✮Ｓｔｅｐｈａｎｉｅ✮

CH.23: AUDITIONS

"Someone. Who are you?"

"Okay, Someone," Emlyn pulled his hands out of his pockets and folded them. "How can we help you?"

"You were just hugging my girlfriend," Crystal answered while Nicole gave the usual fish-eating grin. The little angels in my head whispered to me, "busted."

"Excuse me, what?!" Emlyn exclaimed.

"You heard me right."

"Nicole, what are you doing here and who is this guy?"

"Man, I jus' said I saw you cuddling ma freakin' girl!"

"Steph? Your girl?"

"Yes Emlyn, Steph is his girlfriend," Nicole added. "Emphasis on is."

Emlyn gave a thunderstuck look and I flipped out. I gave Nicole a what-is-all-this-about look but she turned away.

"Steph? Is-is this true?" Emlyn stuttered with curiosity-filled eyes and I stood mute. Emlyn got the message from my body language that Crystal wasn't lying.

He gave an addled expression like he was going to cry, "You really are dating this guy? Steph, what happened to you?"

"Fella, I would really like you to buzz off," Crystal said moving closer. Emlyn didn't listen to him but still stood in shock.

Crystal pushed Emlyn on the shoulder, "I thought I made myself Crystal-clear—buzz off!"

Emlyn freaked and was about giving Crystal a sucker punch but I got in between while Nicole kept smiling and twisting her hair on her index finger while bouncing on one foot like it was some sort of a joke.

"You disgust me," Emlyn broke out to my face and walked off.

Right that moment, my heart melted, I became low-spirited and couldn't decide if I was to punch Crystal right in the face or break up with him in a heartbeat.

"You, get in the car," Crystal ordered with his index finger pointed at my face and clenched his teeth.

"I am not your property," I responded and walked home by myself.

At this point, students had gathered all around Crystal, both taking pictures and filming the dramatic scene for their blogs and gossips.

I loved the attention and drama but it was becoming sickening because Emlyn had to be involved in the worst way possible.

Crystal ditched the engulfment of the crowd and raced after me.

"C'mon. I'm sorry."

"Go, just leave me alone!" I said and walked away.

"Aw, don't be like that. Steph, I'm sorry." He stood behind and watched me leave.

Then he entered his car and parked in front of me.

"Please, get in. Lemme get you home, at least. Please."

I wiped my eyes and yielded.

"He your ex?"

"Shut up and drive."

                        ***

I couldn't believe myself. I missed class so much! There was barely anytime I attended class without the principal having to get out of her office and place a warning. She had threatened to invite my father over to school.

It all made me realize that I had been losing my good grades, just as when Simi came into my life back in Nigeria—someone came into my life alright—I couldn't decide on whether that was Nicole's fault or the fault of my depression. Well, she added to my depression so technically, it was her fault.

School for me in the next few days was hell. I could in no way concentrate on the teachings as I was usually feeling depressed.

School worsened my case as I viewed my friends and those I thought whom cared about me, stay away from me.

I once got snubbed by Emlyn when I tried apologizing to him about Crystal. It hurt so bad.

"Are you okay? You've been acting off these days."

"Oh I have?" I answered Nicole. "Why did you ever have to make Emlyn find out about Crystal?!"

"But you made your decision. You shouldn't be ashamed of your boyfriend."

"I am not... My point is, why did you make Emlyn know about him?!"

"Don't tell me you've still got feelings for Sanders. Gee Steph, I told you to forget about him. Can Emlyn afford half of what Crystal gets you? Do you get enough attention from Emlyn as much as you do from Crystal? You made your decision, stick to it."

I was silent and furious. I didn't possess the nerves to confront Nicole about anything majorly because I was intimidated by her status and her charismatic and authoritative personality. It was one of the reasons why it was easy for me to conform to her standards and ideas; I could hardly say no to her.

"You've got better things to do than to sulk over a boy. Maybe you need to focus on your auditions, on your career."

She was right. My audition, as revealed by my agent, was in few weeks and I had to focus on the one thing that could bring back the joy they stole from me. When I achieve this, It'll fix every other problem, I thought.

                        ***
I couldn't wait to get booked.
An agent had notified me about the auditions and with much assistance from a professional acting coach, I was guided towards filming a flawless self-tape audition; I made sure that the background, lighting, audio and of course, my acting skills were impressive enough to get the casting directors intrigued and win the hearts of everyone in the production process.
Nicole worked with me in the filming process, being my reader.

My audition was for film and not television, for starters.

Soon, it came to the final contenders and we were offered a one-on-one audition.

There were a few rounds of callbacks for the top selected auditionees and I was not exempted. The casting directors loved my acting; they proclaimed my skills flawless with the ability to pierce a message through anyone's soul. They fell in love with me instantly.

After much hardwork and training and screening by the casting directors, I got the role I was seeking, next to the lead!

That day, when I received the message late at night, I broke into tears of joy and shared my happiness with my family and friends.

Everyone was happy and Crystal took me out to celebrate.

It was so difficult to believe that my dreams were finally coming true and this one thing I had hoped for since the day I was conceived, finally came to pass.

No, I couldn't sleep that night. Happy people don't sleep.