Disclaimer: Everything related to the Twilight saga is the property of Stephanie Meyer. Summit Entertainment owns all the rights to the Twi saga films. I only own writing this story, plot lines and all. No copyright infringement intended.
A/N: I can apologize till the cows come home for the long delay in updating. I'm very sorry. I never mean to take so long in posting updates, but RL can really get in the way. Believe me, I get so mad at myself for not being able to write and post an update. But, as much as I wish I could just sit, write, and post updates up the wazee daily and do nothing but that, unfortunately, I can't. Such is just the way of my life.
But, here's the long-awaited chapter. Thanks for your patience. I appreciate the continued support. For all those just discovering the story-welcome.
Again, thanks to all who has put the story on alert or added it on their Favorites list, as well as many thanks to those whom have added me to their Author alerts or has Favorite'd me as an author.
I've got a couple more things to finish up on Ch. 7, but it should post within the next couple of days. I had to finish writing on another obligation first.
The mistakes are all mine-please excuse them. Hopefully, there aren't any or too many heinous errors.
REVIEWS MEAN THE WORLD TO ME
PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING ONE
Chapter 6: The Time Bella Sings Her Heart Out
Part 2
"So, without further ado, our last entrant and school going to tomorrow's Showpiece round is...," the judge boomed and a drum roll sounded from out of nowhere.
The drum roll ended and the judge continued enthusiastically, "Let's welcome into the final round, Isabella Swan and Forks High School!"
The auditorium erupted in cheers and applause. All of Bella's supporters were on their feet.
Bella still sat there with her eyes closed. She was afraid to open them. She was afraid that if she did open them, she'd realize that it was only a dream that her name just got announced.
"Well, darling, what are you waiting for? Go on up there and stand with the rest of the finalists," Bella heard her father say and that was when she opened her eyes.
"I did it?" She asked to no one in particular.
"Was there ever a doubt? You were terrific. We told you they saved the best for last," Demetri answered her.
"Go on honey, they're waiting for you up there," Charlie told Bella.
It wasn't a dream after all. She really did hear her name and she really had propelled her school into the final round of the competition. She looked up on stage to see the beaming faces of both Mr. Blacks and Ms. Clearwater. They were all urging her to come up on stage now and join them.
Bella's legs were unsteady as she stood from her seat. She was overwhelmed and didn't know how she'd make it up to the stage now without falling flat on her ass and embarrassing herself in front of an auditorium full of people. Fortunately, Edward understood her hesitation right away, and was there to escort her up to the stage.
As soon as Bella made it on the stage, the judge gave her a beaming smile and shook her hand. Mrs. Clearwater gave Bella an enthusiastic hug once she had reached her. Bella stood there with the rest of the finalists and looked out into the adoring crowd. She had never noticed earlier, but it seemed there was a large contingent from Forks that came out to support her and the school, and they were now all hooting and hollering, waving their FHS signs, and frenziedly applauding. In fact, the applause inside the auditorium was near deafening. It had become so loud that Bella could hardly even hear herself think. But, she enjoyed ever single second.
Bella glanced around and took it all in, and she couldn't remember when was the last time she had ever felt such satisfaction from being up there on display in front of the crowd. She received a surprising high and actually liked all the attention she was receiving in that moment.
After a flood of congratulations, Bella was finally able to leave the auditorium. It was time for Bella and her family and friends to go out and celebrate. Bella left the auditorium unable to wipe the biggest smile off of her face. She had never felt as happy nor as proud.
Of course, she did have one more round of the competition to get through, but for the time being, Bella did not want to think about that. She just wanted to enjoy getting her school into the finals, a feat that hadn't been accomplished for several years.
Charlie, in anticipation of Bella making it to the finals of the Sing-Off, had already reserved the private dining room at Bella's favorite restaurant in Port Angeles, Bella Italia, and there he treated Bella, her friends, and their families to a scrumptious Italian dinner. It was really more than Bella had needed and she knew that it cost her father a pretty penny to have this celebration for her; however, Charlie didn't mind at all splurging for his daughter. Carlisle was even able to join the group at the restaurant after getting Josh admitted to the hospital for a severe case of food poisoning.
Charlie knew that if (and in his mind it was actually when) Bella brought home the Sing-Off trophy for Forks High School, the school in conjunction with the town council already planned a celebration for Bella, unbeknownst to her. This little celebration was his way of personally celebrating his daughter's achievement.
