1 Chapter 1 "Beginning"

Ariel's POV

I was sitting at the airport, waiting patiently to hear the pre-boarding announcement of my flight on the big speakers. I was nervous as it was my first time boarding a plane and I was moving to experience a new world outside my small town.

"Ariel,we are all going to miss you,call us as soon as you get there,okay?" My mom,Grace told me with tears flowing freely down her beautiful face. Grace is a 33years old,slender woman with a brown hair. It was really hard for people to take in the fact that she was my mother. She is really pretty and I can proudly say that I got my looks from her. She had me when she was just 17 and that explains why she looked so young to have a 16 year old daughter like me.

"Okay Mom,I will,just take good care of yourself and grandma" I replied her,almost tearing up.

"Remember all the advice I have given to you,the city is so large and filled with people with different characters..." and my mom went on and on, repeating the same thing she had been telling me for the past few weeks since we got the admission letter,the admission letter that was about to change my life.

My mom is a single mother,who raised me in this small quiet town, Harrintown in Ohio,that is my mother's hometown. My mother got pregnant for me at 17, during her stay in the city. She had struggled so hard to save up money after the death of her dad,to travel to the city which was her dream. She had a friend Maggie,who wrote letters to her about the city. Maggie was my mom's bestfriend who had recently moved from the town with her parents to the city. Maggie and my mom both had a common dream of visiting the city. Since Maggie was able to visit first,she made sure she wrote to Grace about the splendours of the city of New York. Grace was finally able to save up enough money to travel to the city after engaging in menial jobs like cleaning, feeding animals in our town,etc. Grace was finally able to move to the city,it was a dream come true. Maggie had started college in the city and had her personal off campus house,where Grace stayed with her since she had no place to stay in the city. It turned out that the little humble Maggie that everyone knew back in Harrintown was now a bad ass. She influenced my mom and they both took the wrong path of life. As young teenagers with less parental guidance and unlimited freedom in a huge city,they attended different parties in the city,clubs and did drugs. Did I mention that they had numerous male companions and it was one of my mom's flings with her "male companions" Matthew that resulted to me. It's horrible that I had to be a product of such life. Grace being the new bad ass queen went as far as fucking Maggie's boyfriend,Matthew. Like who does that,my mom of course. Grace became pregnant after "the thing" with Matthew,if you know what I mean,seems they forgot what "protection" or a "condom" meant. Anyways Grace told Maggie about her baby and not the father,she lied to Maggie about not knowing who the father was,and innocent Maggie believed my mom and promised to support her in whatever decision she took,if only she knew. Grace had invited Matthew over when Maggie was not home,to talk about the baby situation, unfortunately Maggie came back to get something and overhead Grace telling Matthew that he was the father of her baby,and Matthew on the other hand confirmed it by saying that it was not possible since it was just a one night thing. He went as far as hitting Grace and accusing her of trying to force him into getting married to her using pregnancy as an excuse since he was rich,but he was just 19 and won't take the responsibility of being a father upon himself. Maggie made her epic entrance and broke up with Matthew, and told Grace to leave her home. Having no where else to go,Grace returned to her mom's home in her hometown, Harrintown. She came back to meet her poor mom very sick, and had to start taking up different jobs to provide the money for her mother's treatment. Her mom eventually got better, and took care of her during this pregnancy period. So finally the baby was brought into the world and I am the humble baby of that weird affair.You will be wondering how I know all these,well my grandma is a storyteller herself,she told me every single thing,like she was there. Anyways I grew up attending a small music school in the town,where I was trained how to use my vocals properly,I was very talented and had an obsession for making music. My dream ever since I knew how to dream has been to be a huge music star and to achieve this dream I have to move to New York or attend a good music school in the city where all the better opportunities were but for now I was going to make do with what I had. Few months back before this day at the airport,I found an article online about this huge music competition organized by the Royal Star Academy. I had heard alot about the Academy and watched videos online of their students performing. It was known that during the final year of your program at the Academy,you stand a chance to perform for some of the finest artists in America and if your performance is impressive,you might have an opportunity to sign a record deal with huge record labels. This opportunity came once in a lifetime unless you had other connections,you will work really hard to leave a good impression during your final year at the Academy.