EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! This was the BEST day of my life! Actually, there are 5 best days in my life 'cause, you know, as the most popular teenage singer, there are many AWESOME experiences and events you'll experience. But based on the title, this is my first concert, and first time experiences are, of course, always "thee" BEST.
My first concert started when...
After Christmas, my family started putting up decors for New Year's Eve and my sister and aunties always go to the mall for food and clothes. One day Lexi and I helped my mom to decide which decorations should we put on our windows since Lexi's the best decorator we know, when suddenly Lexi came up with a wonderful idea.
"You know, I've been thinking about something," she said while looking at me. She had this kind of have-a-good-idea face that made me think she have great idea.
"What is it?" I asked.
"You already know that my mom and I are VERY MUCH close and you also understand that I am busy sometimes that I can't make songs with you, right?" she answered as we sat down.
"Yeah, so?"
"My mom gave me EVERYTHING that I need and she loves me so much, so I was wondering if I can make her proud if..."
"Say it."
"...we spread the word of the Star's Club out in the internet and become famous by making our own channel online!"
Lexi has the most creative mind I know, but even I think it's not a good idea for her to risk her fans in school. She has the most fans"NOT ONLINE" in school because of her voice and she's the head of the group who decorates the school every school events and programs and she makes the best decorations in the world based on the theme of the event.
"Hmm...well, we COULD do that, but don't you think your mom is proud enough for you to think about how to make her proud? Lex, you have MANY fans here in the school, and creating your own videos and even a channel online means BASHERS."
She seemed sad. Hope I didn't hurt her feelings. But I just want to tell her that she doesn't need to spread our club out and make her mom proud. But having your own channel seems so fun! We might even be Internet Famous! But it also means bashers. I don't want to be BASHED. My WHOLE LIFE could be RUINED. But it might even make my mom proud, too. But what if I get so busy that I won't have time to make songs and my fans will be so impatient they'll bash me too. Nah, it doesn't matter, my fans can wait.
OMGOSH! I don't know what to decide. If I want to make my own channel, I have to accept the consequences that soon I will have bashers. Well, there is only one way to make it official.
"Lexi, your idea sounds AMAZING. Let's make our own channel online, not spread our club out. Okay?"
"Okay."
So we made our own channel at my house and we named it #TheStarPlaylist 'cause, I don't mean to brag, but our voices shine like a star and it's named after our club. To be honest, it is not easy to create a video that will please the viewers. Lexi suggested something that is probably illegal, and I thought of something that's probably dangerous. Finally, we decided that since we already have so many songs we made, we can sing it. I thought that it is a great idea, and this time, I don't have anything to argue with it. But the good thing is, we finished our first video on the same day. We sang our first song for our video and we also decided to create 2 videos per day but not today 'cause she needs to help her mom with something important.
Days pass and many people watched our videos. From 100 viewers to 500, 500 to 746, 746 to 1,000! The numbers are alive!
A month later....
We had 2.3 MILLION VIEWERS and we became so popular in school. Stephanie doesn't bully us anymore and doesn't even show up for many times. But we didn't care. As long as she's fine, we're good. Speaking of bully, we had 7 thousand dislikes in most of our videos and 300 negative comments. But good thing is, we can block and delete the negative commenters and their comments so that they won't be seen.
One day, after school, Lexi said something that BLEW MY MIND. As soon as we got arrived at my house, she gave me the letter she was talking about.
"Here, I can prove it to you." she said as she handed me a blue envelope with a microphone-shaped stamp.
"See?! It's from the Raise Your Mic!"
I cannot believe what is happening to us. Raise Your Mic or known as the RYM is one of the most popular singing competitions in Hollywood. But, I stil had a confusion feeling after I read it. Here, take a look at the letter.
