CHAPTER THREE

Sixyears ago

“Mommy,please don’t go,” a girl of about ten years held onto the shirt of a gorgeous, extravagantly dressed woman. The woman gently loosened her grip, “Don’t do this. I have to go. You’ll be fine. Your brother will take good care of you.”

The girl refused to listen, tightening her grip. The woman harshly pulled her away, this time.

“Stay with me, please. I need you,” she screamed but the woman wouldn’t budge. “You are leaving me because of beauty and fame.I scorn beauty!”

The girl got slapped by the woman who held her shoulders, screaming, “You ungrateful swine, you need to grow up! That beauty is why you are alive now.I need you to embrace that and become the most beautiful. My work must not go into the drains, my efforts… no, baby.”

“I am not going to be like you!, self absorbed and obsessed with beauty! You want to create another monster. I won’t be like you.”

The woman smiled, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Don’t forget that, brat.”

Present day

The rehearsal today was damn hectic. I hit the showers and was about to go meet Trina and Kaffy when I realized that I had left my jacket behind earlier. Grudgingly, I dragged my very tired ass back to the music room.

I heard a very melodious voice singing. That person was damn good and was drawn to the source of the music. The angelic voice was coming from the music room.

I opened the door quietly. The angel singing was Cole. I didn’t know when I started clapping, “Nice! You have a beautiful voice,” I hollered.

He fell from the chair, startled at the intrusion. “Thank you. That was quite a stare!,” he chuckled, embarrassed. I laughed, moving forward to help him from the floor.

“For how long were you watching?,” he asked. I smiled sheepishly, “Not so long. I am sorry about that. I came for my jacket actually, but got distracted by you.”

He laughed, “Do you always have a sweet tongue.”

“No! Just with you.” He laughed harder.

I can’t remember how long I spent in the music room but I know I made a good friend that day. We talked about music and poetry. It was almost perfect until he asked, “Your eyes…they’re just like Mara’s.”

I froze for a split second, grabbed my jacket and muttered, “I have to go!” I sauntered out, brushing past Jay, Nick and Leo, who were all confused. I ran to the bathroom. My heart felt so heavy, I couldn’t take it anymore. I fell to the ground, sobbing and gasping for breath.

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It was finally the day I’d be competing with Mindy for the spot of the lead soprano. I was a wreck, so scared that I’d humiliate myself. My already low self esteem would not be able to withstand that blow, it’d sink down the oceanic.

Mindy performed first and she was so freaking amazing. How the heck could I compete with that? She sang ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS by Mariah Carey. She even picked a badass song and she certainly did not disappoint.

Her minions did well to hype her, screaming her name like little fan-girls, whistling and clapping. Damn! They were loyal for meanies.

I walked onto the stage, quite nervous and the mean Mindettes were making boo and raspberry sounds to mock me. Trina looked like she wanted to kick some ass. That really warmed my heart.

Kaffy winked, making me smile, my insides warming like glue. That really helped soothe my nerves.

The keyboard begun to play at the background, its sweet melody making me feel fuzzy. I closed my eyes, connecting to the little girl in me, the one without worries, the little girl that still had her parents.

I started to hum along with the keyboard. I didn’t know when I burst out, singing LAST CHRISTMAS. I was having fun with this, I gotta admit. Everyone started to clap and dance.

Miss Smith screamed, “Bravo!” She cleared her throat, adjusting her neck like a peacock. “You two are good, I have to admit that. Mandy, you were clear and sang well, but it was…bland. Twas like a robot. You have to bring out the real you, connect with your audience. Chloe, you did well connecting with the audience. You did beautifully but you need to work harder on your style, okay? That being said, Chloe is the new lead.”

The audience went wild with mixed reactions; murmurs, nods of approval, boos and applause. It was quite intense. Mindy kept huffing and puffing. So I was the lead soprano. I was to have a solo performance also. I was beginning to second-guess this. ********************************************************************* ***************************

Drained from all the school activities, I plugged in my earphones and walked to the epiphany garden. It was some sort of safe space to recharge after a stressful day. It was quiet and its beauty was a plus.

I walked to the bench when I saw a figure. It was a guy, engrossed in whatever he was doing. He seemed to be taking pictures of something. I strut to him, wondering what could have captured his attention. I looked up to witness the most beautiful thing in my life.

A beautiful butterfly of different colours, emerged from its cocoon. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” “ It’s amazing,” I whispered in awe. He smiled, “The beauty of nature.It was quite a struggle. No one sees that, just the beautiful butterfly and it has to go through that without any help or it could never reach its peak”

I smiled, “Turned out the rumours weren’t false after all.” Nick chuckled, “Well… I never exactly kept it a secret.” I looked closely at him. He was quite shy, however he’d be described as reserved because he was super handsome. That was the principle of beauty. Good looking people had no flaws.

He was lanky, not muscled or sculpted. He was obviously not a sports person. He was cute, with a dimple on his left cheek. He had the most easy smile that made you want to spill your secrets to him, or just adopt him.

Nick smiled, “It’s quite rough, right?” I gazed into his eyes, quite confused. He reached into his bag and brought out a painting. I collected it, perplexed. It was a painting of me without make-up. His smile widened, “Your secret is safe with me, Mara.”

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