𝟬𝟰. ❛ THE TALENT NIGHT ❜

𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ❪ 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟏 ❫

𝓐 whole week had passed. The night of the talent show was here. The night that would hopefully, change their lives forever. The stadium was packed. People from all over Boston were out there watching.

          The man that was currently on stage performed some kind of wack ass dance that left Clara grimacing while the crowd booed at him.

Whoever the man was, he had guts. The crowd taunted him by throwing trash at him. But he couldn't care less as he continued dancing.

The four boys all became nervous. A ruthless crowd like that scared them a lot.

"Relax, we got this," Clara told them. She was a bit nervous as well, only because she never performed in front of that many people before.

"She's right. Now who gone lead the prayer?" It was Brooke who pulled them all into their group huddle that they always did before performing.

Ralph raised his hand. "Ight, Ralph. Go for it."

"Dear Heavenly Father, we humbly ask you for your divine blessing. We ask that you let us be great and perform to the best of our abilities." The boy lead them, opening one eye when he felt Clara's hand grab onto his before closing it again to continue.

"Please let us remember all the steps that Brooke taught us, cause you know we don't wanna do any more push ups. In Jesus name we pray, amen."

"Amen," They all opened their eyes and Clara was quick to remove her hand from Ralph's.

The small action went unnoticed by everyone around. Except for Bobby, who watched with a bated breath, rolling his eyes at the sight.

"Hands in. Give me a New Edition low. One, two three. New Edition!" The group chanted.

The crowd began to cheer loudly as a man on stage called their group out to perform.

Clara was in the lead, entering the stage first. The boys followed behind her in a tight line, spreading out and getting into their positions.

The music started playing. The five kids clapped in sync as Clara began to sing the intro.

"Stop! Nanana! You'd better save it." Clara danced as she gave it her all.

"Stop! Stop! Stop! You'd better save it." The boys joined her, singing in perfect harmony.

Lots of people in the stands stood up from their seats, rushing to stand near the stage.

There was teenage girls, boys, and even older people crowding them and waving.

             Brooke grinned from backstage, dancing along with the teens like a doting parent.

"When we played tag in grade school, you wanted to be it. But chasing boys was just a faze, you crossed your heart you'd quit. When we grew up you traded, your promise for my ring. Now just like tag in grade school, you're doing the same old thing." Ralph stepped forward, singing the lead.

The others stayed in their spots, dancing and hitting the high notes behind him.

"Stop! The love you save may be your own. Darling take it slow! Or someday you'll be all alone!" Clara took the lead this time, sliding forward smoothly while Ralph smoothly slid back in line.

The boys all danced behind her, chanting the melody, going ❛ do do do do ❜ in sync.

"Those other guys will put you down as soon as they succeed." Bobby slid forward, singing.

They both stayed in the front, smiling at each other as they danced, turning to the crowd.

"They'll ruin your reputation, they'll label you a flirt!" Ralph moved towards Clara, pointing at her and she tilted her head innocently at the crowd.

The people went wild, praising the show they were putting on, finding it amusing.

"The way they talk about you, they'll turn your name to dirt! Ooh!" Bobby pointed as well.

Clara threw her arms in the air in mock frustration. Then all the teens moved back in the line and they all danced together once more.

"The love you save may be your own." Bobby leaned towards Clara as he sang.

"Someday you may be all alone." Ralph did the same as they closed her in between them.

"Stop it!" Clara closed her eyes as she hit a dramatic high note, earning multiple ❛ aww's ❜ from the people standing up near the stage.

"Save it, girl!" Ralph threw his hand in her face, turning away from her.

"Baby, ooh!" Bobby backed him up. The two boys then began to dance for the fans.

Mike, Ricky, and Clara joined hands as they danced in sync behind the two boys.

During that time, Ralph slid forward on his knees, letting fan girls grab him as he sung.

Then, Bobby hit the final high note. The crowd went absolutely crazy afterwards.

The group of teens held their hands up and bowed at the crowd. Soon enough, all the groups were back on the stage, waiting to see who won.

"Give it up for our finalists y'all. That being said, this is a lot of talent on stage. Their futures are in your hands. With that being said, the lucky winner of tonight's Hollywood Talent Contest, Boston Rapper!" Maurice confirmed, and New Edition looked defeated as they all exited the stage and stood backstage.