"Dear Lexi Dave and Alyssa Welles,
A big, hearty welcome to the both of you. Thank you for joining RYM Studio, and the judges always watch your videos and they said it is indeed, an impressive talent and a mind-blowing voice. They, themselves, wanted to talk to the both of you in person in their own personal studio where they make the improvements, schedules, and where they choose the competitors for the RYM Singing Competition, and you are one of those people they chose as one of the lucky competitors. They have so many more comments to tell you but they wanted to tell that in person. Usually, the app itself, sends an update information to the studio about the top ten entries for the judges to judge if they are worthy of being a contestant. Fortunately, one day, the studio had some technical issues because it won't receive any of the update informations. So the judges decided to just watch the videos from the app. That is when they found your presentation and they all agreed it was an amazing one. But, the votes wasn't high enough and it would be unfair to the other entrants if you became a contestant without following the rules. But they still agreed that you were worthy to be a contestant, and besides they have an explanation and a reason to defend you. I say, you are a lucky person. Meet me at the Delphine Donuts at Sunday, 9:00 AM and I'll take you to the studio.
Sincerely,
Ms. Delilah J. Construde
Secretary and assistant of the RYM International Studio"
Wow. And... WHAT?!!!! Our video was a presentation??
I immediately talked about this to Lexi. She said,
"Hey, calm down. I didn't lie. I just wanted to surprise you. But even if you still think that I shouldn't have, then just look at the bright side. We got invited to the judges' PERSONAL STUDIO!"
She has a point. But I can't believe how she's getting out of this. But yeah, just a small deal. We told our parents about this immediately and they were very proud. And we got to have two additional hours before bedtime to prepare for Sunday. I mean- it's still Friday, but our moms know how excited we are.
Sunday...
We woke up earlier than usual to eat breakfast and my dad gave us a ride to the shop where we are going to meet Ms. Delilah and take us to the studio. I was wearing a bright blue dress with a white jacket and white doll shoes. And Lexi was wearing purple dress with an emerald on middle and brown leather boots. I kissed my dad's cheek and he told me to be great and behave. We met Ms. Delilah outside the shop with her handbag and she was drinking coffee.
"Girls! You look fantastic. I'm sure the judges will love you." she greeted us with a smile. We talked a little than she gave us a ride to the studio. It was very exciting. I even forgot about being mad at Lexi. As soon as we got there, I was astonished when I saw a big building that was like circled shape. Just imagine a bowl upside down. And there was also two towers on each side that was like giant speakers! OMGOSH! It was SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Of course, meeting the judges was a bigger opportunity than just being outside their own studio. And I'm not even worried about my behaviour. I'm not really jumpy or something like that.
"Whoa. That is one big studio. Whoever chose the design of this building is an amazing person and totes have great taste in designs." I said to her.
"Well, if you like, you can meet the architect after the meeting. She is a very helpful person so she also helps here." Ms. Delilah answered. I just smiled.😃
I was amazed inside the studio. There were many people and some of them greeted us. We walked towards a hallway to the judges' main office. I thought that was where we were going to meet but actually, there was an eye detector and when it scanned Ms. Delilah's eye, the door automatically opened. She grabbed a key on the desk and closed the door behind her as she went outside.
"Ok girls. Let's go." she told us.
I grabbed Lexi's hand and asked her if she was nervous.
"Not really. I'm actually EXCITED!" she whispered. She was lucky 'cause I was NERVOUS. A little later, we were in a garden with a pool shaped like a microphone. Wow. But... OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH. It's the judges! I smiled as beautifully as I can. But of course I managed to behave though I was excited.
"Ok girls, I'm going to leave now. Have fun!" Ms. Delilah said.
"Hey girls! You must be Lexi-" Ms. Ivey McMillan pointed her finger at Lexi, "and you must be Alyssa!" she pointed her finger at me. Ivey McMillan! She is my idol! Well, one of my idols 'cause I have so many idols.
There were only three judges but I thought all of the judges were here to meet me. There are four judges, three females and one male judge, but only the three females, Ivey McMillan, Danielle Shanes, Holly Cassidy, are here. Where's William Cassidy? Suddenly, there was a loud splash noise as a man rise up from the pool. Though he wasn't wearing a swimsuit. He was wearing a black leather suit and a pair of black leather shoes. He wasn't wet either! How did that happen???? Wait a minute-- is that.... William Cassidy?! *GASP* FYI, Holly and William Cassidy are siblings.
"Great to see you, m'ladies." He greeted Lexi and I as he handshaked us both. He was the owner of our favourite shoe store, but Lexi looked fine to me. She doesn't look nervous or something. He let us sit on a wooden chair and they immediately went on with the questions.
"So, Lexi and Alyssa. How long have you been friends?" Ivey asked.
