Catch Me

Ariel-My Audition

I walked stiffly into the center of the gym. Alex was back from the hallway, I noticed, and she seemed fine. Her body was still in one-piece. 

I shakily grabbed the microphone from the stand. 

"Hi, I'm Ariel. I'm a new student," I introduced myself.

"Ah, yes. You arrived this morning, didn't you?" the principal asked.

"Yeah, that's me," I replied.

"And, it says here that you're in the vocal category?" the principal asked with his pencil pointing at a section on his paper. 

"Yes," I reassured him.

Selena said, "Well then, good luck."

"Thank you," I replied. I put the microphone back on the stand and took a brief moment to look around the gym. Nobody was doing homework. Great, I thought, I just happen to be a person of interest. 

Chloe gives me a smile and a thumbs up. I took a breath and encouraged myself. Come on, I said inside my head, you got this. 

I turned around and got into my starting position. I'm not the world's best dancer so I had been working on this for at least 5 months. The second my mom announced we were moving here, I dialed Winter, told her everything, and then she helped me with this dance. I worked so hard on this, I better do well.

My music, Sweet Melody by Little Mix, turned on. And I lost myself in the music. I felt like I was back in California, calling Winter on a hot, summer day, and I was dancing by myself. I could still feel my stiffness but at that moment, I really couldn't care less.

As I twirled, I caught Aisha's eye. She was glaring. Straight at me. I saw Alex, who had the world's biggest smirk on her face. Why? Was I doing good or bad? I saw Chloe staring at someone who I couldn't see because the next move did not involve twirling. When I did look again, she was talking to...what's her name? Oh right, Carlie. Instead of paying attention to Chloe, I focused on Winter. She had that face that she gets whenever she's proud. That made me feel good. 

When I finished, everyone clapped and I headed back to my seat. The judges were furiously scribbling on their papers. Selena Gomez looked satisfied, I told myself, that's a good thing. 

Kyla handed me a bottle of water amidst all of the pattings on my back. I drank thirstily while my friends and random people congratulated me, saying things like, "Good job!" or "It was great!" But who knows? Maybe I wasn't so great. 

After all the attention went to the boy who was auditioning after me, Jayden...? Yeah, I already forgot his last name. Anyway, after the attention was directed to someone else, I quickly used the opportunity to see how I did. I went back all the way to where I was first called and I watched myself in a third-person perspective while looking at the chat replays.

"Could we have Ariel Charming out on the floor please?" the principal asked (BTW, I still don't know his name...). 

The camera cut to me getting up and brushing off my leggings. I looked at the cameras with a nervous smile and headed towards the mic. The cameras followed me from a northwest angle. My good angle, thank goodness. I had even put in my contact lenses instead of glasses for this audition. I think I might get rid of my bangs. Anyway, the fans, at the time, were going crazy.

ApolloIsMyHubby: Forget Regina George, if she punched me in the face I'd be thanking her 😂

BrooklyIsJustPerfect843: Nobody's going to talk about how she looks like an anime character? Like the one you'd crush on the entire series...? 

Lapis7538429758975092: My insecurities rn 📈

LucasIsASimp4Nate: Hold on, I thought I was watching some auditions, not a Victoria Secret Model Show-

At this point, I was introducing myself.

"Hi, I'm Ariel. I'm a new student," I said in the voice I use when I'm talking to adults. Ew.

After my introduction, I watched myself do my performance. I actually didn't look like a fool! Stiff? Sometimes very much so. But I looked great anyway. 

After reviewing my performance (and how fans were already obsessed with me), I settled back with content. I had a fair chance to get-

I was suddenly transported back to a memory where I had been feeling this great. I was lounging on a beach chair on the patio of my old house in California. The wind was spraying my hair all over my face. I was feeling safe, happy even, something I rarely feel. Suddenly, I got a notification of a voice message from an unknown number. I clicked on the message, thinking it was an ad.

A robotic voice boomed out of my phone, "Hey princess. You're going to regret everything you did to me, you know that right? You must be feeling happy while I'm sitting here being miserable. But don't get too comfortable, because this is just the beginning."

Author's Note: Hey everyone! Please tell me if you liked this chapter and don't forget to vote. In the comments, tell me who's your favorite character right now!