There was a prestigious arts high school, Praducci High School, located in Venice, Italy. From the outside it looks very modern and high tech, but once you walk in, you felt like you’ve just stepped into a castle with the gold staircases and marble floors. You saw towers of golden instruments and smack in the middle of the main room, there stood a huge note, maybe about 10 feet high, made of pure gold. You heard students singing and playing their flutes; people getting frustrating over how hard it is to compose music, and also heard the talk about the upcoming admissions test for the new incoming freshmen. That was the biggest thing that went on in the school then, the auditions.

The admissions test was to see whether they would be accepted to attend Praducci High if they met at least one of these requirements:
1)
Mastered level 6 in an instrument
2)
Sight-read any music given to you
3)
Compose your own music
4)
Sing professionally
5)
Pass the audition (required)

There were three people that almost failed to attend this school, and this is how it all started.
Naomi was an amazing singer, but lost hearing in her left ear every once in a while because when she was little, she fell down the stairs and banged into a concrete wall. She once used to be a rich girl taking private lessons from a teacher who had graduated from Julliard and taught there. When she was rich, she was taught to always act as if she were the leader and to always try to have things her way. After time went on, her dad had left her and the younger sister in Italy and escaped to Canada knowing that he was going to be broke because of the huge debt he owed the loan-shark. After he left, she ended up living in a garage that belonged to people attending Praducci High but she didn’t know that they did.
Rachel had perfect pitch and was an amazing music composer, except she did not know this yet. She was known as a “country bum” and sang to herself so that nobody could comment on her singing. Little did she know that she was an amazing singer. She talked with a heavy accent and always wore cheap shirts and her hair was always in a messy ponytail or in long braids. Ichigo was always the girl who followed Naomi. Nobody really knew her name, and they would refer to her as “Naomi’s dog”.
It was the first day of school. October 3, 2009. Many were waiting in line to audition. People were breakdancing in the hallways, singing in the bathrooms, and practicing their instruments in classrooms. You could hear people coming out of the rooms yelling, “Oh my gosh. I actually think I passed!” or people asking “Which judge was the nicest? How did you do?”
First up, Naomi. Oh, stubborn girl. She auditioned with Ichigo because they were supposed to be singing a duet. There was a judge that was staring at them while they were singing and kept making comments to himself... Another judge that only cared about her makeup and lastly, a judge who looked like he was about to throw something at them.

“…And all the roads we have to walk are winding…” (Oasis)

“You may stop now”, said the judge. “You guys both did an outstanding job, but we can only accept one of you girls into our school.”

Ichigo said, “If we both can’t be accepted into this school, then I guess you won’t have either of us. We promised each other that we were going to get through this together, fail or pass, and —”

“Nope. I don’t remember saying that at all.” said Naomi. “I don’t care if she fails. I have no intention of waiting for her when I can be ahead of her. This school was obviously made for people with class. She’s in the 3rd class... the lowest class. She doesn’t have any idea of what music is. All she ever did was watch me sing in concerts, sit on the side while I had my lessons, and just followed me wherever I went. I’m tired of her.”

“I’m really sorry, Miss Naomi. But you aren’t the one who passed this time. It’s Ichigo.”

“SERIOUSLY? No. this can’t be happening. She has no idea how to sing, and she doesn’t have a clue about ANYTHING. Can’t you fix this? There must have been a mistake her somewhere…”

“There is one way. I will play a piece on the piano, but it will be made up of two other songs. I will ask each of you what the songs were. If you get it wrong, you must leave.”
¬
? ? ? ? (Beethoven Symphony and Tiffany Hwang’s By Myself)? ? ? ?


“Naomi? Any idea?”

I know that one of them is Beethoven’s Symphony” thought Naomi. “but what’s the other one? It doesn’t sound like it would be from baroque, classic, or romantic. Can it be? Modern music? Like from our generation?
“I got it. Beethoven’s Symphony and Asleep?”

“Oh. Really? This is a very common combination. Everyone knows this. Any guesses, Ichigo?”

“Yes. It’s obviously Beethoven’s Symphony and By Myself. Tiffany sang it in 2009. So it’s pretty recent, but became popular over the internet.”

“Wh… How?” Naomi didn’t know what to say. “How did SHE get it right and not me? I’m obviously smarter than her in every way… she learns everything from ME.”
What should I do? Should I beg to stay? Like Ichigo said, we’re in this together. Right? Can she possibly just leave me like that? I thought we were friends. Do you think that she took the thing I said before about her not having class seriously? No. she couldn’t have.
She went down on her knees.
She begged.
She fake cried.


“I’m sorry, Naomi. I didn’t know it was going to be like this. If you want, I’ll drop out with you. BUT what you said changed my mind. Like you said, we aren’t in this together. If you wanted to leave me in the start, there’s no point in waiting for you. I’m sorry. You said that this school was for people with class. Not for lower 3rd class. Guess what? I made it in and you didn’t. Leave.”

“You can’t be serious, right? How can you treat me like that? You know I deserve to be in this school. Even the judges know that. It’s just that the judges probably made a tiny error and maybe they checked off the wrong box. Right? Mister?”

“I’m sorry. There was no mistake. As much as I want you to attend this school, I think that you friend deserves it a little more than you do. Especially after you practically called her your ‘pet dog’. It seems that you have much to learn before you attend. People who usually say that are scared or nervous about something that they think might happen in the near future. When you say something mean to another person, you think that it will lower their self-esteem and make them higher. The other person can tell that you’re scared. They’ll knock you over like a bowling pin.”


A few weeks later, rumors got around about how Naomi treated Rachel. Kids starting calling her a “charlatan” because she thought she was sure she was going to get in, but embarrassed herself by not being accepted.