Dreaming In Stereo

Part 6 -- Maybe We Should Be a Band

Ethan was sitting on a clean white bed in a hotel room in Sydney. The muffled noises of water splashing against the floor was coming from the bathroom, where Ethan's mum was taking a shower. The TV was also on and Tahlia was watching it while doing cartwheels across the carpet. His dad was on his laptop.

This was where he was staying during the Voice Kids experience. Ethan scrolled through his iPhone. His Instagram had only several hundred followers, and Ethan knew about eighty percent of them. He scrolled through his feed, which was filled with smiling faces of his friends back home in Geelong, Victoria. Well, it wouldn't help him with that. Ethan stood up. Now, the water had stopped and in a couple of moments he heard the door open and his mum emerged with her wrapped up in a thick white towel. She was wearing a flowery, strapless sundress and a pair of flip flops.

Ethan reached into his suitcase, and pulled out a black tee shirt and some trousers.

"I'm gonna take a shower," Ethan said aloud to no one in particular. Slipping into the bathroom, he shut the door behind him and locked it. Ethan placed the clothes on a dry spot in the bathroom, resting near the sink, and then threw of the clothes he was wearing--a baggy white tee shirt and some shorts he'd worn to sleep. Now, Ethan was completely naked as he stared at his upper half of his body in the mirror. Ethan was never anorexic. And, you'd be surprised by the amount the boy ate. But he had always been skinny his whole life: stick-thin arms and skin and bones for legs.

Ethan crumpled up his hair, and then went into the shower. He turned the water on; it shot out from the shower nozzle on full blast. Ethan stood directly underneath, soaking his skin and hair until it glistened with droplets. He squeezed some shampoo into his hand and then messily rubbed it all over his hair. Without getting into the water, Ethan also scrubbed on some soap with a bar of white body soap. Then, he stood back under the water and drenched his entire body.

Ethan stood there for several still moments, savouring the feel of the water splashing against his skin. Steam curled up to the ceiling in ringlets of a translucent white.

"Ethan, hurry up!" He was interrupted by Tahlia. "I need to take a shower too!"

Ethan sighed. Just to spite his sister, he waited a few seconds before turning off the water. Then, he stepped out and quickly dried off with a towel. Ethan threw on the tee shirt and trousers, and ran a hand through his hair, which was still soaked. His hair pushed back and limply fell in a mess. Then, Ethan opened the shower door. His sister rushed past him, dumping her clothes in the bathroom. Ethan grinned and resumed sitting at his spot on the bed.

"How are you feeling?" His mum asked.

"Dunno," Ethan replied. "Nervous. Big day, right?"

His mum smiled and sat down next to Ethan. She stroked his hair and thought for a while before answering. "You're doing very well."

Ethan shrugged and shook out of his mother's grip, who laughed and made a comment about teenagers.

He'd gotten through the battle rounds, and had sung Give Me Love again. For weeks, he had been practising the song again and again, and with the help of Delta, Ethan had really improved. He was in the top 8, but now he was going to find out if he would be able to make it to the Top 6.

Ethan could hardly wait. His heart pounded rhythmically against his chest.

And now. There he was. His eyes were brushed with a beautiful shadow, his eyebrows intensified. He was dressed in a black leather jacket and Sudo trousers. Ethan was standing next to Robbie and Chris on a stage. The four judges, Joel and Benji Madden, and Mel B and Delta, were all sitting in their red chairs facing the eight participants.

Then the host walked up to the stage. The cameras started rolling, the lights blaring. The host stared straight into the camera, and read.

"Good evening, Australia. Today we're here to find out who will move on to the top six of the first ever Voice Kids Australia, and who we'll have to say goodbye to."

The host continued to talk a bit, and then finally the cameras turned to the eight remaining contestants. They stood there for a while, their names being read, a brief overview of the songs they sang playing.

"When I call your name," He read. "Please step forward."

"Bella," He read. "Chris. Maddison. Ruhi. Alexa. And Grace."

The six contestants stepped forward.

"You have all been amazing contestants, and I'm happy to say that you're all going through to the next round!" Screams from the audience. Music blared. The six contestants smiled, looking over the moon. But all Ethan could think was that his name had not been called. He looked down and felt a sad smile on his face. His eyelashes threatened back tears.

"Ethan, Robbie," said the host. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid this will have to be the end of your journey. Everyone, big round of applause to Chris, Bella, Maddison, Ruhi, Alexa, Grace and of course Ethan and Robbie!

"Ethan! Hey, Ethan! Ethan!"

Ethan turned around. Chris and another boy were running after him.

"Oh hey, man," Ethan smiled. "Great job at getting into top six. You deserved it," Ethan said truthfully.

"Thanks," Chris smiled.

"Anyway," said the other boy. He wa slightly shorter than Ethan and had dark hair and an oval face. "You killed it. I don't care what they said, but you deserve to be in the top six too."

"Thanks," Ethan smiled.

"Oh," Chris said suddenly, as if he just realised. "This is Jakob. Jakob Delgado. Lara, you remember Lara right? Yeah, Lara introduced him to me. He's also an amazing singer."

"White lips, pale face," Chris suddenly sang. "Breathing in the snowflakes."

"Burnt lungs, sour taste..." Ethan caught on.

"Light's gone, day's end, struggling to pay rent! Long nights, strange men," sang Jakob. He really did have a fantastic voice.

"Hey, maybe we should be a band?" Ethan suggested with a grin.

"Yeah, maybe."

Yeah, this chapter also going through some editing but at least I got it all down. So from Monday to Friday I'll be inactive because I'm going on a school camp. Check out my story 'his lips' which is an Ethan Karpathy fanfic!