Forever Checking (Checked Series Book 3) (30 page)

11.)“One Headlight” by The Wallflowers (Dylan/1997)

12.)“Don’t Speak” by No Doubt (Stefani and Stefani/1996)

13.)“Sherry” by The Four Seasons (Gaudio/1962)

14.)Score of
Edward Scissorhands
(Elfman/1990)

15.)“Respect” by Aretha Franklin (Redding/1967)

16.)“The Canon and Gigue in D Major” by Johann Pachelbel (Pachelbel/1919)

17.)“The Victors” (Elbel/1898)

18.)“Hero” by Enrique Iglesias (Iglesias, Barry, and Taylor/2001)

19.)“Turn the Beat Around” by Gloria Estefan (Jackson and Jackson/1994)

20.)“Feel the Silence” by Goo Goo Dolls (Goo Goo Dolls/2006)

21.)“Here We Go” (Wood/1994)

22.)“The Long and Winding Road
”
by The Beatles (McCartney/1970)

23.)“Spinning Wheel” by Blood, Sweat & Tears (Clayton-Thomas/1969)

24.)“Singles Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” by Beyoncé Knowles (Stewart, Nash, and Knowles/2008)

25.)“Stay with Me” by Sam Smith (Smith, Napier, Phillips, Petty, and Lynne/2014)

26.)“Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol (Lightbody, Connolly, Simpson, Wilson, and Quinn/2006)

27.)“Romeo and Juliet” (Tchaikovsky/1870)

28.)“Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran (Sheeran and Wadge/2014)

29.)“I Think I Love You” by The Partridge Family (Romeo/1970)

30.)“I’m Not the Only One” by Sam Smith (Smith and Napier/2014)

31.)“You Raise Me Up” by Josh Groban (Graham and Løvland/2004)

32.)“Easy” by Commodores (Richie/1977)

33.)
The Jetsons
theme song (Curtin/1962)

34.)“Dick in a Box” by The Lonely Island featuring Justin Timberlake (Samberg, Schaffer, Taccone, Taccone, Timberlake, and Barnes/2006)

35.)“Circle of Life” by Elton John (John and Rice/1994)

36.)“Over the Rainbow” by Judy Garland (Arlen and Harburg/1939)

37.)“Wide Awake” by Katy Perry (Perry, Gottwald, Martin, Walter, and McKee/2012)

38.)“Judy” by Elvis Presley (Redell/1961)

39.)“Basket Case” by Green Day (Armstrong and Green Day/1994)

40.)“Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift (Swift, Martin, and Shellback/2014)

41.)“Never Gonna Happen” by Lily Allen (Allen and Kurstin/2009)

42.)“Because I Love You (The Postman Song)” by Stevie B. (Brooks/1990)

43.)“Wrecking Ball” by Miley Cyrus (Gottwald, McDonald, Moccio, Skarbek, and Walter/2013)

44.)“It Must Have Been Love” by Roxette (Gessle/1990)

45.)“Fly Like an Eagle” by Steve Miller Band (Miller/1976)

46.)“Yeah Right” by Dionne Bromfield featuring Diggy Simmons (White/2011)

47.)“How Could I Ever Know” by Rebecca Luker & Mandy Patinkin (Simon and Norman/1991)

48.)“Hey Jude” by The Beatles (Lennon-McCartney/1968)

49.)“Say Something” by A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera (Axel, Vaccarino, and Campbell/2013)

50.)“Prince of Denmark’s March (Trumpet Voluntary)” (Clarke/1700)

51.)“Pomp and Circumstance” March No. 1 (Elgar/1901)

52.)“Could’ve Been” by Tiffany (Blaisch/1988)

53.)“Comfortably Numb” by Pink Floyd (Gilmour and Waters/1980)

54.)“Drift Away” by Uncle Kracker featuring Dobie Gray (Williams/2003)

55.)“I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith (Warren/1998)

56.)“Holiday” by Madonna (Hudson and Stevens/1983)

57.)“Every Day Is Exactly the Same” by Nine Inch Nails (Reznor/2005)

58.)“Heartbeat Song” by Kelly Clarkson (Allan, DioGuardi, Evigan, and Mae/2015)

59.)“Hanging by a Moment” by Lifehouse (Wade/2000)

60.)“Just Give Me a Reason” by Pink featuring Nate Ruess (Pink, Bhasker, and Ruess/2013)

61.)“Alone” by Heart (Steinberg and Kelly/1987)

62.)“Solo (Alone)” by Il Divo (Steinberg and Kelly/2012)

63.)“Talk Dirty” by Jason Derulo featuring 2 Chainz (Derulo, 2 Chainz, Frederic, Evigan, Douglas, Kaplan, Muskat, and Yosef/2013)

64.)“Every Time I Look at You” by Il Divo (Reid and Hill/2004)

