Let My Heart Rest In Pieces

Let My Heart Rest In Pieces 043

Round Two

"I hate opening," I yawned as I leaned on the counter, struggling to keep my eyes from closing. I heard Scott chuckle from behind me and pat my back, leaning against the counter next to me. He smiled and I couldn't help but follow his example.

"Well, that's what you get for having a life and not sticking to your regular schedule."

"Well, excuse me for that," I huffed, pushing him away. He was back quickly, sticking his tongue out at me.

"What's been up with your life that you've been gone?"

"Well, last night was Homecoming-"

"Oh, who did you go with?!" He squealed, hands to his mouth to hold in a gasp.

"Um, Frankie?" I said, although it sounded like a question because I was confused by his change in mood.

"Oh, that hot kid, right?" Lisa asked, coming over to us.

"That's right, he's that super short one you were having an argument with that one time!"

"I'm glad you both remember him, but yes, that's who I went with," I said, waving to Ray when he walked into the store. He tiredly waved back, looking like he was going to fall to the floor any second.

"How was it?"

I turned back to Scott when he asked his question. "It was good, and really fun. The night was really great." I blushed slightly when I remembered the long kiss Frank and I had shared.

"Was it now?" Lisa questioned, bumping her hip with mine. She had noticed the blush.

"What are you doing today that's making you open?" Ray said when he came up to the three of us.

"I'm in this singing competition and the second round it today, but it would run through my regular hours, so, here I am."

"Aw, you didn't tell us about the first round! Well, congrats."

I smiled at the artificial red head. "Thanks."

Seeing as it was Sunday, not many people came through the door. Sunday was kind of like Thursdays, very slow. Although the people that did make it in were very entertaining. My favorite customers were a musical couple. The man, who was named Adam, hit it off instantly with Scott and they had a little guitar off. That caused Scott to sulk the whole day because he had obviously lost.

His girlfriend was amazingly nice, although she sent out a dangerous vibe when you looked at her. She had dyed hair, a pierced face, and tattooed skin. But once we started talking while her man was busy playing, I found out she was actually shy and sweet.

Not too long after they were gone, I looked up at the clock and noticed that it was almost time for me to head out of here. I walked into Bob's office, where he was on the computer doing Manager things. Stuff that had nothing to do with me, so I didn't bother asking what it was.

"Hey Bob?" I said, getting his attention.

"Hmmm?"

"I wanted to see if I finally had enough money to get that thing I wanted," I asked in code, which I guess wasn't needed, but I didn't want anyone to overhear.

He looked at a piece of paper on his desk, doing some math in his head. Then he looked up and smiled at me, a large smile on his face. "Yes, you do. Do you want to take it now?"

