Center Stage - Chapter 3

Finally, it was time to go back out to California. Riding with Mrs. Phillips, I was actually a little sad about it, which I know most kids my age would think was crazy. After a full month of just normal life, hanging out with my school friends and Kat, before she had to go back to school, and being normal, I’d started to fall into the routine of it again.

Maybe because I’d only had to miss a week and a half for the prelims and nothing for the finals, this felt different than when I was touring or all of my stuff on The Stage. All of my friends were in class, and part of me kind of wanted to be with them.

Still, I was also excited. It felt like I was turning a new page, and things were taking off. Warren was getting a lot of calls about booking us, which was great, and I was about to be on one of the biggest late-night talk shows in the country.

I was glad Mrs. Phillips was good about reading me and let me just kind of sit and think the whole drive to Asheville instead of peppering me with questions. It wasn’t until we pulled up in front of the airport that she said finally said something.

“You’re sure you don’t want me to come in with you?” she asked as she put the car in park at the drop-off zone.

“Nah, that’s okay. I know you’ve got that showing. I’ll be fine.”

“If you’re sure,” she said, reaching over and pulling me into a hug. “Good luck out there, Charlie. You’re going to do great on the show and the tour. Just remember, if you need anything at all, I’m just a phone call away.”

I smiled and hugged her tight. Mrs. Phillips had been like a second mom, especially after my parents died. I didn’t tell her enough how much she meant to me.

“I will, I promise.”

“Anytime, kiddo. Now, get going, you’re going to be late,” she said, shooing me out of the car.

I grabbed my guitar case, duffle bag, and backpack from the backseat, giving Mrs. Phillips one last wave before heading into the airport. I had my ticket already and was just looking for where to go to check my bag when I saw a group of teenage girls.

There was a weird moment where I made eye contact with one of the girls, the way you randomly do when you’re looking across a large, crowded area. Her eyes went kind of wide, and I could just see it in her face that she knew who I was. Although I’d toured a fair amount once outside of the venue, no one really noticed or cared who I was, outside of that one time I’d gotten recognized in LA. But that had been different.

She started whispering to her friends, who all looked at me and pointed. For a moment, I actually swiveled my head, trying to figure out what they were so excited about, until they hurried over as a group, practically bouncing with excitement.

“Oh my god, you’re Charlie Nelson!” One of them said in a kind of squeal that was loud enough to draw the attention of passersby.

“Uhh … yeah.”

“Can we get a picture with you?” another asked, holding up her phone.

“Sure,” I said, feeling awkward.

People near us were looking at me, I think trying to figure out who I was and why these girls were so excited. Honestly, I didn’t blame them, since I was kind of trying to figure out the same thing. They crowded around me, and I did my best to smile as they snapped what felt like a million photos.

“Someone said you were in high school,” One of them said when they finally finished taking pictures. “What grade are you in?”

Before I could even answer, the rest started asking questions, all of them practically speaking over each other, asking if I had a girlfriend, if I lived in Asheville, what it was like being on the show, and where I went to school.

I held up my hands, laughing a little. “Whoa, one at a time. I’m a senior, and yeah, I have a girlfriend. Her name’s Kat.”

They all ‘aww’ed in unison when I said I had a girlfriend, making me chuckle. I deliberately avoided answering most of the other questions, figuring it best not to broadcast too much personal information.

“Sorry, girls, but I really need to catch my flight. It was great meeting you all, though!”

I gave them a wave and hurried off before they could ask anything else. I managed to check my bag but could feel them kind of hovering where I’d left them, watching me. It didn’t stop there, either. As I made my way through the terminal, I couldn’t help but notice a few more people whispering and pointing fingers as I passed. It was a surreal experience.

After I’d gotten through security and was putting my shoes back on at one of the benches on the other side, a middle-aged woman approached me, her maybe nine or ten-year-old son in tow.

“Excuse me, are you Charlie Nelson? From The Stage?”

“That’s me,” I said, smiling at the kid.

“Wow, congrats on your win. You were amazing. Would you mind taking a quick photo with my son? We watch the show together, and he’s a huge fan.”

“Of course,” I said, crouching down to the boy’s level. “Hey there, buddy. What’s your name?”

“Liam,” he said shyly.

“It’s great to meet you, Liam.”

I put my hand on his shoulder, and his mom took a few pictures. They were nice about it and headed off as soon as they were done, but I could see the kid Liam talking excitedly to his mom, which was kind of heartwarming.

