Last Chance to Win (Mirstie)

21

The very final day of NVTC rolled around and it was a sad goodbye. Mr. Micron got up on stage and congratuated all of us on our hard work this semester. He said he had never been prouder of us, and even though some didn't win there were always more opportunities in the near future. All the staff and teachers personally thanked us all and said special thanks for the winners. They threw a party that day, and both winners and the honorable mentions partied together in happiness. Our parents came and my mom insisted on taking, like a billion photos of us while we were there. Pretty soon it was time to leave for the very last time, and I hugged all the good friends I had made goodbye and promised to keep in touch. I saw Avi bawl while hugging a group of his friends, and groups of people huddled around each other.

Later, Mr. Micron walked up to me while I was swabbing the snack table for leftover potato chips and shook my hand. "I wish you luck in the future, Ms. Maldonado. Something tells me you and your group is looking towards a bright future."

"Thanks, and I hope so too." I said with a sigh.

"You've been one of my brightest students here, and I'm looking forward for you guys to come back and visit, eh?" He laughed, and I joined in.

"Thanks, Mr. Micron. I'll never forget what happened here. And I'll visit." I said, shaking his hand one more time. "I'll talk to my parents and our families about this, but I think we're planning to finish school first."

"Great idea. If you need help with finding record labels or advertisers, I'm going to be right here. I know a lot about the innerworkings of the pop industry and such, so feel free to ask me any questions!"

I felt an arm around my shoulders and I felt Scott pulling all of us into a group hug. "Here's to Pentatonix!" He cried, and we all cheered.

After Mr. Micron left, the five of us squished ourselves into an empty practice room. Kevin was the first to speak. "So, what are we going to do with our future? I mean, now that it's right here in front of us in our hands."

"I'm planning to finish high school before we start our career." I looked at Mitch. "How about you guys?"

"Same with the rest of us." Mitch said a little sadly. "We still need to grow as a group and practice together and accomodate our schedules."

"Yeah. Let's deal with school and that first. I don't want to launch a career unprepared, right? And we still need to find record labels and advertisers willing to help us."

"True." Scott nodded. "We'll get to know each other even more, and have fun!"

Avi patted Mitch's head." I still don't know how you guys look like while you sleep!" 

"That's creepy!"

"Aavii!" We laughed. Mitch slid away from Avi in mock fear and pretended to hug me in horror. "Save me from the great creepy Avi!" He shrilled in a girly voice. He wrapped his arms around me and gave me a quick peck on the cheek when everyone else was giving Avi a pounding.

Even though our future was uncertain and a little scary, I felt like we would be able to pull through. After all, we were Pentatonix, right?

---------------------------------------------------

After a day full of happiness, bittersweet goodbyes, and promises of keeping in touch, I was dozing off in my bed- golden dreams of popularity and of friendships in my head when my phone buzzed with a call. It was past midnight and I frowned in surprise when I saw it was from Mitch. Why would he call me this late at night? I picked it up sleepily and answered with a croaky voice. "Hello?"

"Kirstin." Mitch's voice sounded terrified and urgent. "Something horrible just happened, help me."