After her father's tragic passing, Nora Davis is forced behind the scenes, nothing more than a stepping stone for others in their journey to stardom. When an opportunity presents itself, Nora, trapped under her stepmother's heel, takes it as her cha...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Nora, are you even listening to me?"
Nora leaned further into her palm and picked at what was supposed to be mac-n-cheese in front of her. Calling it mac-n-cheese would be giving it more credit than it deserved. It was more like a glob of noodles with some cheese on top.
Bleh.
"I'm listening," Nora mumbled down at her food.
Across the table, Tessa pushed her tray forward. "Somehow, I don't believe you."
Get it together, No-rah. "Sorry," she sat up straight. "I'm super tired today."
Tessa's eyebrows came together, "what were you up to last night?"
Writing a song. "Finishing an essay for Abilities."
Tessa shook her head, "on the weekend? Only you."
She'd gotten an hour of sleep last night if even that. After looking over Mallory's songs and editing the lyrics into the early morning, she'd spent the rest of the day trying to get ahead on a few artists' songs and tweaking her Daxton Cavenaugh entry. She'd agonized over it way too long, and ended up finally submitting it this morning. And only at that point had she realized she had a test in Abilities later. She'd finished her essay the day before, but today they were supposed to turn in their essays and then immediately begin their test. So, at 4 am she began studying and at 5 am she fell asleep. Her alarm woke her back up at 6 am.
"How was your gallery showing this weekend?" Nora distantly remembered Tessa mentioning she had a gallery showing for the art club this weekend. She would've stopped by, but she had to make up an excuse instead. With Grumpy's session this weekend, and everything going on, there was no way she'd have been able to go even if she wanted to.
Tessa shrugged. "It was good. I had a few people interested in my pieces. I'm saving them for the Showcase, though."
The Winter Showcase, in addition to being a music concert event, also had multiple other events happening within it. The art department often had student pieces displayed in the atrium for purchase, as well as fundraiser raffle tickets for visitors. The school reached out to their network to get pieces from student alumni or purchased their own raffle prizes. A lot of the students ended up getting tickets for the raffle because some of the pieces were amazing—everything from flat-screen TV's to signed albums. Last year, Eli had donated a signed Anonymous t-shirt. The money went back into the school for programs and studio equipment.
"That's great," Nora said. "Do you think it'll sell?"
Tessa took a bite of the sandwich in front of her. "I think so. I guess we'll see." Then Tessa perked up, "But guess what else I finished."
