You built the suspense well. It felt as though we were in the audition with Noah. Noah is not confident, and you describe this. More than that you describe a boy in jeans who 'looks comfortable in his skin'. This is a way of showing that Noah does not feel confident. Good technique.
One line that jumped out and seemed a little discordant was this one
Noah could understand why he had been so brave and confident
You hadn't described this boy as being particularly brave (although he does speak up and volunteer). We ask ourselves for a moment if we had met this boy before. It's a fine line that you write, but when the reader has to stop and wonder, it breaks up the flow of your story.
You did a great job here. The comment in the preceding paragraph is merely an observation. Take it or reject it. You are, after all, the author.
Thank you for sharing this story with us, @loveah. We appreciate that you support other writers with your comments.
Thanks you so much, theinkwell.. I'll take the observation so I can do better next time. Thanks for having me in the community.