A/N Thank you for the awesome reviews!
Chapter 26
BPOV
I continued to work on my breathing exercises, and Alice and I talked through the next situation. It was really like singing for a small audience as my focus would be Mrs. Munez. What was new was that I would have people behind me watching my performance. Yikes. Alice and I talked to nine girls from choir, who were excited to help. Alice would round out the number to ten.
Finally the day came to try out this experience. The girls assembled in the risers, and Mrs. Munez was seated in the front of the room at enough of a distance away to make sure I projected my voice properly.
I stood in front of the risers, shaking my hands out to loosen my tightening muscles. I turned my head towards Edward and met his eyes. I gave him a brief nod to signal my readiness.
I returned my focus to center as he began to play. I let the music wrap around me in a sad blanket. I began to sing "Foolish Games," as if Mrs. Munez was the only person in the room. I concentrated so much on this that I was shocked at the clapping and cheers that followed the end of the song.
The girls filed out of the risers, and I heard a ton of comments as they came up to hug me and then leave. Some of them were "Great job, Bella. "Finally, some fresh blood for solo," and Tryouts are going to be fun." Alice and Edward both hugged me. Mrs. Munez patted me on the shoulder and smiled, "Bella, that was excellent. I look forward to hearing your solo selection."
Edward was holed up for the next couple of days in the Cullen music room with the recording staff. I was so happy that he was finally at this stage as I worried about his nerves. Once the CD was sent off, it was only a matter of time before he was accepted. He'd surprised me by asking to record my song to include on the CD. After all he'd lovingly done for me; I was excited to do something for him. I was proud of the song he'd written and would sing my very best for him.
I arrived at the Cullen house late in the afternoon. The music room door had a printed sign that said "Recording, Quiet Please." Someone had written beneath this "That means you, Emmett!" I covered my mouth with my hand as I snickered.
The door opened, and the recording staff and Alice shuffled me in and positioned me in front of a high tech looking microphone. In fact the music room was full of high tech machinery.
Edward gave me a kiss on the cheek. "How are you feeling?" he quietly asked.
I touched his face, and he pressed it against my hand in response. He looked tired.
"Fine. I'm happy to see you." I said.
I was rewarded with one of his brilliant half smiles. "The feeling's mutual." He hugged me and then returned to the piano.
Alice explained that we would focus on "Bella's Song" first and then if there was time, record some other songs for fun.
We worked on "Bella's Song" until everyone was satisfied that the best version was recorded. We then recorded "Finally" and "Foolish Games." Alice was awesome at giving me quiet pointers in between takes. It was a lot of hard work but fun too.
Afterwards, Edward, Alice, and I sat in the kitchen munching on snacks. We discussed the karaoke party that the Esme and Carlisle had agreed to allow at the house and were fronting the rental of all the equipment for it. They were so awesome! There was a lot of work involved in setting this up and performing but it was going to be the coolest party Forks had seen…well likely ever. Alice and I danced around the kitchen in excitement as Edward laughed, happy for us.