All the Right Things (Love in LA) (8 page)

Annie took her place in line as Alex started chatting with another girl who was just ahead of them. Keri, as she introduced herself, was exotically beautiful with petite features and said she heard the people who were at the head of the line had been camping there since the night before.

The three of them continued chatting as the girls explained how each had heard about the audition. Keri admitted to coming at the urging of her best friend and roommate who said she should give this talent competition a shot since she was always singing around the apartment. Annie said a friend had told her about it and encouraged her to audition.

Keri asked Alex if he was auditioning as well, which made him laugh as he shook his head and waved his finger back and forth.

“Honey, if I could carry a tune, I’d audition in a heartbeat,” he said.

“Well, you know it’s not just a singing competition,” Annie reminded him. “Casey told me his old dance crew is auditioning, and you definitely have rhythm. I think it’s built into your DNA.”

Alex laughed and shook his head. “No way, Mami. This is your deal. I’m just here to support you.”

“Girl, you are lucky to have him here,” Keri told her.

“Oh, I know,” Annie agreed. “He’s the best.” She nudged Alex with her elbow and leaned her head against his shoulder as she smiled. He smiled fondly down at her, wrapping an arm around her in a tight half hug as he kissed the top of her head.

“And don’t you forget it,” he said, laughing.

“Aw, you guys are so cute together,” Keri said with a giggle, and then paused. “Wait, you’re not dating, are you?”

Annie had just started to take a sip of her coffee and nearly sputtered the liquid in Keri’s face. She eyed the other girl to see if she was joking, but Keri’s expression was innocently naïve.

Glancing at Alex, Annie shook her head and smiled. “Ah nooo, we’re not dating. Although if Alex swung my way, I’d snap him up in a heartbeat.”

Alex smirked at her as Keri looked at him again quickly, understanding finally dawning on her face.

“Oh! I’m sorry. I just assumed…” She had the grace to look embarrassed.

Chuckling, Alex assured her it was fine—an honest mistake. Keri’s eyes widened as she glanced behind them, her mouth going a little slack before she caught herself and smiled coyly. Puzzled, Annie turned around to look at whomever Keri was smiling at and her own mouth dropped open in surprise.

“Casey! What are you doing here? I thought you said you weren’t going to be able to make the audition.” She couldn’t believe her eyes. He was here! And he looked great and smelled so good as she lifted her arms to accept the hug he was leaning forward to give her. He even gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, making her grin in delight.

“Well, the guys begged me to reconsider, and this amazing girl I know convinced me that I should give it a shot.”

Annie’s face fell when she heard that, making Casey laugh at her expression. “What?” she asked, feeling a bit miffed that he was laughing at her.

“Uh, I was talking about you,” he said, grinning.

“Oh!” Annie turned bright red and started studying her toes. “I knew that,” she mumbled.

“So are you always this rude or are you going to introduce me to your friend?” Alex said, elbowing her.

Feeling her face flush again in embarrassment, Annie nodded. “Yes, yes, I’m so sorry. Alex, this is Casey. Casey, this is my best friend and neighbor, Alex.”

“Alex, nice to meet you. Annie’s told me a lot about you,” Casey said as he shook Alex’s hand.

Alex smiled and nodded approvingly. “Likewise.”

Annie was thinking that her cheeks were about to literally catch on fire when Keri lightly cleared her throat, making the three of them glance back at her. Grateful for the interruption, Annie hastily said, “Oh, and this is Keri. We met in line just now. She’s a singer as well.”

“Nice to meet you, Keri,” Casey said, reaching out to shake her hand.

“You as well,” Keri demurred, her hand lingering in Casey’s a little too long for Annie’s taste.

“So where is the rest of your crew?” Annie asked, glancing around.

Casey nodded towards the front of the line. “Up there in front. Crazy guys decided to camp out here last night so we could be first in line. They’re doing their best to make sure I make it back in time for tonight’s show.”

“Ah, well that was nice of them.”

“Yeah, they’re a good bunch,” Casey agreed. “Well, I’d love to stay and chat longer, but my boys are waiting for me, so I’d better get up there. I just saw you as I was walking up and wanted to say hi. I’ll call you later, okay?” he said as he leaned forward to give her another hug, this time catching her chin in his fingers and placing a light kiss on her lips.

“Okay,” she said breathlessly, making Alex smirk at her again.

“Break a leg, princess,” Casey said as he winked and walked away to join his crew at the front of the line. She could hear the guys howling excitedly in greeting as Casey walked up to them, which made her smile. Even if he was now her competition, she was glad he had been able to make the audition.

“Princess?” Alex asked as he arched an eyebrow at her and smirked yet again.

Annie smacked his arm. “Shut up,” she mumbled.

“Wow. I mean, like really…
wow
,” Keri said, still staring at Casey where he stood in line with his buddies.

“Uh huh,” Annie agreed.

Keri finally dragged her eyes back to them. “So uh,
that’s
who you’re dating then?”

“Well…” Annie hesitated. They weren’t officially dating, yet, so she didn’t want to lie, but she also didn’t want Keri getting any bright ideas if she didn’t claim that they were. Thankfully, Alex saved her from having to say more by replying enthusiastically on her behalf.

“Yup! Aren’t they the cutest couple? Annie’s flying to San Francisco next weekend to spend some time with him while he’s on tour.

“Oh really? Well, that’s… nice,” Keri said, looking noticeably disappointed as she glanced back at Casey and his friends again.

Annie’s eyes narrowed and she made a mental note to keep an eye on Keri until Casey was safely back on tour. Some girls had no shame, and she wouldn’t be surprised if Keri tried to make a play for him as soon as her back was turned.

