The Voice (Luke Hemmings)

25. The Audition

"Are you exiteeeed?" Anna asked me and I shrugged. "Don't really have a choice now, do I?" I said, pretending to be angry. "Ahw, you know you love me Turtle." Anna said and I chuckled. It was 3 months ago that we graduated. I worked 2 times a week in a music store and 3 times a week at the restaurant. Just to save money (for no reason) and to have some time to think about what I want to study. Or if I'm going to college. But Anna thought it was a good idea to sign me up for an audition for The Voice. It was like... I wasn't happy with it, but I wasn't upset about it either. The thought just never crossed my mind, and here I am. On my way to my audition. "You know what helps when you're nervous?" My mom started. She sat behind me in the car. I was riding. Hell yea, I had my driver's license now. "I'm not nervous mom." I said. And it was true. I think I had enough experience from the 2 years singing at the restaurant. Normally you would prepare before an audition, make a top-4 of the judges... But that wasn't possible anymore. They thought it would be fun for the contestants to not tell them who the judges are. Great. So when you walk on stage you'll read the names. And possibly have a heart attack when you notice it's Alex Gaskarth. Gosh, I really hope he'll be a judge. "What if one of the boys are a judge?" Anna asked, like she read my mind. I frowned. "I'd tell them to go fuck themselves." I said. Anna chuckled but stopped when she saw that I was serious. "Come on. You're still not over it?" I shrugged. "They were our friends. They told us we'd talk every day, and now we haven't talked to them in 2 years!" I said. Anna shot her hands up in surrender and sat back in her seat. "What about Luke though... You liked him right...?" She asked silently. I looked in the rearview mirror and saw my mother looking outside, pretending to not listen to our conversation. But she knew I liked Luke. Just like Anna. "Yea, liked. As in, the past. Not after they became famous. Who knows how they are now? Actually, nevermind. I don't really care." I said. Anna shot me a sympathetic smile, knowing I was lying, and still cared about Luke. "Well, you know we're always here for you Turtle." She said and I rolled my eyes. She still didn't stop calling me Turtle. But I didn't mind actually. Turtles are cool. They're lazy like me. "You know, the chance of one of the boys being a judge is quite big. I heard they are on a 2 year break right now and came back to Sydney." I heard my mom say and a look of disgust was shown on my face. "Nah, they're too young to be a judge." I said and concentrated on the road again. Roots by Imagine Dragons came on the radio and I sang along, kinda trying to get warmed up for the audition. "Can you PLEASE tell me which song you're gonna sing?" Anna asked frustrated. I smiled and shook my head. "Nope." I replied. She glared at me and sat back in her seat. Seriously, that girl could never sit still. I haven't told her or my mom which song I was going to sing, because I wanted it to be a surprise. So they'd know when they're going to hear me sing. I parked at the back of a very busy parking lot, grabbed my bag and stepped out of the car. Anna hooked her arm into mine and dragged me to the entrance of the huge building. We were immediately met by a very crowded hall, with a long line standing in front of a massive desk where several people were working. I groaned and walked to the back of the line, waiting for my turn.

An hour later we finally arrived at the desk. I greeted the lady and she smiled up to me kindly. "Name?" She asked. "Skyler Mitchell." I answered. She went through a stack of papers in front of her and wrote something down. "Yes, okay. Here's your audition number, and this is your table number." She said and handed me two pieces of paper. "The presenter of the show will be with you in a couple of minutes, to interview you." She said and I thanked her. Ahh fuck. There was going to be an interview. Probably in front of a camera. I hope I won't fuck this up... I searched through the massive hall for our table with Anna and my mom trailing after me, and found it after 5 minutes. I sat my bag down and leaned back into the chair. Anna and my mom plopped down next to me and looked around curiously. "I think I feel even more nervous than you do." My mom said while frowning. "Ahww, don't worry. I'm actually not that nervous. Just a little bit, but I think that's healthy." I said. My mom smiled at me sympathetically and her gaze stopped on something. I followed her gaze and saw a large camera and the presenter with his large smile walking towards us. "Fuckfuckfuck, how do I look? Is my hair still okay? Fuck, is there like, chocolate around my mouth?" I panicked. "You look fine." Anna replied while looking into her phone which she used as a mirror. I took a deep breath before looking back at the presenter again and saw him and the camera man standing next to our table now. "Hi, Skyler Mitchell right?" He asked, without the camera pointed at me. I nodded and he smiled brightly. Why was he smiling so much? It was a bit creepy. "Okay. So here are some questions you have to answer. So when we start filming, you'll say: 'Hi, my name is Skyler Mitchell, I'm ... years old and just tell something about yourself." He said. I looked at the piece of paper with questions and nodded. There were a bunch of questions on there like: What do you do for living, etc. I gave him the questions back and he stepped away. The cameraman had his camera ready and began to count down. "In 3.. 2.. 1.." He said and I smiled brightly. "Hey, my name is Skyler Mitchell, I'm 18 years old, and just graduated high school." I said with a short wave. "I have brought with me my mom, who's very supportive, and my best friend Anna, who is the best friend someone could ever ask for." She slapped me playfully and I chuckled. I turned to the camera again. "I work at a local restaurant, Jones'. I sing there 3 times a week, and I also work at a music shop." I said. ADVERTISING FOR JONES' HELL YAH. "My hobbies are definitely singing, I think that's number one. I also like soccer, skateboarding, playing guitar and piano." I said and the presenter nodded, wanting me to go on. "Um.. The song I'm going to sing is a surprise, not for the audience, but more for my mom and Anna. It doesn't really have a reason, but I thought it'd be fun." I said with a smile. The presenter nodded and the cameraman turned the camera off. Ahh finally. "Okay. We'll be going now." The presenter said and walked away. "Ugh, I don't like that guy. He's so fake." Anna said and I nodded. "Same."