Choosing America's Next Superstar (27 page)

“There’s something that Corey and I have to talk to y’all about,” Jimmy said. He seemed to quickly revert to his full accent when his family was around. “It’s something I’m not real proud of, but I’m afraid pretty soon you’re gonna all find out.”

Jimmy glanced over at his father and then back down at the ground. “Remember a couple years ago when Charlie had one of his surgeries? We needed money real bad, and I got an advance at work?”

Mr. Sawyer nodded. “Yes, son, we will always remember the sacrifice you made for our family.”

“Well, it wasn’t exactly an advance.”

“What do you mean?” Mrs. Sawyer asked. She and her husband were sitting on one of the sofas. Jimmy and Corey were on the floor, sitting beside each other.

“I met this guy on the Internet, and he paid me to be in a movie.” Jimmy’s voice began to crack, and Corey reached down to grab hold of his hand. “I’m sorry,” Jimmy said, attempting to regain his composure.

“What kind of movie?” his mother asked, her voice barely above a whisper. She had to know what Jimmy was talking about but just didn’t want it to be true.

“The kind you’re probably thinking of,” Jimmy said.

“Jimmy!” Charlie cried. “Why?”

“Like I said, I wasn’t proud of it.”

“You did that to get money for our family… because of me.” Charlie buried his hands in his face and began crying. Jimmy slid over to his brother and embraced him.

“Son, what does this mean?”

Corey spoke this time. “It doesn’t really mean anything. Jimmy was still a minor. That movie can never be released.” He then went on to explain how Reuben had been trying to blackmail them. The hardest part was telling his mother about what Reuben had done to him.

“Why isn’t this man in jail?” Corey’s mom asked.

“We don’t know,” Jimmy said. “We thought he’d be arrested today.”

“He’ll get away with it,” she said. “He’s rich and famous, and he’ll get the best lawyers.”

“But, Mom, if they do arrest him, this stuff will probably all come out in the news. It’ll be a huge scandal, and Jimmy and I will be right in the middle of it.”

“What about that movie? Can’t they kick you off the show for that?” Mrs. Sawyer asked.

“I think it depends whether or not they can keep that part of the story out of the media. The big scandal is going to be what Reuben did to all these other boys. If Corey and I are dragged into it at all, it’ll be to testify.”

Corey was surprised by how well everyone took the news. His mother was visibly disturbed when he explained that he’d been abused by Reuben, and Mr. Sawyer said he wanted to kill the bastard. But nobody said anything negative about Corey or Jimmy, and when they all went to bed that night, Corey felt relieved and unburdened. He was glad the truth was completely out in the open, and no matter what happened from that point forward, he knew he’d have the love and support of his family.

J
IMMY
’
S
cell phone woke them up the next morning. “Hello,” Jimmy croaked into the receiver. Corey lay there, half awake, trying to decipher who Jimmy was talking to.

When he ended the call, he explained to Corey that it had been their attorney. “They cut some kind of deal with Reuben,” he said.

“What?” Corey couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The news was incredulous. “How? Why would they do that?”

“He got the tape and all the photos from Reuben, and they aren’t going to press charges on the child pornography. They’re going to charge him with child molestation, but he has until the day after the competition to turn himself in. They want to do it quietly, avoid a media circus.”

“So we’re gonna have to face him?” Corey sat up in bed, shaking his head. “He knows we’re the ones who turned him in, and we have to perform again in front of him?”

“Well, at least one of us does,” Jimmy said. “Maybe both.”

“If they were going to do it this way, why didn’t they just wait?”

“They had to get the video. By cutting this deal with him, they were able to get the video into their hands before he destroyed it.”

“I’ll be so glad when this is over!”

“It may not be over for a long, long time,” Jimmy said. “And I bet Reuben tries to pay off the witnesses.”

“Maybe he’ll at least be kicked off the show,” Corey wished out loud.

T
HE
show that evening was incredibly emotional. They showed footage of each of the homecomings. Seeing it all capsulized into a five-minute video was even more moving than living through it. As thrilled as Corey was to see his own video, he was equally impressed with Jimmy’s.

Jimmy’s homecoming event had been held at the fairgrounds, and the place was packed with thousands of fans, all chanting his name. He took the stage and brought Charlie up with him. Charlie stood there while Jimmy sang the song to him that he’d written for him.

At the end of the two-hour program, Dylan Seagraves again had the contestants take center stage. Corey’s heart was beating so fast he thought it would thump right out of his chest. They had placed Jimmy and Corey on the outside, sandwiching Elaina between them.

“Dim the lights, please,” Seagraves shouted. “Corey Dunham, it’s been a long journey for you. We watched you in Detroit as you gave your audition.” Behind them, on a big screen, they were showing scenes as Dylan was talking. “And since that point, you never once were in the Bottom Three… until now.” The crowd laughed. “But that, of course, is because there are only three contestants left. Corey, they say all journeys must eventually end, and tonight… is not quite the end for you! You’ve made it through to the final round!”

The entire audience was on their feet, cheering and wildly applauding. Corey was instantly overcome with emotion. He hugged both of the other contestants, and then stepped to the side of the stage to await Jimmy’s fate.

“Not since the very first season of
America’s Next Superstar
have two male contestants squared off in the final round of competition. This could be another year like our first.
Or
we could have a battle of the sexes.

“Jimmy Sawyer and Elaina Covey, both of you have come a long way. Both of you have had incredible journeys, and as we saw in your homecomings tonight, you’ve both made your hometown communities proud. But only one of you can go on to compete in the final round.

“Dim the lights please. Elaina and Jimmy, for one of you, your journey has come to an end. Sadly, the contestant who will go home tonight
is
….

