A Beautiful, Terrible Love - Lucky 97 (electronic reader txt) 📗

or should I say, daymare, of a dirty-blonde haired lady tying me up and beating me with a silver switch.

When I entered through the double doors –finally-, I gasped in awe at the glorious auditorium, I now realized what it was. It had a beautiful mural along the sides, and a big stage, empty looking and vacant. However, one girl was standing, microphone in hand, on the colossal stage, singing her heart out.
“To-MOR-row, to-MOR-row, I LOVE you, to-mor-row!” she squealed. Everyone was holding their hands to their ears in horror.
“Compared to THAT,” Sadie whispered, “You’ll pass with flying colors.”
The girl finished to a scatter of forced applause. The three judges, one an elderly man, one a young, handsome man, and the last a middle aged dirty blond haired woman, conversed together quietly. Then, the lady opened her mouth... and spoke.
“Lindsey, I think you need to leave. Now.” Her voice was very harsh and abrasive, a barking noise even the dogs couldn’t match. Lindsey, an adolescent with enough pimples to last a lifetime, ran off the stage, bawling. “Now,” she said, a little sweeter, a little sugar mixed in with her whip of a voice, “Who’s next?”
A plethora of people went on the stage, each singing their own song they had perfected. Many were magnificent, with an angel-like voice and heavenly looks. The lady, however, seemed to be unsatisfied with them all. She commented on everything, from the color of their hair to the brand of boots they wore. If you had the slightest slouch, she called you out. If you made the smallest mistake, she would slam you into oblivion.
“Next?” she called, having just tortured the girl with shockingly pink hair. I stepped up onto the stage, staring at the sea of faces before me. The lady smiled, and that seemed to scare me more than her frown. “What will you be singing?”
The shakes began to overtake me. I could feel every eye on me, sensing the whispers. I searched for one face I recognized. Any face.
Sadie was nowhere to be found.
“Well?” she asked impatiently. I realized I hadn’t answered her.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I apologized quickly to appease the witch. “I’ll be singing Release Me,” I suddenly gained confidence, a warm fuzzy feeling taking over, winning the fight I waged with my extreme nervousness. This was mine and Dex’s song, and I was going to sing it the best I possibly could.
For Dex.
As I sang, I began to feel invulnerable, like no one could stop me. Energy flowed through me, shocking me like bolts of lightning. Everything seemed to vanish away, leaving just me and my music. I forgot my troubles, my dreams, myself even. Dex’s presence seemed to be with me, comforting me, erasing all. This very second, I felt that it was Dex that gave me the power to sing like this, pouring my heart out for the world to taste. All my burdens were lifted, my head reaching the clouds.
“Release me... from this pain.” I finished softly, barely a whisper. A wave of applause followed, but I didn’t notice barely a thing, still lost in my trance.
The judge’s voice snapped me back into reality, “Come here and get this,” she said simply, not a trace of emotion showing on her face. I walked to her, anxiety showing through my face. The two other judges smiled and nodded at me as I reached their table.
“Thank you, ma’am,” I quickly took the packet from her outstretched hand. Still showing no emotions, she waved me away, barking, “Next!”
I stepped out of the building, still a little dazed. Sadie ran up to me.
“I knew it, I knew it,” she danced around me, laughing.
“What??” I regained my composure quickly under Sadie’s amused glances. “She didn’t like me.”
“Yes, she did!” Sadie said.
“But... she didn’t say anything about me!” I protested, still a little confused.
“That’s a good thing, Eve,” she sighed. “That lady can’t say anything good about anyone. A compliment from her is impossible to achieve. The fact that she couldn’t find a single flaw to comment on is amazing! Eve, you’re going to be famous!” Sadie grabbed my hands. “Eve, you HAVE to introduce me to all the hot movie stars when you’re uber-popular, okay?”
“Why do you keep insisting I’m going to be famous?” I asked, a little wearily.
“Because you are!” Sadie said. “Here, I’ll prove it to you.” She snatched away my packet and leafed through it.
“HEY!” I whined. She shoved a single piece of white paper into my face. I grabbed it, confused. It read in block letters: IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS PACKET FROM A JUDGE, YOU HAVE MADE CALL BACKS.
“You made it, you made it!” Sadie laughed, a whirlwind of joy.
I just stood still, shocked. I made it. My dream might actually... come true. It felt like a miracle. How could something like this happen to a small urban girl like me?
Blackness suddenly took over, my consciousness being sucked away until only I was left.

Chapter 5

Sadie was laughing still when we got back home.
"I can't believe it, Eve!"
"I can't believe you're still talking about this, Sadie."
"Well, I guess I can believe it," Sadie amended. "You were the best singer up there."
"No, I was not!" I smiled, a little overwhelmed by all that's happened today still. Miracles were happening left and right, but why me?
Why was all these things happening to an average, run-of-the-mill me?
As I ran to my room, I was once again halted by the beautiful poster of Dex. It stared at me, making tingles run through my skin, terror striking me still. I thought to all the times he had hurt me, from embarrassment, betrayal, and rejection. I still felt anger towards him, surprisingly. Another poster we had received laid on the ground, thrown by my hands. I crossed over to it, brushing my fingers across the cover.
In a flash of anger, I ripped the poster of him into a million tiny slivers. Instead of feeling satisfied, however, remorse filled me. Why was I feeling so regretful towards Dex? Because he ruined my life, I told myself angrily. But truly, I didn't know why. He ruined me, but it wasn't his fault. I, however, couldn't find myself to forgive him.
"Now's the time to make amends," I whispered to the air, my voice dwindling on the swish of the wind.

