Against all Odds

“Hang on.” I called out. The boy’s category were up first and as I scanned through the crowd, my eyebrows creased. I notice the absence of a single contestant. “We’re missing someone.” I showed Dad and Louis the file of the missing boy, Zayn.

“He’s not there.” Simon did the same to Brian.

“Where is Zayn?” Brian paused for a bit. Everyone looked around confusingly. “Has anyone seen Zayn?” By then, the entire crew was notified and everyone was searching around for Zayn.

“You carry on. I’ll go get him.” I said as I got up from my seat ready to head backstage.

“No funny business Kendall.” Simon warned me.

“What funny business?” I replied back innocently. I wonder around for awhile before I found Zayn sitting in one of the rooms looking all down. He had been having a little trouble with the routine all day.

“Zayn why aren’t you out there?” I said as I took a seat next to him.

“Cause I can’t dance.” Zayn shrugged it off like it’s no big deal. I couldn’t help as a frown sketched itself on my forehead. Thousands would love to be in his position at this moment and here he was throwing it all away because of a stupid excuse that is not even an excuse.

“Well, you can’t just bottle it.” I stated.

“Yeah, but you know like you all are that experiences….”

I cut him off. “Zayn you can’t just hide behind here. Besides, the whole dance is simple.”
He just looked down. “It’s easy for you to say, you’re a natural born dancer. You don’t know what it’s like.”

“Zayn, the challenge is not about your dancing skills. You’re being judged on your attitude as a performer. You were doing just fine right up till now, not so.” I said. He wouldn’t look up instead he just kept playing with the bottle in his hands. “Zayn, you’re ruining this for yourself. I’m trying to help you here. Cause if you can’t do it now, you wouldn’t ever be able to do it. Right?”

He seemed to be in deep thoughts before looking up at me and nodded. “Right.” He mumbled.

“Come on let’s do this.” He stood up and took a long deep breath. “Don’t do that again, done?” I said before we went back out.

“Done.” He smiled and I pull him into a hug.

“Get out there and knock em’ out.” I encourage and gave him a patted on the back as reassurance.

“What did you do?” Dad asked the minute he saw Zayn back out on the stage and as I got back to the seat between dad and Louis.

“I kissed him.” I lied easily but as soon as I saw the look on dad faced, I hold my hands up in defense. “Joking. Joking.”

“Not funny.” Dad said sternly before moving back on. The thing was that I realized that Zayn was a pretty good dancer after that. He was just lacked of a little confidence. Couldn’t blame him though, in front of all the professionals, count me out, it’s easy to feel intimidated. I did a small salute and wink to him. Zayn just chuckled and replied with the same gesture.

“No flirting.” I choked on the diet coke and turn to stare at my dad ridiculously. Apparently, Brian heard him and started laughing. Leaving others around us confused.

The dance went on. The girls were alright. Some of them really came out of their shell which was exactly what this was all about. To make them feel comfortable being on stage.

The groups were entertaining to watch. The girl group Husstle was great. I mean of course, they were in their element today but that also means more confidence. Don’t get me wrong confidence is good but over confidence is trouble. There was quite the competition between the groups. Some funny dance moves from diva fever had me cracking.

Last but not least, the over 25’s. Seeing that Mary was limping on to stage, “Did she hurt her leg?”

“She has arthritis in her knees.” I nodded. The music played as Mary swayed to it. Sure she couldn’t keep up with the dance steps, but she never gave up instead she came up with some moves which were quite frankly very entertaining and that’s what an entertainer does. I gave her a thumb up. Mary had the ambition, self confidence and determination to make it in the industry. For that, I really admire her.

“Okay. I have an announcement to make.” Dad stated as everyone gather back up on the stage. “You know when I say we weren’t going to make cuts.” The contestants all groaned hearing that and I couldn’t help but let out a slight laugh. They probably think that there’s a twist again. “I was telling the truth.” Instant after the words came out, cheers could be heard.

“So guys your third and final challenge. You must pick the right song. You must stand out from the crowd. This is your last chance. Don’t mess up please.” Louis said adding back the tension.

“And just to be clear, in the next 24 hours more than half of you are going to leave and those remaining are going to the judge’s house. We have around 20, 000 people, you are the final 100. You are here for a very good reason. So this really is it. Don’t be good, be fantastic.” Dad continued with his speech. “Good Luck.”

“Anything to say Kendall?” Louis asked me as all eyes focus on me.

“Thought you would never asked.” I replied. “Actually I don’t know what to say. They just stole all of my ideas.” I gave both Dad and Louis a playful glare. “So……. Let the competition begin!!” I shouted earning a whack on the back of the head by dad.

“Ouch, what was that for?”

“Being stupid.” Dad responded earning laughs from the contestants and crews.

“Glad you lot found it funny.” I pouted rubbing my now hurting head.