In Time

I stared up at the sign in silence, my heart pounding. This was the place. It had to be. Same name, same address, same exterior appearance. This was the place I'd risk my future in.

I held my breath as I stepped up to the entrance. I tried to ignore the pounding in my ears and the shortness of my breath. I paused as my hand touched the handle, taking a deep breath to calm myself. It was now or never. I could do it. I knew I could.

I moved to push the door open. Instead, I felt the door push against me. Frowning, I let the handle go and stepped back. I watched as the door opened to reveal a brown haired boy.

He had his back to me, talking to someone in the studio. I stepped out of his way and considered walking away. I nearly did only he turned in time to see me making my escape and called out.

"Hey, wait!" I groaned turning back to him. He paused a second and so did I, my gaze shamelessly giving him a once over. He was adorable. "Are you Destiny?"

I nodded slowly. My cheeks burned brightly as I stared down at my feet. I heard the scuff of his feet pm gravel, the sound of his flip flops loud as he approached me. I groaned quietly as the distance closed. "I'm Xavier."

I blushed, nodding slowly. "Hi."

He smiled lightly, motioning me over. I followed him as he slipped his cigarettes into his back pocket. I avoided eye contact as I entered, staying completely silent as we walked down the hall. He glanced over his shoulder at me.

"We were waiting for you,” he smiled. “We thought you had changed your mind. Are you okay?”

"Nervous," I admitted. He nodded.

"That's to be expected. Relax, though, you'll be great," he smiled.

"Right," I breathed all the while avoiding eye contact.

We came out in a large room. There was a couch on the far side where four other guys sat. Xavier waved to catch their attention. They all looked over. My gaze locked with each of theirs. I smiled weakly.

"Destiny?" a guy on the left asked.

"Yes," I confirmed.

"Awesome," he grinned. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Kyle and that over there is Mark Anthony. We handle the guitar parts for the band. This is Ronnie. He's in charge of keyboards. Following we've got Rick who plays the drums. Xavier is our bassist. Thanks for coming out to audition. We appreciate it."

I nodded slowly, watching Xavier as he left my side and sat by his band mates, watching me intently. They all were. Finally Kyle spoke up again. I guess he was their leader or something. "I just want to ask you some questions before you sing."

I nodded. "Sure."

"What kind of singing are you capable of?" he asked. "Give us an example of singers you sing to."

"I practice with Within Temptation, Paramore, and Evanescence," I admitted shyly. "So I can sing classical and pop. My stronger voice is classical but my pop voice is pretty strong as well."

"Okay," he nodded, his brows rising. "What are you singing?"

"For pop, I'm going to sing Hallelujah by Paramore and for classical," I hesitated, "if you'll let me..."

"Of course we'll let you," Kyle laughed. "Why wouldn't we?"

"Right," I breathed. "I'm singing Forsaken by Within Temptation."

"Have you ever been in a band?"

"Not a serious one but I did join my friend's band for the hell of it a few years ago."

"Ever played live shows?"

"Yes," I nodded.

"Awesome," he nodded looking up. "When you're ready you can start."

I nodded slowly, taking a deep breath as I chose the song to start with. I picked Hallelujah, knowing pop would be harder to do after classical singing. I told them before getting started, meeting their gazes every now and then as the song slowly seeped through to my heart. By the second verse I had a gentle grin on my face, my hands gesturing, and rising as I hit higher notes, body moving as I lost myself in the lyrics.

The last chorus came all too quickly and I felt my heart pound in my chest as I remembered that last damn hallelujah I had to sing. I always had so much difficulty with that one. I could only pray it came out decent.

I pushed the thought aside and clenched my fists as I started the chorus, shutting my eyes as I escalated to that note. I took a breath and opened my mouth, letting the sound ring through the studio. Sadly, the positioning of my voice was all wrong. The note came out strained as always. I ignored that for now, though, and managed to get the last hallelujah well enough. Unsure of what to expect as a reaction, I opened my eyes slowly and nearly laughed.

They were just staring at me. Xavier and Kyle had their mouths hanging open as they gawked while the other two blinked in shock. Xavier was the first to regain his composure.

"That's your weaker voice?" he exclaimed.

"Yes," I blushed.

"Holy..." he breathed as Kyle came to.

"Wow, sing classical!" Kyle recovered.

I jumped but nodded, immediately getting into Forsaken. It went by quickly. I was entirely comfortable with this song. I wasn't going to lie. I loved singing like this. They were slightly more composed as I finished that one so I wasn't sure how I did. Sighing, I waited for them to speak. Finally Kyle woke up and smiled.

"Thanks for trying out," he smiled. I let a breath out, nodding. "We'll call you when we choose."

"Right," I sighed. "Thanks for having me."

"Come on, I'll show you out," Xavier said, getting up and leading me out of the studio. As the door into the building shut behind us he looked at me. "You've got quite an instrument."

"Thank you," I smiled lightly.

"You sounded great," he smiled. I nodded. "I hope I'll see you again soon."

"Yeah, bye," I agreed.

"Bye," he smiled. I felt him watching me as I walked down the street alone.