Realize (PUBLISHED)

Realize (4)

Dedicated to 830freckles for making a beautiful visualization of my ultimate dream. :)

You will now meet Karl and Peter! The mischief duooooooo! *evil laugh*
(Their pictures are in the 3rd chappie) 

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Maxine's mouth literally fell open. Todd was surprised, too. The shock was clear on his face. But unlike Maxine, he managed to recover his composure fast enough.

What now? Did she still want to join the band, knowing that Todd was in it, too? Then, she decided that keeping herself from doing what she loved just because she couldn't stand him was unreasonable. She just had to endure it.

“Whoa,” breathed out Brian, glancing warily at Todd. And then, his eyes went back to Maxine. “You're Maxine, right?”

“Yes,” she nodded.

“Okay, let's see what you got,” shrugged Brian in a go-ahead-and-impress-me voice.

Maxine looked around and saw a piano at the corner of the room. She suddenly had an idea. She quickly turned to Brian.

“Can I play the piano?” she asked.

Brian blinked, but nodded all the same.

Maxine walked over to the piano and sat on the chair. She put her fingers on the piano, feeling it. She didn't realize that her eyes were close until she opened them. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth to sing Gavin DeGraw's Chariot.

“Staring at a maple leaf, leaning on a mother tree I . . .”

The people around her ceased to exist as she felt the melody come out of her. The music relaxes her muscles, and her mind's uneasiness began to wash away with every drum of her fingers.

Nobody made a noise apart from her singing. They were obviously impressed by her soulful voice. She was on the beat, and they could tell she was connecting to the music.

When Maxine finished, she slowly looked at the others. Their expressions were unreadable. It would make her feel better if they said something – anything – but they didn't. She stood up, her eyes narrowing.

Brian clapped, followed by the others – except for Todd. They were broadly grinning at Maxine.

“There's no point in beating behind the bush,” sighed Brian. “We've decided to pick you for the spot.”

Todd reacted almost immediately. He got up and faced Brian.

“Who's 'we'?” he demanded in a low voice.

“Dude, she's the only girl who's good enough for the spot,” Brian argued, with a raised eyebrow. “And you know that.”

Everyone in the studio waited for Todd's decision. Maxine concluded that he was the leader of the band from the look the others were giving him.

“Fine,” replied Todd, after a moment's silence.

Maxine could hear the others sigh in relief. All of a sudden, she caught Todd looking at her. Not wanting to back down, she stared back. Then, he moved closer to her. With a threatening voice, he told her, “You don't know what you're getting into.”

“No, apparently not,” said Maxine, mocking fear. “Why don't you tell me?”

Todd ignored her statement. Instead, he continued to stare coldly at her. They were on an eye to eye contact, both have flaming eyes. The only thing missing was that they weren't knocking the lights out of each other.