Over 2000 words doods! Hopefully you'll get even more chapters this good! See, I'm not sure if I'll be doing 40 chapters for this story, but I got some crazy ideas that you won't wanna miss out on. They all start in Chapter 12, which is NEXT CHAPTER. WHOA!

Ray POV

The callbacks were strange. First, the producers, plus Amy and Laurel, had selected a particular song from the listings, Original. Then they had Anna and I, the only two for the role, sing the selected song by ourselves. Afterward, the producers brought us onto the same stage so we could duet the song using improvisation. Clara happened to sneak in during my solo performance, so she was able to see both my solo and the duet. When it came to the duet, she knew exactly what to expect, and so did I. Anna, on the other hand, completely freaked out, although keeping her complaints specifically to me. I ignored them, focusing on the song and the actual callback instead of Anna.

"Rachael Hughes. Anna Malcolm! Please come out to the stage for your duet!" the man in the suit from the audition called out, motioning for us to walk out. On the stage, there stood two stands with two microphones. I took the place on the left side of the stage, while Anna stole the right. We both wore similar outfits: white shirts, blue jeans, and converse. She had neon pink ones while I stayed with classic black.

Anna begun once the music counted off, one hand on her hip, the other around the base of her microphone. "Way back before she hit the scene.

And she became the indie queen.

She was a girl with nothing big to say."

I continued with the simple lyrics. I stayed close to the stand while Anna instantly took her mic off. "Her mouth was full of silver spoons.

Singing her dime a dozen tunes.

'Til she came up with something new to play."

Anna over-exaggerated the lyrics into her hand motions. "A girl so scarred, a pain so real.

A life so hard, becomes a song you feel."

I finished off the first verse strongly. "Her tracks were leaked and all the hipsters freaked.

She made herself a star."

Both of us burst out singing, surprisingly in harmony. We pulled our mics off the stands and "She wants, she wants, she wants to be original.

She will, she will become something remarkable.

Who cares, who cares, who cares what stunt she has to pull.

She'll be remade as somebody original."

I started the second verse. "Way back before the interviews.

Before her music made the news."

Anna took my last line from me like stealing candy from a kid. "She was a nothing no one talked about.

A mousy girl behind the mic.

One more vanilla look-alike."

"'Til she decided to stand out."

"And now it's crazy clothes, a brand new name.

A fixed up nose and monster fame."

I decided to return the favor by taking the lines that Anna was supposed to sing. "Though she might say that she was born this way.

She made herself a star." I smirked as I sang that phrase, glancing over towards Anna. She glared back, finally realizing what I was trying to do. The producers liked me better, and she knew it.

Obvious that my competition desired the spotlight, the brighter light ended up falling on me as we cheerfully jumped around the stage, showing off. "She wants, she wants, she wants to be original.

She will, she will become something remarkable.

Who cares, who cares, who cares what stunt she has to pull.

She'll be remade as somebody original."

Anna lifted her microphone above her head like a pop-star, causing her hair to gracefully fall behind, "You can wipe away everything you are."

"Wake up tomorrow as a star." I held out that certain note until a single bright spotlight glowed on my face, lifting attention from Anna to me. "There was a girl who blended in.

That was the way her life had been." I glanced up into the lighting booth and spotted someone very familiar manning the spotlight. Clara. She winked and I grinned while singing.

"'Til she decided to be someone else."

The spotlight faded away to another double light, shining more brightly on me than Anna. "She wants, she wants, she wants to be original.

She will, she will become something remarkable.

Who cares, who cares, who cares what stunt she has to pull.

She'll be remade as somebody original."

Anna went first. "Somebody original!"

"Somebody original!"

Both of us took the last line, unsure of who would sing it. Anna tried to take it first, but I ended up joining her. "Somebody original."

I'm not very sure how we pulled it off, but all five panelist stood in applause, including the man in the suit who had ignored me during the audition.

"Brava!" the man shouted, "You girls are magnificent. I'm going to have a tough decision ahead of me…"

Amy, on the other end of the table, slid down another paper to the man, who read it thoroughly.

The man continued, "I'll get the results to you by the end of the day. Thank you both."

I practically skidded off-stage and bumped into Clara, beaming with joy.

"Do you think you'll win?!" Clara demanded, holding me by my arms. I pulled away from her, slipped on my sweatshirt, forced Clara to hand me back my cell phone, which I entrusted in her care during the performance, and placed it in the pocket of my jacket.

Shrugging, I glanced behind my friend's shoulder to clarify that my competitor was out of sight. "I don't know. Maybe. Anna was pretty good… She has gotten better since I last saw her…"

Clara chuckled, shaking her head, "That girl looked like a celebrity on that stage…"

"Well she is," I quickly interrupted.

"Never mind that… Let's go…"

Suddenly, I felt a buzz from my jacket pocket. Confused, I tightened my eyebrows and took out my cell phone, pressing the home button. It was a missed call from an unknown number. I instantly opened up my screen and called back the number. Throughout all of this, Clara stood in front of me, as startled as I was.

"Hello?" I questioned.

The girl's voice seemed a bit shaky as she pronounced my name. I could immediately recognize Amy from the way she spoke. "Rachael. Hi. It's Amy… from the production. Do you happen to still be in the building?"

