[rewritten]
Here is the next chapter!
Enjoy!
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Caitlin's P.O.V
After getting placed into the group with the two other girls, Simon had begun to go over the details of what was supposed to happen in the following weeks. In early September we would be meeting at our mentors home to prepare for the live shows. In the time before that, we are allowed to start preparing for the judges homes. Being that we were now in a group, we would have to meet at someone's house and stay for a longer period of time. Us three girls were complete strangers and it would take a while for us to even catch up to where the other bands are, socially that is.
When we had all the details of what would be going on, we were allowed to leave. There would be a car waiting for us outside. As soon as we were dismissed the blonde girl, Liz, had walked over to one of the boys from the other band that had just been put together. I watched them embrace and talk for a few seconds before I turned away, giving them their privacy. My eyes met with Julie, who was looking down at me due to her height.
"Hi, I'm Caitlin." I said, not knowing what else to say.
"Yeah, I know. I'm Julie, it's uh, nice to meet you I guess. I don't know exactly what to say." Julie attempted at a joke. I laughed for her benefit.
"Well, we should probably get to the car. We should also exchange numbers I guess, and we need to decide on who's house to stay in." I said, rubbing my forehead.
I was so tired from this emotional rollercoaster of a day, though I would never take it back. I'm in the competition. I'm going to continue on to the judges homes and I'm going to do what I want to do. Sure, it's not the same as it was before. I'm not a solo act but this could be fun. I'll make two new friends and go through more experiences. It's not my ideal way of getting into this business, I had always wanted to be a solo artist. But this could be fun, I guess.
Eventually all seven of us started to make our way out of the arena. Everybody had already left on the buses, back to the hotel to start heading home. Liz had caught up with us, apologizing profoundly for leaving for a minute. I reassured her that it was fine, Julie didn't say anything. I was honestly nervous for interacting with her. I've seen her around boot camp and she seems like a bitch. Sure she was nice a few minutes ago, but you never know.
"So," Liz said as we climbed into the car. "What type of music do you guys want to do?" She asked.
"I like alternative." Julie finally spoke up as she took a seat in the back of the car. It was just us three girls and a driver. The boys from the other group were in a different car, which gave us girls the chance to really talk about this new band.
"I like the mainstream pop, I guess." I said.
"And I like the punk rock, pop rock sound. Okay, I think we should work on that later." Liz said.
"Yeah," I agreed with her. "There's no point in fighting over the music we want to produce when we haven't even made it to the live shows yet. Now, where are we going to meet? We only have a little over a month to catch up with the bands that have been together for so much longer." I said.
"We can't use my house. I live all the way in Colorado in an apartment in the middle of town. We wouldn't have any place to really do anything." Julie said.
"We can use my house." Liz spoke up.
"Where do you live?" I asked, turning to look at her. We were both in the middle seats while Julie was in the back.
"I live in Owls Head, Maine. I've got a lot of privacy and the ocean is in my backward. It's a pretty big house and we should be able to be there. I live away from town too, so it'll be easy to keep down low." Liz said. She looked so unsure of herself. I could already tell that her confidence of herself isn't that high. I would have to work on that. She was a cute girl, she should have some more confidence. Hopefully I'll be able to help her with that.
"I think that sounds good. What about you, Julie?" I asked.
"Yeah sure, whatever." Julie said, shaking her head. I bit my lip, why was she acting like this? She seemed so closed off right now. I get it that she didn't want to be part of a group - hell, even I didn't. But she is and she needs to start acting like it. I want to win this competition and I can't do that if I have someone like her dragging me down.
I withheld a sigh and turned to look at Liz, who sent a small smile in my direction. At least she seemed nicer than Julie. I took a deep breath, letting it slowly. This was going to be a long few weeks.
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"Hey dad, uh, I have something to tell you?" I said, sitting down on my hotel bed.
I've spent the last half an hour packing in the empty hotel room. My roommate Jade had left, she had also made it to the judges homes. It would have been nice to see her one last time but she had a plane to catch. And so did I, though it wasn't until early tomorrow morning.
"Are you still upset about not being put through?" He asked quietly.
"No, no. Um... I was put into a group." I said. I could feel excitement beginning to grow in my stomach and a smile made its way onto my face. "I was put in this girl group with two other girls, Liz and Julie. We're going to the judges homes."
"Oh honey, that's great. That's amazing, really. Nancy is going to be so proud." Dad said. I smiled wider, thinking of my almost step mom. I wish they would just tie the knot already.
"But here's the thing. In about two weeks or so, we are meeting at Liz's house up in Maine to I don't know, form as a band I guess? I'm going to have to go away for a while, again." I said.
I didn't want him to be upset over this, me and my dad were always close. Ever since my parent's divorce, we've been close. Being away from him for these couple days were hard for me and I could only imagine what it's like for him. I'm going to have to go away even longer. I won't be home for a good three or four weeks. I didn't want to leave for that long, I would miss my family terribly, but this was my dream. This was something I had to do.
"That's fine. We'll miss you a lot here, but this is your dream Cait! I know how much you want this, Nancy and I will help you out as much as we can with this." Dad said.
I smiled, "Thanks dad, that means a lot to me."
