e l e v e n
"i wasn't planning on falling in love but... here i am."
**
"You're bloody lucky that your audition is right now otherwise I would be giving you a whole lecture about you getting lost," Dani whispered into my ear, "And never mind you meeting Harry Styles,"
I was currently backstage awaiting to be called in and a swarm of cameras huddled in the corner preparing to capture every moment of it. All my past feelings of anxiety or nervousness had been washed away and all I was feeling was adrenaline and excitement, which was the complete opposite of what I was expecting. I still was shocked and overwhelmed by my encounter with Harry but somehow it had given me a sort of confidence boost.
One of the men, who I was assuming was one of the producers, stood by the doorframe and signalled for me to come towards him. It was time. I heard vague echoes of good luck from my friends and sister as I walked away from them in the direction of the stage, there was a minor ringing in my ears and my vision went blurry for a split second.
"Are you ready?" The man, who's name I had now discovered was Tony, asked me, "Chloe Rivers, is it?" He questioned as he looked up from the sheet in front of him.
"Yeah, that's me." I answered quietly.
I hurriedly diverted my attention back onto stage where a girl, who appeared to be around my age, looked shell-shocked and as if she was about to burst out crying. I couldn't hear perfectly what the judges were saying but I'm assuming that none of them had turned their chairs around for her, meaning that she didn't get through. Great.
Just one chair, I thought to myself. Just one, and I'd be through to the next round. Before now I hadn't really though about who the judges were but I was well a where that the judging panel consisted of four of the best producers and artists in the world.
"It's time," Tony told me, leading me forward slightly, "Good luck,"
My first few steps were hesitant and I almost lost my balance twice, I'll blame my heels for that. One more step and I'd be on the stage. I stopped for a second, inhaled and huge breathe and walked forward. Bright lights immediately dazzled me and there was a sudden uproar of clapping from the audience, despite my not being able to see them. After my eyes had adjusted slightly I looked down towards the judges chairs that we're currently faced away from me. The first belonged to will.i.am, the second belonged to Rita Ora, the third Simon Cowell and the fourth Ricky Wilson. The first three were huge idols of mine and Ricky, the fourth, I knew a lot less about.
Once I had arrived at the microphone, the claps started to die down until there was utter silence throughout the whole room. Adrenaline was coursing through me as I waited for the band to start playing the backing music and I stared straight ahead. A few more seconds passed and that's when the piano began playing, slowly followed by the guitar and soon into the whole band. I counted the beats in my head, making sure to breathe in and out and then, it was time.
"Remember those walls I built, well baby they're tumbling down." I sang. "They didn't even put up a fight, they didn't even make a sound." For a second all of my past worries were washed away and I was putting all of my emotions into my singing.
"I found a way to let you in, but I never really had a doubt. Standing in the light of your halo, I've got my angel now," Suddenly I heard a faint booming noise and looked down to see Ricky's chair turning, relief washed over me and I relaxed into the song.
He wasn't my first choice, but I was through, I had done it.
As I sung through the other lyrics, Rita's chair also turned to reveal her swaying with the rhythm of the song. I smiled at her as I sang the chorus and she lifted up her thumb towards me, returning the same smile that I had given her before.
The song whizzed through and I was about to sing the last chorus, with two chairs still too turn. I could just about make out Ricky talking to Simon beside him and giving him a thumbs up as if to say, 'turn around'. Shortly after their encounter, Will turned around from the other end. One more chair.
The crowd had now begun getting involved as they sang along to the lyrics and raised their hands up in the air, swaying from side to side. Towards the front there was a small group of girls turning their hands in circles, signalling to Simon.
"I can see your halo, halo, halo," Finally my song came to a close, the piano completing its final chords, I looked down towards the ground in an attempt to begin collecting my thoughts but was cut off by another 'boom' coming from the front, and as I looked up I found all four chairs facing me. By pure instinct I squealed a little and jumped into the air, hurting my cheeks with the force of my smile. I had done it, I had actually done it. Not once had the potential capacity of people watching crossed my mind, all that had mattered was getting through and now I had achieved that.
"Hey sweetheart," Rita called to me, "What's your name?"
"Chloe," I stuttered slightly, "Chloe Rivers,"
"See you already have the name of a popstar," She beamed, "How old are you, by the way?"
"Thank you," I giggled, concealing my shaking hands, "And I'm sixteen." Faint choruses of 'woah' echoed through the crowds and I'm pretty sure that the judges joined in as well.
"Sixteen?!" Will questioned in almost disbelief.
"Yeah,"
"Well I must say, I certainly didn't have your figure when I was sixteen," Rita commented, "So you're already one step ahead,"
"Thank you," I smiled at her politely. I had completely no idea how to act.
