Sorry it's been so long! I've been super busy but I'm back and ready to write!
Disclaimer: I don't own Next to Normal :(
Henry continued to stay at Natalie's for the next week. They didn't cut any more classes. Natalie cooked really nice meals for dinner just to keep Henry's spirits up. She had honestly been focusing so much on Henry that she completely forgot about her Yale audition. She was making breakfast that next Monday morning when her Dad asked her to check the calendar. That Friday, November 16, was her audition for a full ride at Yale. And she hadn't even practiced in a whole week.
"Shit!" she shouted.
"Language," she heard her dad yell from the family room.
"What's wrong?" Henry asked her, getting up and looking at the calendar too.
"My Yale audition," she explained. "It's this Friday and I totally forgot. I don't even have a flight booked and I haven't even picked a fucking song!"
"Language!" her dad shouted again.
"Nat, I'm sure it'll be fine," Henry said, rubbing her back. "You can book a flight tonight and you're an amazing pianist. You've got the best repertoire. A few hours in the practice room and you'll be set."
"A few hours in the practice room?" Natalie shouted. "Are you insane? I'm not prepared at all. A few hours can't make up for weeks of me slacking! I have to reschedule."
"Aren't you applying like early action?"
"I wish. Early action means I could wait until the spring to commit, so I'm sure I could get another audition in the spring too. But not with early decision. Early decision is one hundred percent the real deal. I have to go if I get in. That's why we audition now, so we know for sure. This can't be happening!"
"Calm down," Henry told her, giving her a kiss to try to distract her. "You can call admissions at lunch when the office is open and explain. I know they'll give you another chance because you're Natalie Goodman and you're amazing."
"Yeah, well, maybe if they actually heard Natalie Goodman play they'd feel the same way," she said bitterly. "But since I've never actually auditioned, they don't give a crap about the Natalie Goodman they've never met!"
"Henry's right!" Dan shouted from the other room. "Just call them up and explain."
"Fine!" Natalie huffed before running up the stairs to get her bookbag.
"What did they say?" Henry asked. He was sitting at the piano bench in the practice room at school. Natalie had just come back from the bathroom where she made the call to Yale.
"If I don't show Friday, my audition is cancelled and I don't get another shot. They'll keep my application but the woman said without an audition, they can't make a fair decision and I probably will be denied admission."
"Can't you sign up for a regular audition for the spring?"
"I could try, but registration is probably already closed. I'm screwed." She sank down on the bench next to him.
"Hey, it's no big deal," Henry said, trying to comfort her. He pulled her into a hug. "You'll just practice harder than ever before. We'll book the flight tonight like I said and everything's going to be fine. You just have to trust me."
"But Yale was my life-my dream!" Natalie said, voice muffled in Henry's sweatshirt. "If I don't get in...I just don't know."
"You applied to a ton of other great schools. If Yale is stupid enough to reject you, you'll go somewhere just as good."
"Maybe, but I didn't apply to any other music program. I was cocky, like, I knew I would get in. Those other applications, I just sent them out to make Dad happy. I don't want to go anywhere else."
"Can't you still go to Yale, like, not for music?" Henry asked.
"Well, yeah, but just being there and knowing I was that close would kill me."
"Then you just have to rock your audition. And you will. Now practice!" He gave her one last squeeze and then left her in peace to practice, shutting the door just as a familiar Mozart sonata filled the room.
It was Wednesday night. Natalie had been getting to school an hour early and staying almost three hours late. After the school practically kicked her out, she headed down to the local YMCA where she'd sneak into the music room and practice some more. She was living on protein bars and Red Bull. She missed dinner every night with Henry and Dan and generally got home at around 8 or 8:30.
After saying hi to her dad downstairs, she hurried up to her room. Henry was sitting on the bed, clutching his phone and staring into space.
"Hey," she said, dropping her bookbag and her jacket. She gave him a peck on the cheek and settled in to do some homework. "Sorry I missed dinner again. But you were right. All this extra practice really does make up for what I missed."
"Oh, it's no problem," he said, sounding distant, like he really wasn't listening. "I'm glad you're doing well."
"Well, I'm going to apologize again. I bet it's incredibly awkward for you to sit alone here with my dad all day when I practice. I would have you come with me, but-"
"I know. You need to focus."
Finally she detected the tone of his voice. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked.
"Huh?" he said, snapping back to reality for the first time since she'd entered. "Oh, I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm fine, okay?" he snapped. Snapping was never a good sign with Henry. Natalie sensed a fight coming on.
"Henry, you're clearly not fine," she insisted. "Look, I'm sorry I've been neglecting you this week. But this audition is really important. I need the practice and it's-"
"It's not the audition. It's...It's..."
"What?"
"I just got off the phone with my dad," he said, eyes watering.
"Oh my god, Henry, what did he say?" Natalie asked, pulling him closer to her and wrapping her arms around him.
"I guess Mom told him I left the house. He told me I should go home, but I said no."
"Was that it?"
"He told me why they split. The real reason. Not what my mom said."
"Well, what was it?" she asked slowly.
"He had been cheating," he said after a long pause. His voice was fierce, very angry.
"Oh, Henry, I'm so sorry. That's horrible."
"No, it's gets worse. He's been seeing the girl for seven years! For fucking seven whole years! And my mom knew. She knew. She's known for six years and decided to just let it be. He said it was to keep the family together, to keep me happy. But now his little...the...the other woman is pregnant and that was the last straw for Mom. And Dad wanted to go anyway. So they split."
"Henry, I have no idea what to say," Natalie told him honestly, "other than I'm so sorry you're going through this." She thought her family was messed up, but Henry had it just as bad.
"There's nothing you can say," he said, pushing away from her and getting out of the bed. "My dad's an ass and my family is fucked."
"Come on, don't talk like that. It's never as bad as it seems."
"Nat, seriously? My parents have been lying to me since I was ten. That whole happy family thing was an act. And if they wanted that to work, they should have tried harder. They were unhappy all the time."
"Henry, you-"
"Nat, please just be quiet," Henry interrupted as gently as he could. "I need to...I just need some time." He laughed a little bit. "I have never wanted a joint so badly in my life."
"Henry, I swear to God," Natalie warned, "if you even think of doing that again, you're fucking insane."
"Natalie, please. I'm dying on the inside. You don't understand how horrible I'm feeling."
"Then tell me Henry! Let's talk instead of get high."
"Nat, you're not my mother," he laughed. "You honestly can't tell me what to do."
"Really?" Natalie asked, getting a little bitter. "I thought I'm the only one you listened to."
"Nat, you know what I meant."
"No, I don't."
"Like seriously, just back off. Please. I'm asking you nicely."
"Well then save it," she said, putting on her jacket and getting her bag again. "You want to mess around like that, go ahead. See if I care. But if you do it here, my dad will know and he will kick you out. I'm going to practice because unlike you, I'm concerned about my future and have a major audition Friday."
"Where will you go?" he asked.
"I don't know. But I'd rather break into the school or the YMCA than stay here with you."
"Nat, come on!"
But she was already gone.