[rewritten]
Here is the next chapter! It's long so I hope you like it :)
Enjoy!
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Liz's P.O.V
By the time that we had finished dinner the girls and I were mostly dry. My mom said that it was okay to go inside, so that's exactly what we did. We went up into my room, talking loudly about our day tomorrow. I still felt bad about not telling that, I really did think that I told them. I guess with the cameramen coming today threw me off. That was still weird, having cameras in our faces. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get used to something like that.
I was going through my dresser, pulling out a pair of pajamas for tonight when I heard Julie talking about some songs we should sing tomorrow. Both her and Caitlin were burning through song choices and I laughed quietly at them. After putting my pajamas and a clean pair of underwear on my dresser, I grabbed my phone and handed it to Julie.
"The uncle with the studio is named Keith. Text him the title and artist of five songs, I'm fine with anything. He needs to edit them and get the people singing to not sing I guess." I said.
"Okay, cool. You going to take a shower?" Julie asked, taking my phone.
"Yeah, are you two going to want to when I get out?" I asked.
"Yeah, I'll go in after you." Caitlin said.
"M'kay, I'll leave the water running then." I said.
I grabbed my stuff before heading out of the room, sitting hearing Julie and Caitlin go back to naming a whole bunch of songs. I laughed quietly to myself as I walked into my bathroom. I was so glad that we were all getting along. The first four days were so rough, what with all the arguing. But now that we seemed to appreciate each other and respected each other, it was going so well. I'm so glad that we were getting along and having so much fun together.
I set my things down on the countertop when I got to the bathroom, and then turned on the water. My hair was beginning to dry in that stuck together way it would usually dry in after swimming in the water. As the water was warming up, I looked in the mirror and rubbed the eyeliner that was smeared under my eye. Most began to fill the room, letting me know that it was time to get into the shower.
I quickly shimmied out of my bathing suit, letting the damp material sit on the hard floor. Goosebumps covered my bare body as I moved towards the shower, opening up the foggy class door. Just as I was opening the door, the bathroom door opened.
"Hey Liz I need you to type in your passco- oh my God!" Julie yelled.
My eyes widened in horror and I reached up, trying to grab a towel. Just to my luck there wasn't one there so I covered my chest with my hands and leaned down a little, turning around. "Julie, please, get out." I said. I'm pretty sure that my face was burning bright red.
"Uh, yeah, yeah, but um... I need your passcode." Julie said. I sighed and stretched my hand out behind me. My phone was placed in my hand and I brought it in front of me and quickly typed in.
"There, now go, please." I said, reaching back. My phone was taken from me and I heard the door open and then close. I breathed a sigh of relief and lowered my head into my hands. That was the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened in my life. I turned around and started towards the door, to make sure that it was locked this time. And just because God decided to mess with me today, the door opened again and Julie poked her head in.
"By the way, you have nice tits." She said, closing the door before I had the chance to cover up. I locked the door and rested my head on my wood. I sighed loudly, shaking my head.
"Why me?"
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"I'm telling you, a birthmark! Right on her butt. It looks like a duck." My eyes widened as I heard the conversation taking place. Not my birthmark. I pushed open my door, my wet and clean hair falling over my shoulders. Julie and Caitlin both jumped at my entrance and I glared at them. Because I'm the least intimidating person ever, the two girls only laughed at me. I brushed bright red and closed the door behind me.
"I wanna see. Take off your pants and show me." Caitlin said. My eyes widened and I shook my head at Caitlin, making a disgusted face. I brought my hand up to my head in embarrassment.
"No, no you can't see it." I said, turning around to hang my towel up on the hook on my door. As I was doing this, I felt a pair of hands at my hips and then my pajama shorts sliding down. I screamed and dropped the towel, freeing my hands to grab my pants. I heard Julie laughing at me and Caitlin's giggle from behind me.
"You do have a duck shaped birthmark! Right on your butt, how adorable." Caitlin laughed. I turned around, fixing my pants.
"You should see her boobs, they are much bigger than I thought." Julie said. My cheeks only got hotter as Caitlin turned to me with a smirk. I reached over and slapped her arm, causing her to jump back.
"Relax, I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" Caitlin laughed.
I only chose to ignore her and walk over to my bed, falling face first onto the soft material. I heard Julie laughing before patting my butt. "Don't worry, someday some guy is going to find that adorable." She said. I rolled over and glared at her.
"Shut up." I said.
It was quiet for about thirty seconds before Julie started laughing as well as Caitlin. I sighed loudly, shaking my head. Slowly a smile found its way onto my face and I laughed an embarrassing laugh. I sometimes hated them, these girls. But I was falling in love with them and our friendship.