"Well, we've been friends for a month, and we are already acting like sisters. And we met at the first day of the first semester of high school." I answered. "And my first day wouldn't have turned great because of her." I added as I looked at Lexi. She looked back with an awe face. The judges said "Awww." at the same time too.
"So, what is your passion? I mean, the common goals or dreams both of you want to achieve." William asked.
"Singing!" Lexi and I both said at the same time. The judges laughed.
"So singing, huh? Why don't you give us an example of your singing just to make sure if you are really meant to be singers?" he suggested.
Of course, we were nervous because we didn't know what to sing. Then, I remembered the first song we sang together. Symphony!
"Symphony, the song we sang at the first day of school." I whispered into Lexi's ear. She nodded and smiled.
We asked for a piano and a violin and they showed us the music room. W played the instruments and sang the song until the end because I knew the judges were loving it. After we sang, they clapped their hands for a long time. Mr. Williams even whistled with his two fingers. I dunno how that works, though.
"That was very amazing, girls! You've outdone yourselves. Great job." Ms. Holly commented. "Say, why do you like singing?" she asked. We looked at each other. We actually don't know why.
"Umm, well, because.... we... really love to... listen to other people sing? And we want to be like them!" I replied. Hmm, well that's a pretty good reason.
"Oh, I see. Mh-hmm." she added.
"So, did you ever sang in public, like in front of a lot of people?" Ms. Danielle asked.
"Yes. We actually sang in front of a lot of our schoolmates. I fact, the song we just sang is the first song we've ever sang together before." Lexi answered.
"Ok, let's cut to the chase, shall we?" Ms. Holly suggested. The judges nodded.
"Lexi Dave and Alyssa Welles. You are now officially contestants of the RYM Singing Competition!" they all said as they stood up. We all shook hands and we left the garden. YAHOO!!! This was the BEST DAY EVER!! Outside the studio, Ms. Delilah and my dad was waiting for us.
"I'll visit you at December 30, 8:00 PM, ok?" Ms. Delilah whispered. Dad thanked her and we said goodbye before we left. The time and date is before New Year. Guess this will be the best New Year ever, win or not win.
At home...
We were very tired. Lexi couldn't stay at my house because she also wants to rest and tell her mom what happened at the studio, so dad just dropped her off at her house. I was also very surprised to see all of my aunties and uncles and my cousin, especially Briar, she was my long-distance sister. She works at an architectural company and earns well. I really missed her. But I know the reason why my whole Welles family is here; they want to congratulate me, of course.😊😊 So I told them everything about the studio, and the conversation with the judges. And they were very proud.
December 30, 8:00...
I was just done eating my dinner, and now is my time to prepare for the Ultimate Battle of RYM. Seriously, I didn't made up the name. Most excitingly, Brad Miller is the host and he will announce it after the New Year's Countdown. Oh, I just want to be at the stage already!
As usual, Lexi came over at my house. Even Ms. Delilah visited us. My mom offered her some latte coffee, and I was curious how my mom knew it was Ms. Delilah's favorite.
"It's everyone's favourite." my mom replied when I asked her this.
I chose my best outfit for singing that matches with Lexi's. Actually we were buying clothes from the mall, and it's Ms. Delilah's treat. She said that she always help the contestants choose their clothes for the competition. And we were the last ones she helped, of course we aren't the only ones Ms. Delilah helped with outfits.
I chose a black shirt with a white glittery star on middle and black short jacket and white leather boots. Lexi chose the opposite; white shirt with black moon and white long sleeves jacket but the left sleeve is folded, and black leather boots, of course we are wearing our star and moon friendship necklace. And you can guess who's wearing the star pendant. Me! And Lexi's wearing the moon pendant.
We left the mall at 9:00 PM and headed to the park near the studio. It was where the competition will be held. And there will be fireworks too, after countdown.
"Hello there girls! I see you have a matching necklace and outfits." Ms. Holly greeted us. Lexi fist bumped with Mr. Williams. I guess they are friends now. But I know I'm friends with Ms. Delilah. She says that I have a sense of humor. I believe that.
Brad Miller came up the stage and there was a lot of people to watch the show.
