Love's Test

Chapter 1 - Audition

Aimee's P.O.V

When I was 7 years old, my mom decided to enroll me in a music school, Taxi Tunes. It was a spin-off from the original school in Gold Coast, Australia. I had a bunch of options to choose from, and the one that sounded the easiest was vocal lessons. Ironicaly, singing was insanely hard. I sounded like a frog when I sang, but thanks to my teacher, Jones, I've insanely improved over the years. I'm 14 now, and I'm one of the most honorable students there.

Jones told the the other day that the founder of the school in Australia, Venetta Fields, was coming here in one week with a special guest to help us for our end-of-year show. We spent 2 extra hours each day trying to get me ready for Venetta's special ways. 

On Tuesday, we all greeted Venetta at the airport. She came alone, but she said that her guest was coming tomorrow, as she was only picking 3 of us for the numerous sessions. She told us he made in big in the US and wants to inspire young kids like us.

Later that day, Jones snagged me a 1 hour session with Venetta. We worked on a song called Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis. I couldn't get the notes at first, but eventually, with time, I got most of them. She told me I made remarkable progress and was sure to put me on the top of her lists for tomorrow's exclusive classes!

I told Jones the great news and he brought me my favorite coffee the next morning to treat my tired out throat. He brought me a mocha coffee really hit the spot. I hugged him and thanked him for all the encouragment. Singing has become my entire life, and I would be lost without Jones' wise guiding.

I then saw my old childhood friend, Namie, whom I used to take joint lessons with.

"Hey Aimee! I haven't talked to you in so long!!" she said, as she wrapped her arms around me, going in for a bear hug.

"Hey Namie! I know right! It feels like its been centuries since we performed our duet together!" I replied. Namie still had her famous body; an even, perfect tan, light blue eyes, long black hair. Ever since Namie was a kid, she'd always put small braids with multi-colored beads at the end. She left the rest of her straight, soft hair down to run over her thing shoulders. She hadn't changed one bit.

"Are you taking classes with Venetta?" Namie asked.

"Yes! I'm so excited to find out who the surprise is!"

"Ha, how ironic, here she comes." 

Namie and I turned around and saw Venetta walking into the classroom filled with 16 excited students.

Alone.

Sixteen smiles turned into sixteen frowns as Venetta walked in with a dead-serious face. Her black blazer fit her narrow waist, and her grey pencil skirt complimented her complexion.

"Alright it's time to get down to business. You are all in test-mode now. 3 will make it. 13 will fail. Those three will be given the opportunity of a lifetime. I have nine young artists going on tour this summer and I need new faces. This is the start of all of your careers." she said.

I looked down and realized that my entire body was shaking. It had always been a dream of mine to go on tour with a famous artist. I started mentally freaking out. I wasn't ready for this. What is my voice cracked in the middle of the song? What if--

"It's crunch time. I'll call two people at a time to perform duets from some of the selected artists. Each pair will have 20 minutes to rehearse their song and split the parts." Venetta cut off my train of thought.

Vicious Venetta started calling out pairs. I got paired with Namie. We were group 8. Thankfully we had worked together before, and hopefully our strengths have stayed the same. Even with me and Namie's past, the other groups had strengths too. Two of Jones' favorite students got paired up. I had a feeling that he had something to do with this pairing. 

Namie went to go pick up our sheet music. She returned with a huge smile on her face. "Aimee!! It's No Air! I know this song by heart!" We shared sighs of relief as we began to sing the first few bars of the song. We sat on the piano as Namie played the song. It was decided that I would take on Jordin Sparks' part as I had the higher voice, and Namie the lower. 

15 minutes into the rehearsal, someone tapped on me on the shoulder. I turned around to see Brian, another singer, with an angry pout.

"You guys stole our song!! There's a big number 7 on your sheet and we have yours! See look!" he pointed out the numbers on the top of the papers. He was right.

"I thought we were group 7!" Namie said, obviously embarrased. Had she done this on purpose?

"Well too bad, we're taking our sheet music. You guys can have fun with your sucky song." Brian walked off with his partner as they high-fived, realizing the easy song.

Namie and I looked at the new song nervously. We both gasped when we realized it was a Kanye song. Gold Digger.

"Why in hell's name do we have a rap song?!" Namie asked. 

I had most of the rap parts memorized, so I decided to let Namie sing in the background for the entire song other than the chorus. where she would have a chance to shine. If Venetta asked why I had all the rapping parts, it was because of a misunderstanding and a test of skills.

Venetta walked into the classroom and said "We're going to start calling groups. So would Group 1 please come see Jones, Cody and I in the piano room?"

Murmurs filled the entire room. Who's Cody? No one was quite sure, other than Jess who was convinced it was Cody Linley from Hannah Montana. Ok, in what world. He doesn't even sing...

As the first seven groups passed, it was eventually our turn to go perform. Last. Namie and I walked into the room hand in hand. We politely knocked, and a blonde boy opened the door for us.

"Hey! I'm Cody Simpson, Venetta's old student from the Gold Coast. What are your names?" he asked.

"I'm Namie. And this is Aimee." 

"That's a cute duet name. Namie & Aimee. It rhymes. Ha." Cody laughed.

A lesbian appears in the corner and states, with passion,"And I'm victads, the baller" 

"Definitely a good image as well." Venetta said as she examined our looks. "You may begin Gold Digger."

We began to perform our song and they all applauded as we finished. Jones gave me a wink and then a shrug... mixed emotions never work out well. We left the room with worried looks. We really weren't sure about that performance.

10 minutes later, Venetta, Cody and Jones emerged from the room.

"Before announcing the 3 top students, I'd like to say I'm incredibly proud of you all. You are all such talented performers and I am exceptionally impressed by your outcomes." Jones said.

Cody smiled at all of us. "Right! So the 3 people are..."