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My uncle Keith smiled as he opened his arms, giving me a hug. I returned the gesture before pulling away and looking up at my tall uncle. His jet black hair was turning gray at the temples and I knew that it was bothering him. His rock and roll attitude didn't die, he was still that same kid from the seventies. His eyes traveled from me to the two girls who were standing a few feet away.
I turned to face the girls and nodded my head, silently telling them to come closer. I then turned to look at my uncle. "This is Julie and Caitlin, my bandmates. And thanks so much for letting us use the studio." I said.
"No problem Lizzie, and it's nice to meet you girls. You can call me uncle Keith or just Keith if you'd like. Welcome to the family. Now, follow me and we'll get started." He said.
The girls looked at me and I smiled, nodding my head towards my uncle. We followed him into the house and I immediately heard the pounding of footsteps. I looked towards the stairs in time to see my cousin, Grace, walking down the stairs. The four year old smiled when she saw me and quickened her pace. In fear of her falling down the stairs, I walked over and picked her up as she got towards the bottom.
"Lizzie, what are you doing here?" She asked, though because of her age she couldn't pronounce her r's. I smiled and kissed her forehead.
"I'm going to sing. Where's your mommy?" I asked, referring to my aunt Sarah. I heard movement from upstairs and soon enough, my aunt was walking down the stairs. "Hi aunt Sarah." I said, smiling when I met her brown eyes.
"Hi Liz, it's so nice to see you again. Are your friends here too?" She asked as she got to the bottom of the stairs. She looked behind me and saw my friends, smiling at them. "I guess that answers that question. Hi girls. I'm Sarah, it's nice to finally meet you girls." She said.
"Can we play Barbie's?" Grace asked.
"Not today sweetie, Liz has to do some work. Now why don't we go into the kitchen and get some lunch, okay?" She said. Grace nodded and squirmed around in my arms until I set her down. She took off with my aunt, who waved at us one more time before disappearing into the kitchen. My uncle cleared his throat and I looked over at him.
"We should get started." He asked. As he was saying that the doorbell rang. I looked over at the door and saw that Rick, Marcus, and Jack. They had called me earlier today to tell me that they were running late and for me to text them my uncles address. I walked over to the glass door and pulled it open, smiling at the three men.
Uncle Keith came over to talk to them and while they were doing gross adult things, I took the girls down to the basement. I've spent so much time in this basement, especially when I was babysitting my cousins. Grace's older brother David was probably out with his friends. He was now fourteen and experimenting with going out with friends. It was cute, I'll give him that.
The homemade recording studio that I've spent a lot of time in was already up and running, the recording system was glowing and blinking. I smiled as I saw the guitars sitting on the wall. My uncle was actually the person who taught me how to play, I've been playing since I was twelve. I walked over to the red wall and pulled down my favorite guitar from his collection. I was just randomly strumming when I heard footsteps and my uncle walk in with Rick following him.
"Alright, so because there are so many people in here already and it's a tight squeeze, only one of your recording people are going to record this. Now, I've made a CD of the songs you girls sent me. I've got More Than This, So What, Teenage Dream, Wide Awake, and Baby. Which would you ladies like to start with first?"
"More Than This." I yelled out, "Please, they are my favorite band in the entire world and I would love it if we could sing their song. Do you girls now it?" I asked.
Caitlin laughed as she sat down on one of the wooden stools. "I knew you would like that song. We knew that you would want to do that. Julie and I spent last night memorizing the song so we could sing it today." She said.
"Aw, why?" I asked, smiling widely.
"Because you've done a shit load of stuff for us and this is a sucky thank you. Now come on, let's sing." Caitlin said. I looked between her and Julie before giving them hugs. I couldn't believe that they would do something so nice for me. Julie laughed and slightly shoved me away. I knew that she wasn't always comfortable with physical contact, I'm surprised that she let me hug her for a few seconds. Caitlin, however, she hugged me back.
"You girls are seriously the best. Oh, can I sing Niall's part? Please? It's m y favorite of his rare solos and I would give anything, please?" I asked, bouncing on my feet.
"Yes, yes." Julie laughed, "I- We actually had planned out the way it would sing, this morning. Caitlin and I did it while you were trying to braid Kacey's hair. Here, look." Julie said, giving me her phone. It was open to the Notes and I scrolled down it, nodding my head as I skimmed the lyrics. I already know every word to it and I could work well with this song.
"Sounds good to me, you're seriously the best." I said, handing her phone back.
"Alright then," My uncle spoke up, "Why don't we get started. Here you girls go, and just stand around the microphones." He said. As he spoke he gave us three pairs of headphones. I grabbed mine and slipped them over my ears, used to the feeling of it. I've been here so many times these past few months.