It kind of died down after that and I managed to make it to my gate with no more weird encounters. I was early so I pulled out my laptop and started doing some of my reading for school. Kat had found a way to get digital copies of all my school books so I didn’t have to lug a backpack of books around with me, which was a big relief.

I was finishing a section of my US Government class about how the committee system worked and looked up to give my eyes a break when I noticed a group of people my age were hanging out a few feet away from me, near the wall of windows that looked out onto the tarmac. One of them, a girl with bright pink hair, nodded and pointed towards me.

“Oh damn, I’m pretty sure that’s Charlie Nelson,” she said to the group.

I wasn’t sure if she realized I could hear her, so I smiled and gave a little wave as one of the guys in the group called out, “Hey, Charlie! Great job on The Stage, man. You were awesome.”

“Thanks,” I said, as they walked over.

“Can we get a picture with you?” the girl with pink hair asked.

“Sure, why not?”

They all crowded in around me, a guy holding out a phone to take the shot. I put on my best smile as he snapped a few.

“Thanks, man,” the guy who had complimented me said, clapping me on the shoulder. “We’ll be able to say we knew you before you were an even bigger star.”

I laughed. “Let’s hope so, right?”

“Nah, you got this. Serious talent, bro,” he said.

Thankfully they didn’t hang out and made their way back over to the window, although I saw them occasionally look my direction. They weren’t staring, but it still felt weird enough I was having trouble concentrating on my homework.

Putting up my laptop, I took out my phone and called Kat. She picked up on the second ring.

“Hey you,” she said, and I could hear the smile in her voice.

“Hey back.”

“How’s it going? You on the plane yet?”

“Not yet, getting ready to board though. It’s been kind of a crazy morning so far.”

“What do you mean?” Kat asked. “Did something happen?”

“Yeah, it’s just been kind of surreal. I’ve had like three different groups of people recognize me and ask for pictures already. It’s weird, it never happened when we got back from California or at school.”

“Well, that makes sense. The kids at school and everyone in town just know you as Charlie. They’re used to seeing you around. But here, people are seeing you for the first time after watching you on TV.”

“I guess that’s true. It’s just odd, you know? We only had that one couple recognize me in LA and nothing on the flight home. Why now?”

“You have to start paying attention to the TV, or at least searching up your name occasionally. They’ve been running ads for the tour pretty heavily, and you’re featured prominently in them. Plus, they’ve rerun the finals of The Stage a few times now. Your face is everywhere. I mean, not like, movie star everywhere, but I’ve seen it several times on the TV in the common room.”

I groaned. “Great. Maybe I should start wearing disguises in public.”

Kat laughed. “I don’t think you need to go that far. Just embrace it. This is what you’ve been working towards.”

“I know, I know. You know what I really wish? I wish I got paid like actors do every time the show aired. Imagine the royalties.”

“Oh, you poor thing,” Kat said sarcastically. “You’ll just have to suffer with being rich by playing stadiums instead.”

“Stadiums? Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.”

“Don’t be such a doubter.”

“You’re right, you’re right,” I said, chuckling. “I guess I’m just not used to all this attention yet.”

“Well, get used to it, superstar. Listen, I’ve got to get to class, but text me when you land, okay?”

“Will do.”

“And Charlie?”

“Yeah?”

“Good luck on the talk show. You’re going to kill it. Just don’t let those groupies go to your head. Or your hotel room.”

I laughed out loud at that, drawing a few glances from the people around me. “Don’t worry, I won’t. I’ve got a pretty amazing girlfriend who would kick my ass if I did.”

“Damn straight,” Kat said, laughing too. “Alright, I really do have to go. Talk to you soon.”

“Bye, Kat. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

As if on cue, the gate agent announced that they were about to start boarding for my flight. I gathered up my things and got in line, ticket in hand.

It was a bit of a shuffle getting settled into my seat but the studio had paid for my plane ticket and gotten me first class, which was a nice perk. As the plane took off, I leaned my head back against the seat and closed my eyes. Kat was right. This was what I had been working towards, what I wanted.

I needed to just embrace it and enjoy the ride.

***

Wednesday morning, I had to be up at the soundstage fairly early to practice with the show’s band for an hour, just to make sure we had everything worked out. Even though the show started taping at one, there was no one else from the show aside from a few producers, so it felt a little like the practice I’d done for The Stage, except these guys were way better.