I nodded my head, telling him I would get it myself. I stuffed the large thing in the carrying case, then ninjaly put it in the back of the van without anyone noticing. Damn, I was good. Once that was done, I came back inside to say goodbye to everyone, then headed off to the theater.

~~~~~

I stood, fidgeting in the line that the judges had made us stand in. I was somewhere in the middle, in between two girls that I did not know, and they didn't seem interested in me at all. I moved my head forward to look for Tamara's small form, bust stood back straight when the judges came walking down, looking us over. I felt like I was in a beauty contest.

They stopped at the middle of the line, looking over at us all. I felt like I was two inches tall under their hard looks.

"We will still be calling you by your original numbers," Alex said, the male of the group.

"The three of us would appreciate if we did not have to call you twice, because we all know Alex has a very short fuse," the small woman in the middle, Angel, giggled.

"Other than that, everything will be exactly the same as last time," Sandra finished, being the first one to get off of the stage and go to the judge's table.

We all scurried off to the back, all except for the first girl that was supposed to go, and I quickly met up with Tamara. She grinned when she saw me and gave me a tight hug.

"Hey girl," she said, her grin plastered on her face, "I saw you at Homecoming but I didn't get a chance to talk to you. I didn't know you could move like that!"

I laughed at her enthusiasm. "Years of dance lessons to thank for that. I'm sorry that we didn't get a chance to talk."

"Don't worry, at least we both had fun. Are you nervous?"

I was thrown off by her quick change of topic, but soon followed her. "A little bit, but I think I can make it to the next round. I wouldn't be crushed if I didn't though."

"Same here. I was sad that they wouldn't let anyone sit and watch us like they did last time."

"I heard it was because they got a bunch of complaints from parents of the people that didn't get in."

Our conversation was stopped when her number was called. I wished her good luck and was once again left alone without a friend to talk to. I was glad that the numbers had been reduced since last time, which made the wait a lot less time consuming.

When my number was called, I stood up quickly, walking on to the stage that I had gotten slightly familiar with. I smiled at the judges, and I got a smile from the two women. My smile faltered a little when Alex's expression didn't change.

"Go ahead Envy."

I looked out into the audience, seeing Tamara give me a smile before I started. I took a deep breath and began to sing.

"Your eyes
As we said our goodbyes
Can't get them out of my mind
And I find I can't hide

From your eyes
The ones that took me by surprise
The night you came into my life
Where there's moonlight I see your eyes"

The first part of the song had started out soft, and I had closed my eyes, thinking of a someone who had started to wedge himself in my heart. I opened my eyes back up and blushed, continuing on with the song and putting more soul in it, like Alex had asked of me before.

"How'd I let you slip away
When I'm longing so to hold you
Now I'd die for one more day
'Cause there's something I should have told you
Yes there's something I should have told you

When I looked into your eyes
Why does distance make us wise?
You were the song all along
And before this song dies
I should tell you I should tell you
I have always loved you
You can see it in my eyes"

I stopped, and the people that sat in the audience clapped for me, and I smiled at them all, turning back to the judges.

"Wonderful yet again," Angel sighed, her grin huge on her face.

"Yes, the song was good, although I wish you would have picked on that was longer," Sandra added. Then came Alex's thoughts.

"I like it a lot better than before, it seems like you took my advice. I also think you could do better." Well, at least he gave me a compliment.

I thanked them all before hurrying off to my seat beside Tamara. She hugged me and told me that I was good, but we couldn't talk anymore when the next girl came on. She looked really nervous, and I felt kind of bad for her.

I watched the rest of the people come on, and I was starting to get nervous. A lot of them were damn good, and I was starting to feel insecure with myself. When all of the contestants had gone, there was a tension in the room as the three adults started to discuss with each other who was going.

It took just as long as it had last time, but I think this time it had taken so long because there was a lot of good people here. I don't know how many they were cutting down to, but I knew it must have been a hard choice.

Finally, they stood and turned to us. All eyes were on them, and the tension turned into excitement.

"As you all know, we have to cut a few of you out. To the ones who continue on, the next round will be the last. Because of that, we are only taking six people out of you twenty."

The shock was larger than it had been the last time we had all come here. Yes, it was a smaller amount than before, but six was so little of us out of the twenty. My nervousness was at full blast now, and I was scared that I wasn't going to make it.

"Anita Large, Jen Wolfe, Tamara Schlosser, Dani Callan, Envy Moore, and Kathleen Rode."

Tamara and I screamed together, jumping up and down and hugging each other. We rambled to each other about how we were sure we weren't going to make it. Our excitement was too much and we squealed again. Wow, this was a very squealy weekend for me, wasn't it?

~~~~~

I drove home, my excitement had done everything but dull and I couldn't wait to tell my father what had happened. I finally reached the driveway, got out of the van, and was about to get my stuff from the back when all my friends ran out of the house, surrounding me and asking how it went.

I decided to have a little fun. I turned around to them, giving them kind of a sad face, and all of their happiness dropped, but then I smiled and yelled, "I got in!"

Everyone yelled and screamed and hugged me like they did last time, telling me how proud they were and how they were all sure that I was going to win.

"You're all going to be there for the next time right? Everyone is allowed to come, as long as everyone behaves. I have a feeling all of your yelling disturbed them and that's why no one could come."

"Uh, sorry?" Jepha tried to apologize, but I knew he didn't mean it.

"Of course we're going to be there!" Roxy said, hugging me. Everyone started to talk with themselves, talking about having a party at a local restaurant, and I locked eyes with Frankie. He walked over to me and gave me a gentle hug.

"I'm really happy for you Envy," he whispered into my ear, making me shiver. I remembered our kiss and wanted to pick up where we had left off.

"Thanks Pansy," I joked, giving him a kiss on his cheek. He grinned at me and hugged me again, carrying me inside when everyone decided we were just going to party in the house.