A/N: Okay this is my first mutli-chapter story. Right now it looks like it's going to be around 30 chapters. Thanks to my great beta Emily who is my lifesaver. The italics at the beginning and end of the chapters are Jude's voice over.
Disclaimer: I do not own instant star or any of the songs in this story. The only thing I own is my idea, Lexi and Carlena.
Enjoy
LONDON CALLED CHAPTER ONE: MEETING LEXI
Six months ago I set out on a new adventure; I moved to London alone, leaving the love of my life behind. It's what I had to do, or at least I thought it was. Looking back now, I'm not sure I made the right choice.
Jude Harrison sat in her London flat waiting for her producer to show; they were supposed to search for a band today and record. It had been 6 months since she had left her hometown and the love of her life behind. The first month had been the worst in her life; she had moved to a new city, had a new house and had no safety net, but all of that had been her choice. She knew that if she had called Tommy, he would have come running, but she knew she had to do it alone. At the end of her first month, she was introduced to her permanent producer, Carlena. Carlena was 26, and had been around the music business since she was 6, thanks to her mother. She knew how to handle musicians, but not Jude. Things had been rough at first, but they had slowly come to an understanding and had recorded some decent songs together. However, today was a day Jude had been dreading for a while. Today was the day she had to find a new back up band. She knew that no one would ever replace SME, and she wasn't going to try. She just hoped she would click with someone. Carlena entered Jude's apartment, tearing Jude out of her thoughts. They had become comfortable working together, so Carlena didn't bother to knock.
"Are you ready yet, Jude? We have to be at the studio in thirty minutes," she said as she walked into the room.
"I'm ready. You're the one who's late," Jude said as she put her leather backpack on her shoulders and grabbed her two guitars before they went out the door. As soon as they were in the car, Carlena started in on Jude.
"Have you written anything new?" Carlena asked.
"Not really, but I have some stuff we can record."
"Good. We have almost two hours before the bands are coming in, so when we get in there I want to hear what you have," she said as they pulled into the studio. A few minutes later, Jude was sitting in the studio on a stool with her guitar in hand. She started strumming a few chords of one of her older songs. Since coming to London, she had been blocked; she had only written one new song, and that had been on the plane.
"Let's hear what you got, Jude," Carlena said from her position behind the sound board.
"Here goes nothing," Jude mumbled to herself as she started playing.
You
can dress me up diamonds You make me wanna la la
You can dress me up in dirt
You can
throw me like a line-man
I like it better when it hurts
Oh, I
have waited here for you
I have waited
You make me wanna la
la
in the kitchen on the floor
I'll be your french maid
Where
I'll meet you at the door
I'm like an alley cat
Drink the milk
up I want more
You make me wanna
You make me wanna scream
You
can meet me on an airplane
Or in the back of the bus
You can
throw me like a boom-a-rang
I'll come back and beat you up
Oh,
I have waited here for you
Dont, keep me waiting
You make me
wanna la la
in the kitchen on the floor
I'll be your french
maid
Where I'll meet you at the door
I'm like an alley
cat
Drink the milk up I want more
You make me wanna
You make
me wanna scream
in the kitchen on
the floor
I'll be your french maid
Where I'll meet you at the
door
I'm like an alley cat
Drink the milk up i want more
You
make me wanna
You make me wanna scream
I feel safe with you
I
can be myself tonight
It's alright, with you
Cuz you hold, my
secrets tight
You do, You do
You make me wanna la la, la la la,
la
You make me wanna la la
in the kitchen on the floor
I'll
be your french maid
Where I'll meet you at the door
I'm like an
alley cat
Drink the milk up I want more
"Um…
Jude, that song could alienate your fans. It's very um… risqué."
Jude ducked her head, trying not to let the tears that had formed in her eyes fall. She quickly found her composure and looked up.
"Carlena, I know it's different, but that was the point of me coming to London. I think my fans will like it; I mean, I'm not a little girl anymore, and I think it's time that everyone sees that," Jude said, yelling into the microphone.
"Okay Jude, I'll start mixing. The bands should be here soon," Carlena said, sliding the headphones back over her ears. Jude quickly carried her guitars to the rehearsal space where the auditions would be held. She then walked out into the lobby.
She looked around at the dark blue walls; this place was so different from what she had once known at G-MAJOR. She found herself walking down one of the hallways. Every wall in the building held the records and posters of the acts that had came before, but this hallway was her favorite because it held a little bit of home. She had found it a few weeks after she had shown up. It was a BoyzAttack gold record, and to say that she had been surprised to find it would be an understatement. Tommy had never told her about recording here, but he apparently had. Anytime she felt like her new world was getting to be too much, she would just look at the gold record and know that she had his support, and it reminded her that she still had people supporting her back at home. After passing by several more of the now-familiar records on the wall, she met up with Carlena in the rehearsal room
"So how did you pick your last band?" Carlena asked as they were getting settled.
"Actually, my producer and I had gone through this big audition and hadn't found anybody. Then, a band my best friend was managing was using one the studios, and they were playing like really loud and being really obnoxious, so I went in and had them play a song I wrote, and we just clicked," Jude said as she pushed her short blond hair out of her face as she set her guitars up.
"Maybe we'll get lucky and find someone that fits your new image."
"Why do I need a new image? What's wrong with the old one?"
"Well, since you showed up in London, you haven't exactly been dressing the way the label wants," Carlena stated, giving Jude's outfit a disapproving glance.
Jude looked down at her ripped jeans and old BoyzAttack Shirt, and then back at Carlena, "this is me, get over it," she replied.
"But really, what's with the BoyzAttack shirt?"