Maybe because they had more money and a bigger profile, but they were some of the best musicians I’d ever played with, skill-wise. After just two run-throughs of the songs, they had it down, and we could have probably stopped there, but their band leader insisted on the full practice time. It was a little bit of a wake-up call. Yeah, I’d done great on the show and had some success touring, but if I was going to go to the next level, I was going to have to step things up. Sure, we practiced a lot, but that was as much goofing off and fun as real practice because we’d played the same songs with each other so many times.

After practice, I headed back to my hotel room for a few hours, mostly spent watching TV and talking to Kat, and then I went back for the taping. Since the show was daily and the monologue had to be topical, they taped every day, but in the afternoon, I guess so they had time to do all the production stuff for it to air later that night. They said it was live-to-tape, meaning the show itself taped as if it was live, in front of an audience, with everything timed out exactly, which was a different experience than taping the stage.

I then spent the monologue and first segment in a tiny dressing room, getting ready while I watched what was going on at the soundstage a few hundred feet away. I didn’t care the dressing room was tiny. I’d gotten ready in much worse places, and this one had my name on the door, which was very exciting.

The monologue was really funny, and he nailed some good jokes about the President and some kind of argument he’d had with an aide on a mic that had been left on by accident. I didn’t really watch the news or follow politics, so I didn’t really know much about it, but the jokes were funny. He then had on his first guest, Olivia Bennett, who had just come out with a big movie and was the person right before me on the show.

Almost as soon as they started talking, before they’d shown a clip of the show they were starting to talk about, there was a knock at my dressing room door.

A young woman with a headset and a clipboard poked her head in. “Charlie, it’s time to head over. We need you in the wings for when you go on stage to set up.”

“Right, okay,” I said, standing up and smoothing out my shirt.

I followed her through the winding hallways of the studio, the sound of the audience’s laughter growing louder as we approached the stage. They were still going when I got there, and I watched the last five minutes of their conversation about her new movie, Echo Point. I hadn’t had time to watch any movies in December and had only been to the theater a handful of times on dates, so movie watching really wasn’t my thing, but I was aware of it. There had been enough trailers on TV and the kids at lunch had talked about seeing it, since it was the new big budget blockbuster.

“So, I heard there was some real-life drama on set,” Hayden was saying. “Something about a brush fire during filming?”

“Oh, that. Yeah, one of the pyrotechnics got a little out of hand during a chase scene. But Lucas - Lucas Shaw, my co-star - he jumped right in and helped contain it. No one was hurt, thankfully.”

“Sounds like he’s quite the hero, on and off screen.”

“He certainly tries to be,” Olivia said, which was a weird way to answer that and made me think there was maybe something between her and her co-star, but Hayden didn’t press.

“Well, folks, we’ve got to take a quick break,” Hayden announced, turning to the camera. “But don’t go anywhere, because when we come back, we’ve got a special treat - Charlie Nelson, the newest winner of The Stage, is here to perform!”

The audience cheered as the show cut to commercial. Immediately, a harried-looking producer with a headset hustled over to me.

“Alright, Charlie, you’re up,” she said, ushering me towards the stage. “Remember, Hayden will intro you, then you’ll play your song. Got it?”

I nodded, trying to tamp down the butterflies in my stomach. It wasn’t like I’d never performed on TV before - hell, that’s basically all I’d been doing for the past few months on The Stage. But this was different. This wasn’t a competition and a whole lot more people watched the Late Show every night than watched The Stage.

The producer positioned me just off-camera, handing me my guitar.

“Good luck,” she whispered, giving me a thumbs up before scurrying away.

There was so much going on around us, as PAs and producers ran in every direction, prepping the next segment, that it was tough to get focused. Then, the stage manager began counting down.

“We’re back in five, four, three…”

The last two counts were silent, signaled by the stage manager’s fingers. Then, the cameras were rolling again, the audience applauding as Hayden reappeared on stage.

“Welcome back, everyone,” he said, flashing that famous grin. “Now, as promised, we have a very special guest with us today. He’s fresh off his win on the hit show The Stage, and he’s here to perform one of his songs. Please give a warm welcome to Charlie Nelson!”

The applause swelled as Hayden gestured towards me, the lights going down and stage lighting popping up around us, along with several spotlights on me. They’d directed me that there was to be no patter or even introduction to the song, and that I was just to start playing after Hayden threw it over to me.

Even though I was nervous and in front of a lot of people, every time I played this song, it made me really emotional, and I had to fight to keep my voice from breaking. It was still a beautiful song and Willie had really done something with it, and the audience reacted similarly to how they’d reacted when I’d performed it at the semi-finals.

