Chapter 1:

(Allison's POV)

I made my way in front of the judges, scared out of my mind. 'Come on Allison, breathe...' I keep telling myself. 'You've made it this far, you can do it. You've made it past every other step. Now just one more. One more until Hollywood...'

I walked to the center of the floor and stared out at the judges. Paula and I think...Kara? They had such nice, smiling faces. Randy did too. Simon looked completely uninterested. I took a deep breath. "Hello Allison," Paula said. I said hi back nervously. "Tell us a little about yourself..." she continued. "Well, I'm 16, I've been waiting to audition since I was 9. I'm SO nervous right now and I'm so excited to be here though..." I looked out at the judges faces. When I said I was only 16, they all gave each other looks. It didn't look like a good sign.

"Okay, so what are you going to sing?" Simon interrupted. I shifted my feet. "I'm going to sing natural woman."

"Cool," Paula said. The only friendly face in the room now as far as I was concerned. I looked down and started singing.

"Looking out...on the morning rain...

I used to feel so uninspired."

I started to get more into it. I looked up.

"Before the day I met you, life was so unkind
But your the key to my peace my mind..."

I was really into the music now. I barely noticed the judges there. My whole heart and soul was into that song.

"Cause you make me feel...

Cause you make me feel...

Cause you make me feel like
A natural woman..."

I finished and smiled. "Okay, thank you..." Simon said. "Paula?" He asked her. I awaited Paula's decision. She looked down at the papers she had. "Allison, you've got a cool voice!" she said. I was beaming. Paula Abdul liked me! Kara was next. I turned towards her. "I wish you had another year under your belt..." she said. Randy said pretty much the same as Paula. Now it was Simon's turn. I crossed my fingers for good luck and turned towards him.

"I mean, that was at best 6 out of 10..." my hopes dropped. "You've got to be a 9 out of 10 next time." After he said that, I got excited again. HE SAID NEXT TIME!

"Ya know, I'm not really sure you're ready for the whole Hollywood thing..." Randy said. What? No, I was SO close! Come on! I turned towards the other judges. "Yeah sweetie, you are good, don't get me wrong. I'm just not sure if you're ready this year," said Kara. No...no...no. Tears were starting to form in my eyes. But, I bravely held them in. "So what is it?" Paula asked the judges.

"No..."

"No..."

"No..."

"I'm sorry Allison, not this time baby. Maybe next year, okay?" Paula said.

I walked out of the room in a daze. My mom was outside the door with Ryan waiting. When she saw the look on my face, she immediately embraced me in a hug. "I'm so sorry darling..." she said. I hugged her tightly. She led me down the hall. I let go of her.

"It's...it's okay mom. I'm not giving up. I know I can make it. And next year I will. I WILL make it."

I walked with her past the other people waiting to audition. So many happy-go-lucky faces. Nervous ones too. Many that would have their dreams crushed like mine. I wasn't going to let what the judges say bring me down though. I was better than that. Next year I could make it. I WOULD make it.

As I walked through the lobby, I noticed one guy in the crowd. I stopped walking for a minute and stared. He was gorgeous. He was looking down at a sheet of paper nervously and mouthing the words of a song. He had his dark brown/black hair parted to the side, an 'emo-swoop' as most would called it. And the most beautiful blue eyes. Hypnotizing. The kind you could just get lost in. He looked up for a second and noticed me. Our eyes met for a few seconds. It seemed like a lifetime though.

I felt my mom tug on my arm. "Come on sweetie, let's go!" I tore my eyes away and followed her out. As we walked out, I turned and looked back. The guy turned around too and looked directly at me. Those eyes. They almost made my knees go weak. I couldn't get them out of my mind as I walked out of the building, and the whole ride home. How I managed to fixate on that one guy in the sea of faces I'll never know. I guess it was just luck. Or maybe...fate. But, it had passed. And now he was gone.