The Academy of the Elite

I was swarmed with customers on Sunday, because of our buy one get one half-off sale. Vic was so focused on the task at hand, making him look even more adorable than ever. This was only a temporary distraction from everything that I had on my mind at the moment. First up on my mind was the top five and it's requirements, which I had memorized. You have to be doing great academically, which means an average of at least 95. You had to be a well rounded student with memberships in at least two clubs or teams and a job on campus. I joined stuff as soon as I found out that it was needed. I am on swim team and in poetry and drama club. I also help tutor fellow students on Thursday nights at the library. I added the extra activities for an extra boast; you never want to do only the bare minimum. Anyway, you also have to have a good social life, with at least five friends, and one very good one. My jaw dropped when I first heard that last part; at least I had that down from the start. Plus I had the job since before classes started, so that's really good. Now I am working very hard on maintaining amazing grades.

This led to me remembering that I was already worried about Monday, which marks the end of the first semester. I know that’s the day I see if all my hard work had paid off. So of course I am stressing about that and not to mention the school play which happens to be in a month. It was my first real lead role, which was great but I was highly aware that Vic was not pleased with who my leading man was. In fact, it had been the center of our ongoing arguments for the past two months, since the day I got the role. I understood where he was coming from but this was my chance to really showcase my talents and make an impression to get into the top five. Every time I make my case to him, he says I am just using as an excuse to be close to Zac. What I want to say is, if I wanted Zac I would have picked him; instead I just shake my head and remind him that he is the one I want. It was getting to be an exhausting and almost daily routine with us. I can’t just quit the play, we both know that very well but that doesn’t matter to him. It’s enough to make me wish I had never auditioned in the first place.

Of course there are the times that I wonder if getting a boyfriend was a good idea in the first place. My mother has been harping about it ever since Vic and I got together. She was always saying how now that I have a boyfriend I will never make my dreams come true. I’ll be too busy trying to make him happy, she is constantly bringing that up. I have to admit that her words got to me, like they always do. Now I am wondering if I should limit the time I spend socializing and get more serious about school work. I mean it may be only because my mom mentioned it but maybe I am not working hard enough. I mean I am at one of the hardest academies in the world. This school has chewed up and spit out some great actors and I don’t want to be among them. I have scoped out the talent in my class and it will be very hard to get into the top five. Plus it’s ten times harder to stay in the top five; kids get pushed off all the time for new talent or kids who have stepped up their game. To qualify for the job after graduation you had to be in the top for two years straight. This was very rarely achieved so sometimes they left spaces open at the companies for alumni from this school.

I do not want to have to wait for some kids to mess up and to possibly get a phone call extending the offer to me. I look back at Vic and my heart feels heavy in my chest. Is my mom right? Did I make a terrible decision getting myself into this? I shook my mother’s voice out of my head and just focused on working. It will be fine; I will make everything work out. I know that I can. I mean I have been balancing school work, two clubs, a team, tutoring, a play, my friends, my job and boyfriend the past three months pretty well. At least I think I have been. Kellin walks in and lays his head on my back while I placed some shirts on the sales rack. I had a feeling he was having a bad day, not really sure I can explain why or how I knew. I guess it because most nights Kellin and I stayed up super late studying. He would spend hours helping me rehearse; he and Roxy were the very best friends a girl could ask for. So I would like to think I knew him well enough to know his emotions.

“What’s up Kells baby, feeling blue today?” I put on an upbeat tone laced with a jazzy accent.

He didn’t laugh, now I was worried, that always made him laugh. He sighed deeply into the space between my shoulders blades. I knew that Kellin needed me to be there for him like he has been for me a thousand times. I cleared my mind of my own worries so I can focus on him.

“Tally and I had a huge fight Liz. I mean huge, I think it may be over between us.” He buried his head deeper into my back.

