Annabella's Oblivion (Hard World Tour #1) (17 page)

One week later

My week was up.

I was scared shitless.

I saw what Blondie was capable of doing; she ruled the school, and people loved and feared her. If there was someone she didn’t like, she didn’t like them, period. And then those people became outcasts.

She wasn’t cruel or anything; she just decided who was popular and who was not, and the rules were followed according to the person.

Her boyfriend was one year older than she and apparently, a super quarterback of the school, too.

So they were a typical popular couple.

I hadn’t made any new friends there, which wasn’t surprising.

What was surprising was the fact she kept her word and didn’t pay me any attention.

Besides that small fact, she and her weird behavior were hanging over my head like an axe. The school was pretty cool, and they had a music department as well, with so many instruments that my head spun. They were holding auditions that day. I really didn’t need the additional nerves, but it seemed there was no other choice for me. The audition was during the second period and, well, I was fucked.

During first period, I was going to catch my share of hell, as Blondie promised, but I had a great plan. I would be a little late for my first class, and once it was over, I would hurriedly grab my books and run for the audition. Okay, I had a fucked-up plan, but I hoped it would work. The bitch would have to wait for the next time.

I had practiced all summer for this. If only I could get the spot in the band. That would be a heck of a move forward with music, and I wanted that. I had good grades, yeah, and could probably apply to some good colleges and shit like that.

The thing was, I didn’t want to. I wanted to try to make it out there with music, or at least know I could do it sometimes. I didn’t have rich parents, or anyone to back me up. I knew I had talent, at least I thought I did. But then, shit, I had to believe in something, right? If Nicky could make it big, then I could, too.

I wasn’t like my parents.

I checked the clock in my room, and it was five minutes to my class, which meant I had to go. By the time I arrived, I would probably be five minutes late, which wasn’t that bad.

I wouldn’t get noticed, and I would escape from dealing with the bitch.

I didn’t even bother to know her name.

I liked
the bitch
just fine.

I grabbed my bag and ran toward class. When I entered, everyone was sitting and Mrs. Jenkins was taking attendance. She glared at me with a strained look.

Yeah, okay.

Maybe she did mind it after all, but it was just this once. I sat and quickly looked down, opening my book. I didn’t really care for history that much, and instead, looked through the notes and words of the song I wanted to play. It was Nirvana’s “Come As You Are,” one of my favorites. I had mastered it to boot. I had some problems singing and playing at the same time, and that was my main concern. I didn’t want to make a fool of myself out there. I looked at the clock and was surprised to see there was only ten minutes to go. So I packed everything in advance and waited. I glanced briefly back and saw the bitch was actually occupied with something other than herself, and paid no attention to me whatsoever.

Weird, I thought she lived and breathed for shit like that, to establish her power.

Well, I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth and would just accept my lucky fate that she had decided to spare me the heartache today.

Finally, the bell rang and I rushed through the classroom, hearing Mrs. Jenkins’ disapproving voice in the background.

“
Remember, guys, page number forty and chapter two. I would like to talk about it next time, so be prepared.” Right then, all she said sounded like blah blah blah. Plus, she put homework assignments online anyway, so I didn’t really know why she bothered so much when the whole class was busy with something else.

I ran toward the auditorium, which was ten minutes away from me. But I had this uncomfortable feeling on my nape and looked back, almost freezing on the spot. Blondie was running toward me. Fuck, was she going to do it in the hallway? I decided not to find out and kept on running. Since it was auditions, professors would probably be there too, and the bitch wouldn’t be able to approach me there. And at the end of the process, I really didn’t give a crap.

When I saw the big, black, massive door, I grabbed for the handle and almost screamed, ‘Hallelujah!’

I entered the room and my stomach sank. It seemed like the whole school was there and well, that was a lot of people to audition.

I saw the professor who was responsible for the whole thing, as I’d spoken with her before applying. As I moved toward her, she raised her eyes and smiled.

“
Hello, sweetie. Your name?”

“
Annabella Hastings.” She nodded and wrote something on the paper.

“
Great. You can sit there with the rest and wait for your name to be called out. We’ll start in five minutes.” She pointed in the direction where the other contestants sat.

“
Thank you.” She winked, and I took a seat while scanning the people around me. None of those girls or boys spoke music to me---no one practiced. They were either chatting or taking photos on their cell phones and they were lucky to have them. They were too expensive, so I didn’t know when I would have one.

Suddenly, someone sat near me, I looked to my right, and my jaw dropped to the floor.

Blondie was here.

“
Look, seriously? Can we do it some other time?” She looked at me, confused.

“
What the hell?” she finally said, and went back to focusing on whatever she had been reading during class.

“
I mean, I know my week is up and shit, but as you can see, I’m in the middle of something here. So would you mind appointing me my place some other time?” Now it was just annoying. What was wrong with that bitch?

Finally, there was some recognition in her eyes and she smirked.

“
Relax, I was just joking the other day. I don’t give a shit about you, newbie. Sleep well.” She laughed some more and then focused on her task again.

What the fuck?

Whatever, she clearly needed a doctor or something. And to think, I was worried about her. I had no idea what she was doing here and I didn’t care.

