A Different Beat

“That’s it, I give up,” Jasey announced, dropping to the end of the bed in a huff. She wasn’t a dancer at all. Oli was a great dancer and even her dad was pretty good – although not nearly as good as he thinks he is – but the rhythm seemed to skip her.

“You’re doing great,” Desiree assured, feeling bad for the obviously distressed younger girl. “You’re just tense and it’s noticeable. If you stopped doubting yourself and believe you look good, you’ll do amazing.”

“I’m tense because I don’t like looking like a total idiot on national television,” she grumbled, picking at the black nail polish on her thumbnail. She knew the stylists wouldn’t be too pleased but she hardly cared. “Why are they starting this theme thing now? And to start off with a sex theme is stupid.”

Desiree laughed. “Sex sells,” she reminded. “Just look at Jarren. Sure, he has a good voice and he’s kind of cute but he can move his body. That’s what gets the girls to vote for him.”

“Oh Des, I knew you’d come around eventually,” Jarren cooed, walking into the bedroom with only swimming trunks on. He had his hand over his heart and was blinking dramatically at Desiree, making Jasey chuckle.

Desiree scoffed, rolling her eyes before looking at Jasey. “He’s certainly not still here because of his personality, that’s for sure,” she retorted.

Jarren ignored her insult, resting his arm around Desiree’s shoulder as he looked between the two girls. “What are you two ladies cooped up in here for? It’s a nice day!” he pointed out.

“We were practicing,” Jasey answered simply, not wanting to admit out loud that she was seeking help for dancing. She was sure the camera had caught it but she didn’t want to actually say that words; it felt pathetic.

He gave them a look of disgust. “Practice?” he repeated, sounding horrified. “Michael said we could take the day off and do whatever.”

“Yeah, well, trust me – I have a lot of work to do,” Jasey replied.

“Well, you’re done for the day then,” Jarren instructed. “Everybody’s down at the pool and you two are coming too. We’ve definitely earned a bit of relaxation, yeah?”

“Is everybody there?” Jasey questioned.

Jarren nodded. “I think so,” he responded. “Michael isn’t – who’s surprised? – and Luke’s locked himself in his room for whatever reason but other than that, I don’t see anyone else missing.” He removed his arm and walked back toward the door. “I’ll bring backup if you’re not down in five minutes!” he threw over his shoulder before disappearing.

“That’s the most intelligent thing that’s come out of his mouth, us deserving some relaxation,” Desiree chuckled. “Are you coming?”

Jasey paused, debating. She didn’t feel like she was ready to do anything but work on her performance, needing it to be perfect when she hit the stage in a few days. But the pool did sound really nice. “Yeah,” she finally decided.

Desiree nodded, already pulling her bathing suit out of her suitcase. “I’ll change in the bathroom so you can change in here,” she offered. “And I know you don’t have a bathing suit, so here you go.” Desiree threw a two piece toward her as she walked out, shutting the door behind her before pausing and peeking her head through. “You’ll do great, Jase. Don’t overthink it.”

After smiling in response, Jasey watched the door shut behind Desiree. From the second, “Next week’s theme will be songs about sex,” left Michael’s mouth, she’d accepted it as her going home. Jarren was an expert at being sexy and Desiree wasn’t as much as a show-off but Jasey knew she could do it. Jasey had never even really kissed a boy, minus that time in Year 9 when Anthony Deemer slobbered all over her mouth during lunch. Hell, if Desiree hadn’t suggested a Rihanna song for her to sing, she probably would still be stuck on her song choice.

Deciding not to worry herself more at the moment, Jasey finally picked the bathing suit up and examined it. She immediately scrunched her nose. It looked like something Desiree would wear – and easily be able to pull off – but her? She laughed at the thought. It was a black bathing suit, the bottoms plain and having strings on either side of it. But the top was definitely push up and had studs outlining the top of the cups and it was held together by a thin string that tied around the neck.

She tried it on, thinking it’d be more modest while wearing it, but she was wrong. Jasey’s B-cup boobs looked double their size and her first reaction was to take it off and skip swimming completely. But she saw one of her large, plain white t-shirts laying on her bed and she pulled it over her head, having no problem with swimming in a shirt.

