Rock Pride, Country Prejudice: A modern retelling by Leah Moyes

Author:Leah Moyes [Moyes, Leah]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2022-04-27T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Sunday, October 11th

“Elle, Jade. Hi.”

“Hi, Charly. Come and take a load off!” I motioned for her to join us for breakfast. We had only rolled out of bed thirty minutes earlier and came straight to Harvest Kitchen for breakfast. Ok, so it was more like brunch.

“Thank you, but I actually don’t have much time; I came to say goodbye.”

“What? Goodbye?” I nearly spit my orange juice out across the table. “What do you mean?”

“Yeah, I’m uh…” She looked down then took a breath and looked back up to us. “I’m catchin’ a bus this afternoon.”

“A bus?” Both Jade and I spoke at the same time. “Why? Where you goin’?”

“Um, I accepted an offer I just couldn’t refuse.”

I eyed her curiously. “What offer?” Somehow, I knew exactly what she was going to say before she said it.

“I’ve signed with Mr. Collins.”

“Waylon Collins?” I cried. Several people at nearby tables turned to look at us.

Charly’s face turned bright red. “Yes.” Her chin lifted. “Mr. Waylon Collins. He’ll be my ticket to Nashville.”

“But Mr. Collins?” I gasped. “He’s…” I tried to find the right word that wouldn’t offend. I couldn’t find one.

“Don’t judge me, Elle, y’all know I’m pushin’ thirty.”

“You’re twenty-eight.” I countered. “That’s not ancient and you’re not desperate…you’re better than this.”

“I need to go out on my own. I’ve never lived away from home and now I have a chance to play my music in front of people other than my hairdresser and postman.”

“But Mr. Collins?” I repeated the words, unable to say anything else.

Jade stood up and gave her a hug. “Good luck, Charly. We wish you the best, don’t we, Elle?” She looked at me pointedly until I rose to my feet. It wasn’t that I wasn’t happy for her doing what she wanted, I just thought she deserved better than Mr. Collins.

I put my arms around her and gave her a hug, “Please be careful, Charly. Please?”

She nodded and walked out.

“Wow,” Jade whispered. “I feel really bad that she felt like she had no other options.”

“Yeah.” I nodded and spent the entirety of the meal contemplating the news.

When we got home, I couldn’t concentrate on anything. Though I didn’t feel we had made a mistake in turning Mr. Collins down, I did wonder if I was being too picky. I pulled out my phone and called Charly. She was already on the bus and couldn’t talk long, but I did have a chance to tell her I was sorry and that I wished her luck.

“Will y’all come visit me?”

“Yes, of course.” I wanted to cry, I already missed her. “Just tell me when and I’ll be there.”

“As soon as I get settled, I promise. Love you, Elle.”

“Love you too, Charly.”

I hung up the phone and spent the rest of the afternoon with Old Hickory. Everyone else went off doing their own thing, I just wanted to be alone.

As I opened my notebook to the last page where I had written the lyrics to Awake, I paused and read it over several times.

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