As promised here is the next installment. Again thank you so much for reading, and thank you especially to those who took the time to leave their comments. I'm going on hiatus for a couple of days, hopefully when I get back I'll have a new chapter for you. For now though, I hope you enjoy this one, please do tell me what you think. :)

The Audition

Hope. It has got to be one of the most wonderful feelings in the world.

Emily was filled with hope, her mind filled with nothing but bright and shiny thoughts. In fact ever since that faithful Friday with Naomi, she had been the most optimistic person in the world.

That afternoon she got home in a daze. The rain had not bothered her, nor did her drenched clothes, or semi-soggy shoes... nothing did. All of a sudden, Katie's nagging was not as annoying, and James' antics didn't seem as much of a pain as they used to.

On the weekend Emily got out of bed ridiculously early, and was completely unable to get back to sleep. She got up and took a shower, then looked around for something to do. She had done all of her coursework, even finished a couple of papers that were not due for weeks. She decided to do her laundry, looked into her hamper but found it did not contain enough for even one load. Her desk was clean, drawers tidy, the bed was made, lines memorized.

It struck her then that the possibility being with Naomi (for the sake of the play of course) had led her to a bizarre state of over achievement. Yes, she had always been a decent student, and fairly tidy, but now she was impassioned... now she felt her best. She was pursuing excellence, thinking that when she found it, Naomi would be there somehow.

Life was good... it really was.

But then there was something looming, a wrinkle she hadn't ironed out and she had been dreading it since Katie had pointed it out the day she got the part. She had to tell her mum.

Mrs. Fitch was never one for surprises. So when Emily got the part, she knew it would take all the coaxing in the world to allow her daughter stay behind.

"No, absolutely not."

"Mum, I'm old enough to fend for myself, and you and dad leave us here most of the time anyway and— "

"Emily's right Mum, I mean it's not like she's going to have wild parties here or anything." Katie gives her sister a once over before frowning in disapproval.

"Please Mum," Emily begged once again, her eyes grew wide pleading.

"That's final Love. Not another word."

"But Mum—"

"Not another word Emily!"

Deafening silence loomed over the Fitch family dining table. Their mother carried on eating as if nothing had ever happened, their father worriedly shifted his eyes from Emily to his wife then back again and Katie and James moved their food around, taking the occasional bite or two so as not to seem suspicious. The rest of Emily's meal was left untouched.

Hope was now lost, it was one of the most terrible feelings in the world.

Life was over... at least for her it was.

Emily sat alone in the library faced with an impossible amount of freshly assigned course work. She was surrounded by piles of books stacked high like a fortress, effectively concealing her, not like anyone was dying to sit next to her anyway.

"Hiding from someone?" the voice was so unmistakable it instantly made Emily smile. "Hey Naomi." She says as she looks up, her smile quickly replaced with a worried expression as soon as she sees the stack of books that Naomi was trying to carry.

She stands up to help, "Here, I'll just take these," Emily's fingers touch Naomi's inadvertently, and she feels an involuntary rush go through her body as she takes half of the books and lays them on the table.

"Thanks," Naomi beams at her grateful for the help, "Are you sure you don't mind me sitting next to you?"

"No, sure... uh... go ahead." Emily gestured to seat next to her.

"Good, because I don't think I would have made it very far with those bloody things anyway."

The first 20 minutes with Naomi felt awful, almost like torture for Emily, knowing that it was probably the last time that they'd ever have an excuse to be together. She almost wanted Naomi to be terrible to her, to be unpleasant or completely boring, at least then it would feel like she wouldn't be missing out on much. But unfortunately the blonde who happened to own the most captivating set of eyes that Emily had ever seen was none of these things— in fact, Naomi exceeded Emily's expectations immensely. The truth was she was rather easy to talk to, and she listened when Emily spoke... really listened—like she was sincerely interested in what Emily had to say, she was funny too in dry kind of way, and she laughed at Emily's jokes.

The librarian kept furrowing her brows and squinting at them perhaps believing if she tried hard enough the two girls would turn into stone. Emily leaned forward to whisper something, "I think she actually wants to kill us now." she says in hushed tone, her voice coming off huskier than usual. She could have sworn that she hears Naomi's breath catch for a second.

Naomi looks over her shoulder then back to Emily, "Yeah, I think you're right. We should probably get to work."

An hour and a half later they were discussing an assignment involving themes in contemporary Literature. It takes a few minutes when Emily realizes something, "You know, you think too much."

Naomi opens her mouth as if to argue, but she pauses for a moment then smiles easily, "What do you mean think too much?" she forms air quotations at the last two words.

"You know, like when you analyze everything."

"That's bullocks." She says huffing, looking defensive and folding her arms across her chest. "I do not analyze everything."

"Yeah?" Emily says trying hard to hide a smirk, "what do you think of the chair in this chapter?"

"Well... it's blue, so... it could represent sadness or empathy or his distress—"Naomi stops speaking the moment she hears Emily's infectious laughter.

"Or..." the redhead fights hard to catch her breath, "Or, the writer might just mean that the chair is fucking blue."

"Fuck you." Naomi manages before she too becomes lost in an uncontrollable fit of giggles.

On the way home Emily walks slower than usual, actually making an effort to take in her surroundings, hoping that if she did she'd somehow be able to hold on to the day just little bit longer. Then it hit her, she wasn't going to be in the play anymore. Never mind that she worked so hard for it, or that she had spent so much time trying to find even just the courage to audition. Her Mum didn't see that. But Emily had spent most of her life doing what other people told her. She should be used to it by now really. In fact, up till today she had convinced herself to let go, and she was positively fine with the whole 'letting go' thing really until this afternoon.

Why did Naomi have to be so wonderful? She was making things so painfully difficult. Emily stops then, the weight of situation had finally hit her, and despite herself, she began to cry. She was quiet at first then she broke out in sobs right there in the middle of the street for all of Bristol to see. She stays that way for a while; cold, lost, and alone, when suddenly she hears her phone ring. She waits a couple of seconds for her breathing to level before she finally answers, "Katie?"

"Hey Bitch, Mum's looking for you. We're all waiting for you actually... we're about to have dinner. Where are you?"

"I don't feel like having dinner."

"It's the third time this week Ems; you should at least have—"

"I can't Katie."

Then Emily hangs up leaving Katie to worry about her on the other line.

Naomi stares at herself intently in the mirror as she tries to decide what to wear, so far she had settled on underwear, and a skirt, but now a vast number of tops were slowly collecting in a large heap on her bed. She holds up a shirt and contemplates it for a second before makes a face, then chucks it with the rest of the pile.

"I like the fancy white one, dear, with the dark jacket."

"Mum!" Naomi exclaimed looking positively mortified.

"Got a date love?" Gina Campbell asked wearing a very amused expression on her face.

"No," she answers tersely before adding, "Of course not."

"It looks like you're making a big fuss."

"I'm not... I just... I want to look nice, Jesus." She scowled.

"Whatever you say dear," her mother responded as she walked away smiling.

Naomi rolls her eyes and checks her doorway to make sure her mum was really gone. It was true; she wasn't going out on a date. And she wasn't making a big fuss! What did Gina know?
She could very well just wear anything and it wouldn't matter wouldn't it? But she might see someone again... like let's say... Emily for instance, or anyone... whatever... and it never hurt to look presentable. Not that she cared what Emily thought. Or what Emily's opinion was of her. Who did Emily think she was anyway?

Naomi sighs, looks at the pile of tops scattered across her bed and picks up the fancy white one and the jacket. She holds them up just long enough to see what they look like in the mirror, then walks away hurriedly to get changed.