“
Yo, girls, you mind shutting up? I wanna practice here.” We looked in front of us in the direction the voice was coming from and damn was she pretty. She had red hair and freckles, and for our age, she had quite a developed figure, which boys probably went crazy for. It didn’t help that her top was tight as hell. Everything she wore spoke hippie to me, from her round headband to the bracelets on her wrists.

“
Sorry,” I grumbled.

“
Mind your own business, Ariel, will you?” Blondie said, and the redhead didn’t like that one bit.

“
Screw you, Sam. I can do whatever the hell I want.” Well, now at least I knew names, and apparently, not everyone was afraid of our queen here. That made me instantly like this girl.

“
My name is Bella.” I extended my hand, but she just rolled her eyes and murmured, “Whatever,” and looked back at the stage again.

Okay, clearly the whole common enemy makes us friends was bullshit.

“
Actually, Ariel, your voice is the loudest. So maybe you should shut up too?” That was a harsh, husky voice, who was obviously a little annoyed too. The three of us looked to our left to see a very skinny girl with brown eyes and hair. She gave us a glare.

“
Talk to the hand, Jane,” the redhead hissed.

“
What did you say?” Jane made a move toward the girl but stopped when we heard through the speakers that the auditions had started and the first name was Kyle Walker.

Okay, was anyone friendly in this school?

The dude took out his guitar and started playing and God, was that shit awful. At some point, I couldn’t help it anymore and covered my ears. I knew it was disrespectful as hell, but really, there was just so much a human could take.

“
My ears are going to bleed,” Sam murmured. “He doesn’t know shit about playing a guitar.” I agreed with that one, so I kept my mouth shut.

Next went several other applicants. Some of them were really good and made me feel insecure, and others were a lot like Kyle. Finally it was my turn.

“
Annabella Hastings will play Nirvana’s “Come As You Are.”

I stood up and made it on stage, when suddenly there was an interruption.

“
I have the same song!”

“
Me too!”

“
Me three!” Well, apparently, Sam, Ariel, Jane, and I all chose the same song, and that may be a problem, because it was stated that each composition should be different. There was a mistake made by the lady then.

I didn’t think anyone listened to Nirvana these days.

Surprise, surprise.

We all stood together and waited for the decision, none of us looking happy. I just hoped it would not affect my chance to make it in the music department. I didn’t know about the girls, but for me it was very important.

Finally, one of the judges, the head of the department, came up to us. She was smiling, though she looked worried.

“
Girls, we didn’t expect this problem to happen, but we understand that you came prepared. Having studied your applications carefully, we have a proposition for you.”

We came closer and looked at her suspiciously.

“
What kind of proposition?” Sam finally asked.

“
Since it’s the same song, and each one of you stated a different talent, you could all play it together. Jane can do drums, Ariel play on the keyboard, Sam the guitar, and Annabelle the singing part. Sound good?” Well, I had no idea how we would be able to manage that. To play together took a lot of practice, and here we were supposed to do it just like that?

“
And if we don’t agree?” That question came from Ariel.

The judge’s eyes had a hard-as-steel look, and she replied coldly, “Then there will be no audition at all.” She looked at each one of us and raised her brows. “Well?”

Message received, loud and clear.

“
Can we have a minute? We’ll do it, but we need a minute,” Jane said. The lady nodded and left us.

“
Hey, I never agreed—” Ariel started, but was cut off by Sam.

“
Shut it, mermaid. You heard her—either this, or no chance. You want to wait one more year? I don’t. They barely agreed to hold auditions this year. And if we’re in, we don’t have to be together. All we’ve got to do is come through this whole thing.” She then turned to me. “So, a singer, huh? Ever performed before?” I shook my head and she sighed.

“
Okay. Let’s just do it. We all practiced, so it shouldn’t be that hard. Deal?” We all nodded and went up to the stage. The audience clapped and there were some cheers with the girls’ names, none of which were mine. They clearly had been here for a long time and knew people and each other well, but they didn’t seem to get along.

I stood in front of the mic as I heard the girls preparing the equipment and took a deep breath.

I was afraid and needed to calm my nerves.

Turning back to the girls, they looked at me expectantly.

“
Ready?” They nodded, and I nodded back to the guy who was on the mic.

We started to play, but the girls were out of tune, and I had no idea where to start. People started to joke around and I almost gave up on the idea. But then Sam said, “One more time.” We all shared a look and finally started again. We knew there wouldn’t be any more chances. We had to do it right. Each one of us had her own agenda, and we would have to suck it up and deal.

Sam started to play the guitar intro, and I prepared myself. Jane added the drums to the guitar. After several minutes of their music, it was my turn to start.

I forgot everything else in the room and gave myself to the music and lyrics of the song. At some point, Ariel joined in with her keyboard, which wasn’t present in the original version, but oddly blended with the rest of us. The more I sang, the more confident my voice became, and I added my huskiness to it. The girls played, synchronized with me and each other.

Then Sam’s guitar solo came on and I shifted back so she could bring the guitar closer to the mic. She played it so well

We finished off with the loud drumbeat, and I finally opened my eyes to see the stunned audience before us who, after a second, started clapping and whistling. I blinked, because I had completely forgotten where I was and what I was doing. I’d sung this song so many times since I was ten that I didn’t even feel any difference. I was shocked we had pulled it off, and turned back to the girls again and saw the same facial expression I probably had on my face. We looked at one another and finally I decided to smile, because I knew we’d made it through the auditions.