This story is my first (fanfiction or otherwise) in quite a long time, so I may be a bit rusty. I'm planning on only having four chapters, each about a separate character's Julliard application, though that may not always be the focus of the chapter. Each chapter is probably going to be an unrelated oneshot, though I may try to incorporate similar themes or plotlines throughout.

Also, I don;t own anything.

"I don't understand what I did wrong, Mr. Stevens," Kelsi Nielsen addressed her Advanced Music Composition teacher after class. She was trying to keep her voice level, but it was hard, as every time that she looked at the large red C on her last composition for the class, she felt as if her entire world was coming down. The middle aged man in front of her had been anticipating this conversation, but that didn't stop the worry and displeasure from showing on his stern but kind face. "You didn't do anything wrong…to be honest there are some students who I would have been thrilled to see this piece come from."

"Then why punish me for it? I mean, I did everything that you asked for with the piece."

"I know, Kelsi."

"And I worked on it for hours."

"I know, Kelsi."

"And I cannot do poorly in this class. I just can't."

"I know, Kelsi," Mr. Stevens responded, chuckling mirthlessly. He was well aware of Kelsi's aspirations, even if she was too shy to openly speak of them. "Then why?!" Kelsi asked, yelling at herself to remain calm. "Because we both know that this isn't the best you can do," Mr. Stevens responded. Though he was an understanding man, and genuinely liked Kelsi, tact had never been his strong point.

"Well, what's wrong with it? Just let me know and I'll fix it," Kelsi blurted out desperately. "That's exactly it! You didn't write this for yourself, you didn't write it because you thought it as good, you wrote this to fill all the criteria and because you thought it would impress me. And yes, you incorporated everything that I asked for, and it shows a technical knowledge that few people your age have. But that doesn't change the fact that if you don't write for yourself, everything you do will be as uninspiring and dull as this." Kelsi could do nothing but study her shoes intently. She knew that everything she was hearing was the truth. She knew it even before she heard it out loud. But now she was being forced to admit it to herself. "I just," she finally stammered, "I don't know…"

"Don't know what?" Mr. Stevens asked gently. I don't know why writing for myself isn't enough anymore. I mean, I spent hours working on that thing," she pointed to her piece like it was diseased, "'and even when I finished I hated it."

"Look Kelsi, you just need to relax. Remember why you first started writing in the first place. Go make to the writer that you were just a couple of months ago. That was a musician who knew exactly what she liked in a song and knew how to make it happen. If that composer can get back, and revise this piece, I would be more than happy to rethink your grade." Kelsi looked up, managing a half smile at these words of encouragement and hope. "Now, I've been meaning to talk to you about something else. I assume that Ms. Darbus gave you the scholarship application for Julliard?"

"Um, yeah…" Kelsi said quietly.

"And you've filled it out? And picked what compositions you want to send in?"

"Well, I…I mean, I've been meaning to, but I've just been really busy with school, and…" her voice trailed off into nothingness.

"Kelsi," Mr. Stevens began sternly, "you know how great of an opportunity this is. And maybe you don't know this, but I'm telling you that you have as much of a chance as being accepted as any other applicant. And I am not going to let you blow such a great thing because you're scared." Kelsi sat there motionlessly. She wanted to yell out and say that she wasn't afraid. That fully intended on filling out the application right after she got home. That she didn't get terrified every time she looked at the application. But none of those things would have been true, so she simply said in a voice just above a whisper "alright."

"Good, now I have to go to a meeting, but how about you get that piece to me buy next week, and I really do hope that you get the application to Ms. Darbus by then as well," he told her earnestly.

As Kelsi walked down the hall, she wasn't sure what to think. All she knew was that her ability to write music, the thing that she loved to most in the world, seemed to be slipping away from her more and more with each passing day. It was a feeling that scared her more than anything that she had experienced in a very long time. All that she wanted to do was run home and hide from everything, but despite what her delicate features and shy demeanor suggested, Kelsi was a strong person. She wouldn't let something so important to her just disappear.

That was why a few minutes later, Kelsi found herself sitting in the practice room staring at the same familiar black and white keys. She had put a few pages of staff paper in front of her and hoped that inspiration would suddenly strike her. But a few minutes (though it could have been hours) later, she was in the same position. Every creative bone in her body seemed to have completely shut down. She tried everything from looking at other pieces for inspiration to trying to improvising and hoping that something would come to her. But still, nothing worked. Finally, she slammed the keys in frustration, creating a noise that even surprised her, and caused her to jump. She received another shock a second later when a voice said "I'm not an expert, but I think you might have missed a note."

