"One more time?" I ask Jeremy, who is sitting behind the keyboard.

"We've been practicing since six." Jeremy rests his hands on the keyboard.

"I know, but I sing in front of them tomorrow. I need to practice." I sit on the carpet floor. "I don't want to screw up."

"You'll do fine." Jeremy reassures me.

"One more time?" I smile at him sweetly.

"Last time." Jeremy picks up his hands.

"Thank you!" I take a sip of my water bottle first.

Jeremy starts to play on his keyboard. I nod my head to the music and wait for my part. I take a deep breath. My last practice until I sing in front of Cheryl and Will.I.Am. All the other girls have practiced earlier. Jeremy and I have been practicing for three hours.

'The truth is hiding in your eyes

And its hanging on your tongue

Just boiling in my blood

But you think that I can't see

What kind of man that you are

If you're a man at all

Well I will figure this one out

On my own

On my own

How did we get here?

Well I used to know you so well, yeah

How did we get here?

Well I think I know'

"That's it. I'm done. I will see you tomorrow." Jeremy begins packing up.

"Thank you, Jeremy!" I jump up off the ground and hug him.

"Your welcome. Now go get some sleep for tomorrow." Jeremy folds his keyboard up.

I run out of the room and out in the living room. "It's too earlier!" I yell at him.

I make my way to the kitchen for a snack. I've become quite at home here at Cheryl's house. I'm always getting a snack at random times during the day. Every time the camera crew would show up for the day I would be in the kitchen eating. It's not my fault I'm always hungry. Cheryl always has good food stocked in her house.

I grab my snack for the night and head back upstairs to Cher's and I bedroom. I pass everyone's bedrooms to see their doors are shut. There is no way they are all asleep at nine. It is way too early to go to bed now. I push open our door and see Cher curled up on her bed.

"Are you okay?" I shut the door behind me.

"My throat hurts." Cher whispers.

I set my Oreos and glass of milk on the table by my bed and walk over to Cher. "I hope you're not getting sick." I place my hand on her forehead. "You're really warm."

"No. I can't get sick." Cher snuggled in her bed.

"Did you tell anyone?" I sit on her bed.

"No one is here besides the girls." Cher coughs.

"Alright. Go to sleep. We'll tell Cheryl in the morning. Hopefully, they can get a doctor before you have to sing." I stand back up.

"I hope so." Cher croaks.

"Do you need anything?" I ask her.

Cher shakes her head. "Go Skype your boyfriend. I know you miss him."

"He's not my boyfriend." I shut the light off and jump on my bed.

I set my laptop on my lap and lean back against my headboard. I log into Skype and see Louis's name. We've been on Skype every night. He doesn't know that I know he likes me. I plan to keep it that way. I'm not ready to tell him that I like him anyways.

"Hello, love." Louis greets me.

"Hey." I whisper, so I don't disturb Cher.

"Why are you whispering?" Louis whispers back.

"Cher doesn't feel good. I'm trying to let her sleep." I grab my Oreos from my table next to my bed.

"I hope she doesn't get sick." Louis says.

"Me too." I agree.

Cher can't get sick. We have to sing in front of Cheryl and Will.I.Am tomorrow. A sore throat is going to make that really hard on her. We are all nervous enough. Cher doesn't need this added to it.

"What song are you singing?" Louis changes the subject.

"Decode by Paramore." I answer, dunking an oreo in my glass of milk. "What is your unnamed group singing?"

"We have a name." Louis says.

"You do? When did this happen? I wanted to help name it." I pout, biting into the soggy cookie.

"The first day we were here. Simon said we needed to pick a name." Louis explains. "We decided on One Direction."

"One Direction?" I think it over. "Who's idea was that?"

"Harry's." Louis slides his laptop backwards, showing more of his bed. "It sounds really good when Niall says it in his voice."

"What voice?" I question.

"You know the guy on the X Factor that announces everyone? Niall sounds just like him." Louis explains to me.

