Intro
Alie entered the studio, her knees shaking and her eyes scanning the room. There were a couple of people milling about, near the stage, talking quietly together. She looked up and saw that the ceiling was adorned with a floral pattern, bluebells, which were her favourite flower. She took a couple of tentative steps forwards, still looking around, as was her best friend, Julie. "Oh my gosh!" Julie squealed, "This is so cool! We're finally here, Alie!" Alie smiled, but as she opened her mouth to reply, her stomach gave a sickening lurch and she quickly shut it again. She couldn't be sick, not now, not after everything they had gone through to get here.
Alie and Julie had been best friends ever since they could remember. Julie had come to Alie's school in Australia, in Year 3 and ever since then, they had been inseparable. They did everything together, going to the movies, parties, dinner, they were practically sisters. Twins more like, Alie thought, smiling. Julie's house was on the same street as Alie's and they basically lived at each other's houses. They had promised each other, that as soon as they finished school, they would go travelling together. During high school, they had gone through everything together, boyfriends, break-ups, bitchy girls, and family problems, absolutely everything. During Year 10, Alie entered into the school's talent quest, with Julie. They had planned to sing 'Collapsed' by Aly & AJ. They had been extremely excited and prepared two months in advance, choosing what they were to wear, and make-up and hair styles. And they could sing. Very well. It was all going to plan.
Then, two days before they were to perform, Julie was admitted to hospital, after being in a car crash, involving her and a drunk driver. Alie had rushed to the hospital and hadn't left Julie's side, reading and singing to her and updating her on everything that was happening at school and how much she missed her. Alie became depressed as Julie failed to wake up, still in coma, and the doctors were getting sceptical. Then, after three weeks, Julie's eyes finally opened and she found Alie sleeping soundly in an armchair by her bed. "Alie? I guess we missed the competition then?" Alie had sobbed with relief and so did Julie, apologising for everything and how sorry she was that Alie hadn't been able to sing. Ever since then, their friendship had been strengthened and they looked out for each other more than ever.
A couple of months after Julie returned to school, Alie had gotten into a messy relationship with a guy who turned out to be more trouble than he was worth. They had been going out for about four months and he was pressuring her to sleep with him. Alie didn't feel that she was ready and she agonised over it with Julie for hours, constantly afraid that he would dump her. Jake had seemed real sweet about it at first, saying that it was okay and that he could wait, and Alie fell more in love with him than ever. A couple of weeks later though, she found him passionately kissing a girl behind the school parking lot, his hand halfway up her skirt, his shirt off. Alie had screamed at him, and he told her that she was a lousy bitch and that she was never good enough for him and that Katie was way better than she would ever be. After that, Alie's self esteem had reached an all time low, she didn't eat or sleep and didn't take a shower for ages. But by then, Julie had had enough, turning up at Alie's place and making her shower and eat, before staying with her until she was ready to talk. Soon, Alie broke down and Julie helped her, saying that it would all be okay and that Jake was just a jerk. Alie returned to school soon after, where she had to endure all the rumours that had gone around the school, but luckily Julie was there for her, to ward all the bullies off.
Then Year 12 rolled around, and Julie and Alie found that almost all of their spare time was taken up with studying for their HSC. They barely had any time to do anything anymore, and the time they did take off studying, they mostly spent together, shopping and going to the beach and movies, trying to relax. During this time, they each went out on a couple of dates, but neither were successful, especially since Alie was still fragile after Jake. Finally, their exams came much too soon and they spent every day holed up in their rooms, burying themselves in piles of books. When their first exams came up, they would wait for each other at the end and Alie would drive them back home, as they went over the exams together. Soon, they finished their final exams and were free!
Alie got 94% and Julie 92%, both were ecstatic and floating on clouds for weeks to come. Then they decided that they would travel together, taking up their plans that they had formed as youngsters. One day, Alie was singing as she shelved books at her job in a local bookshop, when a young man came up to her and asked if she would consider singing at a function he was holding in a week's time. Alie agreed after confirming that Julie could join her as well. They sung there and it was a big success. As nothing much came out of it, they decided to go ahead and leave the next month for London.
So the girls bid farewell to their families and made their way to London. A week after arriving, the girls found a poster pinned up outside record shop, advertising auditions for a music competition for aspiring young artists. Alie and Julie quickly sent in their application forms and nervously awaited the day they were to audition, practising while working at their part-time jobs as waitresses, scraping up enough money for the rent. And, now they were finally here, waiting with the rest of the bands for their turn.
A/N: Hey, it's Alie here, I hope you enjoy this story. Please R&R! Thankyou to everyone who reads it, :)