Naturally, the celebration didn't last too long after dinner, as Bella needed to get home and rest up for the next big day of competition. Unfortunately, she was unable to sleep well because of all the excitement she felt. Bella found herself talking to Edward into the wee hours of the evening about the events of the day and her hopes for the next day's competition.
Bella found herself groaning the next morning when Charlie came to wake her bright and early to start off their day. The competition finals weren't until that evening, but Bella needed to meet with hear coaching team, practice her final song, and have a run-through of her performance for the evening's competition. There was a long day ahead of her.
In the months before the competition, when Bella's team was preparing her program, they had wanted to get Bella noticed if the case were that she made it to the final round. Understandably, the team wanted FHS to stand out from the rest of the other competing high schools. Collectively, they had decided to think outside of the normal competition box and picked a radically different showpiece song, Holiday by Madonna, for Bella to sing. Bella and her team also did something creative to the song by using a special arrangement of the music, incorporating a little of Kool and the Gang's Celebration song.
The song overall was light, easy-going, fun-filled, and upbeat-not normally the type of song finalists for the competition would pick as their final song to sing. It was exactly why Bella's team chose it.
Not only would the song showcase Bella's vocal range, but with the FHS band behind her and a team of other performers, FHS planned to make an indubitable impression on the judges and the competition as a whole. Admittedly, it was going to be a huge risk that FHS was taking, going this route for their final impression, but Bella and her team hoped that their risk would pay off big.
Bella's finale was going to be dramatically different than any of the other finalists. It was going to be up to Bella to sell her performance and make the judges love what she had done, even if it was a risky program, a task that the Blacks and Mrs. Clearwater were confident that Bella would have no problem doing.
Bella is a naturally gifted singer, and the Blacks and Mrs. Clearwater had seen and heard their fair share of great voices; however, there was something that made Bella stand out from all the rest of the singers that they knew of. It was one of the primary reasons, the music team had chosen Bella specifically for the competition.
She was different when she was singing to an audience. There was something extra special about Isabella Swan when she was out there performing on stage. She always managed to transform herself into whatever the song required her to be, whether it be a classical diva, a sultry seductress, a woman scorned, or even just a fun-loving teenage girl; Bella embodied the point-of-view of the song. She made connections to the songs she sang like no other the Blacks nor Mrs. Clearwater had seen.
No matter how Bella did in the final competition, the Forks High music department was already proud of her. She had single-handedly restored FHS's music prominence in the Tri-County area just by getting the school the finals. The team knew that Bella will forever be known now as a great voice. They felt that Bella would go far if she ever chose to have a musical career as a singer.
Practice went about as well as could be expected and everyone knew their parts well. Needless to say, the Blacks and Mrs. Clearwater were quite impressed by the outcome-they had the kids design this performance all on their own. Bella's coaching team couldn't be happier with how the performance was going to turn out. Everything from choreography, costumes, and lighting all worked well together and provided the exact atmosphere that the team had wanted to convey. They now felt quite confident that the school with Bella in the lead could pull off such a risky performance and have the judges absolutely love it.
Everyone, who was going to be involved with the final performance, was excited for that evening's competition. They all had a lot of energy to expend.
Bella, on the other hand, was eager to get it over with. She was once again battling her nerves.
Of course, Edward was there to snap her out of her nervousness, as well as encourage her that she was gonna lead the school to the victory. For some reason, everyone else could have said the same words to her, and actually they had, but they had no effect on her psyche; however, Edward only had to tell her not to be nervous and she'd automatically respond to him, her nervousness would disappear, as if by magic.
Bella didn't quite understand it. She just chalked it up to Edward being her best friend and knowing her better than anyone else. That's why they had the relationship that they did. She couldn't be any more grateful, because it was really Edward that was getting her through the competition without her having a nervous breakdown. Bella didn't know what she'd do without him.
~*o*o*o*o*o*o*~
Bella was once again chosen last to perform for the finals in the Sing-Off. She groaned upon hearing the schedule and didn't know why the competition gods would be so cruel to her. Why was she always the one chosen to go last in the order?
However, what she thought of as a drawback, the rest of the FHS team thought it was a blessing. It gave them more time to prepare and that was never a bad thing in their eyes.
Well, Bella, was always usually the odd man out. She'd just have to make the most of the time she had to wait.
At least, she was able to sit out in the audience this time and watch the other performers going before her. She had been eager to size up her competition.
With Demetri's determined grandmother, Bella's contingent of supporters had once again gotten good seats, just behind the VIPs who were in attendance for the finals that evening. Bella couldn't imagine anyone trying to compete with Mama Grace for those seats.