Jasey made her way downstairs and was almost to the door leading to the backyard when she heard a TV playing, followed by someone screaming, “Goddamnit!” She followed the noises and arrived to the living room, where she found Michael sitting on the couch in his Def Leppard shirt and a pair of gray sweatpants. “Stupid fucking game…” he grumbled, the screen announcing that it was game over and he’d lost.

“Such language,” Jasey scolded jokingly as she walked in.

Michael jumped, nearly falling off of the couch in surprise. “Holy shit!” he exclaimed, his head snapping in Jasey’s direction, eyes wide. Jasey burst into laughter, holding her stomach as kept mentally replaying Michael yelling like a little girl. Michael rolled his eyes, his cheeks turning slightly pink. “Ha ha, so funny,” he deadpanned but he couldn’t fight the smile that tugged at his lips at the sound of her laughter.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know you didn’t hear me,” she spoke after calming down. “But that was hilarious,” she pointed out, taking a seat next to Michael but staying a comfortable distance away from him. She hadn’t forgotten about the day in the park last week and ever since then, she’d made sure they couldn’t even accidentally touch.

“Where are your pants?” he asked, noticing that she only had a big t-shirt on. He let his eyes linger on her legs for only a few seconds before he looked at her face again but that was enough. Now all he wanted to do was see if her legs felt as smooth as they looked.

“Upstairs. I was on my way to the pool, so I don’t really need them,” she explained.

“Ah, that sounds like a blast,” Michael replied sarcastically.

Jasey rolled her eyes, pulling her legs onto the couch and wrapping her arms around them as she leant further into the back of the couch. “It beats sitting in here and screaming at a game you apparently suck at,” she countered.

Michael scoffed, narrowing his eyes at her. “I do not suck at this game, it’s just stupid,” he argued. Jasey only hummed in response. “Why’d it take you so long to join them anyway? Everyone’s been outside for a couple hours now.”

Jasey’s face darkened, not necessarily wanting to admit to Michael that she’d been practicing her dancing skills – or lack of. Michael was the one who insulted her before and him knowing she couldn’t dance for anything would probably only prove his point. “Just practicing my song,” she stated simply, mindlessly picking at her nail polish again.

“Are you still doing that Rihanna song?”

“Skin, yeah,” she confirmed, nodding.

“I can’t wait to see that,” he admitted, not realizing the words were probably too inappropriate until he’d said them. First, there were cameras everywhere and he didn’t need the whole world seeing him hit on her, especially the producers that stressed to him and the boys that contestants were strictly off-limits. And second, he didn’t want her to feel even more uncomfortable around him. He saw how she reacted to his compliment last week and she’d been acting weird around him since.

She snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure everyone’s ready to see me make an idiot of myself,” she snapped, taking his comment as an insult.

Michael sighed, running his hand through his hair. “That’s not what I meant. I meant-“ What did he mean? That he couldn’t wait to see how well she could move her hips? That he’d listened to the song and was dying to hear those words leave Jasey’s lips? “Nevermind,” he interrupted himself. “I didn’t mean it rudely, I swear.”

Jasey chewed on the inside of her cheek. She didn’t know how else he could have meant it but she decided to let it slide. “What are you playing?” she asked.

“Call of Duty. Do you know how to play?” he questioned.

She chuckled. “I’ve got two brothers, what do you think?” she replied.

He smiled. “Wanna play?” he offered, standing up to grab the second controller off of the coffee table. He sat back down, sitting closer to her – something that didn’t go passed her – and offered her the controller.

“I said I knew how to play, not that I’m any good,” she answered but accepted the controller.

“Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you,” he promised, winking at her. He went back to the menu, lowering the difficulty and adding her in. “So, do you get along with them? Your brothers?”

Jasey shrugged, crossing her legs. “For the most part,” she responded. “Oli’s twenty and we’ve always been sort of close. I know I can always count on him. DJ’s okay but he’s eleven and a little shit most of the time, so.”

He nodded, leaning back as he waited for the game to load. He rested his head against the couch, turning it to look at her. “What about your parents? Are they okay with you being here?” he asked.

“I don’t really see my mom much but my dad is super supportive. All three of them are really into music also so they practically packed my bags for me,” she explained, not exaggerating at all. She woke up the day before she left and Kailey, Oli and her dad had already packed the rest of her clothes for her.

