped. Both Mom and Dad immediately looked at me, but I had finally figured it out. "Dad! The band needs to come with me on Friday!"

"I thought that we had agreed that you would perform by yourself," he said. He clearly wasn’t happy at my request.

"That was before we finished the song!" I exclaimed. "It took on a whole new level this afternoon when we performed it the last time!"

Dad pondered it, and then he nodded. I knew that he felt the same way. The band had decided that they wanted to work on 'You Can't Hurt Me' first, and it was the only song we were able to finish in the time allotted to us today.

It had been an amazing experience. I had ideas of what I wanted from each of the other instruments. Jason, Connor, and Stacy were able to take those ideas and implement them in a way that actually improved my original idea. Holly and Sophie also contributed, and now the song wasn't just mine, it was ours.

"I'll contact them tomorrow," Dad said. "I asked them to keep their schedules open that morning in case we needed them."

"Thanks, Dad," I told him. He nodded and turned back toward the TV, and I went back to my book. This time, I was able to thoroughly enjoy it.

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Have you been to see Sarah Carerra perform?
While it will still be some time before Sarah Carerra takes the stage on her concert tour, I am looking for information about any of the venues that she will be performing at. If you've had a chance to go to one of the venues listed on the next page or at www.sarahcarerra.com, I invite you to email me a short description of your experiences to angeljedigirl (at) gmail.com

I'm looking for information on what you thought made the event so exciting. What did you enjoy most? If it was a fair, were there other attractions that were fun to see and experience?

I can only craft a story that is as good as my experiences, but I have not been to many of the places that Sarah will visit. There is a lot of information online to help write the story the way I want it, but your experience may make it memorable.

Thanks in advance,
Megan