65.)“To Make You Feel My Love” by Billy Joel (Dylan/1997)

66.)“Changes” by David Bowie (Bowie/1972)

67.)“Nights in White Satin” by The Moody Blues (Hayward/1967)

68.)“Tears on My Pillow” by Sha Na Na (Bradford and Lewis/1978)

69.)“Let’s Go to Bed” by The Cure (Parry/1982)

70.)“Happy Working Song” by Amy Adams (Menken and Schwartz/2007)

71.)“Piano Man” by Billy Joel (Joel/1973)

72.)”Hurt” by Johnny Cash (Reznor/2002)

73.)“Do You Love Me?” by The Contours (Gordy, Jr./1962)

74.)“November Rain” by Guns N’ Roses (Rose/1992)

75.)“I’ll Be There for You” by The Rembrandts (Crane, Kauffman, Skloff, Willis, Sōlem, and Wilde/1995)

76.)“Wishin’ and Hopin’” by Ani DiFranco (Bacharach and David/1995)

77.)“It’s the Same Old Song” by Four Tops (Holland-Dozier-Holland/1965)

78.)“Bitch” by Meredith Brooks (Brooks and Peiken/1997)

79.)“The Lady in Red” by Chris de Burgh (de Burgh/1986)

80.)“The Monster” by Eminem featuring Rihanna (Mathers, Fryzel, Rexha, Kleinstub, Athanasiou, Fenty, and Bellion/2013)

81.)“Let It Go” by Idina Menzel (Anderson-Lopez and Lopez/2013)

82.)“As Time Goes By” by Dooley Wilson (Hupfeld/1942)

83.)“Somewhere” by Barbra Streisand (Bernstein and Sondheim/1985)

84.)“All About That Bass” by Meghan Trainor (Trainor and Kadish/2014)

85.)“Summer Nights” by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John (Jacobs and Casey/1978)

86.)“Trumpets” by Jason Derulo (Desrouleaux and Bellion/2013)

87.)“Pump Up the Jam” by Technotronic (Kamosi and de Quincey/1989)

88.)“Golden Slumbers” by The Beatles (Lennon-McCartney/1969)

89.)“Happy Xmas (War is Over)” by John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir (Lennon and Ono/1971)

90.)“Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker, Jr. (Parker, Jr./1984)

91.)“Put It in Your Mouth” by Akinyele (Forte, Cutlass, Enuff, Pos, Butcher, and Elpee/1996)

92.)“You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” by Dead or Alive (Burns, Coy, Hussey, Lever, and Percy/1984)

93.)“Here I Go Again” by Whitesnake (Coverdale and Marsden/1982)

94.)“Bleeding Love” by Leona Lewis (McCartney and Tedder/2007)

95.)“A Moment Like This” by Kelly Clarkson (Elofsson and Reid/2002)

96.)“Feels Like Home
”
by Chantal Kreviazuk (Newman/1995)

97.)“Just the Way You Are” by Bruno Mars (Mars, Lawrence, Levine, Walton, and Cain/2010)

98.)“People Are Strange” by The Doors (Morrison and Krieger/1967)

99.)“Act a Fool” by Ludacris (Bridges/2003)

The End.

Turn the page to read the Prologue and Chapter 1 of Drama Unsung (now available at Amazon).

Prologue

“I Dreamed a Dream”

Cosette. I’ve wanted to be her since the very first time I saw
Les Misérables
on Broadway. After the curtain closed that night, I got to work right away. I started to memorize her lines, sing her songs. I was only eight years old, but I had a plan. A hope. A dream.

Now, at eighteen, I’m in the dressing room getting ready for my opening night performance of
Les Mis
.

But I’m not Cosette.

And I wish I had known ten years ago—or at least during auditions a couple of months ago—that not getting to be her would lead me to my real dream come true...

Chapter 1

“Do You Hear the People Sing?”

It’s my turn. My callback. My only chance to be Cosette. Well, unless I’m somehow offered the role on Broadway someday...but really, like that will ever happen.

So this is it. And I can’t mess up. I know if I do—

“Alexa. Alexa? Do you want me to play the intro again?”

Great. I messed up.

“Oh...yes, please. I’m so sorry.”

Okay. Concentrate, Lexi.

My intro begins...again, apparently. A girl in the front row—the one with all of the shiny blonde hair—is whispering to the less shiny girl beside her. Her perfectly pink lips form the words “new girl.” The guy on the other side of her, the one who looks more like a football player than a member of Drama Club, whispers back. Then the girl snaps her golden head around with a murderous look, saying—

Wait. My opening note. Gotta sing.

I begin the opening verse of “A Heart Full of Love,” singing words and notes I’ve sung at least a thousand times before. And it’s not bad. My voice is a tiny bit shaky from nerves, maybe, but otherwise, not bad.

