Ch-13

"Maintain your note for ten seconds, then give a pause for five then continue with next. Start with C, then C-sharp, D, D-sharp, and so on till you reach F-sharp." Mr. Tanner instructed.

I cleared my throat for good measure and began my practice.

Practicing vocals with a coach was so much different from working alone. My previous coach didn't have much experience with singing herself. She covered the basics of notes and voice pitch well enough but after that, even I with my limited experience could see the gap in her knowledge.

Many teachers don't let the students sing a flat or sharp note, but Mr. Tanner insisted that if I practice singing sharp notes then I'll know the difference intimately and can avoid it when I want to.

With my parents' blessings, I booked four hours of weekend classes with Mr. Tanner. I spent the first hour on my guitar and the second on my vocals. Sometimes he would even allow me to mix guitar in with my vocals so I could do both simultaneously.

"You did well today," Mr. Tanner smiled when I was done with the basic vocal practice, "For the next week I have a little homework for you."

He handed me a few sheets of paper. I picked them up and carefully perused them. They were music sheets with lyrics written in between.

~: There's a grief that can't be spoken

There's a pain goes on and on

Empty chairs at empty tables

Now my friends are dead and gone…:~

As soon as I read the music, I remembered the song from my previous life. It is from the great musical 'Les Misérables' sung by the third male lead Marius when all his friends are killed in the French Revolution.

It was a very touching song that if performed correctly can bring anyone to tears.

"It contains two songs," Mr. Tanner answered my unasked question, "One is 'Empty Chairs at Empty Tables' and the other is 'Bring Him Home' both from the musical 'Les Misérables'. I want you to memorize both of them by next week and then we will begin practicing theater vocals like you wanted."

He would be flabbergasted if I told him that I already had both the songs memorized. Not in the correct pitch, but I definitely know the lyrics. He doesn't need to know so I'll tell him next time. That reminds me, "I may not be able to come next week. I have to attend the movie promotions."

"Aah, yes. How can I forget the talk of the whole of America, about a young child who had to work on a sex-themed film? HBO does know how to do publicity," He commented.

I chuckled, "Yeah, their hyping method is quite obvious but still effective. You know the 'Taxi Driver' route."

Taxi Driver was a movie released in the 70s where Jodie Foster, a young girl of 12 years of age played an underaged prostitute. That movie set a precedent for roles of young children in adult-themed movies with them being given psychological evaluation to make sure the scenes don't affect them negatively.

"You know too much about this stuff, don't you think?" Mr. Tanner said.

I rolled my eyes good-naturedly, "Of course, I know. Dad explained to me why I was being given therapy."

"Alright then, I'll see you in two weeks?" Mr. Tanner confirmed.

I nodded and bade Mr. Tanner farewell as I made my way down the stairs to the ground floor. I mean the first floor in American English. God this gets a little confusing sometimes.

Apparently, my Mum was running late as she wasn't there to collect me.

Anyway, Hollywood production houses can stoop to any level to promote their movies. For [Sex-ed] HBO had spread the news about me being underaged but working as the lead in a movie predominantly about sex. As they say, no publicity is bad publicity.

Major news media picked up the news when it got a lot of response from the general populace, insinuating things like it was damaging kids' mentality when they had to work on such projects and so on.

The effect was twofold. On the negative side of things, there was a group of people who wanted to ban the movie because it would encourage more children to work in such roles. On the other hand, people knew about the film and its subject matter and it had created a curiosity among them.

We could only hope that the latter would exceed the former.

Just then I saw my Mum's car turning round the corner. Usually, Dad picks me up from my music lessons, but he is in New York at the moment, promoting our movie with different media houses. As I was still in school, HBO decided to cut short my involvement in promotion to just four days, of which only two were school days.

To compensate for my absence, they decided to use controversy to fuel the flame of the movie.

Sitting in the car I heard my Mum say, "We will be holding a screening for critics and media on Friday. While you won't see the film, you will have to attend the press conference afterward."

"Yeah, Dad told me," I answered flippantly. "And then we will take a flight to New York and do a couple of interviews, right?"

