“Teri, you’ll do great,” Jimmy assured her. “And we’ll be there to cheer you on. Then, as soon as you get it over with, we’ll start rehearsing for group.”
“I wonder where Tristan is,” Corey said. He turned to Jimmy. “Did you text him?”
“He didn’t answer,” Jimmy replied. “I wonder if I should go up to his room and see if he’s still sleeping. Maybe he decided to sleep in because he’s done with first round.”
“Yeah. Let him sleep. He’ll probably see your text when he gets up and respond.”
A few minutes later, they were all standing outside the theater, waiting for the judges to arrive. The crowd was much smaller than it had been the day before. Many of the contestants had been cut, and even those who hadn’t were not necessarily motivated to show up to watch the remaining performers.
“Look,” Corey said, pointing back to the hotel entrance. “Is that Tristan?”
There was a limo parked in front of the doors, and a boy who looked exactly like Tristan was getting out.
“I thought I was seeing things last night. I saw him getting into that limo when I was downstairs buying soda.”
“What the fuck?” Jeremy said. “How much do you know about him? Is he rich or something?”
“I don’t know,” Jimmy said. “I don’t think so because he said his mom couldn’t come with him ’cause she had to work.”
“That’s so weird that he’d leave the hotel at night and then return in the morning,” Corey said, “and by limo.”
Tristan was already inside the building, so Jimmy pulled out his phone and tried calling him. Apparently he didn’t answer, because Jimmy left a voicemail. “Dude, was that you who was just coming back to the hotel by limo? Let me know what’s goin’ on, okay?”
“He must’ve left his phone in the room,” Jimmy said.
“Or doesn’t wanna talk to you,” Teri suggested.
Just then another limousine pulled up, this time stopping in front of the theater. It was Reuben. As he got out and headed down the red carpet, he was smiling uncharacteristically. “Wow, he’s in a good mood,” Corey whispered.
Reuben didn’t say a word to anyone but just stepped briskly into the auditorium, and the doors closed behind him. Shortly afterward, the other three judges arrived, and the contestants were let in. Teri was in the second slate of performers, and her performance went well. She made it through, and the three guys heaved a collective sigh of relief.
“That just leaves you,” Jimmy said to Jeremy.
“I know,” he said, nodding. “Thing is, Reuben hates me. He doesn’t like my hair or my piercings. It’s hard to impress him.”
“But there are three other judges,” Corey reminded him. “If you do well, they’ll put you through no matter what Reuben says.”
“In theory,” Jeremy said, “but I think Reuben has a lot of influence.”
“Don’t worry, Jeremy. Even if that’s true, there’s nothing you can do to change it,” Jimmy said. “All you can do is give your best performance and hope for the best.”
“Plus it’s all being recorded,” Corey said. “How can he be prejudiced against you when the whole world is watching?”
“Well, they don’t show all the performances during this part of the competition,” Jeremy pointed out. “They’ll splice tape together to show just a few of the contestants.”
Three hours later, Jeremy got his chance. As he took the stage, Teri and the boys cheered wildly for him, and his song was phenomenal. Corey was sure that there was no way he wouldn’t make it through… until Reuben opened his mouth.
“Every dog in America is howling at this moment,” Reuben complained. “That was about the most horrendous thing I’ve ever heard.”
Tyler quickly rushed to Jeremy’s defense. “You nailed it, man. Dude, you were rockin’ the house. I can’t wait till you get some instruments behind you, an electric guitar….”
“Sweetie, give us a moment,” Krystal said. “We need to discuss this.” The four judges huddled together, but no one could hear what they were saying. Apparently their mics had been turned off. After about three minutes, Krystal returned to her microphone. “I’m sorry, baby, you didn’t make it this year.”
Teri gasped, and Jimmy reached down to grab hold of her hand. “Aw, I’m so sorry,” he said sympathetically. She pulled away from him and headed straight for the aisle. Jeremy was hanging his head as he exited the stage. Corey watched as the two of them rushed to each other, embracing. Teri was crying openly.
“That sucks,” Corey whispered. “He should have made it through.”
“Maybe he was right about Reuben,” Jimmy said. “Maybe he does have influence over the other judges.”
“It’s really weird. I would have thought if anyone would be cut, it’d be Tristan, but Reuben loved him.”
