Chosen (The Rap Superstar Series #1) (2 page)

She picked a
Kelly Clarkson song, one that she knew by heart, one that she knew
she could belt at the top of her lungs and hit every note
perfectly. Cora desperately wanted to sing loud, but that would
direct all the attention on her, and right now, she was just trying
to blend in.

Cora had loved
singing ever since she could remember. In her teens, she studied,
no, trained, that was the correct term, every day. She went through
vocal boot camp. She trained to be a professional singer.
Unfortunately, after a bout with depression near her twenties, she
dropped out of college, ended up as a waitress, and she didn’t have
enough time to sing.

Now, fittingly,
she sang.

Clarkson was
one recent singer she could stand behind. Cora liked the oldies,
the classics, the female singers who could belt out ballads like
they were from another world. She sang near the jukebox, not
singing as loudly as she could. It was enough where she wouldn’t be
stared at.

Tipsy, and
swaying to the music, maybe she got a little too into it, but Cora
couldn’t help it, something got a hold of her, the love of singing,
and she hadn’t sang in front of anyone in such a long time. She
missed it. Even though the crowd couldn’t hear her, she imagined
them listening…every note she hit brought peace to her.

If I
could do this every day, I would be happy…

Yet how
silly...she almost lost her concentration, almost lost track of
being in the moment, at that silly thought, but she regathered, and
belted out the chorus.

A real, defiant
smile shone on Cora.

She was so into
the song that she didn’t see the crowd parting.

She stopped,
expecting it to be a worker telling her that she needed to head
home, that she was too drunk. If they heard her singing by herself,
they might think it. “Oh please, don’t throw me out. I’m supposed
to be working here soon,” she thought, then her world shattered,
and she froze, contemplating if she was seeing things
correctly.

While she tried
to analyze what approached her, he spoke.

“
Why’d you stop singing?”

The man who
towered over her resembled the rock superstar, Tyrell. He resembled
him so much, the air of superiority that enveloped her while
looking at him, and the entourage that surrounded him, it had to be
him. Yet, how could it be? Cora was outside of Atlanta, where he
had been discovered….yet she was close enough to Atlanta, where
maybe….

No, it couldn’t
be him.

“
You
look exactly like Tyrell,” she said.

“
You
can call me T. And I get that all the time,” he said, smirking, and
it led her to believe that this was truly him.

Stunned, her
back pressed against the wall, she wished she could disappear
through it. But she couldn’t. She stood there, wondering what he
wanted, his entourage, all tough, gigantic looking guys, ready to
come to his defense.

Why? She had no
idea. Maybe she had offended him some how…

Oh
no, that’s all I need. A rap feud.

“
I
know who you are.”

He ignored the
comment.

“
I’m
sure you do. The problem is, who are you?”

That smiled
turned on her fast. It turned her inside and out, leaving her
defenseless. Already stunned over his sudden arrival, Cora could
feel all eyes on her, and she didn’t know what to do or say. The
whole point of going to the jukebox had been to be alone, yet now
the whole bar stared at her. Now she knew why the bar was
packed.

“
Cora.” It was a wonder that she could even manage to say that
much.

“
Cora,” he said, nodding, looking her over. Was he hitting on
her? It seemed impossible, a cruel joke. “I heard you singing.
You’ve got a beautiful voice. Do you do it
professionally?”

Dumbfounded,
she stared at him.

He didn’t wait
for her answer. Her reaction told him everything he needed to
know.

“
Do
you want to come to my studio, maybe try out a couple tracks with
me? I heard your voice. It’s…like nothing I’ve ever heard. If
you’re available, I’d love for you to come.”

Cora looked to
his entourage. They were smiling at her. They were enjoying
this.

It was all a
joke, a joke played at her expense.

As if she
didn’t have a worse day already, losing her job, being kicked out
of her apartment, now she was being humiliated by a popular rapper,
at the job she just applied to…

Cora bowed her
head, not even regarding anyone around her. She completely shut
off, and then walked right past Tyrell, heading past the crowd, who
managed to grow quiet enough where she could think. The words were
not helpful.

Where do I go now?

What
do I do now?

She had no
home, no job…

Cora managed to
crawl into her car. She slept there, hoping that no one would
notice. In the morning, she drove to her apartment in order to
unpack.

***

The next
morning was tough.

She decided to
get through it quickly. It was painful, unpacking everything, not
knowing where it would head to next.

For all she
knew, it would end up in her car. That was where she expected to
stay for the night. Out of cash, she couldn’t afford anything else,
and there was no one she could call for help. It would have to
do.

Even though it
was painful, she knew it was the right thing to do. Cora needed to
pack everything. Living there without paying rent wasn’t right. She
threw everything in boxes. There wasn’t much to pack anyway. Most
possessions had been sold to pay rent.

Grabbing a box,
she headed out to her car, her new home.

It was a
painful walk down that staircase leading to the outside. It didn’t
feel right. Cora couldn’t help but feel like a failure. Meanwhile
she struggled with trying to carry two boxes on top of each other.
They were light, but awkward to carry.

She managed to
dump the box into her back seat. It would be a long day.

“
Need some help?”

She spun
around. Who would want to help her?

As if things
hadn’t gotten weird enough, there was Tyrell, or T, holding her
second box, waiting for her to respond.

“
I
thought I could help.”

She said
nothing.

“
Do
you need help?”