"Hello, hello, hello! Welcome to the Raise your Mic Ultimate New Year Competition! I am Brad Miller, or Brad, at your service!" he announced. Oh he is just so charming! Aww.
"This competition will be one of the best ones in history. So less talkin', and more singin' !!! So RAISE. YOUR. MIC."
The first contestant was two girls who sang Kill This Love by Blackpink. The second contestant was a boy who sang Let Me Down Slowly by Alec Benjamin, the third contestant was a small eight-year-old girl who was an African American who sang Fight Song by Rachel Platten. the fourth contestant was--Stephanie?! What is she doing here?!!
"Ok meh crowds. It's time to introduce the fourth contestant; Stephanie Millicent!! Applaud please, applaud." Brad introduced. Well, she sang Believer by Imagine Dragons. I think there's a pretty valid reason why she sang that song; because she is mad at me and that song is clearly for me. While she was singing that song, Lexi and I was still figuring out why Stephanie was here. It could be just she wants to be a winner and steal our fans at school, or she wants to ruin our art. Whatever it is, it must be against me.
After she sang, Brad introduced the fifth and last contestants, which is Lexi and I. We sang Freak The Freak Out by Victoria Justice. We sang the the whole song and we killed it out there! But when we were singing the chorus, just as we said 'Freak the freak out', there were flash bombs behind and we owned the stage like it was our concert. After we sang, Stephanie was very angry she busted out on the stage and we all looked at her. Hershey and Xandra, her two partners in crime, well not literary, stood behind her at each side.
"La la la la la la. La la la la la la." the two girls sang. Oh no, there's gonna be trouble.
"Why am I always hit on by the boys I never like (Stephanie's part)
I can always see 'em coming, from the left or from the right (Stephanie's part, Hershey and Xandra looks at the left and right)
I don't want to be a priss, I'm just try'na be polite
But it always seems to bite me in the--
Ask me for my number, yeah, you put me on the spot
You think that we should hook up, but I think that we should not
You had me at "hello", then you opened up your mouth
And that is when it started going south
Oh!
Get your hands off my hips, 'fore I'll punch you in the lips
Stop your staring at my hey!
Take a hint, take a hint
No you can't buy me a drink, let me tell you what I think
I think you could use a mint
Take a hint, take a hint
T-take a hint, take a hint"
After they sang Take A Hint by Victoria Justice and Liz Gillies, Lexi and I thought they wanted a singing battle.
"*Gasp* A singing battle, eh? We're in!?" Lexi said, and I nodded. The crowd went wild! Ms. Delilah even clapped, and Brad Miller, and the judges stood and cheered.
"They say oh my god I see the way you shine" (my part)
"Take your hand, my dear, and place them both in mine" (Lexi's part)
"You know you stopped me dead while I was passing by" (my part)
"And now I beg to see you dance just one more time" (Lexi's part)
"Ooh I see you, see you, see you every time" (duet)
"And oh my I, I, I like your style" (my part)
"You, you make me, make me, make me wanna cry" (Lexi's part)
"And now I beg to see you dance just one more time" (duet)
"So they say" (my part)
"Dance for me, dance for me, dance for me, oh, oh, oh" (duet)
"I've never seen anybody do the things you do before" (Lexi's part)
"They say, move for me, move for me, move for me, ay, ay, ay" (my part)
"And when you're done I'll make you do it all again" (duet)
"All again..." Lastly, my part. We did AWESOME that made Stephanie and her partners in crime was open-mouthed when we sang. But there was more trouble. The judges lost time of choosing the winner since we had additional songs. But good thing was, they made up their minds.
"WOW. That was an EPIC singing battle. I think everyone has decided who the winners will be. Brad, dear?" Ms. Ivey said, signaling its time for Mr. Miller to announce the winner.
"Three," the countdown has started. "Two," who do you think will win the competition?
"ONE!!"
"Lexi Dave, Alyssa Welles, and Stephanie Millicent! Congratulations, girls!!"
Everyone clapped their hands, even the judges, my family, Ms. Delilah and Mr. Miller. Stephanie looked at us. We won! A little twist, though. We had a tie.
"Hey, umm...was this even supposed to happen?" she asked. "I mean-- you two were good--" Lexi and I hugged her. We knew it's not a good time to fight. But she's still the enemy! But... Happy New Year!!