Hey everybody! Thanks to JayxKay, harryrulesmyworld, Sokai, strayphoenix, topazchick08 and MysteriousReviewer for the awesome feedback! Actually, harryrulesmyworld, Irma's my favorite character (though it might not be obvious). Good news update-wise. My school's spring break starts on Thursday so you guys can be expecting new chapters a lot faster! Speaking of chapters, here's #3!
Disclaimer: I don't own W.I.T.C.H., Wicked, or Red Bull.
Chapter 3
I Know This Feeling
The rest of the week had come and gone, and Saturday afternoon found our favorite protectors of the universe grouped outside of Sheffield's auditorium, trying to get a very stubborn Taranee through the doors.
"I already told you guys, there is NO WAY IN CANDRACAR that I am going in there!" the fire maven struggled, hanging on to the door handle for dear life as Hay Lin and Irma tugged at her by the legs.
"Oh look, there's Nigel," Cornelia said brightly, pointing to the back of a head of shaggy brown hair.
"WHERE?" Taranee cried, pulling out a hand mirror with amazing speed to check her makeup. With a quick smile, she ducked off into the theater to chat up her crush, leaving the other girls to look gratefully to Cornelia.
"So how did those voice lessons go, Will?" Hay Lin asked, riffling through a packet of song sheets.
"Fine," Will answered, a tinge of pink rising in her cheeks.
"Something tells me singing was the last thing they practiced," Irma whispered, nudging Hay Lin.
"Something tells me you'd better start running," Will retorted, and before she could grab Irma in a headlock, Ms. Kelly poked her head out into the hallway. "You're up next girls!" she said before disappearing again.
"Well, here we go." Irma turned around and walked into the theater, her friends behind her all the way.
IKNOWTHISFEELINGIKNOWTHISFEELINGIKNOWTHISFEELINGIKNOWTHISFEELING
"NEXT!"
"What do you mean?" Uriah whined from onstage. "I'd make the perfect Fiyero! Just look at me! Have you ever seen anything look so devilishly handsome?"
"Yes," Ms. Kelly said, trying to keep her calm, having just been through five hours of off-key hopefuls. "Everything and anything that isn't you. NEXT!"
Uriah stomped offstage and stalked past his group of flunkies, flinging his sheet music over his shoulder as he went. "Hay Lin! You're up next!" Ms. Kelly called.
Hay Lin grabbed Taranee by the wrist and dragged her up onto the stage. "We're auditioning together," she told Ms. Kelly, who nodded and sat back, waiting for them to begin.
While Hay Lin took the accompaniment CD and scanned over the song list, Taranee was trying hard not to meet anyone's eyes. She was never the best at dealing with judgment. "Hay Lin," she whispered as her friend's finger found the perfect number. "I don't think I can do this."
The air girl sighed and popped the CD into the player, setting it to the right number. "Tara, it's just Ms. Kelly and the girls. You'll be fine. No one's gonna laugh at you or anything. Just…play the 'if I can't see you, you can't see me' game. Don't worry. I'm right here with you."
Taranee nodded, fixing her stare on the giant pumpkin mural that she'd helped paint not two weeks ago in honor of Sheffield Institute's annual Pumpkin Day while Hay Lin pressed a microphone into her hand and the music began to swell throughout the room.
"One short day in the Emerald City. One short day, full of so much to do. Every way that you look in the city, there's something exquisite that you'll want to visit before the day's through…"
Irma eyebrows shot up in surprise as she heard her friends sing. She hadn't known Taranee could sing, and Hay Lin hadn't exactly ever let off that she could carry a tune. But together, they sounded…good. Really good. Just like by ourselves, we're all right, but as a team, W.I.T.C.H. kicks some serious ass…or is it W.T.C.H. now?
Before Irma could lapse further into her reveries, the sound of footsteps jolted her out of her memories. Cobalt Blue, otherwise known to the girls as Matt's band, strolled through the doors of the auditorium as quietly as they could, taking seats in the front row and setting down their instruments, freshly tuned from practice. The ex-water girl was just about to tear her gaze away when she saw him.
