dancing in the stars (ballerina x singer wlw romance)

chapter three

WILLOW

The Winter Showcase needs to be my new salvation. This event has been around this school more than ten years, it gives the opportunity to young talented artists to get on a stage and perform one of their songs to important people- by important people I mean, music producers, artists, agents, record companies. People from all the world come to see a small group of people perform and obviously, they choose who wins. It's not just the experience that you win but you also have the opportunity to win ten thousand dollars and a full paid scholarship at this very own university. So, now you know why I need this very badly.

Singing in front of people was never a big deal to me. I get lost in the music so I don't really notice if I'm singing in front of one person or a hundred- I was never the nervous type but this event... makes my entire body shiver. I need to win this more than anything. Whoever said money can't solve your problems was wrong. It can and I'm hoping it will if- when I win this.

I woke up this morning with an email from professor Queens saying she'll be waiting for us at the theater inside the Arts building. Unlike yesterday, today I woke up in time and I took the time to get ready. I put on some cargo jeans and a white sweater that is soft enough for me to fall asleep in. I let my hair down my back with my natural beach curls, I put on some make up and by eight thirty I was walking outside the dorms with Maya next to me. She said she wanted to come with me because she had nothing else to do and here we are. Me with an iced caramel latte in hand and Maya with her regular coffee- we also found Josie outside the auditorium and she joined us.

"Why are so many people here? Are they all for the showcase?" Maya whispers next to me, she brushes her pink hair with her hand and huffs.

I shrug, feeling my heart squeeze. "I don't know. I hope not." I would absolutely die if I need to compete with all these people.

I'm talented, I know I am. My mom used to use my talent to make money when I was a teenager. I won a lot of competitions and shit but she used the money for... well, her stuff. You can imagine. But being good at singing it's sometimes means nothing when you know there are a lot of people better than you- and I mean, a lot. I know that, I'm not living in a little bubble. I know the real world and as I scan the room trying to count the amount of people here, my anxiety grows. There's no way I can perform against all of these people and win.

My hands shake and I cross my arms over my chest to stop them. "I don't think so. My dad said this year was going to be different." Josie says, almost whispering.

"Different how?"

"I don't know. Just different." she shrugs, her brown eyes lock with my green ones. "He didn't say much but don't worry about it. It's always been a small group of twenty people performing up there."

I know that but there are a lot more than twenty people here. I move my eyes around the room again and I accidentally make eye contact with a girl. My heart squeezes in my chest when I see her in a way I can't describe- it never happened before. Her dark-coffee colored hair falls in soft waves around her shoulders and down her back, she's wearing a pink ribbon in it that makes her look really fucking cute. She's wearing a turtleneck shirt and straight jeans with some white sneakers. She's pretty, very pretty. Her body is something out of this world, she looks small but strong at the same time. She looks fragile but brave. I look down at her curves and a small part of me wants to wrap an arm around her waist and hug her- I immediately shake the thought away.
I can tell she's with some friends and she looks familiar but I can't tell you where I know her from.

I part my lips ready to ask my friends if they know her but the sound of loud steps makes me turn my head around to the stage. Finally. Three professors take over it, with a microphone in hand and the entire room falls into silence.