The Colors In Her Voice

☆Chapter 03☆

I never knew how to actually be nervous up until now. My heart didn't know how and when to slow down. To make myself feel better, I clutched the side of my dress tightly with shaky hands. The biggest apprehensive traits that I had somehow acquired are to continuously tap my feet and bob my head up and down as if listening to a song.

I was so busy regulating my breaths that I didn't mind paying attention toward my surroundings. I felt someone's hand on my shoulder and I yelped on instinct before turning around. "You all right?" Bethany asked, looking at me with wide eyes like she didn't expect that reaction from me.

"Uh, yes. I am uh, fine, yes," I said, fumbling with my words and chuckling nervously, still not able to grasp the reality I was facing. "I feel like I am dreaming," I whispered more to myself but Bethany heard it anyway.

She laughed and gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze which didn't feel very reassuring to me. It was like she had put all her force into it. I had a feeling that she might still dislike me somewhere in her mind but that thought sounded ridiculous even to myself.

'If she dislikes me then why would she offer this grand opportunity to showcase my talent? Of course, I am overthinking.'

It's finally the day I was supposed to perform in front of a huge crowd, my mom being one of them. 

The famous people from the music industry who would be our judges have organized this event to go on a talent hunt in the high schools. They're in search of some newbies in the industry. I had overheard that these people would be like sharks. The thought scared me to the core since singing in front of them flawlessly would be a difficult task for me who's nothing but an amateur. 

I, along with the other participants, was waiting backstage. We were told that the judges would be arriving at any moment now and that the audience seats were already half occupied.

"You look beautiful today, Rachel," she complimented, grinning at me.

I was wearing a full length, black colored sparkly dress paired up with my midnight blue ballet shoes. It was entirely on the mercy of its thin straps and the whole dress was flowing beginning from the straps itself. 

I am not into dark colours especially black but after the 'Reputation' album was released, I found myself occasionally wearing black and then I'd seen this beautiful dress on sale and had to buy it mostly because the sparkles and glitters and colours are my weaknesses. It's the only piece of clothing I have that I could proudly say makes my wardrobe look somewhat elegant. My hair was tied back in a chignon hairstyle, all thanks to my mom and my make-up was minimal except for my dark red lipstick. One of the few colors that goes well with my skin tone.

"Thank you." I blushed profusely. I was not used to getting compliments very often and coming one from someone like Bethany was a huge deal. "I like your dress. You look pretty too." And that was the truth. In fact, she stood out the most in the entire room but in a good way.

She was wearing a white, strapless, body fitting dress. Small roses intricately designed on it, giving her the angelic vibes. Her brown curls were left open. Her simple make-up suited her attire.

"Why, thank you," she said, doing an exaggerated bow. She looked exceptionally happy today. "Oh, I almost forgot. Just give me a sec. I wanna make an announcement." I nodded my head at her "Okay." She clapped her hands. "Everybody here! Gather up! I've got something to say."

All the contestants put a stop to their activities and came rushing in our direction. We all formed a circle around her and waited for Bethany to speak up.

"All right. Now I am going to allot y'all guys a number. Meaning, you are to perform at that particular moment only. Like, the host is going to call you by your names but these numbers are to help you know when it's going to be your turn, okay? It'll help you to know that the next performance is yours so that you can get ready. You get me?" She asked, raising an eyebrow and all of us nodded. "You betcha."