As if Bella wasn't nervous enough, seeing those VIPs out front brought her nerves to new heights. However, all she had to do was to see Edward's proud face and she was calm once more.
Bella spent the next hour of the competition, before it was her turn to perform, snuggled in Demetri's arms and intently watching the performances. She had been making mental notes, constantly trying to improve on what would be her performance on stage. She wanted to emulate what the other performers were doing well and was going to make sure that she capitalized on the other performers' weaknesses.
She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and pulled out to see that Edward had texted her. She looked over at Edward who was seating a couple of seats away. She gave him a look, communicating her puzzlement. He just pointed down to his phone, silently mouthing for her to read her text.
As soon as Bella looked down at her phone and read Edward's text, she just had to laugh. Apparently, Edward was intently watching the performances too and he wanted to send her some observations that he noticed so that she could use the notes to improve upon her performance. Somehow, she and Edward tended to always be on the same page.
They texted back and forth sharing their observations and Bella found that she and Edward thought many of the same things about the performers who were on the stage. It was almost as if they were sharing the same brain.
For the most part, all of the other performers were really very good on their own rite, and Bella understood why these schools were chosen for the finals. The judges really did pick quality acts and Bella felt humbled to be included amongst the rest.
Because this was the finals, Bella figured that each of the high schools had considerably made their programs better from when they were last on stage; however, Bella and Edward could still always find something to nitpick about.
When it came time for FHS to begin their preparations for their performance, Bella felt confident that she was armed with everything she needed to blow the other competitors out of the water. Despite her nerves, she was determined to bring home the victory trophy to her school.
The snide comment that she overheard the team coaches for the reservation school making to her coaches also helped to get her competitive juices flowing. The reservation coaches didn't think much of Bella and her so-called talent, and that didn't bother her too much. They didn't put much stock in the fact that FHS was a clear favorite to win, which was fine with Bella, since she didn't see herself as a front-runner to win either.
What really got her riled up, however, was that these coaches also ended up belittling both the Blacks just because they decided to work at FHS, and they mocked their talent as musicians, going as far as blatantly letting both Mr. Blacks know that they couldn't coach a Sing-Off winner if they tried. It was rather rude of them.
Their actions pissed Bella off and she hadn't forgotten the look they had given her coaches the other day, either. She was determined to let those coaches eat crow.
She wanted to bring home the trophy, not for herself or for her school; she wanted to win for Jacob and Billy Black. She'd take great satisfaction in having the Blacks rub the win in those reservation coaches' faces.
Backstage, all the prep work was being done for the FHS final showpiece performance. The band members were getting their instruments set up, which included Edward preparing for his piano duties once more. The FHS set was being staged and the lighting and sound were being tested. The prep work also included getting Bella ready for her moment on stage.
She was once again put through the rigors of hair, makeup, and costuming. It was one of her least favorite parts of preparing to be out on stage. Mrs. Kline enlisted a team this time to help her, which basically consisted of a lot of the mothers, including Edward's mom, Esme. Of course, particular attention was paid to Bella since she was their star performer. Actually, these were only considered a chore to Bella who would've rather done without it, but she understood what it took to present a complete visual package out there on stage.
When she was done being made up, Bella wandered about backstage going over her cues in her head and all the mental notes she had made for her performance that evening. She also went in search of Riley.
She hadn't seen Riley since she finished her performance yesterday. That was strange since Bella was certain she would've run into him at one point. She had even scanned the audience on occasion to see if he was watching the other performances, but she hadn't noticed him. Bella had a sneaking suspicion that Riley was purposely avoiding her, but she didn't have a reason why he would be.
Bella was correct in assuming that Riley was avoiding her, because he was. He'd expended a lot of effort not to have to run into her.
After yesterday, Riley realized that he liked Bella more than he really should. He wanted to be more than friends. He definitely could understand why there were a lot guys in school that had crushes on her. There was no doubt that she was beautiful, but after getting to know her through working on the competition together, there were a million other things he found out that he liked about her.
When they hugged, he really felt something deep down inside of himself. It was something he had never felt before with any other girl. It was strange, exciting, yet scary at the same time.
However, it was clear to Riley that his infatuation with Bella was dangerous. She obviously didn't return his feelings. She had a boyfriend that she seemed perfectly happy with. He wasn't the type to bust up another person's relationship. It was better for him to get over his infatuation since Bella wasn't available, which meant that he needed some time and space away from her.
That was easier said than done, though, considering they still had to get through this final showpiece round of the competition, but Riley was proud of himself for having been able to avoid Bella all day. It wasn't as if he hadn't seen her, cause he had. She just hadn't known it. He couldn't bear it if he had gone the whole day without at least catching a glimpse of her, but he resisted the urge to approach her and make his presence known.
