Disclaimer: This was written over 10 years ago, and the author no longer agrees with many of the concepts found in this story. Some of the content will be cringey and/or problematic. Please remember this is entirely fictional and does not represent the author's beliefs.
Twitter: dazzleizzy
Copyright © 2012-2023
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Abby's POV
I scurried backstage, a smile on my face. Although I would never actually admit it out loud, the way Master Zayn was angry about what I'd worn in a primal way out of jealousy made the blood in my veins sing, giving me a new surge of confidence. Quickly making my way over to the small circle of contestants, I pushed my way through the crowd so that I could listen to Niall, who was explaining what would happen next.
"...first round I'll pick out your names out of this hat, and that'll be the duet you'll be in. Out of each duet, only one person makes it forward to the next round - and there can only be 4 people moving to the next round. Is everybody ready?"
He earns cheers from the small group, and I spot Harry across from me, excitement in his face. He doesn't look up, so I turn my attention back on Niall.
"Alright then, let's get started!" In his hands is a black fedora, and I can just barely see pieces of paper neatly folded inside. Niall digs his hands in, and pulls two cards out.
"And our first duet pairing will be...." he opens the cards, "Harry...and Elle!"
The small group cheers, and I see the two move towards each other and begin to discuss their song choices.
"Our next group...Louis, and Amber." Niall says her name in complete adoration, looking up and winking at her as she made her way to Louis' side.
"And it looks like I'm paired with Kitty. Kitty, come on over here!" Nia waves, and she quickly pads to his side.
"Alright, our next duet consists of...Abby,"
I freeze. Me? Me and who? Niall is fumbling with next paper, and he's struggling to open it. "Mind holding this for me?" He asks Kitty and hands her the fedora.
"Abby's partner is....hold up...it's Perrie!"
Of fucking course. I roll my eyes in annoyance. Although I did help her out not too long ago, I've always gotten the feeling that she didn't like me, and I wasn't sure why.
While Niall continues to announce more duet groups, I search for Perrie. She's changed into a short, salmon colored cocktail dress, and she looks absolutely furious. When I walk over to her, she huffs in annoyance and glares at me.
"Perr-" I begin to say, only to be cut off.
"I'll be back. Give me two minutes." She says, and then stalks off in the opposite direction and away from the backstage area.
Well, she's not the only one unhappy about this arrangement.
When Niall is done grouping the duets, he raises his hand up, asking for silence. "Everyone is assigned an iPod filled with music on it. When you choose your song, choose wisely. Come get them. You guys have ten minutes until the first group performs!" He orders, and then holds up a plastic box filled with iPods.
I quickly grab one, and then walk away from the group and scroll through the songs, looking for something that we could possibly use. Perrie better show up soon, we have no time to waste.
Everyone scatters and leaves the backstage, leaving only me. I set the iPod down on an empty chair and pick at my nails.
It was dark backstage, and I quickly adjusted my sequined dress and ran a hand through my brown waves.
A silhouette approached me - Perrie. She placed a hand on her hip, and rolled her eyes. "They paired us together on purpose. I should've known. I know we aren't exactly on friendly terms, but let's get this shit over and done with well, because I want to go on to the next level just as much as you do. "
I nodded. "Deal."
She frowned. "How's your voice?"
I cleared my throat, and hit the high note in the chorus of Titanium.
She gave me a dismissive nod. "Good. Do you have any songs in mind?"
I bit my lip, thinking. "How about a Demi Lovato song? "Skyscraper", perhaps? We both can hit those notes..."
She shook her head. "No, too overplayed. Something else?" She put a finger to her lips, brainstorming.
"What about "Give It Up?" I suggested.
Her icy blue eyes lit up. "That's perfect! Let's do a test run?" She picked up the iPod that had been assigned to us, searching for the song. "On the count of three, okay?" She clicked on the screen, and the music started playing.
"One, two, three."
Right as the first verse of the song played, Niall came up to us. "You guys are up! On stage! What song have you picked?"
