Fly Girl | [Novel] (Wattpad Version)

4| Audition Day (Part 1)

Ava -

Pacing back and forth in one spot, feeling as if I was wearing a deep hole in the floor, the only thing I could do was think about the events of the day before. The entire week, really.

Tuesday I was upset, so sure that I wouldn't even be able to get out the house following an intense argument with my mother. Against her best attempts at grounding me or forcing me to 'stay put' in my bedroom, I packed up a few of my things and I left. That night, the only sensible thing I could bring myself to do was to go to Deena and tell her that I loved her, that I would call her as often as possible. She tried everything to convince me to stick it out, but I just couldn't. Through her tears, she gave me that record she mentioned and some money she'd been saving to give me on my eighteenth birthday. That was when she was planning to leave.

I wouldn't take it, but she insisted, and the last thing I wanted to do was fuss with her before leaving. I wanted our relationship to stay intact. As for my parents, there was a weak threat of disowning me if I walked out of the door, but even a weak threat was enough to let me know I had to go. I didn't care whether I ever saw them again or not.

Being told the truth about yourself, that's one thing. I learned early in life that not everyone will coddle you or tell you exactly what you want to hear, just to appease you. But to be berated and put down, especially by my own parents, it was just too much, and had gone on for too long.

Honestly, who did they think they were to tell me what I'm capable of when they couldn't even tell me the last time they'd sat with me for longer than an arbitrary family dinner. They hadn't had any type of interest in me since the day I turned four. After that, it was daycare and school, camps and summer programs. Trips abroad and boarding schools for a year or two. Anything to get me off of their hands and out of their hair. Really, who were they to tell me anything about myself when they sometimes had trouble remembering the simple name they gave me at birth?

That night, I walked out and didn't look back. I headed straight for Sean's and thankfully, though he was worried, he let me stay. Wednesday, I found my way to school, but even things and people there got on my nerves. I'd been told that a teacher was instructed to bring me home at the end of the day, and instead of making an excuse to directly disrespect that teacher, I checked myself out early and went back to Sean's. I didn't return Thursday or Friday, choosing to use both days as final practice days since Saturday, today, I would have absolutely no time.

This entire morning, I've been a bundle of nerves, unable to concentrate because I have so much going on, and so much more that I'm planning to do once this is over.

I'd breezed through the first two rounds, but then it got a bit tough. Somehow I'd made it through to be paired with the powerhouses, and the only thing that saved me was singing some random 80s ballad that no one else knew the words to. Though I missed a couple of steps, and at one point found it hard to keep up with the two girls I'd been grouped with, I made it through the dance portion as well. All I had left following that was my solo, and I chose the song Deena had given me. I didn't exactly love it, but it was one that I could showcase my vocals.

I just have to get my mind together when they call me into one of the back rooms. I've just got to make it.

"Baby, would you please relax and take a seat next to me. You've made it this far, so obviously you're good. We've seen hundreds of girls leave here in tears today, but you're still here. You've made it to the last round. Relax a little."

I looked at Sean and sighed, finally taking a seat next to him. I knew I was getting on his nerves; from constantly asking questions, to the fact that I'd kept him up all night while I was practicing. I'd ask him to go in the room with me, but I'm almost certain that if he has to hear this song one more time, he'll leave my behind right here in downtown Phoenix. "I can't relax. What if I forget the words? What if I sing off key, or miss a beat? What if I start fumbling with my words, what if I open my mouth and nothing comes out?"