Gracewood Academy (Hope and Secrets)

Chapter 24- What The Hell Just Happened?

"Wake up!" I groan. "AJ, you need to get your cute ass out of bed now, before your mom comes in here to yell at you." That woke me up. I sit up to find Ben sitting on the end of my bed.

"What's the rush?" I whine at him. "How did you get into my room?"

"Reception gave me a spare key. By the way your mom just left."

"Left?" What was the point of me being here if she was never planning on being around?

"Yeah. Now get dressed cause we are meeting her in the studio." He jumps off the bed and head to the kitchen.

I quickly change into a pair of denim shorts and a white oversized t-shirt and grumpily follow Ben into the kitchen. After grabbing a quick bite to eat from the mini-fridge we head off to the recording studio in Ben's Ferrari.

"Don't we have an interview thing today?" I ask Ben whilst we walk into the studio.

"Uh, your mom already did it."

"Then what was the point in me being here. She told me that she only dragged me here for that stupid interview."

"She probably didn't want you in it in because that would mean that the whole thing isn't about her." Ben points out. He was one of the few people who understood how self-centred my mother got.

I sigh. "Why are we here?"

"She just told me to bring you here when I saw her this morning." He shrugs clearly as confused as I was. We walk into the building when I recognise Chase's dad.

"Mr Evans?" he turns and looks at me in confusion. I don't think he recognises me. "I'm Amelia? I am Jen's daughter." Recognition crosses his face.

"Of course! How are you Amelia?"

"I am alright, thanks. Do you know where my mom is?"

"She is busy recording at the minute. You are welcome to hang around in the meantime. In fact..." he turns to look down the hall when I see Chase walk through. "...Chase can show you around. You remember my son?" Chase looks up to see me and smirks. Clearly he was expecting me.

"Sure." Mr Evans walks off. "What the hell are you doing here?" I ask Chase once Mr Evans is out of earshot.

He laughs. "Dad called me yesterday afternoon and asked me to come here and help him out with a few things. I think he heard you were coming and wanted me here. I guess he doesn't realise that we go to the same school." He looks next to me and finally notices Ben. "Ben Daniels, right?" They shake hands.

"And you are?" Ben looks at me quizzically.

"Chase Evans. How do you know Hope?"

"Hope?" He looks confused. "Oh, AJ? We go way back." He slings his arm over my shoulders.

Chase laughs at my nickname. "Wanna look around? Like old times?"

I nod. "Sounds good."

Chase leads us down a hallway and through a door. "This is one of the recording studios. I only got here this morning and we haven't actually used this studio before so I don't know much about it. Dad is only working here as a favour to your mom. Wanna try it out?" He refers to the recording room.

"I'm not sure." I say hesitantly.

"Come on AJ, it will be fun!" he drags me by the arm into the room on the other side of the glass as he throws Chase his phone. He walks over to the microphone and places one pair of headphones on and passes the other to me. "Can you play the first track on my playlist?" The music starts and I realise that it is the backing track to one of his old songs. Ben waits for me to start singing but I miss my que.

"Sorry." I say nervously. I wasn't use to singing in front of people and it was making me nervous.

"You can do this." Ben reassures me. "It's your destiny remember?" I laugh.

The music starts playing and this time Ben starts singing. He always had an amazing voice. He then signals for me to sing and our voices blend together. After a while I just focus on the music and get lost in the lyrics, the whole world blurs away. When the song is over I notice Ben and Chase staring at me, with their jaws dropped.

"What?" I look at them both. Was I that bad?

"Wow ,Carter. I had no idea that you could sing like that!" Chase finally speaks.

"Neither did I. Truly remarkable." I hear Mr Evans's voice and see that at some point he must have walked in and joined Chase in the control room.

I blush. "Uh, thanks?"

"Have you ever considered a singing career?" Mr Evans asks.

"I...uh...maybe?" I stutter.

Was this really happening? I mean sure I always loved music since I was little but it came with the fame, paparazzi and a whole lot more attention. Deep down I knew that this was what I imagined myself doing but at what cost? Privacy? Real friends? Would I end up like my mother? Neglecting her family because she was too worried about getting all the attention.

"Why don't you just make a demo for now? There is no rush." Mr Evans says. I nod because my voice isn't working. "Do you have any original pieces that we can record?" I nod again. "How about you spend the day with Chase working on it, and I will check by later?" I nod again. God he must think I am an idiot.

"What about mom? She won't like this." My voice finally works.

"We can keep this between us for now if you wish." He winks and then walks out.

I stand there still in shock unmoving. "AJ?" Ben waves his hand across my face trying to get my attention. "Are you okay?" he looks at me worried.

"What the hell just happened?"

***

Posting this today too as a bonus for me being stupid and accidentally skipping a chapter so the last two may not have made sense.

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