Chapter 5
"Good morning! It�s a beautiful morning here in-" I reached over and turned my alarm clock off. Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I stared up at the ceiling. Slowly, I stepped out of the bed and placed my bare feet on the cool wooden floor.
I quickly got ready for school and sat down to eat with my aunt. "What�s up?" Ann asked when I sat down.
"What do you mean?" I wondered.
"I was just wondering what�s going on at school that makes you come home upset," she said.
"Nothing," I assured her. "It�s just that I�m really stressed with mom gone and a new school and everything. Just get off my back!" Those last five words came out harsher then I�d expected them too and I quickly put my hand over my mouth. "I am so sorry, Ann!" I tried to apologize.
She put her hands up. "That�s alright," she said. "Forgive me for trying to communicate with you." She stood up from the table.
"Ann, I�m so sorry! That didn�t come out right! It�s just that I�m going through a lot of stress!"
"And you�re going to be going through a lot more stress when your teacher gives you detention for being late to class!" I looked at her quizzically, then glanced at my watch.
It was already seven-twenty. "Yikes!" I exclaimed, grabbing my pack and heading out the door. "I love you, Ann!" I called.
* * * * *
I sat in my fourth period class, dance. "Keep your back straight!" Mr. Dick, my teacher, was scolding me. As told to, I straightened my back. "Now, let�s try that again."
Suddenly, the intercom came on. "Hello students of Bingham High!" the announcer announced. "This is JC Chasez from Nsync!" A few girls in the room began to scream. "Anyway, I�m here to announce the finalists of the contest." Please don�t be me! Please don�t be me! "The three finalists are: Katie Arlow. . . Melinda Fortess. . . and last, but not least. . ." Please don�t say my name! I pleaded once again. "Alyssa Monson! If those three would please come down to the auditorium with their things, we�ll update them on what�s going to be going on.
The girls that had been screaming came over and hugged me. "You are so lucky!" they exclaimed.
Rolling my eyes, I got changed into my normal clothes (some jeans and a red T-shirt) and headed for the auditorium. When I got there, I discovered I was the last one there. "What took you so long, didn�t you hear the announcement?" Lance asked.
"I heard it just fine," I said.
"Tough teacher I�ll bet," Chris said. "Did you have to climb out a window and sneak back in the building in order to come? I did that once!"
"Chris!" the other four members of Nsync exclaimed.
"Sorry," he apologized.
"So, you are our three finalists! How do you feel?" Justin asked.
"Excited!" said a black haired girl.
"Nervous," admitted a blonde haired girl. I just stood there, not saying anything.
Once the members of Nsync saw that I wasn�t going to answer, they continued on. "What�s going to happen now is you�re going to sing infront of the school," Lance explained.
"I don�t have a song picked out!" the black-haired girl exclaimed.
"Don�t worry, Katie," JC chuckled. "We�re going to pick a song and you�re going to sing it." When I started to open my mouth, he said, "You will be singing with the CD."
"So, why don�t we get you back stage, the others will be coming any time now," Lance suggested. I slowly walked, with the rest of the group, onto the stage and behind the curtains. "Katie will be going first, then Melinda, then Alyssa," Joey was explaining. "This will be your last chance, so make it good!"
JC fell into step with me. "So, you nervous?" he asked.
"No," I answered, calmly.
"Really?" he asked, curiously. "Then how do you feel?"
"I feel like missing every note."
He looked at me. "So, you�re going to mess up on purpose?"
"I would, but then I�d make a complete fool of myself, and I would never hear the end of it from Matt."
"Matt?" he repeated. "Who�s he?"
"He�s the guy who signed me up, whom you stopped me from beating up, and whom I beat up anyway!"
"Okay," Justin said, interrupting our conversation. "Wait back here until one of us tells you to go on stage."
"Good luck!" Chris wished. Then under his breath he said, "You�re gonna need it!" With that, all five men went onto the stage and faced the audience. I saw one girl come up and ask them for their autographs.
"Which one�s your favorite?" Turning around, I saw the blonde haired girl.
"Excuse me?" I asked, startled.
"Which one of the guys is your favorite?" she asked again.
"None of them," I said, sitting down on the ground. She sat beside me.
"I don�t have a favorite either," she said. "I like them all!"
"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen," I heard Joey announce. "We�d like to ask you not to write on the ballot sheet you have just received until we ask you to do so."
"We have our three finalists for the contest backstage," Justin announced. "You will vote on which one has the best voice and should perform with us."
Every member of Nsync, except for Joey stayed out there. "Our first contestant, Katie Arlow, will be singing 'Sailing'. So, let�s give a warm round of applause for Katie!" I watched as the black-haired girl walked onto the stage and was handed the microphone by Joey.
The music began and she began to sing. "Well it�s not far down to paradise, at least it�s not for me, and if the wind is right you can sail away. . ."