"I want to hear."

"He's sleeping." Louis shakes his head.

"It is nine thirty at night. There is no way that he is sleeping. Niall is probably getting his nine o'clock snack." I cross my arms.

"Niall!" Louis shouts.

I cover the speakers on my laptop. "Louis! Cher is sleeping!" I hiss at him.

"Sorry." Louis apologizes.

"What's up, mate?" Niall's voice comes from Louis's side.

"Say One Direction in your voice Peter Dickson voice." Louis points to the camera. "Carter wants to hear you."

"Carter!" Niall's face appears on my screen. "I miss you!"

"Awh! I miss you too!" I wave to him. "I miss my two favorite boys."

"But you miss me more." Louis pushes Niall's face out of the camera.

"Do the voice!" I demand.

"Say you missed me more." Niall grins.

"Don't say it!" Louis yells. "She misses me more!"

"Louis Tomlinson! If you don't stop yelling I am going to make Harry my best friend." I threaten him.

Louis's jaw drops open. I knew that would work. Normally, his yelling doesn't bother me, but I don't want him to wake up Cher. She needs her sleep. If she's sick and super tired tomorrow I will blame Louis. His yelling will be the problem to her not sleeping well.

"Live from Simon Cowell's house it's One Direction!" Niall says, dragging out their band name.

"Okay, I agree. That sounds amazing in that voice. Say my name!" I order him.

Niall laughs. "Live from Cheryl Cole's house in England it's Carter Shay!"

"I could get used to hearing that. My name, I mean, not from Cheryl's house."

•

"You have tonsillitis." The doctor examines Cher's throat. "I'll give you some medicine and I would suggest you drink lots of warm liquids to help with the pain."

"Is she able to sing tonight?" Cheryl places her hand on Cher's shoulder.

"I know how important this is, so she can sing, but don't push it. Your throat will hurt a lot when you sing." The doctor packs his things up. "You should be better in a few days."

"Do you think you can sing?" Cheryl asks.

"I have to." Cher whispers.

"Come on. Let's go get ready." I pull Cher away from everyone.

"I'm screwed." Cher croaks.

"No you're not. You can still do a good job!" I bring her in our bedroom. "Just don't let it bother you. Sing like you always do."

Cher bites her lip and shakes her head. "I can't do this."

"Yes, you can! Stop being so negative!" I hug her. "What are you going to wear?"

Cher walks over to the closet we share and pulls out a red dress that has a curled piece of material from the right shoulder to underneath her arm. She grabs a pair of black heeled boots that come past her knees. She lays them on her bed and starts to change. I look through my clothes for one of the dresses I brought with me.

My dress is royal blue that stops a few inches above my knees. It is only one shoulder with flowers covering the strap. There is a thin strap running along my back to keep the dress up. I match the dress with a pair of black heels that have a thin strap that wraps around the ankle to give more support. I put some gel in my hair because I'm too lazy to do anything else.

When I'm finished, I see Cher pacing the room nervously. I stumble over to her in my heels and pull her in a tight hug. She must be feeling absolutely terrible right now. She's sick and can barely talk.

"Carter, it's your turn." Dermot pokes his head in our bedroom.

Cher let's me go. "Good luck."

"I'll see you when you go after me." I walk towards Dermot. "Good luck, Cher."

"Nervous?" Dermot looks down at me.

I nod my head. "I think I'm more nervous for Cher." I admit.

"Good luck, Carter." Rebecca passes us in the hallway.

"Thanks. How did you do?" I ask her.

"I'm not sure." She frowns.

I'm becoming even more nervous then before. What if I forget the lyrics? What if I trip and fall? What if I just screw up completely? I don't think I can do this. Dermot and I walk down the stairs at the same time. Breathe Carter. Don't start freaking out now. I can do that once I sing. I notice the cameraman come into range. I place a fake smile on my face.

