𝓼𝓸𝓷𝓰𝓫𝓲𝓻𝓭𝓼

{chapter i}

i was incredibly bored. sitting at the karaoke joint, scarfing down fries was only fun for so long. no one was singing. no one had been singing. instead, it just felt like a normal, busy restaurant and not the special karaoke bar it was made out to be in all the ads. and i was tired of it. i finished my basket of french fries and took a sip of my diet coke, effectively quenching my thirst for the moment. i took a deep breath, feeling my heart beat in my ears, nervous about what i was going to do. i took confident steps up to the dj, who was leaning up against the wall behind him, also looking bored. i approached his stand, and watched his face brighten as he saw me and realized what i was about to do.

"hey!" he exclaimed, flashing his pearly whites at me. "what song?"

i blinked, not having thought about this before i came up. "uhm..." i hesitated. "what songs can i do?"

"any! i've got pretty much every song. pop, rap, hip hop, even yodeling. just let me know!"

my eyebrows scrunched together as i thought. there was absolutely no way i was doing yodeling, so it was easy to cancel that option out. i couldn't rap. i didn't have the look for hip hop, in my small purple dress. so, pop it was. i knew i had to pick quickly before i chickened out. i took a deep, shaky breath as i prepared to tell him my selected song.

"i'd like to sing ...ready for it? by taylor swift please," i told the man. he beamed at me and nodded approval.

"great, since there's no one performing and no one queued up you can go ahead right now! just step up and grab the microphone and i'll get the audio going for you!" he said excitedly, finally ready to actually do his job and not just stand there. i nodded nervously and walked on stage. people in the crowd immediately noticed me, much to my dismay. i took a deep breath and took the microphone off its stand as the opening notes of the song came on.

"knew he was a killer, first time that i saw him. wonder how many girls he had left and left haunted." the words flowed straight out of my lips and i didn't even have to think about it. i hit every note flawlessly, shaking my hips with the beat and dancing carelessly around. the crowd was gone for me now, i was just dancing and singing in my room while i brushed my hair. adrenaline flowed throughout my body as i sang, and i felt a extremely strong feeling of euphoria.

the entire song flew by so quickly. when i finished, i felt myself come back to reality, and i heard the audience clapping and cheering for me. for ME! unable to keep the smile off my face, i put the microphone back and thanked the dj. i giggled to myself and walked back to my table to recuperate from the exhausting but amazing experience i just had. when i got back to where i was sitting, there were people there that i didn't recognize. an older, well dressed, obviously wealthy man stood beside a younger lady with a clipboard. he smiled at me when i approached and i gave a nervous smile back.

"bailey zinda, correct?" he asked as i approached. i nodded slowly, confused as to why he needed to know. he nodded and his secretary scribbled something down on her clipboard.

"i- i'm sorry, but i don't think we've met?" i asked. he chuckled, giving me a small smile.

"forgive me for not introducing myself. i'm robert clare, principal of los angeles performance artists. perhaps you've heard of it?"

i gasped as soon as he said the name. "of course i've heard of it, you guys pump out stars! you're only like, the best school for performance arts in the country!"

"i appreciate the compliment, and i'd like to extent a formal invitation for you to come to our school. you're an incredible singer and we'd love to have you. that kind of talent is something that could make you a huge artist one day."

i blinked, dazed and confused. there's no way i wasn't dreaming. he wanted ME? of all people? it was mind blowing and absurd in itself that i was even an decent singer, but to get an invitation to come to this type of amazing school? it was incredible. there was absolutely no was i could have said no.

so i said yes.

which may have been the worst decision of my life.