I remained sitting next to Melinda. "Good luck!" I whispered to her.
Katie finished singing and Justin walked on stage once again. "Let�s hear it for Melinda!" he said, clapping his hands together. "Our next contest is Melinda Fortess, and she will be singing 'I Need Love'." Melinda shook as she walked out onto the stage and grabbed the microphone. The music started and she did to. I winced as she sang off key.
JC sat beside me. "You nervous, now?" he asked. I shook my head. "Really? You don�t have any butterflies in your stomach or anything?" I shook my head again.
As soon as Melinda ended, I walked over to where the rest of the group (except for Lance, who was announcing Alyssa) stood. "Our third and final contestant is Alyssa Monson. She will be singing 'Everything I Own'." My face drained of color.
"Everything I Own!" I repeated. "I can�t sing that song!"
"Come on, it�s not that difficult!" Chris said.
"Let�s give a warm welcome for Alyssa!"
"You don�t understand!" I exclaimed. "If I sing that song-"
"Go!" Justin said, literally pushing me out.
Slowly, I walked towards Lance. He handed me the microphone and whispered, "Good luck," in my ear.
The music started. Though the introduction was only five and a half seconds, it felt like five and a half hours! "You sheltered me from harm, you kept me warm, you kept me warm," I sang. "And you gave my life to me, you sent me free, you sent me free." Tears began to well up in my eyes. "The finest years I ever knew, were all the years I had with you." I wasn�t singing this song about a boyfriend, I was singing it about my mother. "And then I knew from watching you. And nobody else could ever know, the part of me that, can�t let go. I would give everything I own, I�d give up my life, my heart, my home. I would give everything I own, just to have you back again." I looked out into the audience. "Is there someone you know, loving them so, you�re taking them all for granted? You may lose them one day, someone takes them away and they don�t hear the words you long to say."
Finally, I said the last "again" and the song was over. I handed the microphone to Chris, then practically ran off stage. "Are you okay?" JC asked me, but I ran past him.
Justin grabbed my wrist. "You have to stay here for just awhile longer, Alyssa," he said.
"Let me go, please!" I pleaded, trying to pull my wrist free.
"If I do, you have to promise that you�ll stay here until we tell you you can leave!" he said.
"Why?"
"Justin, would you please let go." I looked to my left and saw Melinda.
"She�ll run away!" Justin exclaimed.
"No she won�t," Melinda said. Sighing, Justin released my hand. "Come with me, Alyssa," she said, putting a hand on my shoulder and leading me to a corner.
We sat down. "Thank you for making him let go of me!" I said. "I HATE men!"
She chuckled, but stopped when I looked at her. "Sorry," she apologized. "What�s the matter?"
"I just-" I began, but couldn�t finish before the tears escaped.
Melinda patted my back and I cried on her shoulder. "Who died?" she asked me.
Looking up at her, I asked, "What do you mean?"
"My grandma passed away and I couldn�t listen to that song for at least a year!"
Wiping away my tears I said, "No one died." Melinda looked at me with one of those yeah-right looks. Should I tell her? I asked myself.
Just as I was beginning to open my mouth, Lance came over. "Sorry to interrupt this little girl chat," he apologized, "but you�re going to have to go on soon."
"We�ll be there in a sec.," Melinda said.
When Lance left, I looked at Melinda. "My face looks awful now, doesn't it?!?" I asked her.
She looked at me. "No, not really. Your eyes are a little red, but the audience won�t notice," she said.
We stood up and joined Katie who was waiting by the curtain. "What�s going on?" I wondered.
"They�re voting," she informed us.
Joey came from behind us. "Feeling better, Lyssa?" he asked.
"My name is Alyssa," I corrected him.
"Sorry," he apologized. "Are you feeling better, ALYSSA?"
"A little," I admitted.
"Good," he said, then walked away.
"I hate waiting!" Melinda expressed.
"So do I!" Katie agreed.
"I really hope one of you two win!" I said.
"I hope you win, too," Melinda said.
"Thanks," I started, "but I don�t want to win."
She looked at me quizzically. "You don�t want to win?" she repeated and I shook my head. "Then why did you sign up?"
I was just about to explain that I didn�t sign up when JC spoke into the microphone. "We have chosen our winner!" he announced. "Would our finalists please come onto the stage?"
"Good luck!" I whispered to them as we walked onstage and stood beside Nsync.
"Drum roll, please," Chris said as he lifted the flap of an envelope. "The runner up is. . ." There was a long silence as Chris pulled the name out of the envelope. "Katie Arlow!"
The audience applauded and Katie hugged the members of Nsync. After that, she exited the stage.
JC grabbed the microphone from his band mate. "And now, the woman who will get to spend at least a month with us and perform with us is. . ." He began to tear the envelope.
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