As the crowd stopped clapping, Hayden walked over and clapped me on the shoulder and said, “Charlie Nelson, everyone! We’ll be right back with more, after this.”

As soon as the red light on the giant camera pointing at us went off, Hayden let go of me and walked away, talking to a group of producers, while another PA led me over to a chair next to the desk where Olivia had been sitting. She’d shifted down one seat, so now I was sandwiched between them.

I was a little starstruck but didn’t have to manage any small talk as Hayden came over and started chatting with Olivia past me about some event thing they were both scheduled for. It was a little awkward, having them talk past me, like I wasn’t even there though.

Finally, the stage manager began counting down again and Hayden straightened, his showman’s grin slipping into place as the cameras rolled.

“Welcome back, everyone! Wasn’t that a fantastic performance?” he asked the audience, who applauded, before turning toward me. “Charlie, during the break, you were telling me about how your mentor actually wrote that song.”

For a second, I didn’t say anything, just kind of blinking at him. What a weird thing to say, considering he hadn’t said a word to me. Hayden gave me a look like ‘say something’ that kind of snapped me out of it.

“He did. He’d been working on it, off and on, for a few years, and had most of it finished when he was diagnosed with stage four cancer. After he died, his nephew, who took care of him and is a great guy, asked if I could finish it and perform it as a tribute to his uncle. Which I, of course, did. Willie was an amazing guy, but he was also one of the last of his kind. To have even a tiny part in making sure that tradition stays alive … well, it’s really an honor.”

“And he taught you to play guitar like that?”

“Oh, no. I mean, he helped me get better for sure, but my dad actually taught me. He was a traveling musician, and I used to go with him on the road when I was little.”

“The same father who killed your mother and then tried to kill you, correct?”

I tried very hard to keep my face neutral. I wouldn’t say it was a surprise that he’d bring that up, since it was salacious and this wasn’t the first time someone in Hollywood had tried to use it. It still hurt though, especially how bluntly he asked the question.

“He did,” I said slowly. “My dad... he had a lot of demons. Alcoholism, mainly. It doesn’t excuse what he did, not at all. But it’s important context. In spite of everything he took from me, I’ll still credit him for teaching me to play.”

“It’s a shame, but it seems like you’ve got the right handle on it. I will say, you’re very young for someone who’s seeing such success.”

“I am and I know how lucky I’ve been, although I haven’t done it all on my own. I’ve had a lot of great support. I have an amazing band with two of the best musicians in the business, Lyla Grant and Seth Bell. Without them, I don’t think I would be where I am now. But I’ve also got home support. My best friend’s mom, who took me in after my parents, Willie, and Chef Li Tang, who owns a restaurant in town. He gave me my first break on stage, and he’s been a good friend and role model.”

“So what was it like, being on a big show like The Stage? I imagine it was a lot different than touring?”

“It was. Playing shows at local venues, you just show up and do your thing. The show was... incredible. Challenging, but in the best way. And I met some great people. Some of the other contestants, we really bonded. There was a lot of really good competition, and it really pushed me to be the best I could be.”

“And now you’re heading out on tour with them, right? The Stage Finalists Tour?”

“Yeah, I’m really excited for it. I’ve done some local tours before, outdoor venues and clubs, but nothing this big or with other acts. It’s going to be amazing.”

Hayden grinned and turned back to face the camera, “Well, there you have it, folks. Be sure to catch the Stage Finalists Tour when it comes to your city. Charlie Nelson, everyone! We’ll be right back with Jackson Holt from the hit show Mismatched, after this.”

The red light on the camera went dark as we cut to commercial. I expected Hayden to turn to me, maybe ask a few more questions or just chat, but instead he immediately started talking to Olivia again, as if I wasn’t even there.

I sat there awkwardly, not sure what I was supposed to do next when the PA from before, who’d led me up next to the desk, came hustling back. “Charlie, we need you to head backstage now. We’ve got to make room for the next guest.”

“Oh, sure, no problem,” I said, standing up.

Neither Hayden nor Bennett acknowledged I was leaving, although she stayed in the seat next to where the next actor would be. I wasn’t sure of the protocol of who stayed for the next guest and who got led off, but clearly I didn’t make the cut.

They led me back and said that, once I was packed up, to find a PA and they would escort me off the lot whenever I was ready to go. I just let them shuffle me along from here to there. It was a well-oiled machine and clearly worked for them, but as experiences go, the whole thing was very bizarre.