Kelsi turned quickly to discover the source of the voice, and was somewhat surprised to find Zeke standing at the entrance of the room, leaning on the doorframe.

"Zeke…" Kelsi sputtered, still slightly in shock from his unexpected intrusion, "what are you doing here?" she asked, not sure if her voice had come out welcoming or upset. "I got out of practice a few minutes ago, and I forgot my keys in my locker…and on my way I saw you in here. Sorry for scaring you. I just…you looked like you were concentrating and I didn't want to disrupt you," Zeke said, speaking faster than he normally did in an attempt to explain himself.

"Well, you weren't interrupting much…"

"Oh? You were sounding pretty good. I mean, not that I know what 'good' really sounds like, but…I liked it."

"Well, thanks," Kelsi said with a half smile, "unfortunately you might be the only one," she glanced at her most recently graded composition. Zeke, noticing where Kelsi's eyes went, said "hey, don't worry about that. I mean, it's just one person's opinion. And even if you did write one bad thing…no one's perfect."

"No, I know. It's not even just that."

"What wrong then?"

"I don't know," Kelsi sighed deeply, "Have you ever felt like…like something that was a really big part of your life, and that you always thought would be there, was just slipping away?"

"Well, I don't know if this is the same thing, but there was a stretch when I thought I had completely forgotten to play basketball," Zeke offered hopefully.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I mean, I know it sounds dumb, and it sort of is dumb. But when I first got on the varsity team in freshman year, everything completely changed. I just kept freezing. The shots that used to be simple always missed, the hoop always seemed 50 feet away and 3 inches wide. At one point I think I even forgot how to dribble," he said, his face both nostalgic and slightly embarrassed.

"So what did you do?" Kelsi asked. By now she was feeling more comfortable with Zeke's presence, and had almost forgotten that just a few minutes ago her world seemed on the brink of falling apart. "I got over it. It definitely wasn't easy. I practiced pretty much all the time, and went over game scenarios in my head all day. But I think it was more than that. I forced myself to confront my fears. In my case, those fears were that I would mess up and make myself look like an idiot in front of the entire school, and let my team down. But after admitting that, it was a lot easier to get over that fear." Kelsi didn't say anything. "I'm sorry. You didn't ask for my life story. I was just babbling," Zeke apologized, misunderstanding her silence. "No. That's not it. I was just thinking."

"Oh okay," Zeke said, sounding relived, "what are you thinking about?"

"Just…my fears."

"What are they?"

"…rejection. Taking a chance and having it backfire."

"If it helps, I think I'm guilty of that one as well," Zeke said, looking at her more directly than he ever had before, then quickly turning away, "I think everyone is."

"Yeah, you're right. Its just that my entire life I've been able to go under the radar and avoid risks. Now there's this whole Julliard thing, and I can't do that. And I know that this whole thing is dumb, but its completely taking over everything that I try to do."

"It's not dumb," Zeke said reassuringly, "I mean, this is your whole life. That's not dumb."

"Thanks," Kelsi said, smiling for the perhaps the first time that day, "I still don't know what I'm going to do about…well, anything, but thanks."

"No problem, and look, I don't really know anything about Julliard or music, or anything really, but I do know that you love all of this stuff. I mean, anyone that sees you even in the same room as a piano knows how important it is to you. And there's a reason for that. I'm not saying I know what it is, but I do know that Julliard isn't that reason. It started before the Julliard thing, and it will be there afterwards."

The two teenagers sat in silence. Kelsi, surprised that Zeke knew so much about everything, and Zeke hoping that he hadn't embarrassed himself. "You're right," Kelsi finally said. "I am?" Zeke asked with wide eyes.

"You are," Kelsi said, giggling quietly.

"Well, I'll have to tell some people the big news," he said, smiling, "anyway, I should get going…music geniuses aren't the only ones with senior year stress."

"Alright, talk to you later."

"Bye."

"Oh, and Zeke…"

"What's up?"

"Thanks a lot…I really mean it."

"Hey, anything for y-…anything for a friend," Zeke said, and slipped out of the room.

Kelsi once again looked down at her composition paper. She still didn't know what to write, and she was still terrified when she looked down at the black letters on the application cover. But now, as she again pressed her fingers slowly to the keys, she was no longer paralyzed. As the music flowed out of the piano, she could almost feel it freeing her mind.

I was fairly happy with how this turned out, though some parts probably need work. Let me know what you thought, and I'll try to get back to you. You can also let me know who you think I should do next in the series.

Thanks for reading.