“
I
guess.”

Was he still
trying to mess with her? How long would his prank go on? Hadn’t he
had enough fun at her expense? He probably got her number off her
application she left at the bar.

“
What is it that you want? Is this a joke?”

He placed the
box in the back. Then headed towards her apartment. “We’ve got a
lot of work to do. You coming?”

She followed
close behind with a huff. “Answer me, please.”

When they got
to the stairwell, where it was dark, he turned around, and she
almost walked right into his arms. She stayed back, staring up. It
wasn’t fair that he was on a higher step. He already dwarfed her,
now she needed to strain her neck to look at his commanding
presence. Intense eyes flashing over her, it was clear to see how
he could intimidate others to get to the top of the
game.

“
No,
I’m not messing with you. It’s not my problem you don’t have the
ears to go along with that beauty of a voice of yours. I happen to
be able to hear just fine. Do you want my help or not?”

“
Y-Yes. I want your help.”

He smiled
again. His words had passed over her quickly, leaving her stunned.
He could turn off and on so fast, going from calm to intense, but
it wasn’t an anger, he just had a strong presence about him when he
turned. It still could leave a person shaken. She followed close
behind, and he pointed to her apartment, “Yours?”

“
That’s it. Or what’s left of it.”

He grabbed the
next box, heaving it into his arms like it was nothing. She was
suddenly glad he arrived. Not planning much of the move, it had
recently dawned on her that it would need to actually be
done.

“
Where’s the new place at?”

Trying to keep
cool, she didn’t know if she was successful. How to tell him that
she didn’t have a new place? She had just met him, but still...it
wasn’t an easy thing to say.

“
Trying to get to my new address already?”

“
I
found this one out, didn’t I? By the way, you’re a defensive girl,
aren’t you?”

Cora shrugged.
They left the room, and she grunted, “Sorry, I’m not exactly happy
about the move. You got me at the wrong time.”

Luckily, he
didn’t continue the conversation until they dropped the boxes off
at the car.

“
You
going to tell me where you’re headed? I can help you
unload.”

“
Just down the road.”

She stopped,
staring him down. Cora could be intimidating as well, when she
wanted to be. It was difficult to do it to Tyrell, who had that
star shock effect on her still, even though he was helping her with
the mundane task of moving boxes.

“
Look,” she said, “I’m not exactly sure what you’re doing here.
I don’t need your help or your pity. I don’t know if you come into
normal people’s lives like this and expect them to serve you hand
and feet, but that’s not the way I am. I suggest you tell me what
you want, because I think you want something, but I don’t know
what.”

“
I
want to help.”

“
And?”

“
And...I want your help. I want you to come to my studio and
record.”

“
You
can’t be serious. You’re fucking with me, right?”

“
No,
I can’t say it again. I’m serious. You’re an amazing singer, from
what I’ve heard, and that was in a bar packed with people. Imagine
what you sound like in a studio. Come try a song. One song. That’s
all. If you don’t enjoy it, you don’t gotta commit.”

She let herself
smile.

For awhile now,
she had been guarded. She could see that now.

“
I
knew you wanted something,” she said, hands on her hips, smiling at
him.

It felt good to
have him compliment her. It felt even better to know that she was
being offered a chance to sing at a major record producer’s studio,
a dream that she had always strived for. Cora couldn’t get over it,
yet there was a part of her that still stung from his
offer.

She had thought
that he was hitting on her.

What he really
wanted was her voice…

I
can still be happy about that
, she thought, and then she asked him when and
where.

***

Cora listened
closely for the backing track. Two of Tyrell’s friends, producers,
who she had never heard of, but had impressive resumes that he
wasn’t afraid to share with her, sat next to him in the booth and
watched.

When she
glanced towards Tyrell, it broke her concentration. Nervousness
pent up in her gut instead. Shaking it off, breaking eye contact
with him, she thought to herself, I’ve never been this nervous
singing before.

In her younger
years, there were many recitals. Recitals in front of hundreds of
people, and it still wasn’t this much pressure. It felt like her
first performance all over again. It beat her nerves at her high
school talent show when she belted out a Mariah Carey song to her
peers. It was only terrible because she knew all those faces
staring back at her.

But still, not
as bad as that one face staring at her in that recording booth. He
nodded approvingly, and she took the cue that the music would begin
in seconds.

When the music
started, she let go.

Her passion for
signing took over.

She was
thankful for it, but she knew it would eventually come, erasing all
that fear. She had been wanting to sing, to let go, for such a long
time. Singing would only be possible for Cora in her shower before
work, and even then, she had to hurry. She didn’t have time to
herself, but when the music struck, it all flooded back.

It broke
through, and she let her voice ring through the record
booth.

She knew she
couldn’t look towards the producers. If she did, she might crack.
Instead, she kept her eyes down or closed the entire
time.

She lost track
of time. She just let her voice flow, let it take over her like she
was used to. Even though it felt magical, Cora knew better. She had
been practicing all her life. Years ago, she had worked so hard she
thought she couldn’t do anything else in life. This was it. If she
didn’t succeed as a singer, she wouldn’t do anything
else.

How things had
changed….

Now she was
homeless, and without a job.

But Cora could
still sing.

When the music
stopped, her thoughts were still thrumming in her head. She felt
numb, her fingertips tingling. Opening her eyes, she looked toward
the recording room, but it was hazy.