Chasing Lights

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Kendra's POV

I wipe my sweat away from my forehead as I glance at the clock for approximately the millionth time. Exactly 15 minutes until it's my turn. My turn to impress the judges, which probably won't happen.

My life literally depends on what I will do in only 15 minutes.

My piano teacher and accompanist, Bri, notices my distress and gives me a concerned look. Fuck, this makes me even more stressed out. If I fail this audition, not only am I going to disappoint my parents, but also Bri. I owe her a lot and I actually feel sorry for her that she has to put up with me.

"Calm down, Kendra, I promise you'll be fine," she assures me with a smile, "Now listen to me, the judges completely understand if you're a bit nervous. In fact, they're trying to make you comfortable as much as possible. You can do it Kendra; you just need to believe in yourself. Okay?" she almost pleads.

It's like she is trying to comfort a 6 year old who is about to get a vaccination. I don't blame her though for saying those cliché words, that's how I'm really acting right now anyway. But it's not my fault that I'm doing this. I never wanted to audition for a music college, especially the Royal Music Academy. But then again I don't really know what I want either. Unfortunately sleeping and listening to music for the rest of my life isn't an option.

"Um.. Kendra Faye?," an unfamiliar voice fills my ears. I whip my head to see someone with a clip board in his hands. I take a good look at the clock to check again how close I am to dooms day.

Shit. Shit. There's one minute left before my audition, and I'm about to have a panic attack. The man stares at me and i finally take a deep breath and get out of my seat.

"It's your turn for auditioning. This way please," he gestures as Bri and I make my way to one of the hallways. The atmosphere suddenly gets a little eerie, I feel like I'm in one of those typical horror movies. Before I know it, we arrive at the door of the auditioning room. Or should I say, the gates of hell. I open the door and peek inside to see a huge room and two judges.

I scan the room and notice a huge shimmering chandelier right above my head. I'm secretly hoping it will somehow fall on me so I don't have to do this whole thing. Who knows, maybe the judges would even pity and accept me into the college. That is if I make it alive. Ha.

My gaze averts to one of the judges who is intently observing me, the other one tapping her fingers impatiently. I was going to shake hands with them but they don't seem in the mood for that right now. Wow, they're definitely doing a great job at making me feel comfortable so far.

"Okay Kendra....," one of them says after going through a stack of papers, "Show us what you've got." I'm kind of taken aback by their straight forwardness. No greeting? Not even a "good luck"? I flash a fake smile nevertheless. I walk over to the grand piano and sit on the bench. Remembering Bri's advice, I sit straight, hold my head high, and take a deep breath.

I put my trembling fingers on the keys and make eye contact with the judges for a split second and say "Uhh, first I-I'm going to play Turkish March or Alla Turca by Mozart." The judges nod as if I'm saying the obvious and Bri gives the 'go ahead, you can do it' look. Surprisingly, I start playing smoothly though the sweat trickling down from my forehead is becoming evident.

I've never been this nervous before, and I don't really understand how since I have played in public before in front of many people and I did fine. Two judges shouldn't faze or intimidate me despite that this determines my future career. The fact that I'm nervous like this makes me even more nervous.