"Are you ready for this?" Dermot asks me.

"Uh huh." I take a deep breath.

"You don't sound so sure." Dermot glances at the camera in front of us.

"I'm not." I rub the back of my neck nervously.

"They're waiting for you." Dermot motions for me to go in the room where Cheryl and Will.I.Am are.

I walk past the camera crew and out in the other room. I take the microphone from one of the crew members. The room is mostly quiet except for the other camera crew in the corner of the room. I stand in the middle of the room and wait for one of them to say something.

"How are you?" Cheryl speaks first.

"Scared." I tell her, honestly.

"Why?"

I take a deep breath. "This is my last chance to impress you. If I screw up it's all over and I'll be back at home watching this show instead of being on it."

Cheryl smiles. "What song are you singing?"

"Decode by Paramore." I glance over at Jeremy. He nods his head at me and starts playing.

This is it. All of those practices last night hopefully paid off.

'The truth is hiding in your eyes

And its hanging on your tongue

Just boiling in my blood

But you think that I can't see

What kind of man that you are

If you're a man at all

Well I will figure this one out

On my own

On my own

How did we get here?

Well I used to know you so well, yeah

How did we get here?

Well I think I know.'

I sing the last part with everything I have in me. I lower the microphone as Jeremy comes to a stop. Cheryl and Will.I.Am are just staring at me. Why aren't they saying anything? Oh no. I messed up. That's why they aren't saying anything.

"Thank you." Cheryl says, before whispering something to Will.I.Am.

That's it. That's all she is going to say? I nod at them and try to hold back my tears. Jeremy grins at me as I pass him. I step in the hallway and the tears roll down my face. I screwed up. It was my last chance and I messed up.

"How did you do?" Dermot sets his arm around my shoulders.

"I screwed up." I cry. "This was my last chance and I blew it."

"What happened?" Dermot frowns at me.

I cover my mouth and shrug. "I sang my song and they just stared at me. They didn't say anything except for thank you. That's it. They didn't even smile."

"I'm sure you did a good job." Dermot hugs me. "Why don't you go back up to your room? I'll send Cher up there when she is done."

I wipe my tears away with my hands. I step out of the room and head for the stairs. I kick off my heels halfway up the stairs. I bend over and pick them up. I really need to talk to Louis right now. Not through Skype. I want to see him in person.

"Hey, Carter. How did you do?" Rebecca stops me in the hallway. "What happened?" Her face falls when she sees my tear streaked face.

"They didn't say anything to me. They didn't even smile." I whisper unable to talk any louder. "I'm done. I just know it."

I push past her to my room. Rebecca doesn't try to stop me. I've seen this show before to know that when a judge likes you they smile after you sing. Cheryl didn't even say good job. When a judge doesn't like you they remain quiet. Just like they did with me. It was my last chance to impress her and I failed.

I peel off my dress and change into some baggy sweats and a tank top. I pull a black hoodie on over my tank top. I sit on my bed and wait for Cher to finish. I hope she did a better job than I did. I thought I did a good job. I guess I was wrong.

The door swings open revealing Cher stumbling in her heels. Her eyes are all red and puffy. Her make up is running down her face. She steps out of her heels and tosses them in the closet. I wait until she changes into some sweats.

Cher sits on the bed next to me. "I didn't even finish. I couldn't finish. My throat feels like it's on fire. I made myself seem like I was okay, but all of that failed when I started singing. I told Dermot that I ready."

I wrap my arms around her shoulders and hug her. "We'll be okay."

"What happened with you?" Cher hugs me back.

"I sang my song and they didn't say anything. Not even a smile." I tell her. "Everyone knows what that means."

"I'm sorry."

••••••

Author's Note:

Now I want you to comment on this! Write a paragraph or just a sentence. I don't care. Preferably a paragraph. Don't just write 'update'. Write more than that.

By the way, I didn't proofread this. I'm too lazy. So, if there are any mistakes, oh well.