The Extraordinary

2: The Beginning

Sometimes I have to go over how all of this happened so quickly. One day I am normal and the next I am known around the world. For a good reason of course. Not because I caused some type of bad world disruption but because someone posted a video of me singing at the school talent show and it went viral.

You are going to hear this story from my point of view, from the very beginning. It was the middle of April when I was in 8th grade...

"Emma? Will you please stop hogging the bathroom, I need to use it!" Charlotte said from the bathroom door. I stood in front of the mirror, applying mascara to my not so large eyelashes.
"I have to get ready for the talent show though", I said in a sing song voice.
"Understood." I bet she remembered how she used to hog the bathroom and anyways she was the one who dragged me into this whole talent show thing.

I had to pick up Charlotte with my mom from a singing lesson once and I was humming the song "Ghost" by Ella Henderson very lightly. Apparently the lady at the front desk heard me and asked for me to sing the song. She pulled me into a room with wood paneled walls and floor. There was just a microphone in the center.

After I sang, following her directions, she guided me into the main room where two girls were practicing the same song I just sang. One of them was my sister.

"I am so sorry this is short noticed but we have a dropped singer who-"
"A what?" I asked, thinking that singer died.
"The singer quit. Would you mind filling in for her. The competition is tomorrow and we need someone."

"I don't know. I've never sung on stage before and I have never even... I don't think so."

"Honey please! I will give you lessons tonight. I am begging you. We have no competition if you don't join and my dad will kill me and..." All of a sudden, the women broke down in tears. I realized then that she wasn't a women but a teenager maybe in her last years of high school.

She had pixie-cut brown hair with purple streaks in it. Just by her hair, I knew she was different, someone who wasn't popular or normal. Like me. And that is why I made the decision I did. I yelled to my mom that I might be staying longer and as I did so, the girl's sobbed stopped.
"Really?" She looked up at me with hopeful eyes.
"Of course." I heard the bell on the door ring, signaling that my mom has left. "Now let's get started."
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That night went by very quickly. Tips and suggestions were thrown at me from all angles, even from my sister who seemed in utter shock.

When I got home my throat ached and so did Charlotte's. It was late at night, about 10:00 and I sat on my bed drinking a mug of hot tea. There was a knock on my door and Charlotte entered.
"I see you have started to see why I drink tea so much" she said smiling.
"It helps."
She nodded, looking at the floor.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." Charlotte paused for a minute before talking again. "Why didn't I know you liked to sing?" She looked up from the floor, directly at me.
"To be honest, I didn't know either."
"You had to. You just joined my group for the competition."
"Yeah out of pity", as I said this my voice rose a bit but then I stopped myself because it hurt. Charlotte must've noticed because she said "Hope that gets better by tomorrow" and then walked out of the room.
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As for the competition, it was very small and easy. By group, they pulled all three of us, me, Charlotte and Quinn into a room similar to the one I went into the night before to sing. Katryna went with us but sat silently in a chair in the corner. In front of us sat 4 judges, each explaining who they were, what they were judging etc.

We began singing, and they wrote down notes on the paper in front of them then smiled at us as we left.

"That was weird..." I said. "I thought we would be singing in front of a crowd and they have to vote or something."
"That's only the concert people not the competition people", Quinn said. "By the way you are really good."
"Thank you!"
It turns out we won second in the competition to a two other girls. I was fine with that though.