"No problem kiddo. Now when is your flight landing tomorrow? Nancy's calling out sick to be with me when we pick you up from the airport." He asked me.
"My plane takes off at eight, so I should land around ten thirty tomorrow morning." I said.
"Great, well, I better let you go. It's late and you got an early flight. I love you Cait, I'll see you tomorrow."
"I love you too dad, bye."
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I walked out of the gate and looked around, trying to find my dad's familiar face. My heavy bag was hanging from my shoulder, causing it to grow numb. I should've gotten a suitcase instead of a carryon bag like this one. Too late now, I'm sure my dad will carry it for me anyway.
I continued to look around, my face skimming over the countless people that I didn't know. The JFK airport was always so busy, especially around this time of the day. I could hear flights being announced and I could see people running around. It was honestly such a mess. I was starting to grow nervous in this huge crowd, though when I heard my name being yelled I breathed a sigh of relief.
I finally spotted my dad walking towards me. A smile lit up my face and I started running towards him. Nancy was just behind him and when she saw me, she pushed him aside and ran over to hug me. I laughed loudly when we hugged, watching over her shoulder as my dad rolled his eyes and joined in our group hug.
"Caitlin, I've missed you so much! How was boot camp? Did you make friends? I can't believe you're going to the judges houses!" Nancy said.
"Shh Nanc, no one can know." I laughed, looking around. Simon had told us that we had to keep us getting to the live shows on the down low, this way people would be surprised when the episode aired. Oh, that's going to be so weird. Before this I questioned whether or not I would be on TV, but now I know I will be.
"Oh right, sorry. But how was it?" She exclaimed.
"It was great, it was a lot of fun. How have you two been?" I asked.
"We've been great, just working as usual." My dad said, making us laugh. "But seriously, we've been good. Now come on, we need to get out of here. I'm taking you two girls out to a fancy lunch to celebrate." Dad said.
"Are you sure? Restaurants in the city are expensive." I said.
"Don't worry about it pumpkin, I've got it. Now come on, let's go."
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I leaned against the chair as I pushed my hair behind my ear. The dim lit restaurant was on the quieter side, just a few tables in the room having conversations. My small family and I had pretty much finished up lunch and were waiting for the check to come.
"I'll be right back, I've got to use the bathroom." Nancy said, standing up and setting her napkin on the table. She kissed my dad's forehead while I pretended to gag. "Oh shush it, you'll have a boyfriend to do this with someday." She said as she began to walk away.
"Over my dead body she will." My dad called out to Nancy, then turned to me with a smile. "I'm actually glad that she went to the bathroom, I need to talk to you about something." He said.
"Okay, what?" I asked.
"With your career beginning to take off, I realized something important. You're a phenomenal singer and I know that you're going to go places. Whether it be in that band of yours or as a solo artist, the point is that sometime soon you're going to up and leave and I'll be here." Dad said. I opened my mouth to argue him, but he raised his hand.
"Wait, let me finish. I'm proud of you for chasing your dreams. I never could and seeing you chasing them is everything I could've wished for. I've wanted to give the best to you, even though I never could. Being an art teacher doesn't allow me to give you everything you could ever want. But now with you chasing your dreams the way you are, you're going to be able to provide for yourself more than I can. You'll get an apartment in a big city, you'll leave Brewster and be the Caitlin West you want to be."
"And I hope and pray that you'll do just that. I want that so badly for you Cait. But I'll be stuck behind here, while you're doing what you dream. I guess the point of this is that as happy as I am that you're chasing your dreams, I'm going to miss your company so much. I don't want to be lonely again, like I was when your mother first left me. I know that you were lonely too, that is until we met Nancy. She's turned our lives upside down and I don't want to be right side up again. So I guess what I dragged on to say, is that I want to ask Nancy to marry me."
"I don't want to ask her to join our family if you're not oka-"
"Yes," I cut him off. "Yes, ask her to marry you. You'll need someone here with you and she loves you so much, she'll be the perfect fit. I know how much you love her and I want you to be happy. I'm okay with it, I'm more than okay with it. Hell, I'll even ask her for you. I want Nancy to be my stepmom so bad, okay? You don't have to worry over it. I love her to bits, please, ask her to marry you." I smiled.
Tears were in his eyes as he nodded. "I love both you girls so much and I'm lucky to have you two. I'm planning on asking her this weekend, it'll be our three year anniversary. I would like you to be there when I ask her." He said.
"Yeah, I would love to." I said, nodding my head.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Nancy walking back into the dining area. I nodded my head towards her and my dad leaned back, pretending as if this conversation hadn't happened. Nancy came over and took her seat next to my dad, across from me.
"Jeez, the bathroom smelt so bad. I swear someone must have just taken a shit." Nancy shook her head. I laughed, shaking my head as I did so. "What?" She asked, looking between me and my laughing dad.
"Nothing honey, nothing."
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I honestly ship Nancy and her dad so much like omg get the fuck married already. Did that sentence even make sense?
Please VOTE and COMMENT my lil' Gummy Worms!
~ Amanda xx
—Picture on the side is of Caitlin
P.s Just out of curiosity, how do you want the girls sound to sound? Like their pop girly stuff or something different?