The weekend rolled around quickly. The mundane and scheduled weekday gave way to the long awaited weekend.
Waking up that morning, Mylo yawned, he stretched his back to a satisfying crack. His hair, messy and tangled. His eyes slightly swollen. One glance you could till he didn't sleep a winl. How could he? The question his sister asked the previous night kept replaying in his head.
He sighed as he got up, there was no use duelling on it, he needed to study for his exams.Before he could even get up from bed, his phone rang.
RING!!!...RING!!!
He glanced down at the phone, curious as to who would call such early morning, "Good Morning-"
"Yo Myles, meet me at the park across Walter street. Bye."
Mylo looked down at his phone as the call dropped just as fast as it came. 'What in the world?'. He thought. Not confused on who it was, from the words it was obvious it was Jake. No what confused him was Jake woke up this early to call. That was the confusing part.
His confusion elevated as his sister barged into his room. Her usual bright smile on his face, but now there was a hint of reserved mischief in her eyes of course unknown to him.
"C'mon Mimi, dress up, we're going out. Hurry!...Uhm, I mean don't be to in a hurry, but still hurry a bit. Okay?" She said, her voice dripping with excitement before she quickly reeled herself a bit.
Mylo's stare turned suspicious, okay what was going on? "Sis, you know I have to study today. I'm sorry I can't-"
"Oh, don't worry about that." She quickly cut him off. "Sorry, I meant, I was, Uhm, thinking of taking you to the...library, yeah, the library today to get some reads on you know." She quickly explained.
Mylo's raised a brow, 'The Library?!,' Now that was suspicious he thought, skeptic about his sister taking him to the library? Not that he minded, but he had a feeling that she was definitely hiding something.
"Does Father know." He asked, uncertainty in his voice. If his Father didn't approve...well. A shudder ran down his spine, he didn't even want to think about it.
Mary rolled her eyes playfully, "Relaxxx, already told him and he's cool with it. So hurry up." She reassured, quickly pulling him off the bedsheets and into the shower
"Okay okay, I'm going." Mylo said as he stumbled into the showers.
***
Mylo walked silently behind Mary—who from time-to-time looked back and chuckled to herself before facing forward again.
Mylo smiled a little as he looked around him, admiring the scenery. There were currently going through Crystal park. The park was filled with a decent amount of people, from families out for a weekend picnic, to couples out for a routine jog, the place though a bit crowded, had a strange serenity to it.
Exiting the park, Mylo and Mary took a turn by the street. At this point, Mylo was beginning to wonder when there would get to the library. But of course, anytime he voiced it, Mary smiled and answered, 'Its a new place.'
Well that was enough to quench Mylo's curiousty.
A few turns later, a building came into view which quickly made Mylo pause in shock.
Tall, though not the tallest of buildings in the area, but it was reasonable in height. Grand windows lined the outside, inviting. Gold lining lines the edges of the building. Banners adjourned at the top, flowed to the bottom of the building and familiar words painted boldly on them. INTERSTELLAR MUSIC COMPETITION.
Mylo's shock wasn't over, as he spotted Jake from across the street, jogging towards them. "Sweet, you came, Already signed ya up. Let's go, the audition is about to start."
Mylo's brain processed the words before realizing what was just said, "Wait, what. Audition? I already told-"
"Nope, this ain't negotiable Myles. As your best friend, me and your sis knew you weren't going to decide on your own. So...."
"...You...just needed a little push." Mary finished.
Mylo stared. Looked between the two, not knowing whether to be shocked or even surprised. Of course there would do this. They're the only ones who would do this.
Mylo sighed, running a hand through his head. "Guys, I've already made my decision. I can't..." He took a breath, "...I won't do this. I know you guys care, but music it's...it's just a hobby." He said, he ignored the wincing in his chest and the lack of conviction in his voice, but he needed them to know, there should just stop trying.
Mary just smiled, "Mimi, tell you what. Let's make a deal, if you go for just the first day of the audition and you're still not interested, we won't disturb you with it again."
Mylo's eyes slightly widened, "Seriously?"
Mary nodded, "Yeah, we'll respect your decision."
Mylo looked down, his brows furrowed in contemplation. A part of him just said he should turn it down and go back to studying , but another part of him was just itching to jump at the deal. Well, It's just the first day right?
He sighed in resignation, "Okay, but only the first day." He reluctantly agreed, though with a hint of excitement.
"Deal." Mary and Jake shouted in agreement.
Jake looked back at the line, seeing how there were starting to move into the building. "C'mon let's hurry up."
The three moved towards the building. Mylo, though reserved, moving with a hint of excitement in him.
***
The theatre was quite large inside. Rows of deep, soft blue seats lined the sides in a semi-circle formation with the stage in front.
The upper floor also situated another row of seats, as well as vip stands.
Mylo slowed in his step, taking the theatre in. Glancing around, he took in the other competitors. Some had guitars, violins, trombones, etc. each doing some doing practice sets.
Mylo quickly realized an issue, and panic almost started to set in. "Wait, what am I even supposed to perform?" He asked.
Mary smiled as she reached into her bag, pulling out a green notebook, the words Music, highlighted in bold sparked recognition in Mylo."Relax Mimi, just perform something in here."
