The song began and the gems came flying.

I let Ashley’s voice guide me through the keys as I nailed them perfectly like I’ve done many times before, but I notice out of the corner of me eye that my competition was matching me perfectly.  It may come down to the use of whammying and star power, but I knew when to use it to get the most points.  I had this in the bag.

I could hear the clicking of her guitar through the headphones and it was perfectly in tune with mine.

I bit my lip, focusing fully on the song and the gems.

The song was less than four minutes long, but with all the clicking and moving, and sometimes pain, it always seemed liked longer and when there was probably only 30 seconds left when the girl began to hum and then she actually began to sing.

She sounded exactly like Ashley Davies.  I knew from interviews that she was Guitar Hero addict and she did play on Xbox Live under an inconspicuous screen name, but it couldn’t be.

There was a single screech that seemed to echo in my ears as I messed up and ruined any chance of winning.  I didn’t even bother continuing as I dropped the guitar, which just hung off the strap that was around me.  Two parts of me were fighting.  One said that I had been playing Guitar Hero with Ashley Davies while the other raged that it was impossible and the other side was crazy.

”You okay over there?”

Her voice did sound like Ashley’s might if heard it through crappy headphones, “Yeah.”

There was silence for a minute before she spoke, “My singing blew my cover… didn’t it?”

I swallowed, “Maybe?”

She laughed and said, somewhat suggestively, “Will you keep my secret?”

I blushed and whispered, “Yeah.”

I heard a small snicker.

“What?” I demanded.

“Nothing,” she said quickly, “Let’s just play. Pick another song.”

I scrolled through the list, before finally settling on the same song we played when she introduced herself.

“Again?” she said, surprised. “I already whooped you once…”

I was definitely a competitor and I loved to win so my nervousness seemed to dissipate, replaced my confidence, “Please. I totally would’ve had you, but you caught me off guard that first day, that’s all. Now, I want a rematch.”