The next couple hours went by pretty quickly. There was more than enough entertainment to keep things interesting while they waited. There were all sorts of performers practicing in line, including other singers, dancers, an acrobatic balancing act, a juggler, and a guy who played drums using recycled materials.

Keri and Annie started an impromptu sing-a-along at one point and others quickly joined in, including the drummer. They sang Michael Jackson’s
Beat It
, sounding surprisingly good for having never performed together. Alex whipped out his iPhone so he could record them, promising that he’d upload it to Facebook. Despite Annie’s initial reservations about Keri because of her apparent interest in Casey, she couldn’t help liking her, and they ended up exchanging numbers, promising they would hang out soon.

When the line finally started to move, the butterflies started going crazy in Annie’s stomach. This was it. No turning back now. She lightly hummed her first song, popping in an ear bud so she could listen to the first verse again. The phrasing could be a little tricky, and she wanted to make sure that she nailed it perfectly. Alex gave her a little shoulder rub to loosen her up and help her relax.

A tall, skinny, blonde guy with a clipboard and headset asked to see her ID and had her sign a release form before she was allowed to enter the building. Then she was given a bright blue piece of paper with a number on it and instructed to attach it to her shirt. So much for getting to show off her pretty blouse. Another half hour passed before she was ushered into a room along with three other girls, including Keri.

There were three people, two men and a woman, sitting behind a table in front of a makeshift stage that had been equipped with camera lighting and a boom mic. The backdrop was a picture of the Hollywood sign with the show’s name,
The Next American Superstar
, blazing across in big, bold letters.

The woman spoke first, explaining that she and the other two gentlemen sitting with her were some of the show’s producers they would be auditioning for. Then one of the men continued, welcoming the girls and explaining that they would be asked to sing a song of their choice.

They had the four girls stand side by side in a line in front of them, and as each one took their turn, they stepped forward from the line and sang acapella for about thirty seconds until one of the producers held up a hand for them to stop. Then they stepped back into the line, and the next girl stepped forward for her turn until all four had sung. Annie personally thought Keri had done well, and that one of the other girls had potential, but was very young and sounded like she wasn’t quite ready. The other girl was beautiful and seemed to have a great presence about her, but unfortunately, she couldn’t carry a tune to save her life.

The producers huddled together when they finished, talking to each other in hushed tones. The woman glanced up at one point, looking at the girl standing next to Annie, then at Keri, then looked back down at a paper in her hand. She shook her head slightly and leaned to the man on her right, whispering something as he shook his head at her. The other man then said something as he glanced up at Annie, then back at the paper in the woman’s hand.

After what seemed like a long time, but was probably in reality only a few minutes, the woman finally cleared her throat and looked at the girls again.

“Okay, ladies. One-twenty-four and one-twenty-six—thank you both for coming, but unfortunately, you aren’t quite what we’re looking for today.” The two girls standing on either side of Annie thanked the producers for the opportunity. Both of them had tears shining bright in their eyes as they left the room. That left Annie and Keri standing there, wondering what was coming next.

One of the men addressed them next. “One-twenty-three and one-twenty-five, we’d like to hear something else. Do you have another song prepared?” Keri and Annie exchanged glances and nodded at the producers. “Okay great. One-twenty-three, if you can please step to the side. One-twenty-five, please take the center stage and begin whenever you’re ready.”

As Annie moved to center stage, the cameraman sprang into action and pointed his lens at her. Trying to ignore him and the fact that she felt like she was about to puke all over the stage, she began to sing the Sara Bareilles song she had practiced, starting at the second verse. Letting the emotions show through the inflections of her voice, Annie closed her eyes for a moment as she let herself get caught up in the melody. This time, they let her finish the rest of the song without interruption.

When she finished, they asked her to step to the side while Keri took her turn. She had chosen to go with a classic,
Son of a Preacher Man
, and Annie fidgeted nervously as she listened to Keri sing. The girl had some mad vocal skills, and Annie started to worry that she was going to be cut next. As Keri sang the last note of her second audition piece, the three producers were already huddling again and whispering furiously amongst themselves.

Finally, the woman addressed them both. “Ladies, thank you for coming today. We’d like you both to continue to the next round. Go ahead and follow Jacob here who is going to take down your information. We’ll need you to return later today, so please report back here at two PM sharp.”

Annie and Keri thanked the producers and followed Jacob out of the room. After providing the necessary contact information, they were given passes that would guarantee them entry back inside when they returned later that afternoon. As they walked out of the building, the girls started to bounce up and down excitedly and gave each other a big hug.

“Oh my God, I can’t believe we made it to the next round!” Keri squealed, dancing from foot to foot as she did a pirouette.

“I know! I can’t believe it either, but I am so stoked. This is the best day ever!” Annie said happily with the biggest smile threatening to crack her face in two. She spotted Alex who was a little ways down the sidewalk, chatting with a cute guy who was still waiting in line. She walked over to them and decided to tease him a bit.

“Hi, honey,” he said as she approached. “How did it go?”

Annie looked at the ground and sighed, doing her best to look utterly defeated. “Well…”

“Aww, that bad?”

“Yeah… I hope you don’t have anything else planned today, because, well…

I got through to the next round and I have to be back here at two PM sharp, so don’t plan on getting home anytime soon!” she finished in a rush, unable to hide her excitement any longer. Alex let out a whoop and swept her forward in a gigantic bear hug.

“That’s my girl! I knew you were gonna knock their socks off!”

“Well, we’ll see about that. But at least I made it to the next round!”

“I’m so proud of you,” he said with a smile. He turned back to the guy and said he’d call soon, then winked before turning back to Annie. “Come on, honey. Let’s go find some lunch so we can get some nutrition in that body of yours before you have to be back here.”

“Okay, sounds good to me!” she said. Linking arms, they walked down the street, heading back to Annie’s car.