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Chapter 3: Girl Talk

"Audition?" Crystal raises an eyebrow with an unbelieving look on her face, particularly towards her super duper shy elephant best friend, Meena.

"Come on, I can't go there alone.... And besides, you got a nice voice. On top of that, you can either do piano or dance!" says the female elephant as she hands her a big cookie off the newly baked goods on the bedside table.

"You know I'd love to, but you know my status.... And besides, I can't have you backing me up when you can do so much better at singing than I am," she chuckles.

"That's not true, you got more talent than I am."

"And just like you, I'm not confident enough. There's so many what if's in teaming up for this.... Besides, I'm sure I'll won't be allowed to join this kind of thing."

"It's alright if you don't want to do a duo with me on this, but I really need you there...." Her ears almost covered her whole face, an obvious sign of anxiety that's about to get worse.

Crystal sighs and places a hand on her friend's, "Alright, alright. I'll give it a shot. But I'm only doing this for you, okay?"

Meena gleamed with joy, "You mean it?"

The female gorilla places her hands on her hips, "Only if you do it solo this time."

And her ears droops down again, "B-But-"

"You've been holding out on it just because I'm willing to support you up front. You've gotta do this for yourself, this time. Besides, your family expects you to shine on the stage, with just you and your voice. Give them what they wish for, will you?" she smiles.

"Oh my, Crystal, you're as sweet as ever," Meena's mom enters the room to bring us her homemade smoothies. "Meena, we're not exactly pushing you to do this, but you got a gift that can take you far beyond what you currently have. And all you ever do was shy away at chances such as this. We only want you to at least give this one a try."

The girl nods her head in understanding, "I know, mom. I'll try, I promise."

"Oh, and Crystal, your...... fiancé stopped by the porch, he said he'd pick you up in 20 minutes."

'Oh for the love of-,' she cursed mentally.

"Ooohh, I didn't know your soon-to-be husband is already this overprotective," Meena giggled.

Crystal had only just brought up the topic today when she and Meena were free from school to be able to hang out like this. And it's the first time she had ever mentioned the name Aeon. Apparently, her bestfriend found it cute and romantic rather than annoying. To be forcibly tied down to a marriage was what she could only feel sorry for, the rest is pretty much what the elephant likes to call as an added bonus since everything is being taken care of. Even the house and honeymoon and bunch of other stuff....

"I'll just be in the living room if you need me," says the mother elephant, then closes the door.

Meena turns to her with an opposite expression after a realization hits her, "Does this mean that you'll be married off right after graduation?"

"Yeah. I guess so," Crystal shrugs, "Not like I have much of a choice."

"And I'm guessing you'll move out of town?...."

The girl thinks about it, and didn't exactly know the full details, but it appears to be as her best friend said, "You know what, it's.... cool and all, but... let's just forget about this for the time being. I'm getting nervous."

Meena shrugs and brings back a smile, "Yeah. I'd probably be if I were in your situation.....Will you help me pick a dress for tomorrow?"

Crystal laughs and assists her on choosing an outfit for the audition. There's so many things that's been on her mind nowadays, even a little bit of distraction will do her better. Joining this audition will be one of it. Although the girl can't fully admit it, she wants to win this too, if not only for a fact that she's a gang member who is strictly needed in their family operations.

Besides, there's no way that she'll make it through the audition.