"We haven't even gone through a practice run!" I protested.
"No time. You're on stage in sixty seconds. What'd you girls choose?"
Perrie put her hand around my arm reassuringly. "Give It Up." She turned to me, a confident smile on her lips. "Don't worry, we've got this."
Niall quickly ushered us onto the stage, giving each of us a microphone, and I looked to Perrie for some sort of guidance. The curtains were still closed, and my heart beat erratically, nervous.
"Take every other verse - we're taking turns. I'll start. Chorus, together. Okay?" Perrie quickly instructed.
"Perfect." I nodded back at her.
"Oh, and Abby?"
"Yeah?" I turned to her.
"Good luck." She smiled.
I grinned back at her. "Break a leg."
Suddenly, the curtains retracted, and exposed us to the audience. I immediately spotted Zayn sitting up front, a few seats from Harry as the music started playing.
Perrie strutted confidently to the middle of the stage, bringing the microphone close to her lips. The spotlight immediately followed after her. "Someday I'll let you in, treat you right, drive you out of your mind."
She pointed to me, signaling me to start. I swayed my hips sexily as I walked to the middle of the stage, singing my line as the spotlight followed me. "You've never met a chick quite like me, l burn so bright, I'm gonna make you blind."
Perrie raised her free hand in the air, swaying her hips as she started off the next verse. "Always want what you can't have, Is it so bad if you don't get what you wanted. Make you feel good as I whip youin to shape, yeah boy, let's get it started ."
We harmonized together for the next part, and a new surge of confidence rushed through me as adrenaline pumped through my veins.
Give it up,
You can't win,
Cause I know where you've been
Such a shame
You don't put up a fight
It's a game that we play
At the end of the night
It's the same old story
But you never get it right
Give it up
I could barely contain the smile on my face as I sang, and looking over to Perrie, she couldn't either. Her voice was a million times better and stronger than mine - I was an amateur to her. I quickly strutted to the front of the stage, making eye contact with Zayn who sat in the front row, his expression unreadable as I sand the next part with Perrie again.
Come a little closer
Baby, baby
Come a little closer
Come a little closer
Baby, baby
I can finally stop singing, and let myself breathe as Perrie takes the next solo.
So stop trying to walk away
No you won't ever leave me behind
I glance at Harry, who is sat next to Elle, his duet partner. Flicking my eyes back to Zayn, I watch his expressions, but he's maintaining the poker face so well, not giving anything away.
"Noooo." I echo, and take my attention off of Zayn again. He's distracting me.
You better believe that I'm here to stay.
"That's right." I say sassily.
The rest of the song continues, and I feel more confident as we move along. Perrie hooks her arm around mine, a grin on her face as we continued to sing to the end.
But you never get it right
Give it up
Ohhhh
Yeah
We're done, we're finally done. I exhale, breathing hard as I throw my arm around Perrie's shoulders. She doesn't seemed bothered by it - she wraps her arm around my side and we keep hold of each other as the crowd cheers and applauds.
We thank the crowd, and then make our way off stage. I can feel my blood pulsing in excitement, and I high five Perrie.
"You did, well, you did really well." I compliment, and she grins.
"Thank you. You too." She heads ro get off the backstage, but then turns to me. "Do you want water? I'm going to go get some."
I find myself nodding. "Yeah, I'll come with you."
Somehow, in the course of singing together, we'd managed to put whatever it is that we had against each other and be on friendlier terms. It was quite nice, I'll admit.
As I joined Perrie's side, I barely heard Niall announce the next duet and let them out on the stage to perform.
"Two waters, please." Perrie says to the servants behind the beverages bar.
As the servant sets down my drink onto the bar, I wrap my hands around the delicate glass.
Now, although we were on friendlier terms, only one of us will make it to the next round.
I wonder who it'll be....me, or Perrie?
Only time will tell, so I order a round of shots for us after I down the water to help with the nerves and growing tension between her and I.
As the shot burns down my throat, I look back to the large area where all the chairs were set up in front of the stage.
Only time will tell.
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