hey! what's it been, like a year? crazy. anyway, I got a random burst of motivation to finish this human AU story so I've been writing non-stop for the past couple of days, expect more updates to come!
Who the fuck had the audacity to kick a terrified teenager off the stage like that? Just so they could sing a stupid Sinatra song? (Okay, she actually liked the song, but she wouldn't anymore just because of that dick).
One thing that had always been constant about Ash was her emotions, specifically, her anger. When she was younger, she often got into fights because of how easy it was to piss her off. Of course, as she grew up, the fights became less frequent, but that was only because Ash learned how to walk away.
However, every method she had ever learned to calm herself down left her the moment she saw Meena run off the stage. Sweet Meena, whose only dream was to sing.
Johnny could be described as the exact opposite of Ash. He was someone whose thoughts were calm nine times out of ten. It took a lot to make him angry, and when he was, it was easy to talk him out of it. But even he had to admit that watching that chubby, middle-aged man call Meena names as he took the stage lit a fire under him.
Before he could let his anger burn any brighter, Ash was on her feet in front of him. From the look on her face, Johnny knew what she planned to do. He also knew that, as much as the guy deserved it, it wouldn't do any good.
Before Ash could walk over to that stage and give that asshole a piece of her mind, her wrist was grabbed and she was pulled down. She glanced at the man responsible, her anger now finding a new target.
"What the hell? Let me go!" She didn't bother whispering and didn't care about the multiple shushes from the theatre.
"You can't. You go up there and you won't have any chance of getting in this show and everyone will look at him as some poor soul who got beat up by an angry girl," Johnny said, trying to reason with her. Ash knew how right he was, but that didn't mean she wanted to punch him any less. "Go find Meena instead, make sure she's alright. I'll save both of your seats." Johnny hoped giving her something else to focus on would help calm her.
"Yeah… yeah, okay. I'll be back." Ash said and rushed out of the theatre doors. She continued on until she was out of the theatre. She noticed the diminishing crowd of auditioners, as well as a few people walking to and from different stores around the theatre, but the teen was nowhere in sight. Ash sighed, lifting a hand to her temple in frustration. She really hoped wherever Meena was, she was with someone who could help her.
Being outside helped calm Ash down a bit, realizing that she really couldn't let herself blow up in front of so many people. After a few deep breaths, her anger let go of its control of her mind, and she was able to think clearly again. Looking back at the audition line, she realized truly how few people were left, and knew she needed to make sure Lance was here, quick. She took her phone out and noticed no notifications from him, rolling her eyes, she clicked his number to call him, The line rang multiple times before a voice answered.
"Hello?" Lance's sleepy voice was heard from the phone.
"Did you get my text?" Ash asked, not bothering to greet her boyfriend.
"You texted?" Lanced asked. Ash tried her best not to let the fresh anger back.
"Yes, I texted like, twenty minutes ago. Auditions are almost done, you should head back now."
"Oh, okay. I'll leave now," Lance suddenly sounded more awake.
"Bye," Ash muttered and hung up without waiting for his reply. After taking a few more breaths, Ash headed back inside, trying to be as quiet as possible while another person auditioned. She sat down quickly beside Johnny, who looked at her expectedly. She shook her head as she sat.
"She's gone, I couldn't find her." It was Johnny's turn to shake his head now as he absentmindedly watched the auditioner.
"He's lucky I have morals, or else he's be betting a proper beating," he muttered. Although Ash agreed with the sentiment, she could help the giggle that came from his verbiage. "What are you laughing at?" Johnny asked, unenthused.
"Nothing, just don't think I've heard anyone use the word 'proper' like that before," Ash said, happy to have some kind of comedic relief.
"Yeah, it's almost like I'm English or something," Johnny said sarcastically.
"English? I thought you were British?"
"Ehh, no one here really knows the difference so I stopped correcting them. It's like the east coast versus the west coast. Only matters if you know what you're talking about, ya know?"
"Yeah, I guess," Ash shrugged. The rest of the auditions were spent mostly in silence, the two occasionally sharing a few words when another auditioner was better than expected, or sometimes worse.
Ash sat there with many conflicting feelings floating through her brain. For one, the anger for poor Meena still lingered. And while she didn't feel the uncontrollable rage like she had when the situation happened, she still felt guilty at letting herself go there. She really wished she had gotten a way to contact Meena before she left, that way she could at least check in with the girl after.
While letting her anger get out of control was one thing, she let it happen in front of a stranger, Not just any stranger, a cute one. All of those facts combined made her hate herself. Honestly, it really just wasn't her day.
And, to top it all off, she was pretty sure she wasn't going to be selected for this singing thing. After their performance and the obvious hatred on Moon's face, she was lucky they hadn't been kicked out like almost every other venue had.
Johnny, for the most part, was doing alright. I mean, when you consider all that happened in the span of, what, a couple of hours? Sure, he was pretty sad about Meena running away, and that cocky bastard that chased her off deserved whatever bad things came his way. And yeah, he lied to his dad about where he was, and we would have to lie to him again when he got back. But he was an adult, and he was doing something he genuinely wanted to do, for a change. Not having to worry about hiding his desire from everyone. Here, he didn't have to hide, they were all here for the same reason; singing.
The only thing that was frazzling him, really, was Ash. She was blunt but nice, so it seemed. She was also, very attractive, a fact he hated to admit. Since moving, he hadn't really been much into the "dating scene". His dad's heists were already enough to worry about, he didn't have the emotional or physical capacity for a relationship. Sure, he could have hooked up with dozens of girls in the meantime. He had plenty of opportunities. But Johnny had never been interested in flings. Since he was a kid, he always wanted the stereotypical love story, watching his parents growing up had proven that to him.
But Ash… she stirred something up in him that no girl had before. She was rude at times and had little regard for personal space. And it was obvious she was a very distrusting person. While he respected all of that, she was not the type Johnny usually favored. In the past, he normally found himself looking toward polite, shy girls, who valued education and family. Just from the brief moments he had interacted with Ash, he knew that was not her. Also, and the biggest setback, it seemed she was already taken.
The two sat in the back of the theatre, feeling alone with their thoughts. As they watched the many people walk up the stage and sing, they had no idea they were battling the same question in their heads. Who would be the first to find the answer? Who knew?