The Star, Alya

3

"Life is the art of drawing without an eraser"

"I messed up, I messed up!" Melanie cried the moment she walked inside the house.
"Melanie please, quiet down. Im sure you didn't do that bad!" her mother insisted.
"You don't understand mom! I messed up the last line! The line that is supposed to move the audience! The line that is most important! You can't end an essay without a conclusion!" Melanie was beyond disappointed in herself. She knew now that her chances of getting in were slim.
"Melanie, why don't you go upstairs and take a nice bath? Im sure that aught to cheer you up!"
Melanie said nothing but crossed her arms and frowned.
"Come on, Ill make your favorite food for dinner! Cinnamon Buns!"
"Cinnamon Buns isn't a dinner food..." Melanie persisted.
"So what? We'll have a cheat night! Come on, go take a hot bath and during dinner we can play Scrabble, huh?" her mother tried to sound as joyful as she could.
"Fine." although Melanie wasn't in the mood to play Scrabble, she also wasn't in the mood to upset her mother. She acknowledged the fact that she was trying, so for her sake, she would accept her help.

The hot water pierced her skin, making it instantly red. Although she didn't seem to care, for her mind was still swarming with negative thoughts.
'Maybe this was God's way of telling me that I shouldn't be an aspiring thespian. Im sure as hell not getting in now...'
She quickly cleaned herself and got out of the bath, hoping the water would wash away the negativity. But then again thinking that was just Melanie's imagination. Before she could even step down the creaky stairs, she could already smell the sweet cinnamon pastries. She practically drooled even more each step that she took down the stairs.
"Dinner's ready~!" her mother chirped.
She chuckled "I can tell..."
When she sat down on the couch she noticed Scrabble had already been set up. Melanie smiled to herself. What would she ever do without her mother?
"Here you go sweetie" her mother handed her a plate with two sweet decadents descended from heaven. Melanie could already see the cream dripping into the folds of the flaky crust. She felt slightly better.
'Better enjoy the moment now then let my worries travel with me...' Melanie thought.
"Alright, time for some Scrabble!" her mother took seven pieces and handed Melanie the blue stripped bag filled with assortments of letters.
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"Biodegradable. It means something compatible of being decomposed." Melanie was a master at Scrabble, and wasn't afraid to pull out her trump card if needed.
"Wow, this is why I never win Scrabble! You have such a high vocabulary!"
Melanie chuckled "thanks."
Her mother sighed contently, "feeling better?" she gave Melanie a warm smile.
She smiled back "yes, thank you very much." of course Melanie doesn't typically lie, but when it came to making her mother worry, she'd rather lie.
"Good. Im glad to hear that! Now, its already 10 'o'clock so, why don't you just go upstairs and rest?"
Melanie nodded "sure."
She walked lazily upstairs. She was far too tired to even change clothes. She was both emotionally and physically drained.
______________________________***___________________________________

The next day wasn't better. Melanie still regrets ever auditioning for the school. She groggily walked into the bathroom and looked at herself through the mirror. "I look like a mess..." she mumbled to herself. She rubbed her eyes and walked emotionlessly downstairs. As Melanie predicted, her mother was up before her.
"Melanie!!" her mother practically jumped on her the second she got downstairs.
"W-What?!" she stumbled backwards.
"Sit! Sit down!" her mother was overjoyed. Thrilled about something. Melanie thought that she must have found a new partner, for everytime they were out shopping and her mother found someone cute, she'd giggle and jump up and down like a little kid. To sum it up, her mother was a teenager trapped in a woman's body.
Melanie took a seat on the couch across from her mother and crossed her legs, waiting patiently for her mother to continue.
"You got accepted!!" she bounced in her seat, Melanie had no response. Her jaw hit the floor and she could barley keep a straight face.
"W-What? But I messed up!"
"Who cares?! You got in Melanie! Im so proud of you!!" she tackled Melanie into bear hug, leaving Melanie's face blue due to the lack of breathing. 
"Can't...........breathe......" Melanie struggled out.
"O-Oh!" her mother let her go. "They just sent me an email not too long ago, they said they wanted to give us a tour of the school before you start."
"When do I start?" Melanie asked.
"Tomorrow."
"So soon?!" she stood there in shock.
"Well, school season does start tomorrow honey."
"O-Okay!"

