Any Talent? ((Kiyla))

[VanessaLink]

Vanessa sighed as she sat down at a table in the Leaky Cauldron. Her, papers scattered all over the table top as she went over the people to invite to the talent theatre. She didn't know many people, this was true, but her aunt and uncle were set on her getting people from school to go to her house and perform at the talent theatre. The only people she knew that had talent were, Jasmine, herself, Justin Lionheart, and Katie Davenport. But, Katie was gone now and she wouldn't be able to perform.

Sifting through the invitations, she made a seperate pile for the people she knew would be able to make it and the people she wasn't so sure about. And then there was a huge pile with empty invitations. Biting her bottom lip, Vanessa took out her pen and grabbed an empty invitation. She tried to think of a name but none came to mind. She was hoping that someone would save her from this treacherous torment.

[KiylaJohnson]

Kiyla awoke that morning with a smile. Kiyla was spending the weekend at the Leaky Cauldren because her mum had to go out of town. Her mum wrote for Witch Weeky and often had to go out of town for interviews.

Kiyla quickly showered and dressed singing along to the radio she brought with her from home. She was listening to muggle music in a wizarding inn, but she didn't care. She sang loudly and often danced to the music.

"What goes around comes around
What goes up must come down
Now who's cryin', desirin' to come back to me
What goes around comes around
What goes up must come down
Now who's cryin, desirin', to come back

I remember when I was sittin home alone
Waitin for you til 3 o'clock in the 'morn
And when you came home you'd always have some sorry excuse
Half explaining to me like I'm just some kind of a fool
I sacrificed the things I wanted just to do things for you
But when it's time to do for me
You never come thru
Now you wanna be up under me
Now you have so much to say to me
Now you wanna make time for me
Whatcha doin to me, you're confusin me
Don't play with me, don't play with me...."

She laughed to herself as she finished up her little "concert" and turned off the radio shutting off Alicia Keys in mid sentence. She walked out her room, grabbing her backpack and headed downstairs.

Kiyla paused at the bottom of the stars and looked around for someone she knew, but saw no one. She walked down the rest of the stairs and looked around for someone her age at least, when she saw a girl who looked familar. Kiyla bit her lip softly wondering if she should go over to her. She was usually a shy person who didn't talk to people and mostly kept to herself.

Kiyla took a deep breathe and walked over to the table and sat down. She noticed the girl seemed trouble and wondered if she could do anything to help.

"Hi," Kiyla said softly to the girl.

[VanessaLink]

Vanessa was about to give up on the whole invitation thing, and had decided to let Jasmine hand them out when she looked up; ordered a butterbeer, and then laid her head on the table in frustration. Her mind was a race with things. She was 15, taking Summer School during the summer so she could go to a muggle college when she turned 18, and she was organizing this Talent Theatre alone. With no help, except from Jasmine and that was about it.

She groaned lightly as the butterbeer was set down on her table, and didn't lift her head to take a drink. She just sat there, sulking. Until someone came up and sat across from her. Then did she look up. She smiled at Kiyla, a third year Hufflepuff who she had spoken briefly with about music in the common room when they all had insomnia. Vanessa smiled and sat up straight, starting to straighten the now messey piles because of her surrender to their all powerful being.

"Hey, sorry it's all cl-cluttered. I'm sw-swamped with things to do. How are you these days? Haven't sp-spoken in awhile." Vanessa greeted with a warm smile as she finished organizing and looked at Kiyla. She took a sip of her butterbeer, then realizing Kiyla didn't have one she ordered another just in case she wanted one.

[KiylaJohnson]

Kiyla smiled softly at the older girl. She looked around at all the cluttered pieces of paper then looked at Vanessa.

"I'm fine but you look...like your exhausted.... do you need help with something?" Kiyla asked Vanessa curiously.

Kiyla smiled at Vanessa warmly with her leg jumping slightly after dancing in her room a little while ago. She wanted to get out of her seat and just start dancing now but instead she thanked Vanessa for the butterbeer and took a sip.

[VanessaLink]

Vanessa looked up as Kiyla asked if she could help with anything. Vanessa didn't want to impose on her, but she really could use some help with these invitations. Biting her lip in thought she nodded and sighed.

"Kiyla, you're talented. Would you mind coming to my aunt's talent theatre next week? Even if you can't come, passing some of these invitations out would be so helpful, it really would. I have so much going on right now. And Quidditch is in two weeks. And it's all so very very tiring. I wouldn't want to impose though." Vanessa said, but she added the last part quickly so she wouldn't seem pushy.

