To Become A Star

Chapter 12: Brooke's Turning Point

Kianna sighed as she got off the bus, Cameron clutching her hand in his as they walked towards their dads. "My baby!" Keoni exclaimed, a big smile on his face as he wrapped his daughter in a hug.

"Oh, how was the competition? Tell me all about it." Kianna waved to Abby before she and her dad walked to the car, Cameron and Corbin following behind them.

"Our duet got pulled," She mumbled, her excitement of winning had been quickly overshadowed once she had looked into the crowd and realized that her mom wasn't there cheering for her in the crowd. In her place was Jaime, who had been too busy with talking on the phone to even give her a smile.

"What! Why?" Corbin asked, getting into the passenger's seat of the car. Usually more of the silently proud type of parent, this was the most emotion Kianna had heard from him since he cried during Cameron's birthday party. "My little boy is growing up!"

It was Cameron who answered, his voice a little tight as he spoke. "All throughout our practicing, Christi and Melissa kept making mean comments about Kianna and why she shouldn't have been chosen to do the duet. Abby got mad and pulled it, then she banned us from saying the word duet for the rest of the day."

Keoni started the car, pulling out of the parking lot with some kind of eagerness. "But that makes no sense. If they were talking badly about you guys then it wouldn't it be better to have you two go out there and prove them wrong?"

Kianna just nodded. Truthfully, she didn't want to talk about competition any more than she had to. Jaime had already left before they even got on the bus, only sending Keoni a text that she scheduled a meeting right after the competition.

It was weird, Jaime was responsible for both of them and yet she had left them in a different state without consideration as to who was going to take them home. She didn't even bother to call their parents to pick them up, she didn't even say she was going and just left.

"I see you have a trophy," Corbin piped up, albeit a little awkwardly. It was obvious that he wanted to find some good in the day that the children had had. "Three hundred score."

There was some cheer in her voice. She still couldn't believe that she had actually won, like any second now her trophy would disappear and Abby would be upset that she didn't win.

"Kianna," her dad said, awe clear as day as he took the turn onto their block. "That's amazing." He would have to call Meizhen tonight and tell her about it.

It evoked a smile on Kianna's face, this is what she wanted at the competition. Someone who was 100% invested in not only her own success but was happy that she had achieved it. "I'll have to watch it when I get the video from Jaime."

That brought a frown on Kianna's face. "She didn't record it." Cameron was chatting with his dad in the background, but all Keoni could focus on was what his daughter had said. "I asked her to, she didn't do it?" Kianna shook her head, "Cameron said that she was texting someone the whole time."

The car finally pulled into the driveway, Kianna taking off her seatbelt as soon as Keoni put the car in park. "And throughout the awards, she was arguing with someone on the phone. She didn't even congratulate me after I was done." The four stepped out of the car, each child moving to their fathers' side as they walked into the King household.

As the door opened, the delicious smell of apples hit Cameron's nose. "Mom made apfelkuchen?" Kianna asked, taking off her shoes as quickly as she could. She only did that when they had great news, or for Oktoberfest. "Yeah, I have some amazing news that I wanna share with everyone. So go wash your hands and then we'll eat."