When Riley noticed Bella enter the backstage area after getting her hair and makeup done, he thought his resolve might just falter. She looked so beautiful and he wanted to go over and just talk to her. Maybe he could just wish her luck. But then he remembered how cozy she looked in her boyfriend's arms earlier while watching the other performers and he immediately gained his resolve back, then he went back to focusing on his job at hand.
Concentrating on the job he needed to do for FHS for this showpiece round was good. It helped keep his mind off of Bella for the time-being.
~*o*o*o*o*o*o*~
Bella took a deep breath as she took her place on stage, ready to sing her heart out. She sent out a silent prayer to help give her one of the best performances of her life. She closed her eyes and was ready to block everything else out of her mind. Her only focus was to get through this performance and make the judges love her.
Her showpiece song was a risky choice, but she believed her song rounded out her previous day's performance nicely, since it echoed some of the themes that could be found in those other songs that she had sung. She believed that even though Madonna's song was unconventional, it still fit her theme, which was to not take anything in life for granted.
Bella was going to make her song look and sound like it belonged in her performance repertoire and she was going to make her performance look effortless. Of course, thinking it and making it happen was two different things. Bella could only hope that the judges would buy into her performance. She was going to do her best, which was all that she could do.
Bella knew what was at stake. It would all be up to the judges, however.
As the music began to play, Bella took a deep breath, and waited for her cue. She took a quick glance behind her and gave a quick nod to Edward at the keyboard, who gave her a nod and a smile back. Somehow, that put her so much at ease and there was newfound confidence and determination.
There was no doubt in Bella's mind that Edward was her rock. She could've never imagined doing something as big as this singing competition without Edward solidly by her side. Inside, she hoped that it would always remain that way.
The choir behind her started singing the intro, which was Kool and The Gang's, "Celebration" song, and the lights slowly brightened to reveal FHS island circus-like stage. It was FHS homage to getting away and celebrating. It was an island fiesta, Mardi Gras, and a circus all wrapped into a masterfully blended scene on stage. There was a plethora of visuals to capture the eye, but right up front and center was Bella who had the audience's full attention.
She began to sing along with the choir for one round of lyrics for "Celebration" and then the music paused and cut to "Holiday". Bella began to move to the beat and grabbed her microphone from off of its stand. It was never her intention to stand rigidly on center stage and sing, like some of the other competitors had done. Moving and dancing around on stage was one of the improvements she and Edward had agreed on when they were analyzing the performers that had gone before her.
The song she was singing was lively and meant to be moved to. Although Bella wholeheartedly agreed that was what was best for her performance, initially she was hesitant, because she lacked confidence in her own dancing skills. It wasn't that Bella couldn't dance, because she knew she could move, it was whether she'd be able to groove coordinately whilst singing and do so in front of such a large audience.
The idea made her nervous. Her insecurities were once again put to rest by Edward.
Bella didn't have any choreographed moves; she just let herself get lost in the song. Her hands began to clap to the beat on her mic and the rest of her body swayed naturally to the rhythm of the song.
Holiday Celebrate
Holiday Celebrate
If we took a holiday
Took some time to celebrate
Just one day out of life
It would be, it would be so nice
Bella skipped from one side of the stage to another, pouring her heart out into the words that she sung, and made sure she'd made good eye contact with all of the audience sitting in the various sections of the auditorium. She smiled even wider every time she returned to the middle of the stage and looked out upon the seats and saw her father, boyfriend, the Blacks, and the rest of her small group of supporters.
Everybody spread the word
We're gonna have a celebration
All across the world
In every nation
It's time for the good times
Forget about the bad times, oh yeah
One day to come together
To release the pressure
We need a holiday
Bella began interacting with the other performers that were on stage with her, weaving in and out of the band, the choir, and in between the scenes, as she continued to sing. She even managed to be playful with Edward, who had been concentrating entirely too hard on playing the keyboard music for the song. He had looked quite serious and after Bella got through dancing with him, she managed to loosen him up and elicit a smile, making her feel very proud.
You can turn this world around
And bring back all of those happy days
Put your troubles down
It's time to celebrate
Let love shine
And we will find
A way to come together
And make things better
We need a holiday
As Bella continued to move around on stage, she spotted Riley watching her from the side of the stage, trying his best to conceal himself in the process. Bella went right over to him, pulled him out into the open, and proceeded to dance with him, much to Riley's surprise. However, in not wanting to ruin the performance, Riley went along and grooved smoothly and effortlessly with Bella. The audience would've never guessed their dance wasn't planned.
