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Chapter 4: Encounters

Day of the auditions.

For a run-down theatre, there sure are a lot of people who's willing to participate in this show. Crystal wasn't even able to find Meena amongst the crowd, and she's hiding her face from the reporter who is currently interviewing the guy at the front in fear that her dad would be watching the TV and sees her.

Escaping from Aeon, a.k.a assigned bodyguard by her dad, was never easy. And his curiosity in everything is almost at her last nerve. In truth, though, he's a nice guy. It's just, Crystal doesn't like his boasts of how much he 'loves' her and that they are fated to meet and end up marrying each other. He's nice but childish, yep, that's the word for it. Aeon's the same age as her, but he still acts like a kid most of the time. It's why she can't see him for anything more like what he claims to feel for her.

"Excuse me! Coming through--Oh, sorry!"

'Just great....' Crystal shook her head and looked at the back where Aeon squeezes through the line of people to get to her.

He grins at her and holds out a wrapped vanilla donut, "Took me a while to find you. Sorry, the coffee got cold."

".... It's fine," as disappointing as this may be, she has got to at least find Meena inside. It's the main reason why she's here after all.

Aeon looks at the line of people, dreading the thought of staying cooped along the sweaty set of people outside for a singing audition in a run-down theatre. "Are you sure you should be doing this, babe? It's gonna take hours before your turn."

The mention of the nickname just made the girl too irked to speak to him, focusing on drinking coffee instead. Her dad made it clear that they have nothing to do for today, so Crystal was sure she can ride along with this one. With Aeon as her witness, she'd at least be safe from his never-ending scolding. The only problem here would be how to shut him up from her owing him with this one.

"Excuse me— coming through. Oh!—Sorry!" someone passes by the group of reporters by a skateboard, making his way to the end of the line through the side of the road.

"Watch it, man! This is my favorite shirt!" her escort seemed to have spilled his coffee on himself, making Crystal chuckle from the hilarious incident. If it were hot, he'd no doubt be screaming like a banshee, now he's only spouting a few curses to the guy's direction, "Didn't even say sorry," Aeon mumbled.

"Don't mind it. Here," she takes a couple of money from her bag, a few of her allowance from participating in the gang's activities, "Buy yourself something new. You stink of coffee."

"Heh, maybe I should just keep this shirt. You like coffee, don't you?"

"I'm starting to hate it now, actually."

Aeon sighs, taking the money and getting out the crowd towards the mall down the street. Crystal couldn't be any more thankful that the line moved a lot of meters after the next seven minutes, she is now inside the theater, waiting for her turn. The old iguana staff collected their information and would call in alphabetically by surnames.

For the first time in many years, there's a nerve wracking feeling creeping up her spine. It's been a long time since she's performed anything, and seeing all these people with talents in either singing or a mix of dancing prowess makes Crystal feel a bit self-conscious. 'Maybe I should've warmed up before coming here after all.' Her eyes scanned the paper again with the lyrics printed out on it, humming the tune with a lip sync despite the murmurs going on around her.

"...Even if I can't understand, I'll take the pain. Give me the truth, me and my heart we'll make it through.." she sang the song over and over until she hears a song that pierced through the melody, taking her interest off her earphones to focus on the stage.

Crystal's hold on the phone loosens for a split second as she sees the one who sang on the stage, hundred of thoughts flurried into her mind that was left hidden in the back of her memories. The ones that the girl tried so hard to get over with, but apparently couldn't. And it turns out, fate won't ever let her just forget about him at all.

"Wow! Thank you, Johnny," says Buster Moon.

'Johnny??? He's here?'