Chapter 4: Money is everything
830 Words
The evening sky glowed softly above the quiet streets as Laura walked to the town from school alone, clutching her bag tightly against her chest.
Cold wind brushed against her short skirt while fallen leaves crunched beneath her shoes. Normally, she loved walking from school to her workplace. It gave her time to hum melodies quietly to herself and dream about stages she would probably never stand on.
But today her thoughts were tangled.
Again.
Again and again, Mr. Johansen’s words replayed endlessly inside her mind.
“You’re talented enough for Walton’s Prestige Academy, Laura.”
She still remembered the serious look in his eyes earlier that afternoon inside the empty music room. Sunlight had fallen across the piano while sheets of music scattered over his desk.
Laura had laughed nervously at first, thinking he was joking.
But he wasn’t.
“You have something rare.” He told her gently.
“Your voice carries emotion naturally. That academy looks for students like you.
Walton’s Prestige Academy.
Even hearing the name felt unreachable.
It was the kind of elite school people whispered about online. The place where gifted musicians, singers and performers were shaped into stars. Wealthy families fought to get their children accepted there.
Someone like Laura didn’t belong in a world like that.
She tightened her grip on her bag while walking past glowing storefronts.
Mr. Johansen had explained everything carefully.
The academy required a professional submission portfolio. She needed properly recorded songs, vocal guidance, studio-quality audio, and performance videos.
And all of it cost money.
A painful amount of money.
Laura lowered her gaze toward the sidewalk.
At home her grandmother already old enough to support her life. Asking for something so expensive felt selfish.
Ridiculous, even.
Still…
Her chest tightened as she remembered the way Mr. Johansen looked at her after class.
“Opportunities like this don’t appear often,” he said quietly. “If you let fear stop you now, you might regret it for the rest of your life.”
Laura stopped walking for a moment beneath a streetlamp.
The cold evening breeze moved strands of her soft hair across her face while she starred at the glowing town lights ahead.
She wanted it.
More than anything.
She wanted to sing in real studios. She wanted people to hear the songs she kept hidden in old notebooks under her bed. She wanted a future bigger than the small life she had always known.
But dreams were expensive.
And reality was cruel.
Laura exhale shakily before continuing down the dim walk toward the store, carrying both hope and worry heavily inside her heart.
The bright neon sign of the fast-food restaurant flickered softly against the dark evening sky as Laura pushed open the glass door.
Warm air filled with the smell of fried food and coffee immediately surrounded her, replacing the cold wind from outside. The restaurant buzzed with noise. Customers chatting, trays clattering, oil sizzling loudly behind the counter.
Laura forced a small smile.
“Evening,” she greeted quietly.
One of her coworkers waved while stuffing fries into cartons. “You’re just in time. Its chaos tonight.”
Laura nodded softly and hurried toward the employee room.
A few minutes later, she stepped out wearing her red uniform apron, tying her hair neatly behind her head. Even dressed simply, she still looked gentle and elegant in a way people naturally noticed. Her soft eyes carried exhaustion, but there was warmth in them that made customers feel comfortable.
“Laura, register two!” the manager called.
“Yes, sir!”
She quickly moved behind the counter, greeting customers politely despite her tired feet from school earlier that day.
“Welcome. Your order, please.”
“Thank you.”
“Have a nice evening.”
The words repeated endlessly for hours.
Yet while her hands worked automatically, her thoughts drifted somewhere else entirely.
Walton’s Prestige Academy.
Professional recordings.
Studio sessions.
Money.
The numbers alone terrified her.
A customer handed her cash, snapping her back to reality.
Laura apologized softly before finishing the order. But as she turned toward the kitchen, she noticed her reflection briefly in the stainless-steel counter.
Just a part time fast-food worker.
Could someone like her really enter an elite Academy?
During her short break later that night, Laura sat alone near the back exit holding a paper cup of cheap coffee. Cars passed outside while distant town lights blurred softly in the darkness.
She opened her phone slowly.
Inside her notes app were dozens of unfinished song lyrics.
Pieces of emotions she never dared to show anyone.
Her thumb hovered over one particular recording, a rough voice memo of herself singing quietly in her bedroom late at night.
Mr. Johansen had listened to that exact recording earlier that week.
And somehow… he believed in her.
Laura lowered her gaze.
Maybe that was what scared her the most.
Not failure.
But the possibility that her dream might actually be real. She sigh softly.
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