Bloom

Part 4

"Oh my gosh, Bloom! You're so beautiful!" Lily exclaimed. She made me turn around for the fifth time, saying weird things all over again.

My parents bought me a not-so-expensive outfit—a hot pink dress that flowed just above my knees, a thick black belt that had diamonds all over, and black rocker boots. My hair was swept into a high, one-sided ponytail. With the final touching of black accessories (borrowed from Lily), I looked like a real rock star.

Chad arrived backstage with his acoustic guitar. One glance at me and his expression brightened.

"Wow, Bloom. You look great!" he said, which made me smile widely.

The host climbed up on stage to open the program, making every person backstage move around in panic. To relax, I sat on a chair in a corner and saw a sign on the wall. I let out a gasp when I read that the songwriting would be the second event just right after the instrumental solo.

With beads of sweat rolling from my head down to my neck, I closed my eyes and made a mantra. You can do this. You can do this. Good vibes... Good energy... Inner peace...

"Stay out of my way, will you?"

My eyes flashed open.

Oh, God. That voice.

Slowly, I turned my head. And all the memories that I thought I had obliterated slammed back into me. I felt like I was on a sinking ship and the water was entering my lungs and I couldn't breathe anymore. All those motivating rehearsals with Chad faded away the moment the red-haired beauty looked at me.

Agatha Harrington.

Just when I thought everything was going fine, she had to show up.

Her high-heeled silver shoes clicked on the floor as she came toward me, a smirk playing on her red lips.

"Oh! Hey, Bloom. Long time no see," her sweet yet vindictive voice said. Just like before, her eyes stared down at me. "What are you doing here? Are you, like, in cosplay or—?"

"I'm a contestant, Agatha. For the songwriting segment," I said, enunciating the words carefully so she wouldn't see my uneasiness and use it against me.

"Really? Me too!" She chuckled, and my stomach flipped. "Ooh, this is going to be fun! I can't wait to see you perform. Good luck. You need that."

She couldn't wait to see me fail.

I stood up from the chair and walked to the other side of the room, ignoring her mocking calls. There was no way I would stay there and soak in her toxicity. Every pounding of my heart became painful as our childhood memories flashed before my eyes. How we had fought over an instrument. How our music teacher had always chosen her to perform. How she had crushed my confidence into dust.

I tried to fight this negative emotion, to rip it out of my system, but my body trembled. Sitting on a platform behind a rack of costumes, I tried to take deep breaths. Tears begged to spill out of my eyes. The first competition had already started, and with every stroke of the bow against the violin of the first contestant, I felt like I was losing an ounce of my confidence.

Agatha will win this competition. Everyone will like her. She will win first place, and she will laugh at me again.

A shadow loomed over me.

"Oh, there you are. I've been looking—wait, are you crying?"

Wiping my tears away, I looked up and saw Chad hunched over, his eyebrows knitted with concern.

"I'm sorry. I'm just really nervous." I sniffed. "Oh God, I ruined my makeup."

"Come here." He offered his hand, and I grabbed it to pull myself up. Surprise gripped me when he took off the leather bracelet that he always wore and slid it around my wrist. It looked feminine on my brown skin.

"What's this for?" I asked.

"Lucky charm." He smiled. "It may not help you win, but I hope it will help you stay focused. You can do it. Now, let's get your makeup fixed."

I nodded and pulled up a grateful smile.

"It's okay if I don't win, right?"

"Yes. Totally cool. Just have fun singing."

Never let anyone make you feel inferior because no one has a right to do so. I needed to remember that. Always. I should learn not to let Agatha or anyone else walk all over me. That's why she was my ex-best friend. That's why I had cut ties with her when we graduated middle school. Because I didn't need her at all.

Lily helped me retouch my makeup, and I spent the next hour regaining my confidence by practicing my song quietly. The contest had this rule that only one musical accompaniment was allowed, so it would just going to be Chad and me who would stand on the stage and face the crowd.

Agatha was sitting across the room, but I could feel her wrath radiating around her. She didn't like seeing me happy, did she? The best revenge was to smile and ignore, so that was what I did and continued humming my song.

Thunderous applause filled the auditorium when the last contestant left the stage. I felt a little nauseated when the host began to read the criteria for the songwriting and called Agatha's name. She held her head up high as she walked on the stage; the black gown that made her look mature for her age sparkled under the lights. She might be evil, but she was extremely pretty.

The audience applauded when she sat in front of the grand piano. With practiced elegance, she put her hands over the black and white keys and began to play her song. Her voice, as always, was sensational, and her piano skills were close to perfection.

However, as I listened closely to her lyrics and comprehended the words one by one—I grinned to myself.