Inside | Shane Harte

42 | A tip - don't say no

Shoutout to my amazing reader @shanethescamp for supporting me and my story! I really appreciate it and I'm extremely grateful for each and every comment and vote 💗

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"Sorry for interrupting, but are you Kayla Smith?" a man in a uniform asks. Another man is standing behind him with dark sunglasses and a radio in his hand.

"Uhm, yeah, that's me" I answer him. I've never seen any of the men before in my life.

"Hey, my name is Michael Rault and I am a record dealer/slash/talent scout for Kelp Records in Ottawa. We think that you are an incredible talent and we're really interested in signing you for a record deal. What do you say?" he smiles, and I understand what he's saying, but I just can't take it in.

Everyone turns towards me, waiting for my answer. Crystal's eyes look like they're about to pop out of her head and Theo's smile is wider than Nikki Minaj's butt, but they still stay silent. I then turn towards my mother who's trying to dry her tears while looking at me with a happy gaze.

"Uhm, w-well, I really appreciate the offer, but can I think about it? There are a lot of things to discuss when it comes to opportunities like this" I smile politely and the man tilts his head to the side a little, probably surprised by the fact that I didn't throw my arms around his neck in happiness.

"Of course. Here, take my business card and think about it over the weekend. Let me know on sunday what your final decision will be. A tip - don't say no" he smiles and hands over a yellow plastic card with a green kelp on it, almost like the kelp in spongebob squarepants.

Michael walks out of the room with the other man, probably a guard of some sort, shortly after. When they're out of sight everyone in the room squeals and throws themselves at me, almost squeezing me to death.

"Omg Kayla! Congratulations! I knew you could do it" Crystal squeals and I smile.

"Thank you so much, Crystal. For everything" I say and she hugs me once more.

"I always knew there was something special with that voice of yours" Theo smiles. "Congrats"

"Thank you, really" I say and hug him as well. I then turn to my mother whose eyes are already all teared up.

"I don't know what to say, Kayla. You're amazing. Don't think about it too much in detail though, we'll discuss it for the next 48 hours until you get tired of hearing about it" she laughs and hugs me tightly.

When I eventually walk out of the room with my mother, Cora approaches us with an extremely happy face.

"Oh my god Kayla, you've only been here for a few months and you're already getting record deals thrown at you?! I knew you were amazing but this is shocking" she exclaims and I pull her into a big hug. "Congratulations"

"Thank you, Cora" I smile against her shoulder before pulling away from the hug. "I can't believe it either"

"Well, with a voice like that you shouldn't be surprised by offers like this regularly in the future" she giggles and I playfully roll my eyes.

"Well, I'm not sure I want to accept it though"

Both mother and Cora widen their eyes.

"What do you mean? Why wouldn't you accept?" she asks with a worried voice.

"I don't know, I still feel like it's orientation week or something. I've barely been in all the buildings on campus, met all of the teachers on my department or met even a fifth of the students that go here. I've barely learned anything in this short amount of time, you know?" I ramble a bit nervously.

"Oh, so it's not because of something else? Or... Someone else?" she asks, lifting the corner of her mouth a little.

"No! No, absolutely not. I hate him for what he did to me. I just... Don't know if I want to throw away everything I could have here for a record deal, you know?"

Mother and Cora turn slowly towards each other, look at each other with a wierded out look, and turn back towards me.

"Kayla, are you hearing yourself right now? You don't want to throw away school for a record deal, something that would change your life and career forever?" she asks with furrowed eyebrows, and I smile a little at how she makes it sound like.

"Listen, a record deal is a dream and number one goal for everyone that goes here. Don't turn it down just because you want to stay at school, since the goal with going here is developing and finding yourself both as a person and performer. You getting a record deal is proof that you're done learning and developing, no matter for how long you've been here"

"Well, that does sound accurate" I admit and both of us laugh a little. "Thank you again, Cora"

"No problem" she smiles before walking away.

"Ah, I can't wait until tomorrow when we meet the rest of the family and tell them the great news!" mother squeals as we walk towards the entrance.

"Right, it's thanksgiving tomorrow... I almost forgot" I smile.

"Yeah, well do you still like your turkey cold with some cheese on it?" she asks mockingly, but right when I'm about to answer her I notice Shane and Theo standing next to the entrance door talking.

Theo tells him something and his face changes drastically to an unreadable one. Just a second later he sees me walking towards the entrance with my mother and our eyes meet for a few ice cold seconds. It feels like everything's moving in slow motion as our gazes finally break when we walk out through the door.

"Hello? Kayla? Are you here?" mother asks me, interrupting the feeling of slow motion. I shake my head to wake up with a quick "sorry" before she continues talking about thanksgiving, the record deal and what not.

That's when I realise that Theo must've told Shane about my record deal right when I walked past them. That's the reason he looked at me with such harsh eyes during those freezing seconds.

"Are you okay my dear?" mother asks.

"Yeah. I'm fine" I lift the corner of my mouth.