Nonetheless, there are no more than a few polite claps of applause (from a guy in a bright purple shirt who is sitting in the second row) as I leave the stage and sit back in the auditorium with the other auditioners. Once I get back to my seat, no one really acknowledges me at all.

A tiny little girl, another blonde, from the second row is up next. Same song. She doesn’t miss her intro, though. And she’s not shaky. She’s really good. I don’t know how the director will even dec—

“Hey. Alexa, right?”

Tight jeans. Bright purple shirt with the word DIVA spelled across the chest. The guy from the second row who clapped for me.

“Um, yeah...uh, Lexi.” I give him a small smile.

“Eric,” he says, holding out his hand.

Even though I am a little surprised by his formality, I give him my hand. I don’t want to be rude. He is, after all, the only person who has thought to talk to me.

He doesn’t shake my hand. He flips it over and smacks a kiss right on top.

“Enchanté, Mademoiselle.” He speaks with an exaggerated, thick accent—much like the one Madame Yeux uses in French class.

I can’t help myself. “Enchanté, Monsieur.”

And we smile. Like we get each other. Like maybe I’ve actually found a friend after a few weeks of walking through the hallways of school by myself.

“Eric, you are up.” Mrs. Leonard calls him to go next, and my one and only prospect for a friend smiles, lets go of my hand, and bounces up to the stage.

The opening bars of “Master of the House” ring throughout the auditorium. He must be called back for Thénardier. Not surprising. He doesn’t exactly fit the mold for the romantic lead.

As the song starts, he looks right at me and winks. Then he pulls the microphone off of its stand and begins moving around as he sings. He saunters around, lost in the character...so lost that he even makes some rather vulgar dance movements.

I look back at Mrs. Leonard for her reaction. She’s delighted.

“Lovely, Eric. Well done. Brilliant.”

Eric gives a little curtsy before exiting the stage, and the other students clap and cheer him on. He smiles at the clump of his admirers but then plops down in the seat right next to me.

“Nice choreography.” I smile over at him.

He smiles back. “Oh, I know. I’ve been told it was quite brilliant.”

Next up is the girl from the front row, the shiny blonde. As Mrs. Leonard calls her name, she, um…Addison, leans over and kisses the quarterback-looking guy sitting next to her. Right on the lips. Then she stands up and freezes, her neck bent back and her head looking up (I guess to God or something).

“Come on, Miss Thing. This isn’t the
Tony Awards
.” This comes from right beside me. Eric.

I scrunch down a little in my seat. Just what I need...to be involved in making fun of—

Unbelievable. She starts to laugh. So does everyone else.

“Just practicing for when it is, Eric.” She smiles and walks up to the stage. Then she sings yet another rendition of “A Heart Full of Love.” And she’s not bad. Her voice is light, airy—pretty fitting for the young Cosette.

Her face is blank, though. No emotion. No acting. She’s just a doll with notes and words slipping through her lips.

I take a second to glance at the boy, the one who looks like he should be at some sort of athletic practice instead of here. He’s focused on Addison, smiling encouragingly as she finishes her song. When she sings her final notes, he joins everyone else in applauding her back down to her seat. Her applause is by far the loudest I’ve heard so far today.

Soon, Eric stops clapping and leans over to whisper to me. “It’s best to stay on her good side.” Then he pauses and leans in even closer. “Want to know her
Days of Our Lives
storyline?”

“Um...sure.”

“We all have them, of course, but hers is pretty essential to know if you’re gonna be in the show. Plus, hers is one of the more interesting ones around here. Not more interesting than mine, of course, but mine is too racy for
Days of Our Lives
.” He smiles and does this thing where he licks his tongue over his top teeth.

He then begins his storytelling, nodding his eyes to where Addison and that guy are now cuddling. “Those two are the Drama Club. Every year they try out, get called back for main roles, and then get cast as the leading romantic couple.”

I feel my eyes widening in surprise. “Every year? What?”

Eric nods. “I know. It’s crazy, right?”

I nod my head slowly, still trying to process what he’s saying. “Yeah...but, really? How? Why?”

Another girl is called up to the stage. A redhead with crazy polka-dotted knee high socks and a miniskirt.

Eric yells, “You’ve got this, Sam,” before leaning back, smoothing his shirt down over his flat stomach, and continuing his story.

“Well, this used to be kept a secret, but pretty much everyone knows or suspects now. Mrs. Leonard still tries to pretend that no one is aware of the whole situation, though.”          

I just nod and wait to hear the rest.

“We’re all pretty sure that Addison’s father basically funds our show each year. We’ve all heard many times that Drama Club has very little money...so it’s kind of suspicious that we somehow manage to produce pretty huge shows year after year...and it’s never been a secret that Addison’s father is really wealthy...and somehow Addison is cast as a lead every year. It all kind of adds up.”