"Hi," Simon waved towards me from his chair, "As you could probably tell, I was rather reluctant to turn my chair around at first. Well, that was simply because I could hear that you were slightly younger and I could hint a few nerves. Am I right in thinking that?" I nodded in repsonse, "Okay so as you know, the female music industry is huge and growing rapidly so I wanted to wait until I heard something special from you," I continued to nod as he spoke, "And towards the end I found myself so consumed by trying to find something that made you stand out, that I didn't appreciate just how talented a singer you are." At this, the crowd began applauding and myself, continuing to be awkward, just nodded along, "That is why I found myself turning at the very, very end of your performance. So in short, you are a very talented singer and I think that you have what it takes to make it in this industry. For these reasons, I would love if you picked me to be your coach throughout this competition," He concluded, bowing his head as the crowd continued to cheer.
"Thank you," I said hesitantly into the microphone.
"Now," Ricky interrupted, "I don't know or care, to be honest, what these guys were thinking throughout your performance as all I really care about is the pure fact that your piece transported me somewhere else and I was completely lost in the raw talent and beauty of your voice,"
"Thanks so much,"
"So I would love it if you picked me to be your coach as I believe that you could win this competition and it would be my honour to be by your side throughout that journey," He spoke. They weren't wrong when they said he was a charmer.
"Me! It's my turn!" Rita shouted, "Okay so, I don't know where to begin so I will just say this, I think you are super cute and gorgeous but I also adore your voice and the range you have because I believe that you have so much more to give and I think that if you joined my team, that I would be able to help you extend your boundaries and help you achieve even more greatness than you already have done." She grinned.
"I'm not going to bother making a big long speech like these three because frankly, they've said it all for me," Will spoke, "But what I will say is that I have a lot of experience in the music industry and I think that I would be the best coach for you as I can help you vocally but I can also help you in the business side of all of this."
"But so could I," Simon fought back,
"Yeah, but what I am saying is that I am a better rounded coach for her talents,"
"Not necessarily..." Simon began but was soon cut off by Rita.
"Okay, okay. You two could fight over who is better all day but at the end of it, it is down to Chloe to choose which coach she would like to be with,"
"Don't make me choose," I joked but it came out as more of a plead.
"Sorry love, but you have to," Ricky winked, "But feel free to take your time."
When I had arrived I had a clear idea that I wanted to go with Simon but after all of the judges pitches, I wasn't so sure. I wanted someone who could push me vocally, but would also be there as a friend and would be able to guide me through all the business aspects of it. So for me this meant that all of the judges were liable and fit into my categories.
"I think that..." I took a second to think. My gut was telling me one thing and my brain was telling me another but in the end, I went with my gut. "I think that I'm going to choose..." I paused, "Rita."
"Yes!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms into the air, "Come 'ere," She beckoned to me. As I began to make my way towards the steps, Ricky quickly jumped up and ran over to me so that he could help me down.
"You shouldn't be trying to get down any stairs in those heels," He smirked at me, "Now go join your new coach."
"Thank you," I praised him, "And I'm sorry for not choosing you,"
"Hey, no. It's fine, you went with your gut and your gut chose Rita. I can't argue with that,"
"Thanks again," I gave him a sympathetic smile before making my way towards Rita who yanked me into a hug.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," She squealed into my ear, "We are going to have so much fun! I can't wait,"
"It's okay, I can't wait either," I grinned at her, slowly pulling from her embrace.
"Go get some rest, we have lots of work to do on Monday,"
"Looking forward to it," I called back. Once I had thanked Simon and Will, I made my way back to the room in which my friends and sister would have watched my performance in. It was rather easy to detect which one it was as I could hear continuous squeals of excitement coming from it and, sure enough, as soon as I entered I was tackled into a massive huddle.
"You did it!" Dani cheered.
"And all of the judges turned for you!" Ash continued.
"We knew you could do it!"
"Thank you guys," I beamed at them, no longer containing my excitement.
"This will surely shut Cara up," Ariane smirked.
"You girls can stay and watch the next act if you want?" The camera man said to us, "She didn't bring anyone with her so..."
"Yeah sure." I agreed with him, not just because I wanted whoever it was to have some support, but also because I needed some more time to calm down before facing anymore cameras.
"I think her name is Shannon or something?" He muttered, returning his focus to his script.
"Wait, what?!" Ash questioned.
"What?" The camera man looked confused.
"What did you say the girls name was?" She pushed. What is her problem?
"I think it's Shannon maybe, I can't remember exactly," He mumbled the last part.
"Are you sure it isn't Sian?" Her voice was full of venom.