Mylo stared at the book as he took it. The memories of him writing in this book almost everyday when he was a kid flowed, he looked at her "Mary..."
Mary smiled, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I found it in the Artic. So how about it, wanna sing that song when we were younger, remember it?"
Mylo's eyes widened slightly at the suggestion. A memory resurfacing in his head, he said, hesitant. "But I haven't sang it in a while, what if I mess it up."
Mary smiled, "You won't, I know you won't." She said reassuringly
"Exactly fam, so just chill and just do you." Jake added, patting his shoulder.
Mylo looked down at the book in his hands. He nodded slowly, steadying his breath.
Suddenly the lights in the theatre went off, bringing darkness to the room. One by one, voices of confusion sounded out. Then a light shone directly on the stage, illuminating a man there.
Tall, slim shoulders. Lengthy purple hair, tied in a low pony tail. Sharp eyebrows sat above eyes of the same hair color. There shone with a hint of mischief and theatrics. A small grin lay on his face, as he gripped the cane in his hands.
Jonathan Stargate would what you call an esentric, looking for the next big thing. All this boring stuff was mundane this days, he needed more pazas, more wonder, more magic~
So he organized a competition, a simple one, nothing to fancy. Situated in a simple neighborhood, nothing much to be expected. But in simplicity, beautiful things can occur.
So he looked at the crowd, assessing, looking, searching. For someone to reignite the spark of the theatre. "Welcome all to Starlight theatre!!! Where dreams take flight and magic is our fuel."
He twirled his cane playfully, "This competition isn't just for you to earn the money, the recognition, no. It's a chance for you to be something bigger. A chance to reignite the spark in the theatre." He snapped his hands appearing on one of the seats in the theatre, "I'm not looking for mundane, boring, or sterile. I'm looking for..." He snapped his fingers again, appearing in their mist, startling some. He smirked in satisfaction at the reaction, "... magic."
Calmly walking through their midst, "So look within yourself, try to find that magic because that's what I'm looking for in you." He sat on the stage as he looked at them, "So which one of you will show that magic and ignite the spark in the theatre once again?" He asked, more like provoked into the crowd. Looking at each one of them, before stopping, his gaze landing on Mylo's.
***
[MYLO]
...Bump...
...Bump...
...Bump...
I could feel my heart beating against my chest. Was that out of nerves or excitement? I didn't know, maybe both. But as I watched the man ask that question, something in me stirred alive--a fire once damp now seemed to come alive.
Afterwards, the man quickly introduced himself—Jonathan Stargate. He was... interesting too say the least.
He introduced the competition and it's rules to each of us. The audition would last just for today, then in the next two days if you received an email, then you would come for the main competition—which would last for a month.
Afterwards, he ended with words of encouragement and we had ten minutes to ready ourselves to start.
Since I came in last, I was last to audition—which I didn't mind my the way.
Mimi wished me good luck, and Jake, went to snatch some snacks for the contestants. Which according to him, "If it's yours then don't leave it out in the open."
I went to the practice rooms, the theatre was even bigger than I thought as there were a lot of practice rooms. I needed to quickly find one, else I would have to manage.
I entered a room to my right, closing the door behind me. "Phew." I breathed a sigh of relief, happy I found a room.
"What are you doing here." A voice spoke from behind me.
Turning round in surprise that the room was already occupied, I was about to apologize when the words got stuck in my throat.
'She's beautiful,' I thought with a blush.
Her red hair was tied in a bun, with two bangs shaping her face. Her amber eyes stared at me with indifference, making me realize I was staring at her for too long.
"Uhm,.I'm sorry, I thought this room was free...I'm..."
"Get out." She said bluntly, not allowing me to speak any longer.
"Uhm...okay." I said, as I left the room.
I felt myself breathe a sigh of relief, she was...intense. Shaking my head, I quickly looked to see if there were any other free rooms, but unfortunately there wasn't.
I sighed again. Quickly finding a place to sit, I pulled out my notebook. A smile made way to my face as I did.
I flipped the first page, the very first song I had ever wrote. A memory resurfaced in my head.
Flashback
"Guys, Guys. Here, I've written a song for you guys." An Eight-year old Mylo ran into the living room of his house.
"Mimi, what is it, what is it." Mary asked, her voice unable to contain her excitement.
"Yeah, what is it?" Matthew asked, his curiosity peaked.
"Yeah, whatcha got kiddo." An older man spoke up.
"So Uhm, it's my first song. Here..."
As the memories rolled, I chuckled. The song was...special. I was a tad bit nervous to sing it, but if it was just for today...I'll try my best.
Two hours quickly rolled by, with the number of contestants thinning down. At one point, I had seen the girl from earlier gone. She was quite... something.
Very soon, there called me to sing next. I nervously followed as I walked up to the theatre stage.
Looking out, I could see Mary waving excitedly at me as well as Jake with a bucket of popcorn. The other contestants were now in the theatre as there wasn't need to wait in the backroom since I was last—which made me all the more nervous as now everyone was watching.
Mary and Jake sent me a quick thumbs up. I breathed in. Just for today, I'll sing my heart out.