"Congratulations, you'll be recording with me in my studio. Good luck." He approved.

At that, the crowd began to protest, chanting out ❛ New Edition ❜ very enthusiastically.

"Now, my soul wouldn't be right if I let this go down the way it's going down. New Edition, come back on stage!" Maurice called, the crowd screamed.

The group of teens stared at each other in shock before rushing back out to the stage.

"Tonight you're gonna record, too, with Maurice Starr. We're gonna give two record contracts! Good job, kiddos. New Edition, ladies, gentlemen!" The man hummed, quite proud of his decision since the crowd wouldn't let their voices down for a second.

Clara pulled the four boys into a big hug and they all jumped up and down.

           𝓣HE next morning was the day that New Edition would begin recording in a real studio. It was a dream come true for Clara and she could barely hold back her excitement and enthusiasm.

           The brown skinned teen entered the room, her eyes as wide as saucers. The boys took the chance to run to any instrument they saw and abused it.

            Mike pressed random keys on the piano, Bobby abused the drum sets, Ricky ran all over the place, touching everything he saw, and Ralph messed around with the equipment up front.

            "Stop. This ain't the playground. These are not toys." Brooke instructed the boys.

            They all stopped, except Ralph, who continued to mess around with the equipment.

            "Don't just start touching stuff." Maurice moved Ralph away from his set up and sighed.

            "Now if we're gonna be a New Edition to the Jackson 5, we need another member." The man told the group of kids, they looked confused.

            "Why are we trying to fix what ain't broke? There's already five of us. I think we cool." Mike professed, with all the others nodding.

            "Michael, right? In this business, you learn far more by listening than speaking. So, close that big ass mouth and open those big ass ears." Maurice insisted with a bossy look spread on his face.

           "Whatever, bruh," Mike actually listened to him. Now that came as a shock to Clara.

           "Yo big head ass just gone take that?" The girl turned to the boy, laughing in surprise.

           "Shut up." Mike retorted, looking away from her teasing gaze. He bit the inside of his cheek.

           "Now you all must have a talented cousin or brother or somebody in your family that can sing." Maurice leaned forward in question.

           "My sisters hate the spotlight." Clara commented, knowing her sisters were shy.

           "None of my brothers got any talent at all." Ricky replied, shaking his head at the thought.

           "Man, my brother just learned how to walk a year ago." Ralph retorted, looking at the man.

           "Maybe we can get Corey and Travis. I know they still wanna do it." Bobby suggested.

           "I'm so tired of you talking about some damn Corey and Travis. Fuck Corey and Travis!" Clara let out loudly, sending Bobby a tired look.

           "For real." Ricky nodded, chuckling along with the other boys as Bobby gulped at her tone.

           "My nephew. He's been wanting to be in the group ever since the group got started." Brooke reported, the group and Maurice agreed on that.

           "Alright, now it's time to disgust what's gone happen. Clara, right?" Maurice smiled.

           "Uh, yeah, what's up?" The girl suddenly felt nervous. She felt like they would be removing her from the group and replacing her or something.

          The fifteen year old girl wasn't stupid. She knew that boy bands and girl groups were more popular than mixed gender groups. But still. . .

            "I want you to think about leaving the group and signing to me as a solo artist. You can still practice with the group and keep Brooke as your manager." The man proposed, shocking the five teens.

            It seemed like Brooke was the only one in the room that was aware of the situation.

            "What? Are you serious?" Clara was shocked. The four boys stared in surprise as well.

            None of them liked the idea of having her leave the group. But no matter what, they knew she deserved it and she was definitely too talented to be sharing a stage with all of them and one extra dude.

            "Very serious. I'll give you a few days to think about it. It's all up to you." The man smiled at her. He knew she would make the right choice.

𝒐𝒐𝒐. AUTHORS NOTE * 𖤐 ༘ミ
um so yeah, clara gotta make a big ass decision and she gotta make it real fast .....

and just so y'all know it's not gone be nothing like the situation with ralph, he's actually tryna sign her but still sign the group as well !!!

question of the day, what's y'all favorite scene from the new edition story ???