Edward and Demetri watched Bella dance briefly with Riley with their mouths agape. Both of them could definitely see a connection there, and it was a connection neither one of them were happy to have noticed.
As much as Bella didn't want her dance with Riley to end, she knew that she couldn't continue to focus on him. She reluctantly moved on and Riley retreated back into the side of the stage.
If we took a holiday
Took some time to celebrate
Just one day out of life
It would be, it would be so nice
Bella sang a string of the song's chorus and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap and groove along with her, and much to Bella's delight, they did. The song was starting to wind down and Bella felt it was a good time to move herself out into the audience and interact them. Her newly developed plan had her ending her song right at the judges table in the center of the auditorium.
Holiday Celebrate
Holiday Celebrate
If we took a holiday
Took some time to celebrate
Just one day out of life
It would be, it would be so nice
She proceeded to dance her way off the stage and out into the audience and the rest of the troupe followed Bella's lead, immersing themselves amongst the people. Bella took a turn dancing briefly with various audience members, including her dad, Mama Grace, and even with Jacob Black.
The Blacks and Ms. Clearwater was in awe of Bella. In their eyes, she had done exactly the right thing, bringing the audience to a fevered frenzy, delighting in her song and interactions with them. It was not something that they had discussed with her for the final performance, but was very proud of Bella for having thought of it.
FHS music team thought that no one would've ever guessed that Bella wasn't a professional singer. It seemed she was made to be out there on stage. She just soaked up the energy that was thrown back at her by the excited audience and relished it.
Holiday Celebrate
Holiday Celebrate
There were no rules in the competition that stated that a contestant couldn't interact with the judges, so Bella moved right up to them and began to get them involved in her song. They were already all up on their feet and clapping. Bella encouraged them to dance along with her and some the other dancers from FHS. The huge smiles on the judges' faces only encouraged Bella further.
Holiday Celebrate
Holiday Celebrate
Holiday, Celebration
Come together in every nation
Bella didn't know whatever possessed her to, but she climbed right up on the judges table to close out her song. She was too far away to return to the stage to close out her song and the judges table felt like a suitable substitute. She hoped it wasn't too over the top and the judges wouldn't count it against her.
With a final, "Holiday. Come together Tri-County," Bella finished her performance to roaring applause. The auditorium was so loud that it seemed that no one could hardly even hear themselves even think.
With the help of two of her fellow performers from the FHS crew, Bella managed to gracefully get herself down from atop the judges' table, a feat in of itself. She made her way back to the stage and joined the rest of the band and choir from her school and took a bow. Then the curtain closed and Bella was left standing alone on stage. She waited for the rest of the competitors to join her up on stage to take their final bows. Once that was done, Bella ran off into the waiting arms of her supporters, who did nothing but compliment Bella on a job well done.
There was no doubt that Bella had blown the audience away. But was it enough to have won over the judges as well?
Charlie and the rest of Bella's staunch supporters were applauding wildly and beaming with pride. Edward thought he might sprain both his hands and his mouth from clapping and smiling too much. Riley stepped out from the side of the stage and gave Bella approving whistles, which Demetri didn't fail to notice, but Demetri would have to deal with Riley later; he was too busy giving his own rounds of applause and whistles to his girlfriend.
Bella sat down anxiously in her seat as the waiting period began while the judges made their decision. Much to everyone's surprise, the judges' decision came rather swiftly. Bella didn't know if that was a good sign or not.
Bella didn't really hear much after the announcer began calling out the winners. The room was just too loud and rowdy. It was if as she had gone into a daze.
Bella didn't really know who else placed, but what she heard distinctly was this, "And the winner of this year's Tri-County Sing Off competition, Isabella Swan and Forks High School." If Bella had thought the auditorium was loud before, the announcement of her name and FHS winning the coveted trophy caused the room to erupt further. Bella was certain that the rumble from the uproar in the auditorium could've been heard all the way into the next county.
Bella had done it. She had brought home the trophy for her school and was the pride of all of Forks.
End A/N: I apologize for no teaser as well for the next chapter. I couldn't decide on one yet, so skipping it instead. I just wanted to post this just as soon as I could.
Have you taken a look at my profile lately and noticed my work with charity? Chapters to two new stories I've been working on are making appearances in various fandom charity fic compilations. I've posted details and links on my profile. If you're interested in my work, the two new WIP's, or just have a generous heart-please peruse that little section on my profile-thanks!