Niall's P.O.V.
"No! It's: 'slide right, slide left, take it back, take it back, pivot turn, jump, hand'!" groaned Louis as he continued to try and teach Hallie our dancing. It was a bit difficult for her, wearing boots 'n all. But she was having the time of her life. She giggled hysterically at our boy band moves, but couldn't execute the moves quite well.
"Come on lads. Let's show her." Liam clapped his hands together. We all grudgingly rose and got into formation. Louis nodded to Hallie for her to push play on my iPhone, and she did reluctantly.
............................
"See?" Harry said "It can't be that hard!" flipping his hair out of his face.
"That was hardly dancing!" Hallie exclaimed "The majority of the time you're rather changing formation or grabbing your crotch while you sing!"
"Some of the notes are high..." I pouted folding my arms.
"It's become a habit..." Liam looked at his feet sheepishly
"Y'all. I'm from Texas. And in Texas. We. Two-Step." She pushed herself of the wall to the stereo system plugging in her phone and scrolling for a minute.
"Oh! Like 1,2 Step- by that Hip-Hop singer Ciara?" nodded Zayn
"No, no, no." She drove her hand through her blonde hair frustratedly then let the hand fall to her hip. She looked down for a minute thinking, and then looked back up, her eyes curious. "Who's the best dancer?" All of us looked around nervously sending points every which way. When her eyes landed on Louis, and grinned, wiggling her finger for him to come over to her.
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Zayn's P.O.V.
Louis looked at her cautiously as she grabbed his hand and dragged him to the center of the dance floor.
"Niall, my iPhone is sitting on the stereo. Plug it in, and press play. It's already cued up!" she said brightly, flipping her wavy blonde hair to the right side of her head. She talked lowly to Louis, explaining and showing him where to put his hands- and probably what they were going to do. He listened intently, only looking at her once unsure of what was to come. But she nudged him smiling "It'll be fun!"
Hallie nodded to Niall and he turned up the speakers.
".....There's a little bit of devil in those angel eyes. She's a little bit of heaven with a wild side. Got a rebel heart of country mile wide- theres' a little bit a devil in those angel eyes...."
Louis stared at his feet, but managed quite fine. Two steps forward, one step back. It was basically in a circle. Every couple times she'd nod and he'd spin her. And they continued to dance around the room until he got more comfortable and didn't have to look at the ground. Then he was gliding all over the place- Louis was born for country dance! Liam, Naill, Harry, and I stared in disbelief at this man. Had he hidden this talent from us?
I glanced around at the others to see their expressions. Niall was next tithe stereo system laughing clapping his hands to the beat of the music; he was enjoying this "country dancing" as they call it. I looked over to Liam whom had slung his arm around Harry's shoulders also enjoying the show- then glancing to Harry's face it was mesmerized. He watched Hallie's every move. Every time Louis lost his grip for a moment he'd tense up with what looked like the action to move forward to her, like he had done when we had our first accidental meeting with her. When Louis would get back into the beat of things, Haz would relax again and continue I watch. This was odd for him. Harry had always been quite cheeky when it came to people- especially ladies, I will admit. But since Hallie had arrived he'd been unusually quiet and too himself. I looked at him inquiringly until he looked over at me to only give me a confused expression to why I was staring at him.
It was hard to hear over the music but you could make out Hallie saying "Dip me!" and ironically as he did, the music came to an abrupt stop. And Louis dropped her on the hard wood floor. You could hear her skull make the knock and she moaned.
"Having fun." spoke the sharp voice
We all turned to see a woman holding the chord that connected the stereo system to the wall. She was short, and a bit plump for her height.
"Excuse me, love. Who are you?" Liam asked politely
"I am Caroline Weathersbee. I am in charge of Miss Marks' business." she retorted
"Aunt Carol... calm down." mumbled Hallie rolling over as Louis helped her off the ground. She rubbed the back of your head.
"How am I supposed to stay calm!?!?" she yelled "You are supposed to be practicing- and becoming better at things you need to improve on. Like dancing! and audience interaction! GET. WITH. THE. PROGRAM." She stomped out of the room.
All of us shifted to look at Hallie's reaction. She was blank for a second, then shook it off immediately with a smile. "Alright." she grinned "Let's get me some ice." motioning to her head
.................................
Hallie's P.O.V.
"I got it." I waved off Liam who had pressed a wrapped bag of ice against the back of my head. I took off only to press it back against it lightly. The cool sensation came over me, sending chills through my body.
"Let's talk about about vocals." began Louis
"You already have a gorgeous voice." Harry smiled charmingly "- but there's always room for improvement."
Niall had a guitar resting in his lap, "Do you know any of our songs?" he asked I looked up for a minute debating whether I should tell them I do like one of their songs that my niece, Annabelle showed me.
I sighed "Stand Up."
She boys grinned at each other satisfied that I knew of of their songs, Niall beat the strings of his guitar, then went into a smooth rhythem. "Haz, sing the first verse. Hallie you join in." Niall nodded
"From the moment I meant you everything changed." sang Harry, his voice silky smooth
"I knew I had to get you- whatever the pain." I chimed in
"I had to take you and make you mine." we harmonized together so utterly perfect.
Niall's strumming grew in energy, he smiled nodding his head to Liam, Louis, Zayn to join in as well.
"I would walk through the desert- I would walk down the aisle." Liam tossed his bangs out of his face, tapping his foot to the beat. He also had a lovely voice....what am I saying.... They all probably do.
"I would swim all the oceans just to see you smile." Zayn's singing was different from the boys, but it was great. It had a more, urban feel to it.
"Whatever it takes is fine!" we all sang "Oh, Oh, Oh, so put your hands up, this is a stand up."
....
"I think you're fine, Hallie." reassured Liam nudging my arm
I shook my head and let out a deep breath. "I hope so."
"Moving on- let's-" Louis was cut off by a P.A. system.
"All artists please report to lounge. All artists please report to the lounge." it called
We rose, and I stumbled after the boys who were moving at a pretty quick pace. What was the rush? I shook my head clear of thoughts and continued to follow the trail of boys into a small theatre. Aunt Carol stood on the stage with her hands on her hips and was grinning painfully at us.
"Welcome!" she laughed tossing her head to move her bangs out of her face. "Theo and Hallie, due to recent tragic events- We were left with just you two as contestants." she clasped her hands together and leaned in. "So, NBC has decided to bring back the person who had the runner up position- AMBER!" she squealed clapping profusely as Amber walked onto the stage awkwardly to Me, the boys, Theo, Gavin Degraw, and some technical crew- and a few others. I smiled excitedly when we made eye contact and gave her a thumbs up. She smiled weakly back at me.
"So, Amber. You'll be working with Lady Antebellum- whom we will be bringing back. Aunt Carol started "This week on 'The Next One' you all are... Drum roll please?"
We exchanged wary looks between each other and stomped our feet a few times.
"You all are going home!"
