A Dream, a Song, and Some Awkward Moments: X Factor Fanfiction

Chapter 2: Ready or Not

We had driven the three hours from marco to Kansas City for the auditions, and now we are driving back. I'm sitting in the back seat of our family car. My parents are seated in the front seat while I'm in the back seat sitting by Nate. He's holding my hand and rubbing the back of it with his thumb soothingly.

I have a stack of paperwork on my lap that I'm thumbing through. It has all of the information for bootcamp which is in three weeks in Miami, Florida. I have three weeks to prepare a song to sing in front of all of my competitors. This will be the moment where I see what I'm truly up against. This will be my true make-it-or-break-it moment.

I look up from the paperwork and look at first my mother, then my father, then Nate. I see that Nate is already looking at me, and he looks into my eyes. I smile at him and squeeze his hand tightly. I speak up," Boot Camp is in three weeks."

My mom turns around in the passenger seat and looks at me, waiting for me to continue.

"I'll be eighteen by then, so I can't take anyone with me," I say sadly. I really wish my mom could accompany me, but that's impossible because we can't afford plane tickets, and the show will only provide the necessary ones, which means I'm the only one who'll be going to Florida.

My mom looks sad for a moment; I can see her face's smile falter. "You'll be fine, sweetie. We'll talk as much as we can, okay?"

I nod, and sit back in my seat. This will be my first escapade as an adult. I leave two days after my birthday.

Carrie's birthday, almost three weeks later:

I don't want to get out of bed. The covers are so warm around me, and they're like a fluffy cloud that houses dreams where I can ride unicorns and sing songs to elves who make me big chocolate cakes. I sigh loudly, knowing that I need to get out of bed. It's a Monday, but I don't have to go to school because I graduated last week.

It's crazy. I'm now an adult... It's my birthday, and I'm eighteen years old. I sit up in bed and rub my eyes with the back of my hand. I slowly scooch to the edge of my bed, where I can see the alarm clock. I can't read it though, because I don't have my glasses. My eyesight's terrible, so I'm basically blind without my glasses.

I blindly search around for my spectacles on my bedside table, and I sigh a sound of relief when I feel the thick, nerdy lenses in the palm of my hand. I slip them onto the bridge of my nose, and the room comes into focus. I'll be leaving this room in just two short days, when my life will possibly change drastically. I shake my head in disbelief. "Wow," I say to myself quietly, just before my door slams open.

"CASSIDY MARIE LYNN, GET YOUR BACKSIDE DOWNSTAIRS."

I look up from where I'm sitting and see my most favorite person in the world, my best friend Jennifer Darren. She runs over to where I'm still seated on the edge of my bed and tackles me into a bear hug, elbowing my boob in the process.

I push my best friend off of me and say, "Ow, Jen, that was my boob."

"Sorry chica, but you need to get up! It's a brand new bright shiny day, and you're eighteen now!" she shouts. "Oh, and Nate's downstairs."

"Why's he here now?" I panic.

"Your mom invited both of us over for breakfast, and the pancakes smell really good and you need to get your butt downstairs or I'll get Nate to come and carry you downstairs in your pajamas. And you don't want everyone to see your pajamas, do you?"

I look down at my ensemble, and laugh. I'm wearing my Winne the Pooh pajama pants and a TShirt from my great uncle's old taco truck.

"I'll be down in ten minutes, " I say, laughing.