"Yes, but we'll have to discuss some things before you do the press conference. Your father and I discussed this at length and decided that it would be bad if the news about your…old Mum came to light." She paused while her eyes were fixed on the road ahead.

I looked at her expressions and thought carefully about what she was saying. And she was right. It would be troublesome if the whole world knew about my past life at this point.

"To prevent that from happening, we have decided for you to not attend any other interview than the press conference. So you won't be going to New York, you'll stay at Evan's place for the weekend."

"And I just told Mr. Tanner that I won't be present for the next week's sessions," I groaned.

"Call him later, or tell him at school," Kathy said offhandedly before coming to the more serious topic. "I still think it is foolish of HBO to insist on you attending that event. They will have to ask questions about the movie and its plot points and it would make many people uncomfortable to skirt around important questions. Finally, we came to an understanding, that you will be present only for the first half of the press conference during which reporters will be told to behave."

"Is that all?" I asked.

"No," Mum deadpanned before softening her tone, "Remember, you are a kid so you can always stay quiet if you don't want to answer something. We will explain things to the reporters beforehand. In fact, you should remain quiet as much as you can. As the role isn't kid-centric, your close involvement is not required for promotion."

I nodded and we spent the remaining distance in silence.

When we reached home, she sat me down in the living room and gave me a notepad, "A list of possible questions and their answers. You should memorize them and then we'll practice."

I picked it up gingerly and read through the list of questions and answers written there.

Q: 'How do you relate yourself to your character in the film?'

A: I am very different from the character of Mark. I don't know the full script but what I could gather from my part was that he is a lonely character with no good friends and parents who are too busy to help him. I have great friends and I love my parents.

Q: 'What was it like working on a movie set during the summer?'

A: It was the best summer vacation ever. When the shooting was done, I went to Hawaii with my best friend, so it was great.

I looked up after reading the rest of the questions and gave Mum a questioning look, "You want to portray me as a gullible child?"

"Yes," She gave her clipped reply before elaborating, "I was against the promotion strategy of HBO, but they didn't agree and we had to compromise. Look, Troy, if you give these reporters anything negative, it will not be good for your career in the long run. So act your part and behave like a kid your age should. Just think of this as another acting role."

I nodded doubtfully, "I can do that."

I was apprehensive about it because I don't act like other children in front of anyone. That may create an image of falsity. Still, I decided to just go with it and if the fact comes I'll chalk it up to nerves about my first interview and being a kid.

"Good," Mum beamed at me, "Now let's go over the interview questions one by one."

(Break)

I was sitting in the car that was booked by my parents to take me to the movie premiere/ press conference alongside my trusty neighbor Bobby, the designated driver in my newly purchased suit.

I couldn't help but feel as if the jacket wasn't the right fit for me. Either it's the collar or the breast pocket or something just didn't feel right.

"Will you stop fidgeting?" Asked an annoyed Bobby. "Your suit's perfectly fine. Now sit still. We will receive your parents' call any minute now."

At the moment, we were sitting in the car, a few minutes away from the premiere hall waiting for the movie to end so we could join them for the press conference.

"Didn't you want to watch the movie in the hall with everyone?" I asked Bobby.

"Nah lil' dude. I'll watch it at home or with Amy if she is free. Besides, if it wasn't for escorting you, I wouldn't even be allowed here today." Bobby answered.

I snorted at his plan to 'Netflix and chill' with his girlfriend. Or should it be 'HBO and chill'?

"That's not true and you know it," I said. "Had you just asked Dad once, he'd have allowed you to watch the movie in there."

"You forgot one thing," Bobby shook his finger dramatically, "This isn't a movie premiere, it's a screening for critics and reporters. The cast and crew were invited as a courtesy so they could see the film before everyone else. They don't invite their friends to such events."

He wasn't wrong per se. Any normal premiere would involve a red carpet and reporters and fans and paparazzi and the whole shebang. Here, we had to simply walk into the theater without any fanfare and wait for the movie to begin. No normal audience was allowed to view the movie there as it was a closed screening at one of HBO's personal theaters.

ring ring

"Finally!" Bobby groaned out loud and picked up his mobile phone, "Hello?... Yes, we are right outside in the car. We'll come right in, in a minute." He cut the call and put his phone down.