Quickly as she could, Melanie got ready for the day and headed out towards the car. For the whole ride she had one question in mind, 'Why was I accepted?'
When they stepped into the school, they were again greeted by none other than Mr. Loomer,  the secretary.
"Oh its so good to see your face again darling~!" he waved excitedly to Melanie. His voice never seemed to leave Melanie's mind. "Are you here for the tour~?!" no matter what he was saying, he always seemed excited.
"Yes." her mother was the one who spoke up first.
"Nice to meet you~! Im Mr. Loomer~!" he held out his hand to which Melanie shook.
"So I've heard." Melanie said.
"Come, come~! We have to go see Mr.Goldstein, the principle~!" he quickly started walking down hallway, not leaving any second for Melanie or her mother to speak.
In less than no time, they arrived at the office. "Here we are ladies~!" he opened the door and stepped aside, leaving them room to walk in. "Thank you" Melanie and her mother said in unison.
"Have fun~!" he shut the door while smiling, leaving both Melanie and her mother with the man that Melanie saw on the day of the auditions. Mr. Goldstein.

"Melanie Thorn?" he said in a low voice. Not only did his voice sound intimidating, but he looked the part too. He looked like he meant business. His black hair was smoothed back with glossy hair gel, and he wore a black suit like he was a business man.
"Y-Yes." Melanie gulped. Frankly, she was scared.
It was reassuring when he gave her a warm smile, "Nice to meet you! I thoroughly enjoyed your little play! I think your acting skills are amazing!" he held out his hand for her to shake.
Melanie grabbed his hand and shook back, "But I messed up the ending!"
He let go of her hand and chuckled, "So? Melanie, life is the art of drawing without an eraser. You're going to make mistakes once in a while!"
Melanie took a sigh of relief. "Thank god!"
He chuckled again, "don't be so hard on yourself! Now, how about we go back to schedule? One of the students here will show you around the school and ill be in here conferencing with your mother. We'll be here if you need us! The student is just outside!"
He seemed to be rushing things along, 'must be cautious on time...' Melanie thought.

Sure enough, when she went out if the office, and girl with a short cut pixie hair dyed black blue and purple was there. She had her arms crossed and was dressed like your typical emo. Band shirt, combat boots, and ripped up jeans.
"Hello, im Melanie." she held out her hand for her to shake.
"Sorry, I don't shake hands, too many germs. Don't know where you've been. Name's Astrid." she simply nodded her head after saying her name.
"Fair enough." Melanie wasn't in the mood to argue and just went along with her "I don't care attitude".
"I don't have all day, so lets get on with this quickly" she turned around instantly and started to walk down the hallway at a fast rate.
"O-Okay..." Melanie proceeded to follow Astrid.

"This is the cafeteria, don't sit near the back, front, or the corners, or you'll meet with a lot of trouble."
"Why-"
"I don't think I should explain, its just better if you don't."
"Okay..." they took a sharp turn which almost made Melanie bump into Astrid's back.
"This is the gym, its basically where all the attention whore superstar jocks live." she quickly left for the next destination.
"This is the girls locker room. Honestly, just go to the bathroom to change or else you'll be smelling like perfume for a whole month."
Melanie said nothing, but continued to follow Astrid anyways.

About a year later, the tour finally ended. But before they reached the office, Astrid turned around quickly and looked directly at Melanie.
"Im gonna tell you one last thing if you wanna survive in this school."
"O-Okay..." Melanie had no clue what Astrid was about to tell her. What did she mean by "survive"?
"If you think this school is all about making your dreams come true and that everyone gets along, you're wrong. All it is is a competition. A competition to see who's the most talented. We all try to out do each other in someway. Too be honest, the one you have to watch out for is Alya Nash. She actually specializes in acting, but she has thousands of other talents too. All she does is brag about how talented she is and how she's named after a stupid star. Every one here calls her The Star. Not only because of her name, but because she basically is a star. Anyways, that's all you need to know. Good luck cupcake." she then turned around quickly and started to leave. Melanie stood there at the office door, wondering about what Astrid had just said.
She kept playing the name over and over in her head.

'The Star, Alya...'