𝓼𝓸𝓷𝓰𝓫𝓲𝓻𝓭𝓼

{chapter ii}

the door was heavy. not even just a normal heavy door, but it wouldn't even budge no matter how hard i pushed. i shoved my whole body up against the door, trying to force it open, but absolutely nothing happened. i took a deep breath and got ready to push my very hardest. i felt my muscles ache as i pushed.

"it says pull, love," a mysterious, feminine voice with a posh english accent says from behind me. my face burned bright red as my send dropped stupidly down to my sides. i finally saw the sticker next to the handle that read "pull". i chuckled nervously and turned around to talk to miss english accent.

she was taller than me by a few inches, but that might have been due to the heeled, knee-high leather boots she wore. her hair was black and incredibly straight, reaching down to her hips. she wore a red leather skirt that reached mid thigh and a black, long sleeved crop top. she was beautiful, but a dangerous kind of beautiful. "i- uh.. thank you. that's a kind of embarrassing way to start off my day," i joked, wiping sweat off my brow. she gave me a small smirk. "i'm bailey."

"emerson. you must be new? the only person that already goes here that needs help with the door is noah," she grinned, and i nodded in response to her question. "let me see your schedule."

i reached in my handbag and handed it over to her. she looked it over before smiling and pointing out a few specific classes to me with long, pointy deep blue nails. "we have our first hour, acting basics, together. i'll walk you there so you don't get lost. we also have third, fifth, and sixth. i'm guessing you're here because of your singing?" i nodded assent and she smiled. "that makes sense. i am too, which means we have a lot of classes together. we'll also be clumped with a lot of others who sing. it's just the technique classes that other performers, like actors, painters, dancers, etcetera don't have to take. they're pretty big classes. we have a lot of singers." she handed me back my schedule and pulled the door open, holding it so i could walk in. "i'll walk with you to all your classes so you don't get lost. it's not hard to, but it happens. if you'd like, i can also introduce you to my friends and you can sit with us at lunch. i know what it's like to be new at a school, coming from london and all. i want to try and make this an easy experience for you." she smiled at me and i smiled back as we walked. "ah, here we are!"

we approached a door covered with pink and white paint, and she opened it for me. another pull door, i noted. we walked in and emerson headed straight at a small group of people bunched together in chairs. the room had a small stage, and no desks. i nervously followed emerson to the group and stood next to her, shifting on my feet.

"guys, this is bailey. she's new as of today." emerson introduced me and i gave a small wave. "she's a singer like me. would you mind introducing yourselves to her? be kind," she jokingly scolded.

a smaller boy with glasses cleared his throat and gave a small wave. "i'm nick," he said. "i- uh, i act." i smiled at him and his face flushed red.

"he gets incredibly nervous around girls. any girl." emerson murmured in my ear.

a pretty girl with dark skin cleared her throat. "i'm sanaya. i dance. i was new here too, about a month ago. emerson really helped me find my groove here. she's not as scary as she seems," sanaya giggles and emerson rolls her eyes. all of a sudden, the bell rings to signal the start of class. emerson and i quickly grab seats next to the group and set our bags down.

the door opens and an older, sort of eccentric woman steps through. she's wearing a floral shirt and a long grass skirt, definitely not something that was normal for the situation. i glance down at my schedule to read her name: mrs barb terrance. class: acting basis. should be easy enough.

her eyes scan over the students as she steps on the stage in her bare feet. her eyes finally land on me, and they widen in recognition. "class, good morning. some of you may have noticed a new face when you walked in. our newest student goes by the name of.." she trails off as she squints at the orange post-it note she's holding. "bailey zinda?" she looks at me for approval and i nod. "bailey zinda. she was discovered at a karaoke bar for - get this - singing. can you believe it? singing at a karaoke bar? crazy stuff. anyways, would you like to stand and tell us something about yourself?"

i took a deep breath and stood up shakily. "well, um, as she said, my name is bailey, and i'm here for singing. i'm a huge fan of taylor sw-" i was then very abruptly cut off by mrs terrance, who stomped her foot very loudly.

"yeah, yeah, no one cares. anyways, let's get on with the class. today we're going to start with an acting exercise. on three, everyone pretend you're teenagers trying to play lose you to love me on the piano by jumping on the keys! one, two, three!" as soon as mrs terrence said "three", everyone hopped out of their seats and started randomly jumping around. i shook off the embarrassment i felt and started jumping around with everyone else.

unfortunately for me, my foot had gotten hooked in the strap of my handbag and i stumbled, nearly falling over. fortunately for me, emerson was right there to break my fall. she wrapped her arms around me and helped me back up. her hand squeezed mine, and i noticed that the nails on her middle and ring finger were much shorter than the rest.

"oh, these must have broken off. do you want me to redo those? i know how, i've done my mom's nails for ages," i said to her, my thumb tracing those two fingers.

she laughed. "no, i got them done like that."

and that was the calm before the storm.