Born to Perform

Chapter 1

My name is Melody Rose Pointer and I am a star. I have always dreamed of being on Broadway my entire life. It didn’t take long for my parents to work out that I was an excessively gifted child since I could dance before I could walk (I could do a very convincing head roll at age two) and I could sing every song from Annie by age four. Even in my first nativity play, my overpowering talent became apparent when I, angel number three, out-sang Mary in ‘Away in a Manger’, causing her to burst into tears and hide behind her mother in the audience - my talent sometimes has that effect. From that moment on, I knew I was destined to be the greatest star this world would ever see and took every dance class, singing class and drama class I could fit into my busy schedule and I vowed to train until I was the best. 

So here I am, ten years later, a sophomore in High School, and I am a nobody. I don’t need friends - friends hold you back - but I had always thought that by this point in my life I would have a group of adoring fans to follow me around wherever I go. Or at least have made my debut on Broadway, but alas, here I am. Melody Rose Pointer: High School Zero. Things need to change around here. My incredible skill needs to be recognised and, as I walk down the hallway to math class, I see my opportunity. 

There, pinned to the wall, is the sign-up sheet for the first ever Rosedale High musical: West Side Story. This could not be more perfect. I am a natural-born Maria. I’ve known every one of her solos since I was five years old. I confidently stride over to the noticeboard and pick up the little pen on a string. Just as I am about to write my name I hear a voice from behind me. 

“Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” I swing round to see Elisha Denver staring at me with a smirk twitching at the edges of her mouth. Lyla McAdams and Ariel Westbrook are standing behind her, also looking smug. 

“And why is that?” I ask defiantly. 

“Because Elisha is auditioning for that play,” Lyla declares, “and you don’t stand a chance.” All three of them look me up and down and look even more amused. I stand up straight and try not to let them get to me but their words hurt and they know it. 

“No one wants to watch a sad loser stand up in front of hundreds of people just so she can open her obscenely wide mouth and wail like a tortured cat,” Ariel states, causing the three of them to cackle like a band of bleach-blonde witches. I try to hold back my emotions. I want to scream. I want to slap their stupid overly-made-up faces. I want cry, but more than anything I want to run away from their scrutinizing glares and never see them again. I would rather die than let them know this, though. 

“Oh, have we upset you?” Elisha edges closer to me. I try to back away from her but I am against the wall. “Are you going to cry?”

By now I am so angry and wounded that I do something drastic - something I am bound to regret. 

“No, I’m not going to cry,” I say as calmly as I can, “but you are.” And with that I spit right in her face, causing her to scream as she falls back into the corridor. Her mascara is rolling down her cheeks in thick blobs. I am so horrified at what I have done that I quickly scrawl my name on the sign-up sheet and then run as fast as I can away from the scene I have created. Before I can get away, though, I hear Elisha yell after me.

“I’ll get you, Pointer! You will pay for this!”

*****

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-Selena x