I paced around the empty hallway, the skirt of my dress swishing every time I turned around. I couldn't stop the incessant thoughts running through my head. Of course part of me wants to, but what if I humiliate myself? What if I have no skill and I completely ruin any chances of going anywhere in my life? I stop and close my eyes. I'm doing this. I have a week to prepare, that's more than enough time. I'll start now, and every free minute I'll practice. I'll practice until it's perfect, and everything will be fine. Taking a long, deep breath through my nose, I open my eyes and stare out the window down below to the courtyard. Occasionally someone walks through it, just finishing cleaning up from one club or another. Up inside the top floor of the building, nobody noticed me. This was the perfect time. I took another deep breath, setting my hands in the window sill.
"Can anybody," my voice rings out, echoing through the tremendous acoustics in the hall, "find me somebody to love?" The notes to the intro begin playing in my head as I continue. "Each morning I get up, I die a little… Can barely stand on my feet!" I push off the windowsill. "Take a look in the mirror and cry," I close my eyes, walking a few steps in the hall. "Lord, what are you doing to me?! I spent all my years believing you!" My hands hover over my heart then separate and grasp the air. "But I just can't get no relief, oh!" I spin around, gesturing to the air as if in front of a crowd. "Somebody?" I gesture to another 'audience' member. "Oh, somebody?" Then my arms extend out to my sides, my entire wingspan spread out. "Can anybody find me…" My hands extend out towards another 'audience member, but this time there's a real person standing there. My voice catches in my throat as I look up, trembling. The first things my wide eyes see is the glare off a pair of glasses. My eyes move over the man standing in front of me and I instantly recognize him. Those crossed arms, that black notebook, the plan ballpoint pen, the dark and wispy black hair, the handsome face that makes my heart stop….
Kyoya Ootori, probably the most handsome and definitely the smartest guy in class 2A at Ouran High School, had just seen me performing for an invisible audience.
The room instantly got twenty degrees warmed and my hands snapped down to my sides and grabbed the skirt of my dress as I straightened my back, glancing up at him. My mouth still hung open, part of me still mid song and the other completely frozen by the amazing individual standing in front of me.
"Well Miss Pénélope Amoko, I never knew you could sing like that, let alone the amount of stage presence you have despite not even being on stage." I could feel my face burning up with every word he said. I stood there blinking at him for a moment, astounded he pronounced my name just as anyone else from my country would have. I continued to stare at him for a beat and then cleared my throat, my fingers fidgeting with my dress as my gaze shifted to a very interesting spot on the floor.
"W-why thank you, Mr. Ootori… And y-you can call me Penny… That… That's what everyone else calls me…." Out of my peripheral vision I sense the slightest hint of a smirk forming on his lips but when I glance up at him, there's no smirk to be seen. Just the forever present poker face, as usual.
"I don't see why. Your name is unique here, and it's origins are quite interesting, the-"
"Name of Odysseus's faithful wife in Homer's Odyssey, yes I know." I interject, instantly adding, "I'm so sorry sometimes I-I… I just…." That odd feeling of his smirk comes back but there still is no shift in his face to be seen, other than a slight twitch in his cheek, which I'm sure is just my imagination.
"It's fine Miss Pénélope, I understand. Your brain works faster than the rest of you can catch up with." I see his eyes trailing down to my lips and my face grows warmer as I wonder what he's thinking about. "It's… cute, the way you bite your lip when you're nervous, Miss Pénélope… I find it quite interesting." I glance down at my lips and release my bottom lip from between my teeth, swallowing and shifting on my feet a little.
"I hadn't even realized I was doing it…" I glance out the window, trying to think of what to do, what to say, so I didn't look like a complete fool standing there after being caught singing vividly in the middle of the hall.
"If you weren't aware Miss Pénélope, the Host Club is hosting a beauty pageant here shortly. Perhaps you should audition. It's one of the few things where us Hosts are the ones judging and not the ones participating. It's a bit of American culture that our President Tamaki decided to incorporate this year. The most beautiful and talented girl in our school will receive a scholarship and an exclusive top-secret prize from the Host Club that will be announced at the end of the competition." I let all of this information sink in, my mind spinning. Finally I came to a clear realization of what he meant.
"Y-you think that I c-could be a contender for most beautiful and talented in our school...?" Knowing Kyoya, this isn't something he would go around telling to every girl, unless they specifically asked if they had a shot. Even then, his answer would be just as mysterious as he is.
"I think you have potential. You have spirit, you have passion… Those are qualities that many men find very appealing." Kyoya pushes his glasses up again, shielding his eyes from me as if they hold some sort of confidential information.
"I…" I trail off, glancing back down at the floor. "I'm not sure… I don't know if I'm…. the right sort of person for something like this."
"Well," He starts as I hang onto every word, "you never know if you never try. Auditions are tomorrow. At the very least, it's more practice singing and auditioning in front of people, which is a useful skill for anyone." As he looked at me it was almost as if he knew every single small detail about me, even the things that I didn't know. I swallowed again, just realizing how much I was shaking. I bit my lip and glanced up at him from underneath my eyelashes.
"I… I suppose you're right. I'll think about it."
"Excellent. I'll see you tomorrow. Have a nice night, Miss Pénélope." And with that Kyoya Ootori continued walking to his destination, without another word, not even a glance back at me as I watched him walk down the hall and down the stairs.