Mallory's Melody

Chapter 11

THERE WAS NO ONE IN THE AUDITION ROOM. Everyone but Mallory had left. She leaned against the pillars, hoping that Jason would walk through those doors. She had no car, and if he'd been the one who brought her here—and forcefully at that — he was obligated to take her back. But she still couldn't wait for him for an eternity. She needed to go home and apologise to her father for how she'd acted this morning. 

But then her impatience to go home dissipated when she realised she was in the exact same theatrical room where Starlight Academy hosted its performances. She recognised the sparking wooden podium she'd seen on Tv a thousand times before and the unending rows of red seats, Enormous portraits of previous starlight stars hanging on all the four corners of the room. 

Mallory strode to study them. She recognised Jason Trevor's handsome face and all other stars from the previous years, but it was the picture of a woman that drew her attention, the name Jane Anderson written on the lowest part of the wooden frame. It was the same familiar name she'd seen in the reception. She leaned into the portrait closer. Jane Anderson was fiddling a violin with a benign smile plastered to her face. Beads hung loosely from her waist, and tattoos adorned her bare stomach. Mallory painstakingly drew her hand to touch her face, tracing her fingers up and down the masterpiece, deriving an eerie pleasure from following the swirls of her hair. She knew this woman. She didn't know exactly how, but she did. 

"That's Jane Anderson," a voice jolted from the blues, making Mallory yelp. 

The voice belonged to a girl in a hole-ridden uniform. She leaned against a sweeping brush that was taller than her by at least five inches. She looked odd under the dim ray of the spotlight, her pallid skin making her seem more like an apparition than a human being. Mallory guessed she'd been there for quite a while because a heap of dust was piled up on the far end of the podium.  

The girl stepped off the stage. "The woman in the portrait? Jane Anderson's her name. She was a big starlight violinist. A musical legend. She died in 2000, unfortunately. Suicide."

The unsolicited information this girl offered didn't irk Mallory as she expected it to. In fact, it made her curious for more. 

The girl's dust-smeared face came into view as she neared Mallory. Her eyes were rimmed red, and beneath them, was a shadow of exhaustion. 

"I feel like she's familiar," Mallory said. "But at the same time, I can swear I don't know her."

"You probably don't. She was probably dead before you were born."

Mallory turned to the portrait again "Yeah, but I just can't shake it off. I feel like I've met her before."

The girl giggled, like what Mallory had said was humorous. She leaned in for a handshake. "I'm Kathy. You are?"

"Mallory," Mallory shook her hand, "Mallory Trent."

"I saw your audition, Mallory. You're an incredibly talented violinist."

"Don't flatter me," Mallory said, certain she was cherry-red with embarrassment. "You make it sound like I'm better than I actually am."

Kathy's green eyes glimmered. "I bet you don't even know how good you are. It's understandable, though. Many talented people hardly know how talented they are."

Mallory giggled. She liked this girl's company, compared to Jason's at least. Speaking of Jason—

"Do you have an idea where Jason Trevor might be? I need to find him" 

Kathy's countenance dropped at the utterance of Jason's name. She scowled like his name was a bitter fruit that spread sourness throughout the course of her body. To be honest, Mallory didn't especially like Jason either. He might be handsome, and might also be a starlight star, but he had a generally unpleasant personality, and to her, personality carried more weight than looks and status.