I was sitting by myself at lunch at school when I got a text from Mom:

I was listening to NPR when I heard about a music workshop in Texas, there are still spots available for auditions and it seems right up your alley. Doesn’t that sound like a fun activity for the summer? You’re practically guaranteed to get in!

I had no idea what she was talking about. Before I could type out my reply she sent me a link. It wasn’t just your average workshop, it appeared to be a competition of sorts. All the pieces started clicking together. She was not-so-subtly telling me “Recreate what you did on Next Rising Star '' I appreciated it, really. She just told me about it at the wrong time. Winning on Next Rising Star hadn’t done anything for me besides the cash that I’m keeping tucked away in a savings account run by Mom and Dad. I don’t see why she would want me to do this. I already got accepted into my colleges, No reason to grind for extracurriculars now.

Still, I lean back in my chair and look further into the program, old habits die hard I guess. It was in the U.S, Texas to be specific. Though it seemed as if auditions were worldwide via some kind of virtual audition. Though unlike Next Rising Star, this program, apparently called the Rhizome Entertainment Workshop, wasn't a television talent. It was simply that. A music workshop. If that wasn’t strange enough, it was a start-up label and this was the first time they were hosting this workshop.

I could give it a shot, what’s the harm in taking a class or two to flesh out my vocal skills

The more I scoured their website, the more I felt as if I had traveled back in time to when I first found out Next Rising Star was taking auditions, an opportunity to be something, dangling right in front of me, and all I had to do was put everything into my jump and the world was mine.

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Winners are signed onto a label? AYDEN is participating?

I never listened to him but I heard his name passed around enough to know he was a semi-famous pop star. But the label thing. Screw the cash prize, If I scored high enough, I could get signed. Get into the industry. Perform music.

I texted Mom, making sure she knew that I wanted to do this. The rest of the school day was on autopilot as I dropped my bag on the floor and waited for Mom and I to be on the same page before we filled out the application. All I had to do then was wait and see if they would be interested in auditioning me.

Hardly a week had passed before they responded to my application:

Hello Hana,

I am happy to hear that you are interested in the Rhizome Entertainment Workshop. We are always looking to foster young talent and would be delighted for you to show up on Wednesday for our virtual audition. We would love to see you!

Best wishes, Elza Von Fay

Did Mom predict this would happen? Yes. Did that stop me from being ecstatic? No.

I go to the hamster room (It’s called that because we used to have hamsters, but they died so now it’s a miscellaneous room that can be used for any purpose.) We sit down and for the first time in quite a while, he turns on the electric keyboard and asks me to pick a song. But he knew what I was going to pick: Goes Around by Timothy Twain. My all time favorite artist and lucky penny. I knew most of her songs by heart and performing them was what got me in the door for Next Rising Star.

After I pick the song, I practice for the audition with Dad and we pick up like nothing has changed since before I got on Next Rising Star. There are less than five days before the virtual audition and I need to spend every waking moment not in school to prepare to knock the socks off some judges the second time.

It’s like I’m living a memory. Maybe this time, I can correct my failure and take off