Sing Out

I, Sarah Hudgens, have the best ever best friend. Marilynn Stewarts is the best friend anyone could ever have, but she has a couple of flaws. Everyone does. Her “Big Dream” is to be a singer. But not just any singer. She wants to be like “Kamina Chang grade.” If you haven’t heard of Kamina Chang, you’ve missed out. Kamina is the coolest, most popular, and she can sing higher than high, and lower than low. Marilynn never listens to me when I tell her she can’t quite get there yet. I mean, I guess it's my fault. I introduced her to Kamina Chang in the first place. I showed her the album that changed her life. Here’s the thing. Marilynn is a horrible singer. She takes lessons all of the time, and sings in front of all of our friends, but she CAN’T sing. Marilynn is the best, but she might need a little help. I, however also adore singing. Of course, only in the shower, and in my bedroom when I’m home alone. I’ve never sang to Marilynn in my life. She wants to audition for a show, a singing show, and if she makes it, I’ll be her assistant. The show is called Sing Out. If she sings out, she won’t make it. I want to help her somehow, and I want to help her reach those notes, the ones she can’t reach. I want to help her sing out, even if I can’t.

As Marilynn and I head to the audition, I give her a good talking to.

“Mari, could you hear me out a sec?” I say. “You know I come to support you in everything you do, but some things just aren’t meant to be.”

“What are you saying Sarah? I am positively Kamina Chang grade!” Marilynn’s eyes sparkled at me. I couldn’t let her down now.

“Never mind, I just...” I hesitated. “I wanted to audition too!” I instantly regretted saying it. I couldn’t sing in front of all of those people!

“Sarah! That’s incredible! I have to put this on my blog!” She did a girly shriek. “I’ve never heard you sing before... I’m excited to hear what it sounds like!”

Ugh. Now I had to do it. Once you tell Marilynn something, she won’t let you quit it. I was going to audition for the biggest singing show in the world.

We got to the auditorium a few minutes later. Mari did another girly shriek. That girl has to stop doing that. We were next in line. Marilynn went up on the stage and said her name and all of the requirements for the audition. She started singing a popular Kamina Chang song. When she was done, she smiled, bowed, and curtsied for way too long.

“Everybody! I’d like you to meet my best friend ever, Sarah Hudgens!” Marilynn cried as she exited the stage.

I slowly walked up the stairs, and walked over to the microphone. It was cold, and I shivered. I bumped into the mic, and it fell to the ground. It made a large noise over the speakers, and everyone held their ears.

“Sorry?” I said softly. “I’ll be singing the same song Mari did.”

The music started to play, and I closed my eyes, waiting for words to come out of my mouth. Someone started singing. Her voice sounded like an angel’s. I had sang this song in the shower so many times, it was reflex for me to sing it. I realized that the angel’s voice was mine. I opened my eyes, and Mari was staring at me with her mouth dropping to the floor. I smiled. The judges looked at me like they looked at everyone else. The words gliding out of my mouth were smooth, and soft like honey. The song ended. Now the judges were impressed. I could tell by the look in their eyes. I stepped off of the stage.

“Sarah! You just stole my chance of being on tv! That was amazing! Where did you learn to sing like that?” Marilynn asked me with a mouth open wide.

“I guess I was born with it.” I said. “I’m sorry. I wanted to fail, but I didn’t.”

“All of my dreams are gone if you get the part. You have mastered Kamina Chang grade.”

Two weeks later I got a letter in the mail saying I was accepted into the show. I texted Mari, and this was what she texted back.

“You have killed my dreams Sarah, whether you intended to or not. I can’t believe you would do something like that to me. That was my biggest dream, and you demolished it. You also demolished our friendship.”

That day was the worst day of my life. Her goals made me lose my greatest treasure. Our friendship.

After that, I would go to the show every day, sing out, go home and go to bed. Whenever Mari and I passed in the hallway at school, she looked away and scowled at me. Nobody wanted to be my friend then.

Two years later, we moved, and I quit the show, and said goodbye to everyone at school.

A month after that, Marilynn called my cell phone. It had been a long time since I saw that number, and I instantly picked up. Mari’s voice filled my ear.

“I’m so sorry, my biggest goal that I thought was ruined, actually ruined you more. I haven’t been the best friend you always needed, and you were always so supportive to me. I should’ve been more supportive to you, and I want to apologize.”

Over the phone, I started wailing. This was something I’ve been waiting for my whole life. We became friends again, and everything was supportive between us. That’s how life should go. We all got along after that and lived a great life. We married twin brothers when we grew up, and became sisters in law. Turns out we had the same taste in a lot of things. We all ended up joining a band together, and we all ended up being “Kamina Chang grade!”