Skinny

"I'm Not Auditioning....Or Am I?"

Chapter Thirty-Eight:

On Tuesday, everyone who could sing or dance was excited and happily filled out the sign up sheet. I wasn't one of them. I still didn't want to be the crazy girl who got the part. I knew my friends would fill that part easily, but I thought this with love. Instead, I promised them that I would wait out their auditions and cheer them on in the end. Besides, I had a talent show I still needed to practice for.

I had music class that day and we were trying to practice my song, but after two attempts Mrs. W stopped me. She gave me two bottles of water, which I chugged down, eagerly.

"I think you should try just singing any song you listen to, Raven," Mrs. W suggested. "You're straining your voice by singing the same song over and over."

"Okay." I looked at her and hoped I wasn't losing my voice because I wanted to perform at the Talent Show.

"So just listen to your music and sing along with anything you want. That way you expand your abilities and don't overexert your voice on the one song."

I nodded and left school for the day. I decided to rest my voice for today because tomorrow was going to be busy. Tomorrow the frenzy would begin and I just wasn't ready for it.

~~~~~~~

The girls were excitedly trying to get me to follow them into the auditorium, but I knew that if I did, I would somehow end up on stage and I didn't want that to happen. So here I was trying to convince them to go on without me.

"I'll just wait in the stairwell. I have to practice my singing anyway. You guys go on in. Text me if they call you," I said finally, as I walked down the way to the closest stairwell.

They let me walk away and I sat on the stairs and waited a bit. I couldn't really hear anyone from where I sat in the stairwell, which was just as well, because it meant I could belt out my songs and no one would be bothered by me singing.

I picked the first song on my iPod and began singing 'The One That Got Away' by Katy Perry. I thought of Zane as I sang it because it seemed somewhat true. Although, I wasn't sure he really was the one that got away. I felt that in another life we probably could have been together, though. In another life, Kali wouldn't have moved here and we would've been together and I would've had a boyfriend and Zane wouldn't be hurt.

I went on to sing several more songs. I had moved to sit on the landing braced against the brick wall. I had my eyes set on the bottom of the stairs just in case someone came and told me that I was being too loud. I just wasn't ready for the prim and proper woman to walk up and stand at the bottom. I pulled out my headphones and stopped my music.

"I'm sorry. Was I being too loud?" I asked apologetically.

"Why aren't you auditioning?" The woman asked. She had a slight British accent. Doesn't beat around the bush, does she?

"Several reasons," I said simply.

"And they would be?"

"One, I'm not a crazy fan girl. Two, I don't know who I would be auditioning for, so I'll leave it to those who do. And most importantly, three, I have a talent show to practice for, which is more important. To me," I said, using my fingers to count off all the reasons.

"You don't know who Sky Landon is?" she asked, clearly astonished that someone didn't know who he was. Was he really that big of a deal?

"Really? That's all you got from that?" I asked as I stood up and walked down the stairs. "I'm leaving now. I'll go and practice somewhere else. Sorry to bother you." She put a hand on my arm to stop me.