Just a Little Louder || 13 Reasons Why Entry||

Just a Little Louder

She was up on a stage, before a microphone. Her phone connected to the speaker qued up with three instrumentals to songs she loved and knew by heart. And yet for the life of her the words seemed to dance just out of reach. It was the music portion of the HSC. Higher School Certificate. A test that decided if and which University she would attend. All she had to do was sing three songs one after the other. Three songs to three judges. The only other people in the room. It shouldn't have been so hard. And yet there she was shaking. Pulling at the sleeves of her favourite blue hoodie, avoiding the judges patient looks while she mentally prepared herself. When the music began she tried to turn off the little voice in her head telling her she'd missed a line or swapped the verses, that she'd dropped out of key or that she wasn't projecting. She tried to throw herself into the song, to forget where she was and bring out the voice she had when she thought no one was listening. But the little whispers lingered, and though her face gave away none of her fears her voice obviously lacked an important factor.

Sure when she skipped a line she played it off well,  not even missing a beat as she dived into the next, swapping verses? No problem, it luckily didn't matter in the songs she chose. If the judges noticed they didn't let on. By the second song she stood a little taller. She'd stopped fiddling with her zipper and started to sway with the music. The whispers were still there. Still very apparent. But she was slowly blocking them out. She made the mistake of dropping her eyes from the wall down to the judges infront of it, one stared with a stone cold expression that made her heart leap into her throat, the other was indifferent, she felt like crying until her nervous eyes landed on the third judge who was bobbing his head and tapping his pen. Whether it was to the music or her voice she couldn't tell,  he didn't seem to be following the beat. But it gave her confidence. Someone was enjoying themselves. Finally the third song. The one she knew the best, the one she liked the most but also the one with the highest notes and though she knew she could hit them on a good day she couldn't help but wonder if she was having a good day.

When all was said and done she was glad she'd done her best. She got 70 out of 100 and she knew why. She wasn't upset or angry, just disappointed. Music was her favourite class, her music teacher had worked hard, despite her imminent retirement, to get the class functioning at their best.

So if she could do one day over it would be that day. What would she change? Obviously she'd sing

Just a Little Louder.