AN: On a personal note… Woo! Graduation in two weeks! Woo! Prom this Saturday! Cough Riiiiight. On with the next chapter… Btw, I totally am using stereotypes, talking about Ella and Gavin. Come on. We know it happens.

Part Two: The Audition Process

Chapter Six: Pressure, Popularity Says

Gavin Devrough was hot, a strange preppy kind of hot that Auriella was seriously attracted to. Also, it was just the course of nature that first string quarterback and head cheerleader would go out. Compared to her sixty-five inches, he was very tall at six foot two, and he was thick and had all kinds of muscles from working out. It would be intimidating facing down the boy, you know, if he wasn't such a teddy bear sometimes. He had cropped black hair and soft black eyes that just smiled all the time. He was the kind of guy high on life. His toffee complexion was a mixture of his heritage—his mom was white and his dad was black.

He was no Anthony, though.

Gavin grinned up at her as she came out of the house. She smiled back, falling into his big arms for a hug. She loved the way he held onto her with everything, squeezing her little body to his. With his lips, he touched her cheek, trailing across her jawbone until he could devour her mouth with his warm, large lips. She let his kiss bring her in, but somewhere deep down, she felt like squirming out of his arms. She had a feeling that this was all wrong. Maybe she just wasn't feeling romantic tonight.

"You look good, El. I just want to eat you up," Gavin told her after he finally let her, taking her hand in his now instead.

"You're looking pretty yummy yourself," Ella said in return.

"I tried. Glad it's to your satisfaction."

Once in his beat-up Jeep Cherokee, Auriella tried to relax. She felt heat rise along her skin, every time Gavin looked her way. Something felt different, heavier.

"Where are we going?" She inquired, staring out the window as they passed unfamiliar sight after unfamiliar sight.

"Oh. I thought we'd go somewhere private. Just you and me, girl," Gavin answered, flashing a playful smile.

"Yeah, okay."

What did that mean, his need for privacy? Ella mulled it over, chewing on her lip. They had been going out for a little more than three months, but the furthest they had gone was Gavin's hand under her shirt, and maybe a little bit of frontal rubbing. They hadn't even said "I love you" like a lot of other couples she knew. Rose's words came back to haunt her.

So, when Gavin's hand held her knee and slid up her thigh slowly, she jumped, shocked by the feel of it. Her heart began to speed up, and her leg burned where he touched her. Yet, these feelings didn't seem right. His big hand with his calloused fingers massaged the skin of her thigh. He leaned in close, his face against hers, the minty smell of his toothpaste mingling with his cologne and her perfume, all the scents torturing her nose. Then his mouth was covering hers with wet, soft kisses. It was like coaxing; he was waiting for her to respond, asking for it nicely, really.

And so, like a good little girlfriend, she did respond. She kissed him back, moving her head to the side in compliance and opening her mouth to him. He took that as a good enough response and let his tongue slide alongside hers. All the while, his hand was massaging her thigh and her hands were clenched too tightly in her lap.

She kept thinking about it. Sex. Was this was going to happen to her? Was Gavin going to take her virginity in his jeep? Had Rose been right?

Her skin crawled. She didn't know how to handle the situation. It didn't matter that her hands were unnoticeably absent from his body. What mattered was that Gavin was completely touching her now. His hands moved from her legs to her chest, touching, feeling. Her body responded, but her poor mind… The pressure of what he was doing was building upon her.

We haven't even talked about this yet, Auriella cried silently. She was terrified of these circumstances. She wasn't like Torrence, confident about her own sexuality. How could this be happening, and how could she just go along with it?

In order to be popular still, did one really need to have sex?

She thought of Anthony. Of his sometimes childish antics with her. Of his teasing. Of his self-proclaimed masochistic tendencies. Would he take her just like Gavin?

Ugh. How can I be thinking like this? I can't like Anthony. I like Gavin, she scolded herself.

The situation was too intense now. Her entire body was burning up. Hell, she was beginning to smell something burning.

Ella pushed Gavin away, letting her eyes connect with the flames licking out of the hood of the jeep, smoke starting to fill the air.

"Oh my God!" She screeched, watching the fire she had just caused unintentionally.

"Shit! Ella, get out of the car!" Gavin yelled at her, already opening his door.

She sprang to action, shoving open the door and leaping from the jeep. Backing up as Gavin freaked, she watched the flames, connecting with them. They were hers, a part of her and her gift.

The serpent, for that was what the flames were, tried to recoil from her invisible touch, but she was much stronger. By her side, a finger twirled, as if winding an invisible strong. She coiled the serpent, the tongue of flame, around her hand gently for this was a wild spark she had let escape.

"Ella, I think the fire is out," Gavin exclaimed, his voice piercing into her concentration.

Auriella let out a tired sigh, one hand clutching tightly to her amulet for strength. "Good. Is there any damage?"

Gavin popped his finger into a curling tendril of smoke. "I'm not checking, not after that. I'm calling a tow truck."

Ella sighed. A lovely night… Tch.

Her boyfriend came over to her after the phone call, putting his arm around her tiny shoulder. "I'm sorry about earlier."

"Why are you apologizing?" She asked softly.

"You didn't look like you were really into it. I guess I might have come on too strongly, huh?"

"A lot strongly," she admitted, leaning into him to let him know that she forgave him. "What was that about, anyway?"

"I don't know."

They stood there a few minutes, utter silence consuming them as they thought of something to possibly say next. How awkward, especially since they were dating.

"I'm the lead singer of a band," Ella told him, tired of silence and itching to know hat he would think about that.

What would Anthony think?

"You're… Eh? You can sing?" He turned to her, surprise etched all over his face.

"Um…" Her cheeks were beginning to get hot, from embarrassment this time and not her power. "Yeah. Well enough to be lead singer. We're actually entering the Battle of the Bands."

"Wow. I have such a talented girl," he murmured, kissing her cheek gently.

"Yeah," she replied, her voice rising in octave with pride.

"What are you going to do about cheerleading, though? Rose has been bugging me about the days you miss. You know, as captain—"

A truck honked and large headlights flashed on the two, cutting off Gavin's lecture.

Yeah. Cheerleading was going to get a little more difficult on her now. So what? Did the entire world have to remind her?

"Oh, good. He's here. Let's get going. We'll get the jeep towed and see if we can some rides home," Gavin said happily, pulling her along by the hand.

She let herself be dragged along, happy for the lecture to be diffused. Was Torrence going to be happy, or give her a hypocritical speech when the two next saw each other? Surely Nikolas would have told her about the auditions. She didn't even call Torrence herself to tell her the news. She was so busy with the music earlier, she had completely forgotten.

Ella chewed on her lip.

Life had to be so damned complicated. She was just lucky enough to be a goddess in this crazy world.

Next Up: Auriella has her first rehearsal, and she delves deeper into Nikolas's mind about our favorite little orphan.