Coming of Age: My Story

The Audition

During the auditions, Marie, Calvin, Makayla, and some other girl who kept trying to pry into our conversations whose name I never caught, and I spend the whole day talking about our favorite shows, movies, games, and books while waiting for the hosts to call us to sing. I hear them call me up and everyone wishes me luck. Just before I walk out, I look back at them and shoot a thumbs-up with a confident smile.

I find myself walking down a hallway that seems endless. I bet the school chose this hallway because they knew the pressure it would bring contestants. I sit down in a short line, waiting. The people in the front of the line slowly get called back, and I hear my competition. I look down at my music binder. I filled the cover with several of my comics so I had entertainment while I awaited my fate. The boy beside me is looking over my shoulder at my comics. I notice him eying one of my personal favorites.

A man walks into his dark house to find his best friend, dead, on the ground. The wall above him reads, in blood, "Your Next." The man shivers.

"Who could have done such a thing?" He asks, pondering the scene of horror before him.

He slowly leans down and dips his hand in the pool of blood.

"That's better," he says as the message now reads, "You're Next."

The boy laughs, then appears ashamed in his sense of humor.

I tap him. "Hey, rather have a good laugh before an audition than a panic attack," I say. He smiles and I notice he loses some tension and takes a deep breath right before he gets called into his audition. I smile, knowing I may have just helped someone and I realize I am the next singer.

This is it. The All-Region Choir auditions. I have been practicing my music for months. All of my hard work, sleepless nights, and even sore throats have prepared me for this very moment. And, I no longer feel hopeless. I am ready. They call me up and slowly walk me into a random classroom. I step in and find myself in what seems to be a different dimension. There is a curtain around a very small space, and in that space, there is nothing more than a music stand. So much for being ready. The volunteer who walked me to the room asks if I'm ready. I shoot him a thumbs up whenever my mind is feeling anything but. He walks out and closes the door.

I'm walking back down the same hallway I walked in fear just a few moments earlier. This time, however, I walk in confidence and pride... I wish. I trudge down this hall in failure. Knowing that there is no way I could make it to region. I walk back to my table and of course, my friends want details.

"So, how did it go?" Marie asks.

I try to smile in response, but I give in and reply, "I could have done so much better."

"Oh, come on, I bet it wasn't that bad."

I give her a look that says otherwise. I look around and notice that Calvin and Makayla are both gone. "I guess those two went back while I was gone?"

"Yeah, I've been all alone just drawing," she sighs, pointing at her sketchbook. She has been drawing a character from one of my favorite anime, My Hero Academia. One of my favorite characters even, Tsuyu Asui.

"That's really good! What other drawings do you have?" I ask. She hands me her notebook. I flip through several drawings. There are drawings of anime characters, and portraits, but overall, space. "So, you like space," I infer.

Her eyes glow the moment I say this. "That is SO an understatement! I LOVE space!"

"I can tell," I snicker.

"One of my dreams is to be an astronaut and travel the galaxy," she says with the smile of a toddler with a mind that's just been blown.

That is when she is called for her audition. She gives me a weak smile. I smile back with confidence and a reassuring thumbs-up. She smiles bigger and peaces out as she walks down the hall to her future.