"It was a gift," Jude said, hoping Carlena would drop it. She really didn't want to think about Tommy right now. She had just gone ten minutes without a thought of him, and that was an accomplishment.
"I'm just giving you a heads up. The label has you meeting with a stylist next week," Carlena said as she flipped her long black hair over her shoulder and walked out to bring the first people in for their audition. Three hours and countless musicians later, they had found a bassist and a drummer, but that was it. Jude sat down beside Carlena.
"Was that everybody?"
"Yep, but I guess we can try some studio musicians for a while."
Before Jude could answer, a brown-haired girl who looked to be about sixteen popped her head in the door.
"Am I too late for the auditions?" she asked.
"What do you play?" Carlena asked.
"Lead guitar. I used to be in a band, but I just moved here," She said as Jude motioned her in.
"What kind of music can you play?" Carlena asked; Jude had a feeling she was trying to get rid of the girl, which pissed Jude off.
"Anything," the girl said, staring Carlena down—something that no one ever did. Jude hid a laugh as she got up and grabbed her electric. She started playing the rift to "Ultraviolet", which the girl quickly picked up on and played perfectly.
"Okay, follow me on this," Jude said as she played "24 Hours".
"What's your name?" Carlena asked.
"Lexi," she said as she started to put her guitar away.
"Well Lexi, welcome to my back up band," Jude said as she held out her hand, which Lexi shook.
"I'm going to call the label to tell them you found your band," Carlena said, getting up and leaving the room, knowing better than to fight Jude.
"So if you don't mind me asking, how old are you?" Jude said as she put her guitar away before sitting on the table.
"Seventeen. Is that going to be a problem?" Lexi asked, suddenly nervous.
"Nope, as long as your parents sign off on it."
"Um...how about my uncle? My dad has kind of disappeared, and my mom hasn't been around since I was little."
"Yeah, that's fine. I'm sorry about your parents; I know how it feels. When I was sixteen, my dad cheated on my mom which led to a divorce, and then when I was seventeen, my mom ran off with her divorce lawyer and I haven't seen them since."
"Did it ever get easier, them not being around?"
"Eventually, but my sister and boyfriend helped me through it. Did you move here with your uncle?"
"Actually my uncle moved here for me. My dad got a job here doing something on the river about 8 months ago; I just came over two months ago, then a month later my dad split, so I called my uncle. I figured he would want me to go back home, but he decided he wanted to get away, so he moved here."
"Sounds like you've got a great uncle," Jude mused.
"Yeah, I do."
"Are you from Canada? Because your accent sounds familiar, and definitely not like you're from around here."
"Yeah I am; I was born in Toronto, but I've lived in quite a few provinces."
"Do you miss it?"
"Everyday."
"Then why stay? I mean you said you were living here because of your dad, right?"
"I decided I didn't want to leave just as I was getting use to things. Plus, when my uncle said that he was wanted to leave Canada, we decided we would start over together in London."
"Well you're off to a good start," Jude said as they started to play again.
A few days later, Jude was sitting on her apartment floor, trying to get the chords right on a song. She was startled by a knock on the door. She quickly answered it and was surprised to see an upset Lexi on the other side.
"What's wrong?" Jude asked as she ushered the young girl inside.
"I told my uncle about being in your back up band. He went off on me, telling me I didn't need this life. That I was just a kid and I didn't know what I was getting into," Lexi said as she sat down on the couch with Jude.
"He doesn't agree with you doing music?"
"That's just it. He was the one that taught me how to play guitar, he's the reason I love music so much. But the minute I said that I got a gig he got really mad."
"You know, some people don't like how commercial music has become. Why don't you hang out here for a couple hours... let him calm down, and then go talk to him. Okay?"
"Okay. Were you writing a song?"
"I was trying to, but it seems that I'm blocked, which is pissing the label off."
"Can I hear it? Maybe I can help?"
"You write?"
"I attempt to. I've only ever completed one song, and that was a long time ago, and that was just helping my uncle."
"Well here it goes; I've only got the chorus right now."
"I guess it's gonna have to hurt
I guess I'm gonna have to cry
Let go of some things I loved to get to the other side
I guess it's going to break me down
Sometimes moving on with the rest of your life
Starts with goodbye"
"That sounds good, what's the story?"
"It's about a girl who made a choice and she knows in her heart that she made the right one, but it doesn't make leaving her old life behind even easier," Jude said, wiping away a tear that had fallen as she thought of everything she had left behind. Within that moment, something clicked with the two girls and they started to write the song. An hour later, the finished recording sat on Jude's laptop as the girls were laying on the floor listening to Jude's iPod.
"Are songs always that easy to write?" Lexi asked.
"No they're not. Some songs can take months or even years to finish. But you're a natural at it..." Lexi's response was cut off by her phone; she looked down and groaned.
"It's my uncle; I better take it."
She got up off of the floor and walked to the other side of the room. As Lexi talked on the phone, Jude looked at the picture that was her background on her laptop. It was a picture that Sadie had taken right after Jude and Tommy had gotten together. Tommy was sitting in his normal chair, but instead of Jude using the chair beside him, she was in his lap. Jude loved the picture, but not for what was in the picture itself. You couldn't even see Tommy's face because Jude had been kissing him when the picture was taken. She loved the picture because of the way it made her feel. Jude's spiral into depression was interrupted by Lexi coming back into the room.
"My uncle apologized and agreed to let me be in your back up band, so I'm going to head home," Lexi said as she grabbed her bag. Jude walked over to her window and watched Lexi walk down the street.
Maybe I did make the right choice. Maybe I can do this without Tommy. I guess only time will tell.
A/N 2: Please review. I won't post chapter two till I at least know someone cares about this story.