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(continued)

Silvan says, "So, before you sing, let's know more about you. The basics, first..."

"My name is Elyssa Sparks. I'm 16 years old."

"What are you doing now?" asks Nicola.

"Breathing..." I quip, making everyone laugh.

"Um, I'm in college, and I have a part-time job singing in bars and lounges..."

"Okay, um, siblings?" asks Silvan.

"Yes, I have a twin brother, Emmett. He was here on the stage just before me! And, an older sister who's 23 and lives in Minnesota. She's also a singer, and has an out-and-out recording studio there..."

"Okay. Parents?" asks Charlotte.

"Mom lives in New York, her office work keeping her there..." I trail off.

"Your father?" she prods.

"Here." I point to my heart.

"He's dead?" Nicola asks bluntly, causing Charlotte and Rina to glower at him.

"Yes, in an accident 3 weeks ago, when I also nearly lost my life..."

"Sorry; let's move on..." Charlotte adds awkwardly.

"Your hobbies?" Rina says.

"Cooking, baking, writing, listening to music and theatre...."

"Cool. D'you have a boyfriend?" Rina blurts out.

Silvan rolls his eyes.

"Kind of..." I reply, unsure of whether Ryan can be considered my boyfriend...

"You know what, I'd like to appreciate you for what you did..." Charlotte says.

"What?" I ask.

"Giving up your song for Sherlow...." says Nicola matter-of-factly.

"I really didn't expect you to do that..." says Silvan.

"Well, I did, so..." I trail off.

"Okay, and tell me, did you write a song like just now, before you came on to the stage? And you're performing that now?" asks Rina.

I nod in response.

"What's it called?" she asks.

"'Stay(ed) an Eternity'" I respond.

"Wow! Well, take it away..." she says...

I take in a deep breath.

Every single emotion behind this, I've got to do justice to...

I start off:

"I wish you'd warned me before you left

Before you left

I wish I knew what was gonna come

Gonna come

I wish I knew so I could let go

Could let go

I wish for a lot of things

Lot of things

But most of all, I wish for you

I know you'll never come back

But I can't help wishing you would

Even though you're never coming back

'Cause you took a part of me with you

You stole away a chunk of my heart

And now there's only a gaping hole

That can never be filled without you

Oh, why'd you leave me and go?

You could've stayed an eternity

Now that you're not around

I need you the most

Oh, I miss you

I know you can never return

But I wish you would

'Cause I'm nothing without you

But in my heart I know

You've never left

You'll always be here

You'll stay an eternity"

By the end, I'm down on my knees.

I can't help it; the tears are fast-flowing...

I look down and bury my head in my arms.

I stay there until someone pats my back and I freeze.

"Ely, I'm sorry..." It's Emmett...

"Not your fault," I say, whipping my head back.

I look into Em's eyes. He's scared...

"Well, I, uh," I can't seem to finish the sentence.

I wipe my tears off my face and take in a few shaky breaths. I stand up and look around.

Wow! A lot of people seem affected...

I turn to the judges, who all have wet eyes.

"I'm sorry..." I tell them.

"What for?" asks Nicola, taken aback.

"You don't have to hide your feelings, Elyssa..." says Charlotte shakily.

"Yes, Elyssa; and I'm so proud of you for not hiding your emotions..." says Rina.

"It takes a lot of courage to do what you just did, Elyssa, to show the world your raw feelings..." says Silvan.

"Thank you..." I say and make to walk off the stage.

"Wait, Elyssa, did you really write, tune and sing that now? In like, 15 minutes?" asks a shocked Nicola.

"Yes!" I reply.

"Wow!" he responds.

"One last thing-" I cut Silvan off with a "Yeah?"

He responds with a "Just a doubt, can I know who inspired you to write that?"

"You know it..."

"Your father?"

"Yes..."

"Okay; Well, thank you, Elyssa..."

I just nod in response. I walk off the stage, and Zöe hugs me. I smile at her and move on, only to be stopped by Emmett.

"Ely, I need to talk to you..." he says.

"Sure, go ahead!" I reply.

"Um, alone..."

"Can we leave?" I ask Oliver, who nods.

We're informed of the next date to come, and Em and I leave.

"What?" I ask.

"Let's eat first..." he says.

"Ooh, good idea; I'm hungry!" I yip.

Em stops me and takes a look at my face, "I can't believe you, Ely..."

Uh oh.

"What'd I do now?" I ask.

"Nothing, let's eat..."

I shrug and we walk to a pizza place nearby.

I have a pizza with corn, capsicum, olives, onions, mushrooms and jalapenos, and Em has a boring old capsicum and corn...

We then share a chocolate lava cake...

On the way home, I see an ice cream parlour and start jumping up and down.

I yell at Em, "I scream, you scream, we all scream for..."

He whispers, "Ice cream..."

"Louder!"

"You say that!"

"ICE CREAM!" I yell, nearly making Em deaf.

"Geez, go!" he yells.

"Yay!" I run to the parlour.

Emmett just rolls his eyes and follows me, at a snail's pace.

"Hurry up!" I yell.

"Ely, you know my flavour, go and order..." he whimpers.

"Okay!" I cheerily reply and waltz into the parlour.

I get a chocolate for myself and a butterscotch for Em and walk out.

I hand Em his cone, and his eyes light up.

I smile.

He may condescend me when I 'scream for ice cream', but butterscotch ice cream lights up his world like nothing else!

I begin on my chocolate cone.

Ooh, this is paradise!

Em says, "So, about-"

"Shhh! After ice cream!" I silence him.

He just rolls his eyes and nods.

Once we're done, we leave and walk back home slowly.

After we cover half the distance, Em clears his throat.

"Hmm?" I ask.

"I, uh, Ely, I wanted to talk to you about, uh, you know-"

"Just spit it out already!"

"Dachshund..."

"For the umpteenth time, he's Dashen, not Dachshund!"

"I don't care, Ely..."

"Then why-"

"'Cause I don't want you to get your heart broken again by that idiot!"

"Now, that's ridiculous!"

"It's not! He did do that before, and I'm pretty sure he won't think twice before doing it again!"

"Em, you don't know Ryan like I do!"

"Yeah, right, and you know him so well, don't you?"

"What are you implying, Emmett?"

"Oh, you know it, Elyssa; you're just denying it..."

"Em, I..." I drop off, and remain silent the entire way back...

Em tries a variety of ways to get me to talk, but I don't budge...

Then, when we reach home, he just apologises and walks off.

I'm scared though, very scared; Emmett might just be right, even though I don't want him to...

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