"Now you're going to hear the music come through the speakers, so just get ready. Are you ready to start? And are you filming this?" Uncle Keith looked back at Rick. He nodded, not moving the camera an inch. Uncle Keith looked back at me and the girls, and we gave him a thumbs up. "Great, I'm excited to see how you sound." He said.
I watched as he fiddled around on his laptop for a minute before the music started playing through the headphones. I looked over at my two friends and smiled when I saw the excited look on their faces. I think that this is their first time doing something like this, and I'm so happy that I get to be here to experience the first time with them. Jeez, that sounded so much more sexual than I intended it to be.
"Ooh." Caitlin, hitting the note better than I expected her to. "I'm broken, do you hear me? I'm blinded, 'cause you are everything I see. I'm dancing, alone, I'm praying, that your heart will just turn around. And as I walk up to your door, my head turns to dace the floor, 'cause I can't look you in the eyes and say," She sang. Her voice was so pretty. This was the first time that I've ever heard her sing and I was already in love with her voice. I wished I sounded just like her.
Julie stepped closer to her microphone and rested her hands on the stand. "When he opens his arms and hold you close tonight, it just won't feel right, 'cause I can love you more than this, yeah. When he lays you down, I might just die inside, it just don't feel right. 'Cause I can love you more than, can love you more than this." She sang. Her voice was just as amazing. It was so calming and I couldn't decide whose voice I wanted more; hers or Caitlin's.
I didn't have time to think though, my part was coming soon. I found myself growing excited to sing this part. This Niall solo was my favorite, though he really doesn't have that many. I'm sure that the album that's supposed to drop this November will have more solos for him and if they don't, I may just have to talk to Modest! myself. Same goes for Louis, my poor babes don't get enough solos.
Breaking away from my thoughts, I stood taller and leaned into the microphone. "If I'm louder, would you see me? Would you lay down, in my arms and rescue me? 'Cause we are, the same, you save me, when you leave it's gone again." I sang. I'm not going to lie, I got butterflies just thinking of singing the same part as my celebrity crush and the guy I had taken a liking to so much. God, I hate him and love him at the same time.
"And then I see you on the street," I continued, "In his arms, I get weak. My body fails, I'm on my knees, prayin'." I sang.
"When he opens his arms and hold you close tonight, it just won't feel right, 'cause I can love you more than this, yeah. When he lays you down, I might just die inside, it just don't feel right. 'Cause I can love you more than, can love you more than this." Caitlin sang, her voice coming out so strong and steady.
Julie was next. "Yeah, I've never had the words to say, but now I'm askin' you to stay, for a while, inside my arms. And as you close eyes tonight, I pray that you will see the light, that's shining from the stars above. And I say. When he opens his arms and hold you close tonight, it just won't feel right, 'cause I can love you more than this."
I watched as Caitlin took a deep breath and started to sing her high note. " 'Cause I can love you more than this, yeah." She sang, her eyes closing.
"When he lays you down, I might just die inside, it just don't feel right. 'Cause I can love you more than, can love you more than this." Julie and I continued, Caitlin joining after her note ended. This was the first time that we were singing together. In my head it sounded good, though I don't know how it sounds to other people. "When he opens his arms and hold you close tonight, it just won't feel right, 'cause I can love you more than this, yeah. When he lays you down, I might just die inside, it just don't feel right. 'Cause I can love you more than, can love you more than this."
The song came to a slow end and as it finished, I looked towards the two girls on my right. The smiles on their faces were amazing and I was so glad to have seen them so happy. My uncle told us to take of the headphones and that we could come around him, so that's what we did.
"Alright, so you girls did pretty well. There was a view times were one of you went flat but that happens to everybody. Overall, you did great. I'm sure that at the judges homes you're going to get help and all that, it'll only make you stronger. Do you want to hear it?" Uncle Keith asked.
Caitlin squealed, "Hell yeah."
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I hope you liked the chapter. I know it's long but hey, they sang together for the first time! It's going to start moving along soon, I promise. There's going to be three more chapters that have the girls in Maine and then it's off to the judges homes, where more characters are introduced and the boys will be more in it just after that.
Please VOTE and COMMENT my lil' Gummy Worms!
~Amanda xx
—Picture on the side is a gif of Liz, that's kind of how I pictured her in the chapter, except no skirt ew (Sorry I don't like skirts lol)
—The video on the side is of More Than This and just like Liz, it's pretty much my favorite Niall solo. I mean how could you not love it? It's literally amazing and perfect and I just love UPN Niall can't you tell?
—Lastly, in the external link (if you use a computer or something) there is a picture of what the homemade studio looks like. And in case you find it hard to believe that her uncle has a homemade studio, I DIDN'T MAKE IT UP. My uncle is in a band and he has a studio in his basement and I play with the drums all the time okay