[KiylaJohnson]

Kiyla had been taking another sip of butterbear when Vanessa said that Kiyla was talented. Kiyla burst into hysterical laughter, narrowly choking on her butterbeer and/or spitting it out. She was laughing so hard it was hard for her to breathe. Kiyla held onto her stomach, while gasing for breathes trying to control her laughter as she looked at Vanessa only to realize that Vanessa wasn't laughing. She realized that Vanessa was serious.

"Wait, you're serious? Me? Talented? You do realize I'm Kiyla, right? Sure I'll help with the invites and I'll even help you out with the theatre but I'm not talented. I can't sing worth a dime and I dance like i have something up my butt." Kiyla said with a small laugh. Her leg was still hopping frantically.

[VanessaLink]

Vanessa looked at Kiyla worried, when Kiyla was done speaking Vanessa took a sip of her butterbeer and then leaned over the table so she was looking Kiyla directly in the eye. Her brown eyes serious, and dancing with quotes she could use.

"Everyone, and I repeat, everyone has talent. Whether it's singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, writing, photography, anything. Anyone and everyone has talent. Talking is a talent. But, it's not an admired one like all the others. Singing is one of those talents you have to learn to control, it's something you live with everyday. When you're talking in a prolonged manner you're singing. Like, Meredith Wilson's The Music Man. 'Ice creeeeeam.'" She told her with inspiration, she then sat back and took another sip of her butterbeer.

[KiylaJohnson]

Kiyla sighed as she looked at Vanessa. She shook her head slightly.

"This chick just ain't giving up is she?" She thought to herself.

"Well, everyone but me that is. I have no talent. I can barely talk to people, I can't act if my life depended on it, I can't even draw stick person let alone paint it, and my writing is all crap. I'm sorry I can't be in you theatre, I wish I could but I am just talentless," said Kiyla with a shrug.

"Like I said, I'd be glad to help you set up and pass out invitations. I'd even announce the acts if you wanted but I don't have a talent. Thanks for believing that I do though," she said.

[VanessaLink]

Vanessa looked up to the ceiling, her mind running amuck. She was thinking of something Kiyla could do. The theatre was already set up, she had done that the previous weekend. What else was there to do...? She tapped her finger to her chin, and then sat up straight as if to say, AHA!

"Maybe, you can be in it. You wouldn't have to do anything of course, not anything that put the spotlight on you. Well, my aunt is in the theatre so there's this spot. You direct the people onto the stage. Like, say I was up first, you would get on the stage announce me, then walk off. Could you do that? And who knows? Maybe you're talent is introducing things, and you could work as a meteorologist?" Vanessa asked with a slight laugh and a sparkle in her eyes.

[KiylaJohnson]

Kiyla raised an eyebrow at Vanessa. She bit her lip softly and tilted her head to the side as if thinking.

"It's just crazy enough to work...." Kiyla said with a smile, "but a meteorologist? That's a little... random isn't it?"

Kiyla laughed and thought about her "talents". Sure, she used to go to a hip hop class after school before she came to Hogwarts. And sure, she sang a lot, but just because she did those things didn't mean she was good at them, right?

[VanessaLink]

Vanessa smiled and clapped before picking up at least 10 invitations and handing them to Kiyla along with a pen and a list of names that she had configured up that morning. She smiled and put her chin in her hands.

"You get to wear a cool looking headset and everything! Really! It'll be fantastic! And you get to meet Aryeh, he's my best friend. Except he's gone now, at Yale. And he comes back for the theatre. You'll hear him play. Anyway, that list is the list of a few people I thought would like to come. The ones with a check by them I already have covered, and the ones with an x by them, I have nixed off the list." Vanessa explained to her. She then opened the invitation she had been imitating and handed that to Kiyla also.

"Here, you just put their name. And that's it! Then you pass those ones out. I have many more to do." Vanessa told her with a smile.

[KiylaJohnson]

Kiyla smiled at Vanessa and began writing out some invitations.

"What do you mean a headset?" Kiyla asked Vanessa with an accusing voice?

She was happy that she helped relieve some stress off of Vanessa even if it wasn't that much.

"Do you do this every year or is it a first time thing?" Kiyla asked Vanessa curiously.

[VanessaLink]

"Headset, so you can talk to my uncle Matthew about lighting and that sort of thing. He's the head of electronics. We have a stage for this, that he and my dad built, our own instruments we let people use, and our own lighting and sound system that's wired through the stage. We do this every year, and each year it's amazing. The only problem is, it's a mix between muggles and witches and wizards. Because, everyone in the town is invited to it. It's in our backyard which is also our large field of sunflowers. It goes on until like midnight, and all my friends can stay over besides the guys." Vanessa explained to her with a dazed smile as she remembered the talent theatre so many years back.