"Let's go. I'll leave you with your parents and then I'll go wait outside for you to finish. No point in watching a boring ass press conference," He mumbled the last phrase under his breath but I heard it because of our close proximity.

"Awww, you won't attend the boring ass press conference of your lil' dude?" I grinned at him.

He paled instantly, "Don't use that word or your mom will skin me alive. You hear? And stop trying to make me sound gay! I'm straight!"

I laughed out loud. Ever since he denied the role of Dylan in the movie because of the gay scenes, I teased his sexuality a lot and he usually got pissed. I decided to give him a valuable life lesson, "You shouldn't complain so much when someone teases you or they will believe their claim is true."

"Believe me, if it was any other asshole saying that, I'd have socked him in the jaw by now," He replied while getting out of the driver's side.

I followed his example and got out, "To clarify, did you just call me an asshole?"

He paled further if that was even possible, "No, absolutely not." He retorted immediately.

I snickered, "Don't worry 'Boobie', I am an asshole, and I know it!" I gave him two thumbs up.

"Wow, what an original insult." He rolled his eyes while guiding me towards the theater door. It didn't take us long to reach inside where a helpful guard guided us when we showed our screening passes. 

As soon as we entered the hall I heard a voice say, "And now our star of the evening is here."

I looked in that direction and saw a man that I remember working at HBO. All eyes turned towards me, with people looking at me with different expressions, from smiles to worried looks to even a few thumbs up. As coached by Mum, I fixed a smile on my face and made my way towards the front where other cast and crew members were sitting.

As soon as we reached there, Bobby gave me a crisp, "Good luck" and retreated towards the back of the hall. From what I saw, he didn't really go out but sat at a seat at the back. Liar.

I took a deep breath as I sat down on the only open seat between my Mum and Michelle. Only then did I notice that there were video cameras also present at the scene. That thought made me a little conscious of what they may record. But I tried to cast it all out of my mind for the moment. So I turned to my immediate neighbor to greet her.

"Hey, Michelle!" I waved enthusiastically.

"Hey, short stuff," She smirked, "Your performance is very good. We watched the film and believe me it's phenomenal. Not just me, even the critics were impressed." 

"Oh come on. It was my first role, it couldn't be so good. I'll take 'above average' as good enough for now." I shook my head at her in disbelief.

"Fine. Don't believe me. Read it in the papers in a few days," Michelle retorted.

"Attention, ladies and gents. Now we can begin the press conference. As discussed, please keep the conference PG for now," The HBO guy announced.

With that, the reporters started raising hands and were called out one by one.

"Troy, my question for you: How does it feel working in a film you cannot even watch?" Asked a male reporter from the L.A. Times.

"Frustrating," I answered with a smile.

All around people started laughing at the answer.

"To be honest, I knew when we were shooting that I wouldn't be able to see it. So I plan to watch it as soon as I am old enough. I'll ask Dad to save a CD for that time." Here I gave a look to my father who smiled back at me.

"Did you understand the subject matter of the film?"

"I don't think I will understand it completely until I'm much older, and probably married," I said sagely, trying to portray a naive front.

A few reporters chuckled at that response, but no one called me out on it.

"Were you present on-set the whole time when they shot the film?" A female asked.

"No," I replied honestly. "They shot my scenes first, and the rest of the film after that. They didn't even let me read the full script."

I observed that all of the questions were directed towards me. Probably even the reporters wanted to free me so they could ask questions about the subject matter from the other cast and crew members.

The questions were basic ones like, my on-set experience, if the shooting affected my school time or vacation time, my costars and our relationship, which was the most difficult scene to shoot, and similar stuff. Within 15 minutes of beginning the session, I was done as they had to ask questions from others as well.

I didn't realize when, but Bobby had come back to the front to take me back to our car. As we were walking back, he said, "That was really well done. I don't think I would've been able to answer any questions that well."

"I practiced many times with Mum," I answered with a smile as we left the venue.

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AN: Is it just me or did this story suddenly blow up overnight? I'm curious, was it mentioned somewhere else? Anyway, thanks for all your love and support. The free poll is still active on my pat/reon, so go vote if you haven't. And as usual, give me powerstones.