Across The Stars

Chapter 2.

"The piano is tuned, miss." The tuner tells me.

"Thanks." I say nonchalantly, staring down at the screen of my phone.

"Shall I send the bill to Astrid?" He asks.

"Yup." I nod, glancing up at him. "Have a good one."

He narrows his eyes slightly before making his way out of the shop.

I quickly glance down at the screen of my phone once more, which currently showed the calendar.

Juilliard Audition.

Sunday at three p.m.

I hadn't told anyone, not even Toby, that I auditioned for Juilliard.

It was crazy expensive, and nearly impossible to get into with a less than four percent acceptance rate.

But Juilliard was one of, if not, the best music schools in the world. To go to Juilliard would be a dream come true for me and it didn't hurt to audition.

I didn't want to tell Toby however, in hopes of not making it.

But I've known about this audition since January and not telling anyone has been driving me insane.

Not even my own parents knew about it.

Sometimes I wondered if this whole 'keeping my distance' thing was benefitting me in any way.

I did miss them, even though I came off as an insensitive bitch about the whole thing. I missed my little brother too.

From what I've heard, Beau got signed to a modeling agency and he's been traveling all over the world for shows and shoots. He still lives at home though according to Toby, and he's got a different girl sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night.

I hear the chimes of the shop and my head perks up from my phone. I smile when I see Toby, his hair tousled from the wind blowing through the city.

"Hi angel." He smiles at me, leaning over the counter and kissing my lips.

"Hey babe."

"Another slow day?"

"It's always a slow day." I remind him.

"What're you looking at?" He asks, noticing my attention being consumed by my phone.

"Nothing." I gush, shoving my phone into the pocket of my overalls.

"Annie." He says with a slight smirk.

"It's nothing." I shake my head before lifting a stack of cassettes and moving around the counter. Toby is hot on my heals, following me over to the cassette rack. He leans against the wall, his eyes never leaving my face as I force myself not to make eye contact.

"I know you're lying." He says softly.

"How?" I simply say.

"I've known you for almost twenty-two years. I can tell when you're lying like I can tell the back of my own hand."

I let out a heavy sigh before facing him.

What harm could it do by telling Toby about my audition?

Perhaps he could calm my nerves.

"I have an audition with Juilliard on Sunday."

"Annie, what? That's huge!" He gasps.

"I'm super nervous." I admit.

"There's no reason to be." Toby insists. "You've worked your ass off for years! You're ready for this."