[KiylaJohnson]

Kiyla smiled and laughed lightly with her eyes twinkling.

"Wow this sounds like great fun! I've never been to anything like this before. It'll be cool! I can't wait! So when are we going to do this?" Kiyla said as she finished writing on invitation and started another.

Kiyla paused for a second taking a drink of her butterbeer then asked Vanessa, "So what are you doing after you write these out?"

[VanessaLink]

"Oh, it is! It's so much fun! There's places to sit along tables that are spread out in the back of the field, but not too far back so you can't hear the music. And we set down wood so we can dance on it, it's a large piece of wood and it won't break under pressure, not with magic. It's so magical! And, my aunt and uncle don't know about this, but there's a foot bridge that goes over a creek and that's where most of the teenagers go after the music is done with the adults are all up there telling lame jokes." Vanessa said as she was brought back to the world in which she lived in. She picked up an invitation and started to write on it.

"After this, I have costumes to think up of for Foxchase, I might've mentioned Aryeh before. I think I did. Well, anyway he has a band named Foxchase and he has appointed me the lead dresser person. It's not fun dressing guys in clothing I don't know what they like." She answered with a small chuckle.

[KiylaJohnson]

Kiyla smiled at Vanessa then tilted her head to the side again.

"Really? Wow... I wish my family was close like that.... we aren't... actually I barely know my REAL family but... well, costumes, huh? Mind if I help? I think I may be a little helpful... what kind of music do they play?" Kiyla asked.

Kiyla smiled and grabbed another invitataion. As she began writing she began to hum another song. Her foot tapped to the beat and her head swayyed slightly with the rhythm.

[VanessaLink]

Vanessa looked up as Kiyla asked what type of music Foxchase played. Well, it was a mix between rock and punk. So she guessed it would be punk/rock. She bit her lip as she started another invitation.

"Foxchase plays punk/rock music. And there in lies my dillemma. Your family isn't that close? Really? Wow. I mean, I thought all families were close. I guess it's just mine and Jasmine's I suppose. But, we weren't always this close to my Aunt and Uncle. There were times when we wouldn't go over there for weeks at a time because, of an arguement my parents had with them that previous day. But, when my parents died, it was either orphanage or live with them. And I was already so use to living with them by now, I just chose them. I had a quiet past. All the sound there was, was my piano playing, and my aunt crying in her bedroom."Vanessa said with a slight gleam in her eye as she remembered her mother and father. The gleam vanished when she looked back at Kiyla, and a smile replaced it.

"So, you want to help me? I hope you know what you're doing, because I don't. I suppose I could call Aryeh up and ask what they want, but, that would mean talking to him, and I'd rather not." She smiled again and then took a sip of her butterbeer.

[KiylaJohnson]

Kiyla listened closely to Vanessa talking about her past. She sighed and tried to feel what it would be like if her original family were even together like that. She wondered what it would be like if she even knew her biological family. Her adoptive family was great though. Her mum had two sisters and two brothers, which all were wizards. During family gatherings they would all be happy and cool but Kiyla couldn't help but wonder what it would be like if it were with her original parents and family.

"Oh, ok," was all Kiyla would bring herself to say to Vanessa after her speech about her family.

"Yes I want to help! the thing is I probably know the same or even less than you..." Kiyla said with a shrug and a grin.

Kiyla's foot was still tapping to the beat of the song and her hums turned into slight whispers of the song.

[VanessaLink]

Vanessa lowered her head again, thinking of a design logo she could put on a pair of jeans or a shirt for Foxchase. Her mind thinking, when she heard a song being softly whispered. She looked up again, and smiled as she continued to listen to Kiyla whisper the song.

"So, you can sing." Vanessa said with a large smile that lit up most rooms. She tilted her head and then laughed as she realized Kiyla was unaware of how great she actually sung. Vanessa had been the same way. She smiled again, and looked back down at a piece of paper. Her pen starting to scratch across it; drawing an outline of a fox chasing something. In the swirl of the foxes' tail it was printed clearly; Foxchase.

[KiylaJohnson]

Kiyla had been whispering the song and rocking to the rhythum of the beat while she wrote out the invitations. She had been so into it that she forgot that Vanessa was still there. Kiyla nearly jumped out her skin when Vanessa made a comment.

"Excuse me what?" Kiyla said knowing that she had obviously heard Vanessa wrong. Kiyla THOUGHT she heard Vanessa say that Kiyla could sing but she couldn't have possibly said that.

"If I could sing as well as you could draw, I would have gotten a record deal," Kiyla said with a laugh as she looked at Vanessa's drawing.