“That’s good. I figured we’d have all contestants that were out of school because how many parents are gonna let their kids take a break from school and take such a long shot with music,” he told her. “But that’s good. What about your friends and everything? Or a boyfriend – do you miss them?” Michael couldn’t help but throw in the boyfriend part; his curiosity was eating at him.

Jasey let out a laugh. “A boyfriend? You said it yourself, I’m not special to look at,” she remarked. “And as for my friend, I miss them. But it isn’t like I can’t see them once this is over. This was – it’s a one in a lifetime chance, you know? I almost didn’t take it – Oli’s the one who convinced me – but I’m glad I did. I probably would’ve regretted not taking it.”

He visibly flinched at the first comment, his regret for his comment outweighing the spark of happiness he felt for her answer. “I’m glad you did too. You’re really talented, Jasey, you just have to believe it yourself,” he said, lifting himself up to sit straighter and resting his arm on the back of the couch, turning his body toward her a little. Her knee was now resting on his thigh and for some reason she couldn’t bring herself to uncross her legs. “And I say stupid things a lot; you’ve probably already come to that conclusion. But when I told you that you were beautiful, I meant it. You are. Whoever doesn’t see that? It’s their loss.”

Jasey laughed nervously. “You’re just so charming,” she said sarcastically, trying to lighten the mood. The room felt hotter and all she wanted to do was touch him and she didn’t know what the hell was going on with her.

“Seriously,” he insisted, the game forgotten as he lift his hand to push a stray hair that had fallen from her loose ponytail away. She wasn’t wearing her glasses and her brown eyes were wide and nervous but he couldn’t help himself. It was like his body had a mind of its own. “You’re so pretty,” he breathed out, more of an observation to himself than a compliment to her.

Jasey felt his fingers brush her cheek, his thumb running along her bottom lip. “Michael, um,” she started, losing her train of thought. She knew she shouldn’t kiss him but her only worry was if he thought she was bad at it. She had no clue how his face had gotten only inches from her own but she found herself still wanting him closer.

But hearing his name only made him continue. He held his free hand over his crotch out of protection – just in case he was reading things wrongs and Jasey didn’t actually want this – and held her chin between his finger and thumb, leaning in to connect their lips.

It started soft slow at first, Michael testing the waters and Jasey being so confused she couldn’t bring herself to do much, but Michael finally scooted closer and moved his hand to the back of her head, tilting her head to push their lips even closer. At the feel of his tongue against her bottom lip, her thoughts stopped racing and all she could think about was him. She began moving her lips against his, him letting out a sigh of relief before running his tongue along her bottom lip again and gently biting, desperate for an entrance.

Jasey parted her lips, allowing him in. She didn’t know what she was doing but once his tongue brushed her own, she lost herself completely in him. He deepened the kiss, figuring it was safe to move his hand from himself and chastely rested it on her lower thigh, briefly moving his fingers against her skin. He smiled. Her skin is just as soft as it looks.

Dropping the controller, Jasey lifted her hands and let her fingers rest on his jaw. She ran her fingertips along his skin, feeling the scruff that decorated his face. Michael was just about to pull away and move his lips to her neck, needing to taste her skin, when they heard a loud voice. “What are you two crazy kids doing?” Ashton asked, causing the two to jump apart.

Breathing heavily, everything started to settle in. She’d just kissed Michael. No, scratch that; she’d just made out with Michael Clifford, her coach. Something that she’d promised to not do; it was in her contract, for fuck’s sake. There were cameras everywhere in the house and she had no doubt that there was at least one in the living room. She probably just threw everything away.

Michael knew they’d probably just made a mistake but that was only that they didn’t do it somewhere more private. But what was the worst the producers could do, fire him? Send her home? He wouldn’t let that happen. But when he saw the terrified expression on Jasey’s face, he knew her mindset was completely different than his. “Jasey, just-“

“I gotta go,” she muttered, standing up and practically running out of the room and passed Ashton, straight up the steps and to her room.

“What are you doing, Mike?” Ashton asked, only feeling slightly hypocritical with his question.

He glared at his band mate, knowing that there was no reason for him to be mad at Ashton but he couldn’t help himself. Jasey wouldn’t have run from him if Ashton hadn’t broken them apart. “Fuck off,” he mumbled, resting his elbows on his knees and burying his face in his hands.