I Don't Play Favorites

Once they arrived at the school a few minutes before classes began, Kaia walked Alexa to her class before saying goodbye and going to her own classroom. 

The day went by quickly. 

At the end of the day, Kaia walked out with her music students in tow. She let them run free on the playground in the school yard as she sat on the steps of the school watching them play. She cupped her chin in the palm of her hands with a small sigh. 

Soon after, Alex walks up from behind. He was inside the school before classes were dismissed to get another pass from the office. Creeping up behind her with a mischievous smile, he sat down next to her, slightly leaning back on his hands. "They play like this every day? You'd figure they would get tired of playing in the snow everyday," he said while staring at Kaia. 

Kaia flinched and almost got whiplash from turning around. She was wide-eyed for a few seconds when she saw Alex. Although he leaned slightly to the opposite direction of her, he was still very close. His warm breath was visible in the cold winter air. She suddenly felt slightly warmer despite how cold it was. She told her heart that it was just her coat suddenly becoming more resistant to the cold.

She cleared her throat before nodding. "They love coming outside in general so I let them play before they have to go back inside the school again for after school music practice." Her expression softened as she looked at her students. Alex stared at Kaia's softened features for a bit. Before his eyes glazed over from staring, he turned his head to look over Kaia's students as well. After a bit, he leaned forward to mimic Kaia's pose, cupping his chin with one hand. "In your professional opinion, which students do you think will make waves in the entertainment industry in the coming future?" he asked. A smile played on the corners of his lips as he saw some students chasing after each other in a game of tag.

Kaia blinked before turning her head to face Alex. She grumbled lightly. "Ugh, Alex. They all have their specialties. As a teacher, I try not to play favorites," she replied. She turned her head back to look directly at a few students and paused slightly before continuing, "As a former CEO of an entertainment company though, there has indeed been four students in particularly that caught my eye." 

"Oh, really? So which one of these lucky kids do you offer as tribute for Sabor Sights?" Alex asked with an amused tone. He saw the little sparkle in Kaia's eyes as she mentioned the four students. Kaia turned to make a face at Alex before she looked back and pointed in the direction of a girl.

"That girl over there, sitting on a bench in that light brown coat is Lanie. She has an impressive vocal range for someone her age. Her vibrato is on point and I know she will only improve from where she's at through more professional training. But I have to say that her dancing isn't that great. Although she's a quick learner, she still lacks confidence, so if you end up choosing her, Sabor's Sights' priority should definitely be boosting her confidence in areas where she is lacking in."

Alex nodded along and made sure to take a mental note. He already had a few dance teachers in mind who would be suitable for training Lanie. He also thought about some of the groups he organized for monthly dance-offs or sing-offs or any other competitions that trainees would be interested in taking part in. 

Kaia shifted her pointer finger to the far right where two dirty blonde haired boys were throwing snowballs at each other. "Those two dirty blonde haired boys in matching blue jackets over there are Chad and Michael. They're twins, which makes it hard to tell them apart, but Chad has a tiny mole below his left eyebrow while Michael doesn't have any. Although they're still young, there is no doubt that as they enter their later teenage years they'll definitely be extremely popular with their appealing aesthetics. Plus, they're quite tall for their age so along with their aesthetics, I think with proper training, they can also be models. Don't you guys have a new brand launching soon?"

Alex nodded. "Yep, it's targeted towards men but if our first branch is successful, we'll move onto boys and maybe even a sister branch with female oriented clothes and designs. I can't really see from here but the boys do look like model material. But I'm mainly here to scout for potential new vocalists so...?" 

Kaia smiled. "I was getting to that, actually. For their vocals, I've had them try out duets and their vocal ranges are similar to each other. I think Chad is able to go slightly higher in terms of vocal range while Michael can go slightly lower. I'm not sure if it's that so-called twins telepathy but they're extremely well-paired and rarely ever go off key or off track when they sing together. But something I do need to warn you about is that they're somewhat mischievous." 

Alex nodded again. "And the last one?"

"I have to say that the one I'm most satisfied with is Emily. If I as a teacher had to pick favorites—not that I do—I would definitely pick Emily. She may be the youngest in her grade but she is a full package. Her vocal range is almost as impressive as Lanie's. I say almost because I still can't determine much at the moment with her baby voice. You'll know more in the future." Kaia smiled proudly as she continued, "I asked her once about what she wanted to be when she grew up and do you know what she told me?" 

She turned around to face Alex with sparkling eyes, "She said she wanted to be a pop star or a dancer. You have no idea how overjoyed I was, so I asked her if she could dance for me. She was so excited to show me a cover of one of her favorite choreographers—who just so happens to be part of your company, now that I think about it."

She paused slightly to catch her breath. Then after slight hesitation, she looked Alex straight in the eyes before saying, "This might sound corny, but I saw a spark in her eyes when she danced for me. Her dancing was on point and her facial expressions matched fairly well with her dancing. I can tell she has stage presence. You probably won't have any problems debuting her with a girl group or even as a soloist because she can dance and sing. Plus, I'm sure her rather attractive eye color paired with her charming smile will bring her quite a bit of attention." 

Throughout her thorough analysis and explanations regarding her four students, she was smiling. She looked genuinely happy and excited to share about them. This made Alex's heart flutter. Seeing how much she loved what she was doing, he didn't feel anxious anymore. He enjoyed seeing her bright smile and watching her talk about her students with such enthusiasm. 

But when he thought of how she left without telling him anything, his heart couldn't help but sink. He wanted to be understanding because he already told her that he would wait, but the desire to know why gnawed at his heart. He would push it into the back of his mind only to have it come back to haunt him. 

Alex stood, helping Kaia up as well. "Alright then, let's get started. I also want to see your other students, in case you missed a diamond in the rough. Plus, everyone should get a chance at this preliminary audition for Sabor Sights. Since the students you just mentioned are the best of the best, I'll save them for last. I'm quite excited to see them showcase their talents." 

Kaia nodded in agreement and turned to call her after school music students to head back inside for after school music practice.