I nodded, but realized that she couldn't see my reaction, so I instantly improvised. "Yeah. I am."

"Can you come up to the studio to grab your script?"

"What?"

"Am I the first one to tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"You won the part."

For a moment, I remained absolutely silent. Clara tapped me on the arm, causing me to slap her with my free hand. I sighed and returned to the call. "I'll be up there as soon as I can. Thank you."

"No, thank you."

Amy hung up the call. I was left quiet and beyond belief. My heart raced in my chest. Usually I only reacted in times of danger, but in that certain situation, I felt like fainting into Clara's arms. I forced myself not to, only for the sake of no one freaking out.

"Clara," I whispered, my breath unsteady.

"What is it?" Her tone regressed with each sentence.

"I got the part."

We stood still for a few more seconds until both bursting out screaming at the same time. I jumped in to hug her, and she accepted the hug with friendly arms.

I backed off, nevertheless excited. "When do you know when you get the part?"

She crossed her arms nonchalantly. "They called me yesterday. I already won it."

"Wait…" I paused, glaring over at my friend, who grinned only for her satisfaction, "You got the part and you didn't tell me?"

"Yep!" Clara smirked, "And to celebrate our victories… we go to Hollywood and Highland and take crappy pictures with people in giant costumes!"

"Why?"

Clara groaned, rolling her eyes, "Cause that's what all normal stars do. Ray, get with the program."

I smiled, placing my hand on her shoulder, "And that, my friend, is why I hang out with you. You remind me of my other friend Fia… so that may be a reason."

"Who?"

"Forget it. Let's head out! But… how do we get there?"

"Tour bus of course!"

"Tour bus?"

"Everyone would love to hear that the wife of BajanCanadian is riding on a tour bus! They'd want to see her… and takes crappy pictures with their cell phones. Maybe I can get some cash…"

I laughed, "Don't even think about it." I spun around and paced away. Clara groaned and followed behind.

"Ray, you're gonna regret not charging for pictures!" my friend announced from afar, "You'll rue the day!"

"Clara, shut up." When I turned a corner, I accidentally ran into Laurel. She dropped a stack of paper she held, and I shot down to the floor to help her pick them up. I picked up one in particular: piano chords for a song. Noticing me, Laurel gasped and snatched the paper from my hand. I looked to her, confused.

"You weren't supposed to see that!" she panicked.

"What was it?"

"I can't… it's confidential…"

"Well, you can tell me… I'm part of the cast now…"

"It doesn't have to do with that. The producers don't know I wrote it… they won't like it."

"Can I see? Maybe I'll have a different opinion."

Clara arrived from behind the corner to find Laurel and I on our knees, holding sheets of paper. She lingered behind, understanding that Laurel and I were having a moment.

The pianist shyly handed me the paper she stole. I quickly read over it.

"How does it go?" I questioned.

Laurel smiled, "I'll show you. Just help me with these… please."

I gasped, grabbing all the papers I could, "Oh! Yeah!"

Once we obtained the sheets, Laurel led Clara and I to another room with a fancy grand piano sitting in the center. There were musical instruments around it, but the piano seemed to be the center of attention.

Laurel raced to the keys, placing her music down on the stand, and letting me sit on the stool with her. Clara pulled up another chair close to the piano so she could hear us.

Since I could easily read sheet music, I was able to pick out when to sing and when not to just based off reading the paper. Laurel begun playing a certain section of the chorus, and pointed to it once she was ready. I nodded to let her know I was ready as well. The music begun swirling through my mind as I read off the lyrics in song. Laurel played the notes for the vocals as well to help me.

"I'll pull myself together

I'm focused on the prize

I'm falling, baby, through the sky, through the sky

I'm falling, baby, through the sky

It's my calling, baby, don't you cry, don't you cry

I'm falling down through the sky

It's a tune you can hum Oh Broadway here I come

hmmmmmmmmm

Will I remain the same, or will I change a little bit

Will I feel broken or totally complete

Will I retain my name when I'm the biggest hugest hit…"

"Excuse me," someone coughed from behind us. The music stopped playing. At the same time, Laurel, Clara, and I glanced back to find the man in the suit with two others from the panel at the doorway. "What were you singing?"

Laurel shriveled into her sweater, so I chose to take the lead, "It's a song that she wrote. It's really good. She's thinking of putting it into the show."

"It's in," the man replied.

Laurel perked up from reviewing her music, "Huh?"

"That song is brilliant. I love it. Just like our two leading ladies." The man grinned and exited the room, leaving the three of us in shock.

"Did he just agree with me for once in my life?" Laurel asked, surprise in her voice.

I nodded, in compliance with my two other friends. "Hey Laurel?"

"Yeah?"

"Wanna come with us on a tour bus?"

"Why would I not?!" Laurel exclaimed, her face brightening up. Clara acknowledged me with a smirk.

This will be the best time of my life, I thought to myself. But how was I to know that a tour bus would cause so much trouble?

What's up with the tour bus? What do you think will happen? Who will show up?

Ray finally got the role she deserved! Congratulate her with #congrats in the reviews! I know, this is stupid, but it works! (lol)