I stopped what I was doing and turned around to hug him, I didn’t care if I was at work or not. He was so limp in my arms, like a rag doll, it was almost as if he used all the energy he had to get to me. He stayed slumped in my arms until Vic shot us a look telling me that I needed to get back to work. If I am not mistaken there was also a hint of a possessive look in his eyes. He looked like he didn’t want to share me right now, no matter who it was that wanted to visit me. He had the same look when Tony and Jaime came to bother me earlier about the tee shirts I love to make so much. I am sure I must be imagining it; Vic can’t be insecure like that, right? Kellin gave me sad puppy eyes and said he will be waiting for me outside since my shift ends in twenty minutes. I stayed busy so that I could make the time go faster; I gave Vic a quick good bye and rushed out to Kellin. He sat on a bench with a sad look on his face.

“Hey Kells,” I put my arm around his shoulder, “what happened with you and Tally?”

“She said that one of her grades dropped because she is too busy stressing over me and the girls who drool over me. She yelled about risking her future for me, I told her I never asked her to stress about us. I mean, what’s the point? I clearly choose to be with her, why sweat some other girls? Then she said I was insensitive and only seemed to care when it was about your feelings. I told her to keep you out of it and she said that I just proved her point. Then she went onto say if any of her other teachers tell her that her performance is slipping it’s over between us. Before she stormed away from me she said that I wasn’t worth her losing her shot at being a professional acrobat. I felt so heartbroken; I mean I don’t expect to mean more to her than her first love, which is acrobats, but. . .” He sighed and kicked the toe of his shoe against the floor. “I just didn’t think she would do this to me. How is it my fault that a bunch of girls are into me? I didn’t ask for the attention I just get it. I don’t want her to lose her chance at the big time. She means too much to me for that. I just want to make her happy and see her succeed.” He shrugged and looked at me, “how do I fix this Liz?”

I swallowed past the lump that formed in my throat. This situation hit a little too close to home. I mean, wasn’t I just worrying about how being in a relationship will distract me from school. To add on to that, I am one of the reasons Tally is fighting with Kellin. I shifted a bit in my seat to put more space between us. I had no idea what to say to him, I may be a girl but even I know that we are way too complicated to figure out. I searched for the right thing to say but I kept coming up blank. I felt like the worst friend ever right now.

“Kells, I honestly have no idea. I feel like this is really on her to fix, I mean she is the one with the problem. BUT I also know that relationships don’t work that way. I am so sorry Kellin; I wish I could be of some real help to you. If I am completely honest I wonder if I myself am putting my future at risk. I am not sure if I am doing the right thing. Anyway, this isn’t about me, let’s think about you and how to fix this. What about doing something special for her?” I offered weakly.

“I don’t know,” He runs his fingers through his hair. “I. . . just stay with me, okay? I don’t need comforting words just a comforting presence.” He pulled me closer and buried his head into my shoulder. “Just stay with me Lizzy, please.”

“Of course Kells, I am not going anywhere.” I wrapped my arm around his shoulder.

We sat there until Vic got out of work about an hour later. He knew all the right things to say to make Kellin feel better. He got smiling after fifteen minutes of guy time. When I came back from Jamba Juice and bothering Ally, they were both laughing. I wondered what he could have said and if he could teach me to make people that happy. I had a sudden urge, a feeling like I shouldn’t go to them that I should just leave them alone. Kellin spotted me and ran to me snatching his smoothie out of my hand and sticking his tongue at me. I still saw sadness in his eyes and I realized maybe he felt more pressure to be all together around his other friends, even Vic. I sipped my smoothie and watched as the boys chat about future tours, leaving the mall far behind us. Today is band practice day, so I headed to the studio and sat on the same amp I always sat on. I noticed Tally’s absence which means Kellin did too. He pretended that it didn’t even faze him in the least bit. I listened to the guys play, singing with Roxy, my mind still filled with my mother’s word. They seemed to grow louder with Tally echoing almost the same thing my mother had said. Even though she is dating someone as amazing as Kellin. I listened to Vic sing ‘Yeah Boy and Doll Face’ thinking about what results we would reap.