Choke on the Drama

That night I slept like a baby. I was so proud to have even made it past that first round that anything more seemed too much to ask for. I woke early and well rested the next morning, searching Jeremy out as soon as we all left to catch our flights. The plane ride was fairly short and I got to sit next to Jeremy. We talked on and on the whole trip. He's a great guy, the type of person I'd be best friends with. I hope that we keep in touch even after we're done with the show. Especially since I had a feeling I wouldn't be here for very long.

"Green one." He said, pointing to a Toyota as we climbed into the cars that would drive us to the hotel that we'd be staying at.

"Blue one." I stated, finding a blue Honda in the distance. Counting cars was a game I often played, no matter who I was with. I don't suppose you could actually call it a game since it was sort of out of your control, but it was still fun.

By the time we arrived at the hotel Jeremy had counted twenty two green cars and I had counted sixteen blue ones. "You cheated." I muttered teasingly, smiling as we unloaded our suitcases.

"You're just jealous because I kicked your butt at your own game." He teased back, smiling as well.

We were permitted an hour to clean ourselves up and relax in our rooms before we were required to meet in our groups of threes and rehearse for our performance. I prayed that I would make it to the next round, then hopefully the top twenty four as well. Jeremy admitted to me that he felt the same way that I did. We were lacking in the self confidence that most people here carried with them like missionaries carried bibles. It was so eveident that I nearly felt like I had a sacrilegious symbol tattooed to my forehead. We were not like them so we were not acknowledged.

We worked our way to through the bustling crowd of people and finally found someone from day one that wasn't already in a group. Adrienne Lynn was a beautiful girl. Tall and skinny with long, dark hair and perfectly tanned legs that went on for days. I was jealous beyond any measure that could be summed up in words. My dirty blond mess of curls fell down to my waist in what looked like a tangled disaster when compared to her hair. I was practically dwarfed when I stood next to her, although I probably should't count that because I'm fourteen and she's twenty six. Either way you see it, if American Idol had any base on looks, there was no way that I could compete with her. It seemed unfair that she would be gifted with talent and beauty.

Once all of the groups had been established we were all told that we'd be singing songs by Avril Lavigne. Not what I would have chosen. I liked more of the 70s, 80s music scene. It was way better. Mostly because it was all filled with sexual innuendoes that meant horrible things without ever saying a nasty word. And because the songs that weren't like that actually had meaning and emotion behind them.

"We're gonna sing 'What the Hell'." Adrienne Lynn declared as soon as we were all set free to begin working on our songs.

"Don't Jeremy and I get a say?" I questioned her, scowling at her when she turned away.

"No." She answered flatly, tossing her hair over her shoulder in one long, elegant sweep. "I'm going to do the first verse and you," She waved her hand in my direction. "You can do the second verse. We'll all sing the chorus."

"What about Jeremy?" I asked, beginning to become frustrated with Adrienne Lynn.

"If I wanted him to sing a part by himself, I would have said something. Got it?"

"No. I don't got it, bitch." I retorted, another scowl decorating my facial features.

"What did you just say to me?" She questioned, her tone rising so as to draw attention to herself. It was quite pathetic. I mean, come on. Grade school kids don't even do that anymore.

"Don't do this. We need a day one person." Jeremy whispered, lightly resting his hand on my shoulder. A silent warning of, If you kill her, I'm killing you. "Let it go." He added on, giving my shoulder a gentle squeeze before he let go. I gritted my teeth and nodded.

"Fine. Have it your way." I muttered, shaking my head. She scoffed at me and resumed her current reign as Queen Bee Bitch. It was easier to see the ugly and the flaws in Adrienne Lynn now.

We rehearsed the same sections over and over, but she was never satisfied. Jeremy and I were never good enough for her. We decided to just placate her. Agree with everything she says, grin and bear it. Then that night when it was time to perform for the judges we sang the song she wanted to sing. We let her sing the part she wanted. We sang the parts that she wanted us to. But she was told that this was the end for her. And we were told that we would move on to the next round. We were told to keep our heads high and we'd make it to the top twenty four as well.

***

"Deep breaths. Take deep breaths." I kept whispering to myself. There were only 58 of us now and tonight Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez, and Randy Jackson would decide the top twenty four. That meant that less than half of us would move on. There was no way that I could come this far just to go home now. I had to make top twenty four. And I wanted Jeremy to go with me. He had an amazing voice and an amazing personality, too. Odds were that he'd make it and I'd be going home.

"Pair up. To decide top twenty four you'll be singing duets. Any one you choose. You can also take a song that isn't a duet and make it one, if you want." This was pretty much all the instruction we got. Jeremy and I knew that we would be working together. Especially after the little scrap with Queen Bee Bitch. We had decided that we were just going to stick together and watch each other's back from now on.

"Do you want to do an actual duet? Or do you want to make a song into duet?" I asked.

"Let's make a song into a duet. We'll look more original and I bet they'll love that."

After a few minutes of discussion, we decided that 'Ho Ho Hopefully' by The Maine was a soft, sweet song that could easily be made into a duet. I liked the idea just as much as Jeremy did and we were excited to start working on it.

I retrieved my acoustic guitar from it's case and began to play the song. After a few tries switching back and forth on different parts to sing, we came to an agreement. He would do the first verse, we'd sing the chorus, I would do the next verse, and we'd end on the next chorus.

We were under more pressure this time. Less time to practice and less room for mistakes, but if we could pull through we'd be passed to the top twenty four, an honor in itself.

When it was time to perform for the judges again, instead of calling groups at random, they asked for volunteers. No one spoke up, so we decided we might as well.

We weren't going big on theatrical things, we played it simple. Two stools, two mic stands, two of us, and my guitar.

"What are you two singing?" Jennifer asked us.

"'Ho Ho Hopefully' by The Maine." Jeremy answered, the two of us smiled. Jennifer nodded, a sign for us to start. My fingers touched the strings of the guitar and I strummed the chords of the song.

Jeremy sang first, December first, I'm in a foreign state, I'm running late
I'm all alone, wishing I was home with you, baby
She's got a way of making things okay when she's not around,
When she's not around I'm going crazy

We like to talk about the plans we make
And things we say when we're together
I hope for better weather this year
But you my dear, need to know

And then we sang together, This year I want you alone

Ho ho hopefully, this holiday will make us believe that
We're exactly where we're supposed to be
And we're ho ho hoping that we all come back
And as a matter of fact I know
We're exactly where we're supposed to be,
Together by this christmas tree

I took a deep breath and sang by myself, We go together like the winter and a sweater
And he makes me feel, he makes me feel alive inside
And when I look into his eyes,
I see they're blue and green like christmas lights
Like christmas lights, oh what a sight

He says I've got a way of making everything okay
He's not alone, he's not alone and never will be
Ho ho hopefully, this year I'll have you alone

We sang the chorus together once more and ended with soft vocalizations. It was dead silence in the room, none of our competitors made a sound.

"Now that is how you start it off. It's like a challenge. Like, 'Beat That!'" Randy stated, making both Jeremy and I finally start breathing again.

"You both did sort of rock songs for your audition, and you both have such powerful voices, it was really nice to hear you guys sing something so soft and sweet. It was beautiful." Jennifer stated, smiling brightly at the two of us.

"It was awesome guys. It was a whole other side of the both of you. You picked a really good duet for your voices." Steven said, finishing up the judges opinion.

Jeremy and I both voiced our thanks and left the stage, whispering excited things about our chances of making it to the top twenty four, the top twelve. We finally knew what we were made of.