T
HE
mood was very somber at dinner that night. Jimmy had gone to Tristan’s room to check on him, and found him sitting alone. It was odd, because he had the blinds pulled and wasn’t even watching television. “Are you okay?”
“I have a migraine,” Tristan explained. “It’s starting to go away.”
“I thought I saw you earlier… getting out of a limo.”
“Oh?” Tristan said, forcing a grin. “Well, it must’ve been someone else. I’ve been here all day, sleeping… or trying to. I have my phone turned off.”
“You want to join us for dinner?”
“Yeah, I’ll get cleaned up and meet you down there.”
So Teri was depressed because of what happened with Jeremy, and Tristan was quiet due to his headache. “Guys, we have to pick out a song and start practicing,” Jimmy reminded them.
“They’re done with round one, and that gives us a whole day to practice,” Corey said. “Why don’t we meet in the lobby tomorrow morning, and we can rehearse all day?”
“What are you guys doing tonight?” Jimmy asked.
“I’m staying in,” Tristan said. “I still don’t feel great.”
“Homework,” Teri said. “If I don’t keep up with my classes, I’ll be screwed. After what I saw today, I’m not gonna count on making it through this competition. I think I’d better stick with Plan A: a college education.”
“Teri, you can’t let yourself get defeated. You made it through! We’re all sad about what happened to Jeremy, but do you think he’d want you to give up?”
“You’re right,” Teri said. “It just sucks. But I really do have to work on this paper. I haven’t done any homework since I got here.”
“I did a bunch this morning,” Corey said, “but you’re right. I should do the same thing myself.”
So Jimmy and Corey had a quiet night together in their room. They used Corey’s laptop to watch music videos, debating which ones they liked and which they could possibly choose for the competition.
“Tristan’s acting weird,” Jimmy said. “He’s depressed or something.”
“Dude, migraines are a bitch. My mom gets those sometime, and they kick her ass. He’s just lucky he got his when he did. If it’d been a day earlier, he might not have been able to perform.”
“Do you think I should go check on him?” Jimmy asked.
“Why don’t you call him? If he’s up to talking, he’ll answer. If not, you’ll know he wants to be left alone.”
When Jimmy tried to call, he again got Tristan’s voicemail. “It’s weird how he was so afraid of staying alone in his room, but now that’s all he wants to do,” Jimmy said. “I think something’s wrong. Something more than a migraine.”
E
VERYONE
was in a much better mood the following morning. The group spent the first three hours rehearsing their song and then met with a voice coach and an accompanist in the afternoon. Several times during their practice sessions, the camera crews came around and filmed them. Each of the group members was pulled aside for private interviews and asked really generic questions. “How’s your group rehearsal going? Is there any one in your group you’re not getting along with? Who would you say is the leader of your group?”
Corey realized the purpose of the interviews was to try to create drama. Since the four of them were getting along well together and they were making significant progress, they didn’t get as much attention as some of the other groups. At one point another contestant, a girl named Shannon, came to them and asked if she could be in their group.
“We’ve already learned our parts,” Teri said, “and we’d have to change everything if we added a fifth person.”
“But Shannon needs a group,” Jimmy argued. “We can’t just leave her to fend for herself.”
“Let’s vote on it,” Teri said. “That’s fair, isn’t it?”
Jimmy sighed. “Okay, well, I vote yes.”
He looked at Corey, who immediately felt uncomfortable. He agreed with Teri. It would be a pain to change everything at this point. Shannon had had the same amount of time as the rest of them to find a group. It was her own fault if she waited so long. But Corey didn’t want to disappoint Jimmy.
“Okay,” Corey said. “I vote to let her in.”
“No,” Tristan said. “It’s not fair.”
“So it’s a tie,” Teri said.
“I can’t believe you, Tristan. What if it were you that couldn’t find a group? What if we hadn’t let you join ours?” Corey said. He was instantly pissed. When Tristan was alone and looking for friends, Jimmy had invited him to join the group, now he turned around and defied Jimmy.
“It’s okay,” Jimmy said. “Tristan has a right to his opinion. But we haven’t solved anything.”
Just then Shannon, who’d been standing a few feet away out of earshot, stepped over to interrupt them. “You guys, thanks anyway, but I found another group.”
“Oh, good,” Jimmy said. “I mean, it’s good you found a group… I’m glad for you.”