Him happened to be a tall, dark, and certainly handsome guy. Light blonde hair falling around his face, he bent down to pick up the lyrics Uriah had so carelessly tossed aside, straightening up with a look of interest as his eyes scanned the sheets. A pair of purple-tinted sunglasses was perched atop his head, a jacket proclaiming the name of the band in big obviously blue lettering hanging loosely around his shoulders, reaching down past the waist of his dark blue jeans. He sat down next to Matt, eyes still glued to the papers, and Irma couldn't help but let hers follow him. She hadn't really paid much attention to other guys in Matt's band, but now…
"…sharing one wonderful one short day!"
Taranee and Hay Lin looked to Ms. Kelly, who scribbled something onto her clipboard before meeting the girls' gaze.
"Great job, girls. You can take a seat." She glanced over her shoulder at the auditorium's wall clock and gave a little eep of surprise when she realized how late it was. "Okay guys, we need to step it up a bit. Will, you and Matt do this number, Cornelia and Irma, you do this one, and the rest of you I'll talk to later," she blurted hurriedly, passing out song sheets left and right.
Will and Matt's rendition of "As Long As You're Mine," flew by as fast as a guardian on Red Bull, so they passed their microphones to Irma and Cornelia within three minutes. The girls took the stage, and with one uncertain glance at the other, started to sing.
"What is this feeling, so sudden and new?" Cornelia started, her voice a soft and melodious tone people rarely ever heard it take. Its ever-present edge was gone, replaced by a grace she usually reserved for skating.
"I felt the moment I laid eyes on you," Irma sang back, powerful as her personality.
"My pulse is rushing."
"My head is reeling."
"My face is flushing."
"What is this feeling?" The girls hid their surprise as they heard their voices blend, a strangely pleasing sound, balanced between force and beauty.
"Fervid as a flame…does it have a name? Yeeeeeeeeeeeesss! Loathing! Unadulterated loathing!"
"For your face."
"Your voice."
"Your clothing."
"It's so pure so strong!"
Wow, is this the story of our lives or what? Irma thought. Reminds me of the day I met ol' Corny…
Flashback
The kindergarteners of Sheffield Institute bid their parents goodbye as they walked into their first day of school. Well, most of them walked. Irma Lair stomped into the classroom, clearly wanting to be back at home baking cookies with her step-mother than slapping painting on a piece of paper with her fingers.
By noon, the little honey-haired girl was sitting in a corner, grumpily slamming building blocks one on top of the other. She was just about to knock the whole thing down when a high-pitched voice stopped her.
"You know, you're wearing last year's shoes."
Irma turned around to meet Cornelia Hale, all three-foot-two of kid's fashion poster child.
"Well duh, last year was when I got 'em," Irma retorted, turning around and knocking her fist against the block tower.
Little Cornelia wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"You look like a bug when you do that," Irma observed, stacking up the blocks again.
"At least I don't like boy stuff," Cornelia said.
"Blocks aren't boy stuff," Irma said, standing up and facing the little blonde girl.
"Are too. Makeup is girl stuff."
"Makeup? You mean that stuff that makes you look like a clown?" Irma asked innocently.
"At least I don't smash blocks."
"At least I'M not part of the circus."
"Crayon eater!"
"Cootie catcher!"
"Nose picker!"
"BOY LIKER!"
A long silence fell over the entire room. The teacher walked over to the girls and put them in the corners to think about what they did. But they weren't think about what they'd said. They were thinking about each other. 'I'm never gonna talk to her again.'
End Flashback
What a long way we've come since then, Irma thought, singing out the next to last line of the song. But I know that feeling.
"And I will be loathing for forever loathing, truly deeply loathing you (loathing you)…my whole life through!"
WOW that was a long chapter. Allrightee, before I tell you to review, I've got some advertisements my friends asked me to do. SO:
For all you Harry Potter fans, check out my good friend Periphery's fanfic, The Echinodermaga & leave a review (she REALLY needs some, guys!) and also for HP fans, if you're looking for a good roleplay site, check out Hogwarts Unleashed (Personal Message me for the link) Anyway, no I don't know that that's how Cornelia & Irma met, I just thought it fit in with the song & all. Now that you've read, REVIEW! 11 reviews & I'll have chapter 4 for you!
