Finding the Right Words

Chapter 5- Take A Deep Breath

"WHAT?! You're auditioning for SM?! Like, right now?!" 

I held my phone away from my ear, wincing. "Calm down, James. Yes, I'm at the audtions building right now.  And we're supposed to have our phones off as soon as we go in, so I'm calling you ahead of time, while we're in the lobby."

"But... but...but... WHY?!" 

"I'm not really sure myself. I guess I just did it on a whim. Don't be too worried. I won't be that disappointed if I don't get in."

"No, no, I mean, why didn't you tell me ahead of time! Your sister and all of us could have come out and  made a cheer squad!"

I snickered. "Okay, if you say so. But I seriously just decided to do this yesterday. I was at my Grandma's house outside of San Francisco, and... now I'm here." 

I could hear the nerves in my voice. James suddenly said, "Wait, hang on a sec." 

I heard a muffled "Jackie! Come here!" and then my sister's voice on the phone. 

"You're auditioning for what now?!" 

"SM. You know, the label that SHINee and Super Junior are under."

"And BigBang?" Alas, my sister liked Kpop, but didn't really pay attention to them THAT much. 

"No, Sibling, that's YG."

"Oh."

"But I'm here. In LA, waiting for my turn to go in."

"And Grandma just let you go?"

"Yeah. Actually, she kind of made me go. Steve brought me."

"Wow... that's awesome! Are you nervous!"

"Extremely," I admitted. My stomach was doing acrobatics and it felt like my heart was going to explode.

"Oh wow, you sound like it."

"Any encouraging words of advice from my elder sister?"

"Okay, first, calm down. take a deep breath." I did. "now, if I know my sister, she's a stubborn brat who doesn't think about what she's doing before she does it. She says exactly what she thinks and doesn't let anyone argue with her. But she's smart. She never lets me forget that she's smarter than me." 

I smiled in spite of myself. "I don't know if that really makes me feel better."

"What I'm saying, Sibling, is that if you go in there with a straight head and act like yourself, then SG-"

"SM"

"Whatever. If you go in there and act like yourself, SM doesn't stand a chance. If you go in there scared, then was it really worth going there? A good actress has to be confident on stage. No matter what kind of stage. So you go in there, stare them down, and tell it like it is. That's what you're good at. If you try to be something you're not, you'll never be able to who you are. And there's no way an entertainment company's going to take fakes."

I hadn't actually thought my sister was going to be that much help. I thought she'd just tease me and sarcastically wish me good luck. But she didn't. Actually, I think it was the best speech she'd ever made. I kind of wanted to save it and keep it for memory.

I took another deep breath. "Thanks, sis. Wish me luck!"

"Good luck!" I heard about ten voices call over the phone.

"What's going ON there?" I asked, surprised that so many people were on the other side.

"Nothing, nothing. Just a little college get-together. Don't mind us." I heard Tessa say. "Bye Mel!"