The Life of Crystal White

Singing Auditions

The next morning on the way to School, Rachel seemed very happy about something.

"Not many people went to the singing auditions," Rachel stated with a smug look on her face.

Crystal had no idea why Rachel was so enthusiastic, but she did now that her friend would tell her eventually, in her own time. "Did you see them then?" Crystal asked. Deciding to just play along. Especially, if this was going to be about her singing again.

"I hear they are doing second auditions," Rachel continued going on as if Crystal hadn"t said a word. "So you still have a chance."

Just as Crystal had thought. She wondered if her friend would ever give up and finally accept that she would never be able to sing professionally. Although, she did secretly wish it would come true. "They still have a better chance than me; they"ll just cover their ears as soon as I open my mouth."

"You sing lovely, and you know you do. She thinks you do too - She loves your voice." Rachel stated.

Crystal quickly turned her head around in confusion. "Who does, you"re the only one who as heard me?"

Rachel was staring ahead, but the edges of her lips were twitching a little "I went to the singing auditions for you." She finally stated.

Crystal"s face instantly changed from confusion to shock; Had she truly just heard right? But as Rachel turned to face her with a wide grin plastered all over her face, there was certainly no doubt that she had. "Please tell me you didn"t?"

"The girl listened to your tape and said you are already through to the second round also she said you have a high chance of winning." Rachel quickly said without taking a breath.

For a moment there, it took Crystal a while to process what Rachel was saying. As soon as her brain did finally catch up, she instantly stops walking. "Wow, really?" She asked, not quite believing her own ears.

Rachel stopped walking and turned to face Crystal completely. "All you need to do is go next Monday to see her, and I will come with you."

A smile slowly started appearing on Crystal face – Could this be it? Was she finally on the way to stardom? Then that smile disappeared more quickly than it appeared as Crystal suddenly remembered why her hopes had been crushed in the first place. "But I can"t sing in front of people," Crystal spoke her thoughts aloud.

Rachel started raising her arm and let it fall on Crystal"s shoulder. "She said she would help you overcome that."

"Really, she will?"

"Yes, so will you go?" Rachel calmly asked her.

She had never felt so scared in her life, not knowing what to say. But, knew she couldn"t let her friend down, not after what she did to help her reach this point. "Yes, I"ll go."

"I"ll be with you every step of the way."

"Cheers Rachel."

They both continued walking in silence until they arrived at the school.

"You will have to get some practice in at the weekend." Rachel suddenly stated.

"Yes, I"ll do that." Crystal truly couldn"t believe this was happening. Could this person really help her? Whoever she was... So many questioned continued to flow through Crystal"s mind that she didn"t notice that someone had stepped up beside her.

"Hello, Crystal! Rachel."

That voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she suddenly realised who it was. "Hi, Jeff!"

"Hi!" Rachel acknowledged him.

"So did you go to the singing auditions?" Jeff asked.

Crystal found herself smiling towards him, before saying. "No!" She noticed the disappointed look that suddenly appeared on Jeff"s face. "But, I did still get through to the next round."

Jeff instantly looked confused. "I don"t understand."

"All thanks to Rachel, that is." Crystal continued on as if Jeff hadn"t spoken. Crystal watched with amusement as he turned to face Rachel as if hoping to get a better answer.

"I went to the auditions for her; with a tape of her voice." Rachel finally explained.

Jeff"s face suddenly brightened up again as he turned back to face Crystal. "Oh, well done, Crystal. You sure do have a great friend."

"Oh yes. I know that." Crystal quickly turned to smile towards Rachel, who took that moment to nudge her shoulder and smile back. "Oh!" Crystal instantly turned back remembering something. "Good luck, for later."

"Thanks. Oh, how great it would be if we both got through." Jeff stated with enthusiasm.

"Yes, it would be." The same image from yesterday suddenly came into focus of her and Jeff receiving a standing ovation.

"I can"t wait to hear you sing."

"I still have that tape."

Suddenly the image vanished as Crystal realised what Rachel was saying and instantly stopped walked and turned to glare at her. "Don"t you dare!" Crystal snapped.

"It"s alright Rachel. I"ll still hear her sing one day."

Crystal slowly turned back around before saying, "I might not get through."

Jeff face suddenly went very natural as he stared back. "If you don"t, I"ll come and find you."

Crystal could just make out a distant ringing sound as she found herself staring back. "Come and find me..." Crystal couldn"t believe her voice had gone so quiet, she had only just heard herself.

Jeff took that moment to wink at her. "See ya." He quickly smiled again before walking away.

"He definitely likes you." Rachel suddenly said.

Crystal instantly blinked her eyes a few times before turning back to Rachel, who was now walking ahead of her. She quickly caught up with her before saying. "He was only joking."

"Are you sure about that?"

Crystal knew Jeff was just being friendly and for some reason loved to tease her. She guessed that was just the way he was. "I"m sure he is like that with everyone."

"Whatever you say!" Rachel waved the back of her hand up. (Which always meant I"m right and you"re wrong) Before entering the building ahead of Crystal.

The next morning Crystal and Rachel are on their way to school again.

"Do you think Jeff made it through to the next round?" Crystal asked.

"We"ll have to wait and see. It would be great though if the two of you did make it through." Rachel stated with enthusiasm, knocking her shoulder against Crystal"s. "You two would be singing together then."

As lovely as that sounded to Crystal, they both had to realise there was more than just 2 singers to the band. "Not just us two, they"ll be 3 other people in the group as well." Crystal reminded her.

"Just think of it this way... You will be spending a lot more time with Jeff. You might realise then what I mean about him."

"Oh I know what you mean, but you just have one of those minds." As much as Crystal valued their friendship, there was just one subject Rachel loved more and couldn"t help adding them to every conversation. Not that Crystal didn"t like them, she just didn"t have to talk about them all the time.

