Like Real People Do - DNF fanfic

2

After having a few complications with his "Maps" app, Clay finally arrived to his destination. It had just turned 9:50 when he pulled into the parking lot, already filled with 6 other cars. The location was a rented-out dance center. The place had a rustic feel to it, as well as there being a unique graffiti design on a small portion of the tan walls. The parking lines were faded and hard to distinguish. He eventually parked in a free space close to the front. The double glass doors had a black sign with white lettering on it that read "Lunningham Dance Center for Kids". Clay made his way into the heavy doors of the building. There was a short entrance way, two rooms on each side. Straight ahead was the main area of the center. He walked ahead and saw the guitar player of the band sitting on a foldable chair. Wilbur.

Wilbur spotted him, and exclaimed, "You're here for auditions aren'tcha?"

"Hello, yes. Um... where do I go?"

"You see that room?" he pointed to a room labeled Practice Area 5, "you can go in there and do some warmups while we wait for everyone else to arrive."

"Thank you. So how many people are coming to audition?"

"Well 19 people called, so I'm assuming everyone will show up. What's your name fella?"

"Oh, um my name is Clay."

"Nice to meet you, Clay. You probably already know this, but I'm Wilbur."

"Yes, I know you. Thank you for giving people this opportunity."

"Of course. We were looking for someone for so long. But I guess we were looking in the wrong place. Either that or we just have the worst luck. So we eventually decided to take auditions from strangers."

Silence.

Clay clears his throat. "I'll go warmup now."

 He walks into the room Wilbur instructed him to go to. The room was completely empty, besides a wall mirror and a chair in the corner. There was no ceiling light or lamp, the only source of light was an opaque window. Clay sets his lanyard on the navy seat, and walks over the mirror. Hearing his own heavy footsteps echo in the room made him feel so alone. He stands in front of the huge mirror, listening to and controlling his breathing. Thoughts were flowing through his head.

What song should I sing? Will they give me a song to sing? What song should I practice? Damnit. I just realized how unprepared I am. Why am I like this?

He finally choses a song to practice, "It's hard to get around the wind" by Alex Turner.

He has always loved this song, and he's excellent at singing it. He doesn't know whether or not he should sing it for the actual audition though. It's pretty tame. He pulls out his phone to record himself singing.

Start.

It's like you're trying to get to Heaven in a hurry... and the queue was shorter than you thought it would be...

 and the doorman says 'You need to get a wristband'... you got a lift between the pit-

KNOCK 

Holy shit who the hell is that

Clay nearly jumped out of his skin

"Who is it?"

"Oh, sorry is this room occupied?"

CLAY'S POV:

His voice is smooth and he has an apparent British accent. It could be Wilbur, but his voice is much deeper than this mystery voice.

"Yes, who is it"

"My name is George; I'll go into a different room than sorry"

"It's alright," I shouted. No response. He must've moved already. Why do I want to see him? He sounds intriguing. 

"Ugh whatever. Shut up," I huff.

-

"Okay, Clay, what song do you want to sing? Or do you want us to pick a song for you?", Alex, the drum player, asked me.

"I was thinking that you all could pick a song for me. I'm okay with anything."

"Alright. A challenge, eh?"

"You could say that yes."

"How about you sing 'I Wanna be Yours' by the Artic Monkeys"

Shit. Why didn't I pick my own song? Not that I'm complaining, I just struggle with the words a little bit.

"Sounds good."

"Let's hear it then" Tommy, the keyboard player, proclaimed.

Wilbur plays the instrumental on his phone to help guide me. Thank God.

I wanna be your vacuum cleaner... breathing in any dust...

Small pause

I wanna be your Ford Cortina... I will never rust...

Good so far. Good so far. Just keep your confidence and use your diaphragm.

If you like your coffee hot... let me be your coffee pot...

You call the shots, babe... I just wanna be yours...

Okay go slightly higher on these next few lines

Secrets I have held in my heart... are harder to hide than I thought...

Maybe I just wanna be yours

I wanna be yours

"That's enough," Wilbur says as he pauses the video.

"Is everything okay?"

"Clay. You have such an enchanting voice. You sucked me in and I want to hear you sing more, but we need to get through everyone, so thank you. You're done."

"I understand. Thank you by the way."

"Of course. You can-"

"Yeah, Clay your voice is almost perfection. You enunciate, you have energy, and you have outstanding control." Alex interrupts.

I nod my head, "Thank you very much. I can go back to the room if you want."

"Mhm." Wilbur reassures.

I amble over to the room, and plop myself on the cushioned chair.

"Well, I have a lot of time to kill now," I say as I reach for my phone.

-

"-yeah, that sounds like a good idea, Sapnap. They'll like that."

I've been talking to Sapnap for over an hour. Waiting for a knock on the door. Sapnap is the type of friend who rambles, so I'm never bored when talking to him. Today, he was set on talking about video and stream ideas.

KNOCK

"Clay, we need you for something really quick," I hear Wilbur inform me.

"Oh- Um- Yeah I'll be right there," I catch Wilbur make a sound in agreement, "Sapnap I have to go for a bit, I'll call you back when I get home. Okay?"

"Fine. I can't wait to introduce you to my friend though. He lives in Florida you know."

"I know you've told me so many times"

"Oh and did I mention he-"

"He's British. I know Sap. I really have to go right now. Call you back. Bye."

I hang up and put my phone in my pocket as I walk over to the door. I twist the doorknob, open the dark red door, and glance to my left. There's a boy standing against the door next to me. He looks to be about 5'9 or 5'10. And...

What. The. Hell.