THE RISE AND FALL OF SMASH ALLEY! (ORIGINAL!)

chapter four ─ the audition

───── ACT ONE, CHAPTER FOUR ─────
The Audition

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Donnie picks me up the next day. He actually picked me up at a reasonable time. Told me that he was trying to be considerate. Which, to be honest, was really sweet. Sometimes I feel like Mar or Sandie doesn't consider my job to be just that. A job. Sure, it's fun, but I'm there from 7:00PM to 3:30 in the morning. Sometimes four if I feel generous. I was the one paying all the bills right now, and it was absolutely difficult.

So being away from the apartment is a breath of fresh air. I love Mar, he's my pal. But sometimes he was a little difficult. I met Donnie and everything felt a lot better. I felt a lot better. I don't feel like I'm suffocating just trying to survive.

We finally arrive at where Donnie (and supposedly) the whole band stays. They're on the other side of town in another apartment complex. I'm shocked at this because I know some complexes only allow three people to live there at a time. Our complex is always on about us having Sandie there.

I get out of Donnie's van and I walk behind him. I didn't really speak the whole time I was in the van. It made Donnie speak up.

"You alright?"

I look at him. "Um, yeah. Yeah, I-I'm just──"

"Nervous?" Donnie asked, "Don't be. They'll love you, I know they will."

"Not about singing," I admit, "more nervous about ... Fitting in, I guess."

"Don't worry about that," Donnie told me, "you'll fit in enough if you officially make it in."

He opens the door for me. I give him a small smile before walking inside the complex. I look at him, not knowing where I should go.

"Straight down," he said, "It's the last door on the right. Number seventy-seven."

I nod before making my way down the hall. I look at the door numbers and stop when I reach the end of the hall. I watch Donnie grab his own apartment keys out of his pocket and unlock the door. When he opens it, he gestures, letting me in first.

When I walk inside, there's three other people. There's one guy on the couch. His hair is longer than Donnie's. He kinda looks like a pirate. The boots, the pants, even the hoop earrings. There are two other people playing cards. One of them, I know. I remember that day at the corner store.

One of them looked up. It wasn't the person at the store. They had a bunch of eye-liner. She was very pale, and wore a lot of leather. She looks at me before looking at Donnie.

"Who's that, your new boy toy?" She asked, a small smirk appeared on her face.

"Shut up, Dodie," Donnie said back to her.

The woman he called Dodie looks away and she puts one of the cards on the small table. She looks amused.

"That's a yes," she muttered.

Then the other person looks up. I look at them. It seems that they recognize me, too.

"Hey, I know you!" They say excitedly, "You helped me buy the cookies!"