"Ash, chill." I pleaded.
"Oh yeah, you're right sorry! Her name is Sian Thomas, I believe." He smiled, clearly not noticing Ash's increasing anger and annoyance.
"I knew it,"
"You literally sound like a jealous boyfriend." I rolled my eyes at her.
"Whatever, let's go. I'm not watching her audition and I don't care what you lot say." Ash groaned before she stormed out of the door.
"Sorry about her," I apologised to the producers as I followed my friends back out of the room.
"Ash, what the hell!" Dani shouted at her, "You should be celebrating Chloe's achievement not getting all angry about some bitch!"
"I'm sorry, okay!" Ash retaliated, "I just don't want her ruining our day by acting all innocent then hurting Chloe again!"
"We are here to make sure that doesn't happen now let's all just calm down and get something to eat." Ariane said quietly.
"Yeah, I'm rather hungry after that," I joked with them, trying to lighten the mood.
"Me too," Ash sighed, "Sorry about lashing out Chloe,"
"It's fine, just don't do it again,"
"I won't," She promised.
**
"Ready for your first day?" Rita asked me.
"Yeah, I think so," I smiled, "I'm just slightly nervous about the battles though."
"You'll be fine hun, honestly. Plus you're one of, if not, the best singer in my team."
"Thank you, that means a lot."
"Just being honest," She grinned at me, "Now, we better get going. It's time for everyone to find out who they are against in the battle rounds,"
"Yay," I remarked sarcastically.
"Hush, you will be fine,"
**
After ten minutes of waiting, everyone on Rita's team had arrived, including Sian. We simply exchanged awkward glances and made sure to stand on opposite sides of the room.
"Okay everyone so today you will finding who you are up against in the battle rounds," Rita began, "Just remember that I turned for you all for a reason and I think you are all amazing!"
"Okay, our first pair is Tommy," As he made his way towards the front I got a clearer view of his appearance, he was quite short with scruffy, black hair and he wore a pair of rounded glasses which framed him face, "And Jack," Jack was the complete opposite to Tommy, appearance-wise, as he had short blonde hair that was set in a quiff and his green eyes stood out amongst the rest of his features.
Rita continued to read down her list as each pair gradually left until there were just four of us.
"Our penultimate pair is Chloe," She made eye contact with and smiled as I reached the piano at the front of the room. "And you are paired with," I had been completely oblivious before-hand to the fact that Sian was also one of the four people left in the room. Shit, "Diana!" Relief washed over me as the short girl joined me at the front.
"So that means that Sian and Rebecca, you are the final pair," She concluded, dismissing us all.
"I will see you tomorrow for rehearsals then?" Diana asked.
"Yeah, see you then,"
**
The week had flown by and it was the evening of the show. During rehearsals Diana and I had grown quite close as friends and that made it even harder to think that one of us would be leaving tonight. I was also well aware of the fact that she was an extremely good singer and that if I didn't deliver the performance of my life tonight then I would definitely be going home.
Currently we were all sat in the dressing room having our hair and makeup done. Despite me asking for subtle makeup, the lady still insisted on giving me black winged liner and red lipstick but thankfully she had stayed simple with my hair and just curled it.
Rita had helped me pick out my outfit and it consisted of a white, high-necked crop top, a black leather skirt and some black heels. She had originally tried to get me to wear a red dress to match my makeup but, as ever, I refused to wear any colour.
"We go live in ten minutes but you and Diana are on last so you have just over an hour before your performance," Rita spoke.
"Okay, thank you,"
"Are you nervous?"
"Yes, very," I admitted, "I just really don't want to go home so early in the competition,"
"Honey, trust me you won't be going home. Just sing like you have been in rehearsals and you will fly through to the Knockout rounds," She smiled at me, "I better get going, see you soon!" She waved before heading back to the sound studio.
After deciding that the dressing room was getting way too stuffy I headed out to get a drink, in the hopes that it would calm me slightly.
"We meet again," A voice spoke from behind me, it was undeniably Harry, "So I see that you got through."
"Oh, yeah. Tonight are the battle rounds," I replied, turning back to face him.
"I see," I noted his eyes raking up and down my body, "You look good tonight," He smirked, taking in a deep breathe.
"Thanks," I shifted umcomfortably on my feet.
"Mhm," He continued to eye me up,
"Uh, n-nice talking to you. I gotta go," I stuttered before practically sprinting down the corridors, I vaguely heard him shout something behind me but I ignored it as I entered the toilets.
"You look good tonight," His words played over in my head.
"What the hell was that?" I said allowed to myself, recalling the numerous times that I had spoken those words in the past month.
**
extra long chapter ay