A/N: To those who's been with me since I've started, I want to know: did my writing improve over the past year? I've been trying to set aside time to fix the early chapters of the story but haven't be able to and wanted to know if I've improved as a writer (2/21/24)
"'The audition song is 'Piece of My World,''" Ace reads out. "'To apply, contact Rook Hunt in Class 3-A.' This sounds rad, actually!" He smiles. "I figured we sports clubs would be stuck doing all the heavy lifting behind the scenes, but I guess not! You guys wanna give this a whirl?" He asks. "If we make it in, we'll be excused from all the back-breaking work of putting the venue together. Sounds like a win-win to me."
"If we won, the extra income would make a HUGE difference in my family's quality of life..." Deuce mumbles in thought. "But hold on," he speaks. "I'm decent at athletes, but I've never danced or sung before." He sighs.
"'Piece of My World' was a crazy popular song last year," Ace says. "There's tons of Magicam tutorial videos that go over how to do the dance moves and stuff. If the moves are simple enough, we could get those down pat in no time."
"Myah!" Grim exclaims. "You've been browsin' Magicam a lot ever since winter break, Angel. Okay, I'm gonna practice for my audition!" He determindly says.
Angel just smiles at him. "Your dancing will definitely catch interest, one way or another."
"Aren't you joining us, Annie?" Ace asks her. "With your singing and looks, we'll blow the whole thing outta the park."
"No," she adamantly says. "Singing in front of the Mostro Lounge is enough attention to last me a lifetime. Having cameras on me is just..." she shakes a little in fear at the thought. "Frightening." Ace sighs, at least understanding her view.
"Count me out, too," Deuce says. "I don't think I'd pass the screening even if I tried."
"Aw, you're no fun," Ace says with a frown.
"For one thing, I don't think it's appropriate to audition on a lark when you're not serious about gunning for the top spot," Deuce explains.
"It's just an audition," Ace grumbles. "You don't have to take it so seriously."
"Heh," Deuce smirks. "For another thing, you guys will need another shoulder to cry on when you completely bomb it," he says as he looks at Grim and Ace, the two glaring at him.
"Hey, don't act like that's a given!" Ace angrily retorts. "I'll pass, just you watch!"
"Yeah!" Grim adds. "The prize money and the ensuring tuna are as good as mine!"
"I believe in you guys," Angel says with a smile.
"At least someone believes in us," Ace says to Deuce, making him sigh.
"Sure, whatever you say," Deuce rolls his eyes and Angel giggles, the two looking at them with a glare. Deuce looks at the time. "Oh, we have Potionology next period, right? I'm on class duty today. I need to go get the lab and equipment prepped soon. I don't have time to stand around chatting. Let's go ahead and order our lunch."
"I second that!" Grim happy cheers. "I'm still hungry over here!" The four head to the line, getting their lunch.
"I just know I'm gonna get drowsy in class after stuffin' myself at lunch," Grim says as the three walk through the courtyard, with him being carried by Angel. A yawn starts to escape his mouth, him quickly cover his mouth.
Ace caught the action. "You'd better not nod off in the middle of an experiment and blow up another beaker," Ace scolds, making Grim groan.
"Aaaooooaaaah..." A sound fills the courtyard, stopping the three. The three carefully listen, hearing what sounds to be someone singing a song, a song that can't be identified from the notes, but the sound became evident as they listen intently.
"Mrah?" Grim hums in confusion as he listens.
"What's that song?" Deuce asks, looking around to see where the sound was coming from.
As the three listen intently, more notes come from the voice, the courtyard starting become more melodious as time goes by. Even Angel noticed how some of the birds started to nestle in the trees, situated comfortably in the branches to listen. "Someone's got a nice singing voice," she says as she tries to pick up the sound. It sounded...closer by than they thought. She looked over to where the well is, the sound becoming more clear as she listens. "It came from over by the well," she says as she starts walking towards the well and Ace and Deuce look at each other and follow her, hearing that she was right. In the distance, they see someone singing into the well, eyes closed, trying to focus on their singing, ignoring the world around them. The four stopped at a set of bushes, looking at each other and decided to hide so they wouldn't disturb the person singing.
"AaaaooooaaaaACK!" The person hacks, shocking the four. "Ugh!" The person coughs, not expecting the shift.
"Whoa, that went from smooth to rough in a hurry," Ace says in shock.
"Mah singin's s'posed to sound charmin', but Ah just can't do it...," they mumble. As the four were watching the person talking to themselves, Angel tried to take a good look at the person at the well, seeing that there was something familiar about them. Huh...? Haven't I seen them before...? She thinks as she tries to get a closer look, leaning on the bushes, but the action only starts to make her fall on the bushes, with the three looking at shock at the events, as the bush rustles, making the person flinch in surpise. "Who's there?!" They call out.