“Elaina Covey. Jimmy Sawyer, you are going on to the final round of competition!”

It was like something right out of a fairy tale. How could it even be true? Both he and Jimmy had made it all the way through, and one of them would be America’s Next Superstar!

It was a long, joyous night. After the show, the two finalists had to meet with the press for photos. They were grilled with questions, hugged, photographed, congratulated, and praised about a million times. It wasn’t until after one in the morning that they made their way back to the hotel.

Chapter Seventeen

S
IX
days later, Jimmy and Corey competed against each other one last time on the
America’s Next Superstar
stage. It had been the most grueling week of rehearsals that Corey had endured thus far. They were singing three songs apiece, and Corey wanted to do something fresh. He had a repertoire of songs to choose from, but he needed at least one of his songs to go outside the box.

He decided to sing one song that would be significant to Jimmy and him, and so he chose a country classic, “When You Say Nothing at All.” The song seemed perfect, especially because Jimmy was so often a man of such few words.

His other two choices were pop songs that had originally been sung by boy bands. Corey had always liked that style of music, particularly because the members of those groups were generally such strong vocalists. They had to be. When those groups were formed, only the most powerful and perfectly pitched voices were chosen, and the resulting harmonies were beautiful.

Jimmy went 100 percent country in his performance. One of his songs was a bit more upbeat, but the other two were heart-rending ballads. These were Corey’s favorites, actually, and they almost always brought tears to his eyes. He was glad Jimmy selected the songs that he did, and he knew that Jimmy had at least an equal chance of winning.

After the show, nobody dared predict who the winner would be. They’d all have to wait until the next night, Thursday, when the results were announced at the end of the season grand finale.

It felt good to be finished with the competition. There’d be no more performances other than a couple group songs they’d be singing at the beginning of the final show.

“Good luck tomorrow,” Corey whispered as he snuggled against Jimmy’s warm body. They were in bed together.

“You too, baby.”

“You realize this is our last night together,” Corey said. “Whoever wins tomorrow will be flying to New York, and the other is going home.”

“We won’t be separated for long,” Jimmy said.

“I know, but I’m not looking forward to it.”

Corey relaxed, resting his head in the crook of Jimmy’s shoulder, and slowly drifted off to sleep. All his life he’d dreamed of being America’s Next Superstar, but as he closed his eyes, he prayed a silent prayer.
Please, God, let Jimmy win. He deserves it so much more than me.

The show was broadcast live at eight o’clock Eastern time, which meant it started at five. They took a limo over to the theater to rehearse one last time with the group, and when they were finished, Corey realized it was only one in the afternoon.

“You know, I think I might go home and take a short nap. I’m really exhausted.”

“Okay,” Jimmy said. “You sure you’re not hungry? We could grab lunch.”

“I’ll get a bite before I come back over at four. What are you gonna do?”

“I think I’ll call my folks and see if they wanna meet me.”

“Good idea.”

When Corey got back to his room, he called the front desk and asked for a wake-up call at three o’clock. He then sprawled out on the sofa and drifted off. A few minutes later he was awakened by a knock on the door.

He was confused when he first woke up, not used to sleeping in the afternoon. But he stumbled over to the door and flung it open. There before him stood Reuben, and Corey’s jaw nearly hit the floor.

Reuben didn’t wait for an invitation. He stepped into the room, pushing his way past Corey.

“What are you doing here?” Corey asked. “You’re not supposed to….”

“I won’t be at the finale this evening,” Reuben said. “I just met with the producers and tendered my resignation, effective immediately.”

“Reuben, I don’t care. After today, I never want to see you again. Now if you’ll kindly leave, I won’t have to call Security.”

Reuben took a step closer to him. Corey felt his heart rate quicken. The last time he was alone in a room with this man….

“I’m not here to hurt you, Corey. I never meant to hurt you.”

Resolved to show no fear, Corey took a deep breath and looked Reuben right in the eyes. “You have a funny way of showing it, Reuben. What you did to me… it was sick.”

“What we did together was beautiful,” Reuben said, his voice thick with emotion. “Don’t belittle it. Don’t turn it into something obscene.”

Corey couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You tied me up and tortured me,” he said.

“Corey… my sweet innocent Corey, we made love. We made beautiful love.”

“Reuben, you’re sick. I don’t care what kind of shit you’re into. If you wanna play around with bondage and domination—whatever your thing is, I couldn’t care less. But when you force it on someone else, that’s not making love. That’s
rape
!”

“You were so pure, so perfectly innocent and undefiled.” It was as if Reuben was in a world of his own. The man had not heard a word that Corey said. “And so utterly helpless.”

“Reuben!” Corey screamed. “Listen to me! I’m not helpless, and I’m not innocent. Don’t you realize I’m the one who turned your ass in?”

“No… no, no, no… it wasn’t you. It was that other one. The other one I liked, at first. He’s the one who corrupted you.”

“Jimmy?”

“Yes, Jimmy. He was the other one I’d chosen. It was supposed to be the three of you. The one who looked like Justin Bieber.”

“What are you talking about?” Corey yelled. “Do you mean Tristan?”

“Tristan, Corey, and Jimmy. You do realize that if I had not handpicked you, none of you would have made it through auditions. And Tristan, that boy was just exquisite, my absolute favorite.”

“What happened? What was it that changed?”

“They all change,” Reuben said, his voice very matter-of-fact. “They lose their innocence. The fear and panic eventually leaves their eyes as they grow accustomed to the things I do to them.”

“And then you have to either intensify the torture, or move on to your next victim,” Corey whispered. It all was starting to make sense. “And when you found the video of Jimmy, you no longer had any interest in him. He’d already been corrupted. The only victims you like are virgins… or at the very least, they must seem like virgins.”