The past few days had been the same as usual. Many difficult, time-consuming chores that took hours to complete, along with helping Alexa prepare for her audition. By the time all the chores were done, I would go to bed because I was too tired to work on anything else. On Thursday night, Alexa was bragging at the dinner table that she was going to win the contest, and I was tempted to roll my eyes in the back of my head. But I didn't want to get slapped again, so I just stared down at my plate.

"Serena, are you doing a good job with helping Alexa?" Aunt Mary asked, bringing me out of my thoughts. "Yes, I am," I nodded slightly, still staring at my plate. I finished off the last few pieces of my dinner and set my plate in the sink. "Anything else I have to do, Aunt Mary?" I asked, silently hoping that she would say no. "Not that I can think of I'll let you when there is," She answered. When I made it back to my bedroom, I let out a breath of relief, and I never thought that I would get one night to do what I wanted.

I sat down on my bed with my guitar in my lap and my notebook open, hoping to find new lyrics for my song. I spent the time gently plucking the guitar strings and writing down the chords. But, no new lyrics were written on the pages. After a while, I gave myself a small break and started playing one of Aidan's songs, hoping that it would help me write. "Fate awaits for me to break your heart in two. So know you're going in to something already doomed. I hate to say 'okay' And let my heart hurt you, so be careful when you use the words 'I love you," I sang softly, as I imagined that I was onstage singing.

"Serena! I have some more chores for you to do!" Aunt Mary called out from the living room. Slowly, I let out a quiet, frustrated sigh, and set my guitar down and went out into the living room to see what they wanted me to do now. Friday morning came, and I didn't want to wake up because I was angry and sad that I wasn't able to audition in front of my idol. Well, there's always next time.

I carefully crept over to the kitchen and made myself a quick breakfast before my aunt and cousins woke up. It wasn't a filling breakfast, but it was better than nothing. When I was done, I made them some eggs along with a few strips of bacon, hoping that they would be satisfied with their breakfast. But, like usual, they berated me for the food I made, claiming that my cooking was worse than my mother's. My blood began to boil, but I said nothing and hoped that Aunt Mary wouldn't slap me for no reason.

In class, I could hardly pay attention. I just made the occasional glance at Aidan as he wrote down notes from the whiteboard. Girls kept coming up to the table Aidan was sitting at during lunch, and I could tell that they were trying to flirt with him in hopes that they could win the contest just by seduction. Just looking at the girls twisting their hair around their fingers and biting their bottom lips made me and my friends want to laugh out loud.

But as the school day continued, I started to feel nauseous, but it wasn't because I was sick. It was because every time I looked at Aidan, Aunt Mary's words kept repeating themselves in my head. Then, the time had come for the auditions. "Serena, come on! We don't have all day!" Alexa hissed as I got my stuff out of my locker. "Okay, I'm coming!" I said, trying my best to stay calm even though I hated it when people rushed me into doing things.

Alexa rolled her eyes at me when I grabbed the last textbook from my locker, and I was hoping to get a little homework done while I was waiting for Alexa to finish her audition. When we got to the auditorium, there was a long line that led from the front to the back of the auditorium. From a distance, I could see Aidan, his manager, and a woman were sitting at a large table at the foot of the stage.

"Welcome, everyone! I'm so glad that you are here to audition for the contest! Just remember, don't think of it as a competition! Think of it as like your getting on stage and singing for your family!" Aidan announced to the crowd of excited girls. He quickly glanced over to me and smiled at me. That damned smile made my heart want to melt right then and there, but then Alexa grabbed my arm, pulling me back to reality.

"What did I tell you? Aidan will never be yours. He's Ashley's," she hissed.