Staying at the Top | Rising to the Top Sequel

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The competition was in a few days, and Preston and I were rehearsing our hardest so we could win. We even decided that I could try to play the piano as well, so I had been going to his house a lot to practice. We were going to make a backing track just in case I wasn't feeling too confident about it the actual day of the competition.

A lot of people had signed up, so there was a very slim chance that we would win and be offered the scholarship, but I was still going to try my best. That didn't stop me from feeling nervous. In fact, it was making me feel more nervous. How could we win with all these talented people going against us?

However, Preston assured me that if I did perform while playing the piano, it could give us a higher chance to win because the university representatives will see something more than just a singing voice. They were looking for a lot of versatility in the music world.

I still didn't know if I was going to perform the piano during the competition, because I was already messing up a lot when I practiced. Not only that, but I think it was easier to mess up while playing the piano than from singing.

Close to the end of lunch, Marisol walked up to the table the four of us were sitting at. I've noticed that she and Esme hadn't really been seen together recently, which was odd because they were the best friends. I never asked her about it, though, since it was none of my business.

"So," Marisol said, looking at me and Preston. "I hear you two have signed up for the competition. Just so you know, I signed up to so there's a very low chance that you'll win."

And she was back to her regular, over-confident self. I had to say, I kind of missed it. I didn't like the way she acted towards me, but it was weird not seeing her act like this.

"Okay," Preston said.

Marisol raised an eyebrow. "Really? That's all you're going to say?"

"I don't have time to argue," Preston said. "We'll see what happens at the competition. You might win, Viera and I might win, maybe none of us well."

"Well, I'd like to wish you two luck," Marisol said. "Trust me, you're going to need it against me."

"We will?" Preston asked. So much for not having time to argue. "Remember last year when you challenged Viera to a sing off? Remind me who won again."

"That was just one time," Marisol said.

"Still one more time than you winning against her," Preston pointed out.

"Hey, Marisol, where's your sidekick?" Kathy suddenly asked.

Marisol snorted. "Esme? She's too busy being best friends forever with Brenda. I dropped her as my friend after I found out she was the one who made up those rumours for Brenda's gossip blog. Not only that, but she was part of the reason Milo started hitting on a lot of girls. She told him I wasn't really interested in him, but whatever. I don't need her."

"Wow, I'm sorry," I said, and she glared at me. "Really, I am. I don't know what I would do if someone stabbed me in the back, but you're handling it pretty well since you're not seeking revenge or anything."

"I don't need to seek revenge when Esme is an airhead," Marisol said. "Again, friendly reminder that you probably won't win the competition and should just drop out altogether."

"Or, you want us to drop out so you actually have the chance to win," Preston said. Marisol didn't say anything as she turned around and walked away. "That confirms that."

"I kind of feel bad for her," Leland said. "To have her best friend stab her in the back."

"Don't feel bad for her," Kathy said. "She's annoying and deserves it."

"No, I agree with Leland here," Preston said. "I may not particularly like Marisol, but she doesn't deserve her best friend stabbing her in the back like that. I've known those two for years, and while Marisol may not be the nicest person, she was to Esme."

Kathy sighed. "Yeah, I guess I see your point. That doesn't stop me from still not liking Marisol."

When lunch ended, Preston and I went to our vocal classroom. Since most students in that class, if not all, signed up for the competition, our teacher let us go wherever we wanted around the school to practice. He knew we were going to spend this time wisely and not go off of school grounds to go to a cafe or something like that since this competition was very serious.

Preston and I found a quiet spot to practice, and since we already had the backing track made and he downloaded it onto his phone, we used that to practice. Singing with Preston always made me feel really comfortable and calm. I know I depended on him too much whenever we sang together, but I was hoping it wouldn't be too noticeable to the people who were going to be watching the competitions.

After the vocal class, we headed to the acting classroom. Mrs. Bunker told us that everyone was going to get a scene to work on with someone else. Sometimes, she would choose who we got to work with and other times, we got to choose.

This was one of the times where she was going to choose for us.

Mrs. Bunker started by walking over to me and Preston. "Preston and Viera, you two are partners," she said. "I was thinking of splitting you two up so you would expand your acting experience, but I thought of a perfect scene for you two." She handed both of us the scene she wanted us to do. "I know you two have strong chemistry, so I want to see how you do with his scene."

Preston looked at the scene. "From that one act play the school sometimes does. Ooh, we're going to need a lot of acting for this."

Mrs. Bunker nodded. "Exactly why I gave it to you. I want to see how you two will do acting out a scene that is the complete opposite of what you normally do when you pair up. Instead of romance and passion, you're doing hatred and anger. Good luck."

This really was going to be a challenge. I don't think I had ever found myself mad at Preston before. Hurt, maybe, but by reading this script, it was mainly hatred and anger like Mrs. Bunker said.

The worst part? The last two lines in the scene were, "I really hate you," and, "The feeling's mutual."

And I had to be the one to say, "I hate you."

I had no idea if I was going to be able to make this believable.

"We totally got this," Preston said. "Possibly. Maybe. Who am I kidding? This will probably be the hardest scene I will ever do. Even worse than when I had to do Detention with Marisol." He shuddered. "That was horrible. That was only bearable because she lost her voice and you stepped in."

"Well, she wants to give us a challenge," I said. "The only problem is that it's going to take a lot of practicing, and we also have the singing competition to worry about."

Preston raised his hand and when Mrs. Bunker called on him, he asked when the presentation day would be, she said it was going to be next Friday. That was exactly a week after the singing competition, so all Preston and I had to do was focus on the competition for now.

I just hoped that would give us enough time to get this scene down, because it was going to take a lot of acting and this was only my second year in this class.