"No, I don"t. I just wish someone would be like that with me." Rachel admitted.

Crystal turned to face Rachel with a confusing look on her face. "You always have boys after you... No, let me change that you go after all the boys," Crystal quickly corrected herself.

Rachel suddenly had that cheesy grin appear on her face. (Which always meant she was on cloud 9). "Too right! This is the 21st century after all."

Crystal knew the only way to get her on "level ground" again was not to encourage her. "Whatever!" Crystal looked back the way they were going and walked through the school gates.

Rachel follows on beside her. "But you must notice the way he looks at you?" She quickly asked Crystal.

Crystal could see the very person they were talking about heading straight towards them. "Like everyone else does." She quickly answered, hoping Rachel would drop the subject, for the time being at least.

Jeff approaches the two of them with that usually smile on his face. "Hey Crystal, I made it through to the next round too." He quickly stated. "Hi, Rachel!" He suddenly added after a quick glare towards her.

"Hi! Have you? Oh, well done you." Rachel congratulated him. "What did I tell you, Crystal?" She nudges her shoulder against Crystal"s again.

Crystal smiled shyly before grinning back at Jeff. "That"s great." Now the question was... Would they both make it all the way?

"It would be nice to sing alongside you." Jeff suddenly announced.

That quickly wiped the smile off Crystal"s face. "But, you haven"t even heard me sing yet." She quickly turned to glare back at Rachel. "Has he?" Crystal started to raise her voice.

Rachel suddenly started giggling a little, before saying, "No I haven"t, Crystal." Knowing instantly what Crystal meant and not concerned by her outburst at all.

"Good!" Crystal didn"t mean to yell at Rachel; She did trust her, but sometimes Rachel did things secretly especially if she thought it would help Crystal.

"You must sing well. Especially. with such a sweet voice and a lovely smile to go with it."

The school bell suddenly started ringing, just as Crystal"s cheeks started going a little red and she hoped Jeff couldn"t see them.

"Well, have a nice day." Jeff started walking on ahead, before quickly turning back with a wide grin plastered across his face, then instantly turning back and rushed into the building.

"He"s crazy about you Crystal. You must have noticed that by now."

Crystal knew from that grin alone that he had seen her face go bright red which made her stare at the ground trying to cool her cheeks down again before she embarrassed herself in front of the whole school.

"You"ll understand one day... When it hits you!" Rachel continued to say as they both followed on after Jeff.

Monday afternoon Crystal was waiting in the school library, where she had arranged to meet Rachel.

"So are you ready to go?" Rachel interrupted Crystal"s thoughts.

Crystal quickly looked up from staring down at the table. Her mind was working overtime; She was certain she had never been this nervous before. "I just need to sit down a bit longer." She said before staring down at the table, once again.

"You"re not backing out, are you?" Rachel asked in a concerned voice.

Crystal truly wanted to say "yes" – Anything, to stop her head from pounding. But she knew, she couldn"t do that to Rachel, not after what she did to get her this far. "No, I"ll go in a minute," Crystal reassured her. "I"m just not ready yet."

Rachel took the seat next to Crystal before saying, "You have nothing to worry about; I have your new tapes that you made at the weekend with me." Rachel stated.

Crystal turned her head to look over at Rachel. "What"s she like?" She asked.

Rachel knew instantly who Crystal was talking about. "She is very nice and very understanding."

"Is she a teacher?"

"I don"t think so; She looks too young to be a teacher. I think she must be from the sixth form." Rachel responded.

Crystal slowly took a deep breath before saying, "O.K let"s get this over with."

Rachel stood back up glaring down at Crystal. "Up you get then." She said when Crystal didn"t do the same.

Crystal very slowly stood up, but for some reason, she couldn"t take a single step, it was like her feet were glued to the carpet.

"You do realise, that you have to walk to get there. The music block won"t come to you. Rachel stated with a smile on her face.

Crystal couldn"t help smiling herself at that comment; Her friend certainly knew how to cheer her up. Which somehow had her taking her first step.

"Right let"s go then," Rachel started walking beside Crystal.

Crystal found herself staring at the entrance to the library and the closer she got to it the more her head started pounding again.

"At this rate, you"ll be needing a Zimmer Frame before you even get there," Rachel stated when Crystal started walking slower and slower.

This had Crystal smiling again before she started picking up the paste. Until she was almost rushing out the door, leaving Rachel behind.

Crystal was halfway down the corridor before she heard Rachel calling after her.

"Hey, You keep walking that fast and you will be going to the audition on your own."

Those words instantly made Crystal stop where she was. She stood there, staring ahead and waited for Rachel to catch up with her. Crystal always tried to get the best of her friend, but Rachel was way too smart for her.

As Rachel stepped up beside her, Crystal couldn"t help the grin that was spread across her face. Rachel instantly smiled back before saying, "If you wanted to go on your own, you only had to say."

Crystal wrapped both her arms around Rachel"s arm. "You know I need you. I"ll always need you!"

"Yes, how would you manage without me?" Rachel grinned back.

"My life would certainly be very boring," Crystal stated.

"Too right it would."

They both started laughing as they continued making their way to the music block and saw Jeff waiting outside.

"Jeff, what are you doing here?" Crystal asked as soon as she saw him.

"I came to wish you luck, even though you don"t need it; I know you can win this straight out, without luck."

Crystal felt her cheeks heating up again. She couldn"t understand why he kept saying all these nice things to her. But, she was grateful for his support. "Well, thanks."

"Nice of you to come, Jeff. But, I have to get her in there before she backs out." Rachel quickly stated, before she placed herself behind Crystal and started shoving her into the music room.

"I"ll wait here for you." Jeff"s words trailed after them.