“No problem. Good luck, you guys.”
“I don’t like that chick,” Teri said, after Shannon had left. “She’s a whiny bitch, and that’s why she got kicked out of her last group. She’d have ruined it for all of us!” Just as she finished her tirade, Corey looked up to see the cameraman filming their conversation.
Oh, great. They’ll put this on the show for sure.
By eight o’clock that night, they’d rehearsed their song at least a hundred times. “You guys, I think we’ve got it,” Jimmy said. “We all know our parts. The harmony is perfect. The solos are fantastic. I think we should call it a night.”
“You guys wanna come up to our room? We’re gonna order a pizza,” Corey said.
“I can’t,” Tristan said.
“Okay,” Jimmy said. “Not feeling well? Is it another migraine?”
“Just tired,” he said.
Corey thought the whole thing was weird. Maybe Jimmy was right about Tristan. Something was going on with him. But then again, none of them really knew each other all that well. Maybe the kid was just moody. Maybe he had bipolar disorder or something.
Corey chatted with Teri while Jimmy pulled Tristan aside to talk to him. “So you gonna join us?” Corey asked her.
“Yeah, for a bit. I am kinda hungry.”
They headed to the hotel lobby, where Corey got a take-out menu from the front desk. He called in a pizza order, and the threesome sat on the sofas waiting for it to arrive. “So what’s goin’ on with him?” Corey asked. “Did he tell you anything?”
“I don’t know,” Jimmy said. “He just says he’s tired. Maybe homesick.”
“Seems like he’d want to be around people if he was lonely and homesick, though,” Teri said.
Jimmy just shrugged.
After the pizza arrived, they headed up to their room. “I love this crust,” Teri said, as she bit into her first piece. “So what’s goin’ on with you two?”
“What do ya mean?” Corey said.
“Well… Sam told me about you. She said you were… ya know, gay.”
“Yeah?”
“And what about Jimmy?”
“We’re both gay,” Jimmy said. “But nothing’s going on. We’re both just trying to do our best in the competition.”
It kind of hurt Corey to hear Jimmy say it. It was true, they’d just met. They’d only been roommates for a couple days, but he felt that what they’d done together was a little more than “nothing going on.” Corey bit his tongue and didn’t respond.
An hour later, after Teri had said goodbye and headed back to her room, Corey confronted Jimmy. “Why’d you tell Teri there was nothing going on with us?”
“I dunno,” he said innocently. “I’m sorry, but I thought you were the one who said you didn’t want to come out to everyone.”
“Yeah, but you
did
come out to her. You just denied being my….” Suddenly it dawned on him. How could he expect Jimmy to put a label on them? They weren’t boyfriends. How could they be when they’d only met each other, like, three days ago? But he wanted it to be more. He wanted it to be so much more.
“Corey, I want it to be more. I really do. But how can we even think about that now? If one of us gets cut, we may never see each other again. And even if we do both make it through, it will be three months till we’re together again in Hollywood. And then we’ll have to keep everything a big secret.”
“So what you’re saying is that we can’t have anything together? We just had sex with each other one time and kissed a few times… and then we’re just supposed to leave here and forget we ever met?”
“I’m saying we have to stay focused on winning the competition. That’s all we can think about now, and sort all the rest out later.”
“You know, I don’t even know if there’ll be a later.” Corey felt tears well in his eyes.
Jimmy stepped over to him and placed his hand on Corey’s shoulder. Corey turned away.
“Just leave me alone. I’m tired and I wanna go to bed.” He grabbed some clothes from the dresser drawer and stormed into the bathroom, locking himself in. He stood there, leaning against the door as hot tears streamed down his cheeks.
J
IMMY
lay in the dark, sleeping in his own bed for the first time. He wasn’t really sleeping, though. He was staring at the wall, his back turned toward Corey. This should have been an exciting day for him. Here he was, in New York City, a contestant on
America’s Next Superstar
, and he’d made it through the first round of the competition. He was in the Top Two Hundred, and no matter what happened from this point forward, no one could take that away from him.
Jimmy felt good about their chances tomorrow. The group was strong. They all knew their parts. They had the lyrics down, and they knew every note. But Jimmy wasn’t feeling elated. The excitement he was supposed to be feeling had been eclipsed by two troubling realities.