When I walked downstairs, the first thing I saw was Sadie frantically answering the phone.
"Yes? Oh yes, her name is Eve Valencia, oh, can you stay there for a second? I have to put you on hold- Hello? Yes, she is here. No, she can't answer questions right now. Please wait- Yes? No. Sorry, you'll have to wait- Hey again, what were you asking?"
I reached over and pressed the red button. Sadie looked at me, embarrassed.
"Who were they?" I demanded.
"Uh-uh-nobody."
"It must've been somebody."
"Um-no it wasn't. I was just-um-talking to myself! Yes, that's right! I'm going crazy, aren't I?"
"Sadie!" I grabbed her hand and squeezed, "WHO WERE THEY?"
"Reporters," she squeaked. I dropped her hand, shocked. Reporters?
"They all want to know about you, Eve," Sadie continued, "One of the girls that made the top ten."
"WHAT?" I was growing beet red from embarrassment. Sadie grinned.
"You're going to be on TV, you know," she handed over the thick packet the mean lady had given me.
"Oh no," I gasped in horror, staring at the dooming page. I was going to sing... in front of America.
"Come on, it's not THAT bad," Sadie tried to cheer me up. I pushed her away.
"Yes. It is."
"Think of it as an opportunity."
"No, no, no," I murmured to myself, "this isn't happening." I put my head in my hands.
"Come on, Eve," I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Now's the time to forget the past, and look towards the future,"
There was more truth to Sadie's statement than she realized.
"When?" I choked out, unable to look at the packet anymore.
"Um-you don't want to know," she stuttered.
"WHEN?!" I asked furiously.
"Tomorrow."
I left her, stomping to my room in utter disgust. Scattered around was the remains of the poster, and somehow, that seemed to mirror the image of the scattered pieces of my bruised and broken heart. Flopping on the bed, I considered why I had even auditioned, why I had put my whole heart into ‘Release Me’.
Our song.
But all that came to me was nothingness, an empty whole of darkness that swallowed me up at every turn. Why couldn't I understand? Why couldn't I be happy, for once? I guess I should be happy, joyful even. Miracle after miracle has been bestowed on me, giving me reason to believe. It was hard though, somehow, to toss aside my qualms about being in front of people and sing in front of MILLIONS of people. Everything I thought was true about myself has turned out to be dead wrong.
But on the plus side, I've discovered parts of myself I've never noticed before.

"Today's the day!" a giant marshmallow fluff smashed into my head, making me wake up anxiously. Turns out, it was a pillow. I glared at the over eager Sadie, who was beaming at me in happiness.
"Come on, Miss Grumpy!" she laughed. "We got to get you to the TV studio to get all dressed up."
"What time is it?" I groaned, turning over in the bed to avoid Sadie and drift back into my slumber.
"Time to go!" she grabbed me, forcing me to the garage.
"Don't I need to change clothes?" I yelled over the rumbling of the engine, as Sadie hurriedly started the car.
"Not really. I got you some jeans, but you can keep that T-shirt on."
"Don't I need to eat?"
"Here," she handed me a plastic bag filled with cereal and milk. I shook it, and it sloshed around. I looked at it in disgust.
"What is this?"
"Cereal in a bag, baby!" she screamed along to the song she was playing in the car.
I sighed, and started to eat, drink, the mess Sadie called cereal. Honestly, it looked like a cross between slime and jello.
We zoomed along the highway, the sun beating on us, weighing on us like a thick blanket. The air was a thin fog, blocking my view of the glorious outdoors surrounding me. I laughed at the small tinkling of the birds I heard around me, utterly enchanted. Sadie looked at me, confused.
"What's the deal, Eve?"
"The birds," I grinned. “They sound so... light and carefree! I wish I could be like them."
Without another word, Sadie turned her head back to the front. I frowned. Sadie was not like me. She didn't enjoy the forest, the beach, or the sun. Our personalities couldn't be any more different. Sadie could speak in front of a huge crowd, dressed fashionably at school, said all the right things, and did everything the right way.
I was the opposite. At school, I’ve blended into the background so long, I've long since felt like a piece of furniture. Peter has ignored me ever since that awful day in seventh grade, and it seemed like the whole world ignored me too. It's not like I wanted to be anything other than a piece of furniture though. I suppose if I wanted to, I could become popular. However, it never interested me, never really crossed my mind during those five long years. I had basically no friends, always eating in the library, maybe once or twice eating with Delilah and her posse-Sadie always sat with the