The Guy I Once Knew

Habla Si Puedes

Violetta woke up the next morning nervous but excited. She got out of bed, brushed her teeth, showered and put on the clothes she had selected the previous night: a baby blue sleeveless top and a creamy yellow asymmetrical skirt. She grabbed her bag and her sheet music and went downstairs.

“Good morning honey!” said her dad, who was munching on a waffle.

“Good morning dad!” she said. “Olga, I can't stay too long for breakfast, so I'll just eat a piece of toast.”

“But Vilu, what if you get hungry later-” said Olga.

Violetta put her hands on Olga's shoulders. “Olgie, don't worry about me, I'll be fine.”

She took a slice of toast and walked towards the door. Leon's jacket! She suddenly remembered. “Umm, I forgot something,” she said, running up the stairs.

She saw the black jacket hanging on a peg inside her closet. She took it and ran back down the stairs. She shouted “Bye dad, bye Olga!” over her shoulder as she ran out the door, into the car. Ramallo was driving her to the studio.

“Good luck,” he said to her when they reached.

“Thanks Ramallo.” she opened the car door and walked into the building, her heart pounding.

“Vilu!” she heard Camila shout.

“Cami! Where are you?” Vilu shouted back.

“In here!”

“WHERE?”

“Hey, what's up?” said Fran, who was walking towards her.

“Hi Fran!”

“Ready for your audition?”

“Mmhmm, sorta. I'm nervous, though.”

“Don't worry about it, you'll be fine. Leon says you're REEEALLY good. He told me yesterday too, but he was more nervous than you are.” Fran teased.

Violetta was surprised. “Really?” She realized she was being too obvious, so she casually leaned against the wall. “I mean - uh huh, cool,” she said, not very convincingly.

Just then, Leon walked up to them. “Hey guys.”

“Hey! We were just talking about you!” said Fran.

“Hi,” said Vilu nervously.

“About me? What exactly were you talking about me, huh?” asked Leon, raising an eyebrow.

“VILU! There you are! I think it's time for you to sing for your audition, because Beto was looking for you.” said Cami, running towards them. A man was walking behind her. He had curly black hair and horn-rimmed glasses.

“Who's Beto?” Violetta asked.

“Uh, Violetta, which one of you is Violetta?” the man asked, approaching the group.

“I'm Violetta.” said Vilu.

“I'm Superman – I mean, Beto. My job is to save the world – I mean, I teach music, with...instruments and stuff.” he stammered, pushing his glasses up his nose.

Violetta suppressed a laugh. “Well I-”

“Yeah, when you see Violetta, tell her it's time for her audition. She has to report to Krypton – I mean, the recording room in ten minutes.” he told her before turning around and almost knocking her over and walking away, yelling “What's up!” to random students in the hall.

Violetta then looked at Leon, Fran and Cami questioningly.

“THAT'S Beto. He's umm...” said Leon, hesitating to continue.

“Weird.” said Camila.

“Disoriented.” said Fran, glaring at her. “Anyway, go over to the recording room, they're probably waiting for you.”

“Where's the recording room?” Vilu asked.

“Leon'll take you, I'm sure he's free at the moment, right, Leon?” Cami raised her eyebrows at him.

“Yeah!” said Fran, grinning.

“Yeah, sure,” said Leon, smiling at Vilu.

That smile makes me wanna melt, thought Vilu. She was staring at him again.

Cami snapped her fingers in front of Vilu's face. “You don't wanna be late for your audition Vilu, GO!”

Vilu and Leon rushed to the recording room and opened the door. “Sorry I'm late,” said Vilu.

“It's alright, you can begin your performance. You might want to drink some water first.” said a man sitting in between Angie and Beto. He was looking through some printed sheets. Those are admission forms! One of them's mine! Violetta thought nervously.

“That's Pablo. He's really cool, but he's relatively more stern than Angie and Beto. When you're nervous, try to look at one of them. Angie'll calm you down, and Beto's a funny guy. You only look at Pablo if you're super confident.” Leon whispered to her.

“Thanks!” she whispered back, walking to a table in the corner of the room. She poured herself a glass of water, drinking it in one gulp. She then walked over to the stage and adjusted the mic. Her hands were shaking. She looked at Leon, who was standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame. He mouthed the words “Good Luck!” to her.

Pablo plugged a cord connecting the stereo to his laptop. The music of Habla Si Puedes began to play. Violetta closed her eyes and began to sing. She soon got lost in the music and sang the song with all her strength. She opened her eyes as she sang “...y te hace feliz.” The music stopped.

Pablo, Angie and Beto gave her a standing ovation. Angie was smiling at her, while Beto flashed her a peace sign.

“Now, only a few people apply during this time of the year, and you happen to be one of them,” said Pablo, getting serious. “But this audition was, by far, one of the best I've seen. Needless to say, You got in! And it's not just because you had less competition, also because you're extremely talented and you have a lot of potential. Congratulations.”

“Thank you so much!” said Violetta, who couldn't contain her excitement. She ran off the stage and gave Angie a hug. She thanked Pablo and Beto. The three teachers then left the room. Violetta turned around to look at Leon. He was grinning, his arms open. She ran into them, and felt like she'd never let go.