Nothing but an outline.

A waiting game

Now that Clara had gone in for her audition she would have to wait between four to six weeks to get her results. It had been two days since the audition and Clara had reassured herself everything would be great that maybe her voice was good enough for the judges to over look her memory mishap. Over the next couple weeks Clara would spend time cleaning her room and going through every box just to ready herself for when she gets accepted. "There is no way they can deny me! I messed up, sure, but it was an audition everyone gets nervous their first audition. I still did great on the song, so how could they not accept me?" Occasionally, Clara would have a moment of doubt as the end of the four weeks drew near, but she would push the thought away as quickly as it came. "Carebear, why are you cleaning out your room?" Lina asked in a concerned tone. "Well Lina, it's been a month since the audition and the letter still hasn't come, so I'm cleaning out everything I don't need anymore and throwing away the junk to be ready for when I do get accepted. Its almost september by the time the letter comes I'll have little time to prepare." Lina only nodded and began to help the hopeful girl with a gleam in her eye.

                                 ***

The six weeks had passed and in that time Clara had cleaned out her room, she searched job openings near the college location in New York, and even found a couple apartments she wanted to look at if she didn't like the dorms. Everything was looking promising, but she still hadn't received her letter and her faith was wavering. "Mom it's been almost two months, and the first semester starts in a couple weeks. IM FREAKING OUT!!!" "Clara go to their website and look up the number for administration. Give them a call and inquire about the status of your review." "Good idea! I'll go do that now." Clara had used most of her money by that time to purchase a new phone. She used her new phone to look up the number for administration at AMDA, then gave the number a call. After about three rings there was finally an answer. "Hello, this is a representative for AMDA, Jareds speaking. How may I help you?" "Hi I was calling to inquire about the acceptance letters. Its been almost two months and I haven't heard anything back." "Okay, I'll need your name, the state, and city you live in." Clara gave the man the information and waited patiently for a response. "It says here that they haven't reviewed your audition tape and info yet, but what I can do is send an email to my boss and see if we can get a rush on that." "That would be great, thank you!" "You're welcome, and if you still dont get your letter within the next two weeks call this number back and ask for Jared." "Wow, thank you so much have a great day!" "You too, ma'am." Clara hung up and ran in the house to tell her mom the good news. After explaining to her mom what had happened on the phone She run up to her room to text her best friend. But stopped. Clara and Lina hadn't been getting along for a couple months now. It started back in July when Clara had been invited to go on a family camping trip with Lina and her family. Clara adored camping she loved everything about it. Waking up early in a tent and opening the door to see nothing but trees, sunshine, and the smell of bonfire that lingered in the morning air. She loved going on long hikes and could stay on one for hours. Clara couldn't get enough of the out doors it was breathtaking. Lina and her sister Margaret, on the other hand, didn't like it as much they loved sitting on their phones and scoping out hot boys, but not Clara. She could have that stuff in the city but didn't get to be surrounded by nature everyday. That's where the problem began. Lina wanted to walk around, but only to check out all of the hot guys and Clara wanted to hike. "Lina, you promised we would go on a hike today it's been two days and we leave tomorrow. "I don't feel like walking through the woods let's just walk on the road or go to the beach." "We went to the beach yesterday." "Well, I don't feel like hiking so go by yourself." "Fine I will." Clara had discovered a path behind the camp site they currently resided in, but it was a dead end. Most of the trails were just dead ends, so Clara decided to just go to beach with Lina. It got worst later on when they returned for dinner. "Oh my goodness, Lina, look how little we were!" Clara handed Lina her phone and waited for a reaction. "Aww we were so cute, and you were chubby here I don't get how you could fit in those pants you gave me you've always been fat, no offense." Clara wasn't skinny and never felt pretty it had been hard on her because she had been called ugly and fat all her life. Even her own dad told her she could stand to lose a few pounds. It was a sensitive topic for Clara and she took her phone back and became quiet. She began drawing on a piece of paper. Clara could draw she wasn't an expert but she had skill. "Carebear, what's wrong?" "Nothing." Clara said blankly. "Clara you only draw quietly when you're upset. What's wrong?" "Lina, I said nothing's wrong." Lina started to get mad when her mother began to talk. "Clara is hurt because you called her fat." "I didn't call her fat!" Lina protested and this time Clara spoke. "Yes, you did you couldn't even let the fact that I fit into a pair of pants that you fit into go. It bothered you that much that I used to be smaller." Lina got offended at Clara's obvious irritation, and began to complain how she didn't do anything wrong and she shouldn't apologize. After that week Clara had barely spoken to Lina until before the audition. Things were still rocky though.

                               ***

"I'll get it!" Clara shouted as the doorbell rang loud. She had spent the night at her grandmother's and had gotten a call late that night. Her mother called to inform her that her letter had arrived and she would bring it in the morning. Clara rushed to the door that led to the foyer and the front door. As soon as she threw the door open her mother held up her hand with a white envelope addressed to "Clara Benslen" Clara grabbed the envelope and ran to the dining room for light. "Well, open it!" Said Clara's grandmother. She looked at her mother and grandmother, nodded, then flipped the envelope to the folded side. She slid her finger under the lip to break the glue seal closing the envelope. Once open a piece of folded paper was revealed making Clara's heart jump a little in her chest. She pulled the paper from its envelope and opened it slowly to read the words it contained. As she read it she walked to the kitchen to throw the envelope away. When Clara returned to the dining room her hands were empty. "Where's the letter? Did you get in?!" Asked her mother. "I ripped it up and threw it away. I didn't get in they said there were so many applicants that they had to deny a lot of people and to try again next year." There was a sadness that filled the room and Clara's mom spoke. "Honey, it's okay." Clara quickly cut her mom off with a smile and a reassuring tone in her voice. "I know mom, I guess I'm just not meant to go there, oh well." Clara smiled, but her heart was broken and she was ready to just shatter into a million pieces. The only thing worst than that was her family being concerned about her. Clara hated when her family worried and hated if anyone worried about her. It was just that feeling of pride. If noone worried than Clara could pretend nothing was wrong, so she did.

Note: Things are picking up and the next chapter will have a little more drama.