Belle Morte Bites (Belle Morte 4.3)

Talent Show

Roux Hayes stared around the empty music-room, and twisted her hands nervously in the hem of her school shirt. Even when no one was here, the thought of singing out-loud made her stomach churn with nerves.

But if she seriously wanted to get up on stage, at the end-of-year school talent show, then she needed to get over those nerves. Easier said than done.

Roux took a few tentative steps into the room. "You can do this," she told herself.

She'd already sung for a live audience when she auditioned for the show, but that had been in front of four people. Singing in front of the whole school was a very different matter. She needed to bolster her confidence, and get some practice in, but she couldn't bring herself to do it at home because then her parents would know she was trying out for the show. They'd be supportive, but Roux didn't want the extra scrutiny.

What song to choose? She had a few options in mind, but "I Will Always Love You" was a personal favourite – even though she didn't have Whitney's range, she was confident she could put her own spin on the song. The best cover versions always deviated from the original in some way.

Roux took several deep breaths, calming herself.

School wasn't easy for her. She'd never quite fit in – according to her bullies, she wasn't pretty enough, or fashionable enough; she didn't know how to do makeup; they didn't like her ponytail. Nothing she did or said ever made a difference, and her confidence was a trembling, fragile thing, stunted by years of relentless bullying.

But one thing she did know was that she could sing. She'd seen the looks of the faces of the older students she'd auditioned for – there was no mistaking that they'd been impressed. Maybe once she'd sung in the show, once her bullies realised that she wasn't useless, that she had a talent, they'd leave her alone.

Right?

Roux started to sing.

Her voice filled the room, and her lips curved in a smile, because no matter how bad things got, she still had her voice, and it never failed to make her happy. She could make this song her own.

She was on the last chorus, when the door suddenly swung open, and five other students spilled into the room, cackling with laughter.

Roux felt like she'd been dunked in ice water.

"Oh my god," cried one of the girls – Lisa. "Did you hear her?"

Her boyfriend, Shaun, started singing in a high-pitched, screechy voice, flinging his arms wide. "And Iiiiiiii-eee-iiiiih will always love youuuuuuu."

Lisa and the others joined in, screaming out the lyrics in a horribly exaggerated way, before falling all over each other, giggling.

"I don't sound like that," Roux said, her cheeks flushing hot with humiliation.

"You absolutely do," Lisa sniggered.

"Like a cat being strangled," said one of her friends.

Shaun started singing again, horribly off-key, and tears burned Roux's eyes.

She didn't sound like that . . . did she?

No, she wouldn't have landed a spot in the talent show if she couldn't sing.

Unless those older students just hadn't wanted to hurt her feelings. Maybe they knew she was that sad loser girl that no one liked, and they'd given her a spot in the show so they could pat themselves on the back for their own kindness.

Or maybe they knew she couldn't actually sing, and they'd given her that spot as a cruel trick, hoping to humiliate her on stage, in front of everyone.