At the top of the first set of stairs we reach a landing that has a vaulted ceiling with a sky light at the top of it, letting in rays of the afternoon sun.

Sunshine shines off of Demi's hair and she continues to the the left, up a second flight of stairs with me in tow. At the peak of the staircase is a short hallway that flares off at one end, giving way to a large, bright room. I can just see the corner of a glass table with matching chairs surrounding it.

"Is that the kitchen?" I ask, although I'm pretty sure I've figured out as much.

Standing next to me, Demi nods her head in reply, "Yeah, fully stocked too. Not that I checked or anything." She winks in my direction. I probably smile too broadly back.

"Anyway- your bunk room!" She declares, using both hands to gesture ahead of her in a sweeping motion.

I pay attention to what's in front of me. Three closed doors; all identical black. I can already picture myself getting confused later on accidentally walking into the wrong room.

Demi points to each in turn and tells me that the guys get the far-left one, the adults get the middle one, and the girls get the one on the far-right. She goes up to the far-right one and opens it, parading inside with me in her wake.

I take a moment to survey the room. There's huge window on my right that has a breathtaking view of the LA city skyline. The window is opposite a solid white wall. 4 bunk beds are arranged against the window side, and 4 against the wall side. All the bunks are carbon copies of each other with white metal frames, grey mattresses and black pillows. There's also a white couch in the far corner, next to a door that I'm guessing leads to the en suite bathroom, but other than that there are no decorations of any sort.

I know the room was meant to have a modern feel, but it just feels cold.

"Welcome home." Demi quips.

Home.

Even though it still feels bizarre to call this place home, it was getting easier to wrap my head around the concept, probably as a result of Demi's hospitality.

I look to where she stands in the middle of the room, still holding my suitcase which she seems to be trying to figure out where to put. "Um, wall or window?" She asks me.

"Window." I answer, immediately. I couldn't wait to wake up and see the view of the city skyline tomorrow morning.

Demi puts down my suitcase next to one of the bunks by the window, "Top or bottom?" As she asks this, the edges of her lips twitch like she's fighting a grin, and I'm not sure why.

"Top." I say levelly, walking over and putting my satchel and backpack on the top bunk to claim it. I'm suddenly glad that I arrived earlier than anyone else. I get the first – and best – pick of where I get to sleep.

Demi leans against the bed frame, facing me. "So, are you going to the viewing party tonight?"

In all honestly, the viewing party had almost slipped my mind. It's something the X-Factor producers arranged; all the competitors are going to get together and watch and react to the premiere of the X-Factor episode where the audience finds out who's through and who's not.

"Yeah, of course." I answer, "What about you?"

"No." My heart deflates a little and I wonder why she brought it up if she's not even going to attend. "I'm watching it at home because..." Her words peter off into silence and she sounds uncertain, averting her eyes and fiddling with the lowest button on her flannel top. "The thing is... I'm not officially allowed to be here and mingle with contestants unscheduled, but you guys get such a cool house... so that's my excuse." She nods, as if convincing herself of this. "It's worth the risk."

I try not to smile at the fact that she's prolonging being here when she's not supposed to, just to show me around. I can't be as bad company as I thought.

I'm not sure what to bring up next, so to escape ending up making a fool of myself, I stoop down and pretend to be re-tying the laces on my combat boots, hoping I provide a believable performance and she can't tell that my laces were in no need of assistance.

That's when I hear a sound of a mechanic beeeeeeeeeeeeep like the one the intercom made when I first arrived.

I take a moment to piece two and two together, and by that time I can already hear the voices floating upstairs of the other competitors.

Demi stands upright and starts towards the door. I stay where I am until she stops and pivots back, one hand beckoning me towards her. "Come on."

I stand up and walk towards her, and we walk together to the top of the stairs. I start to descend down them, but stop when I don't feel her beside or behind me. Oh, right. She's not meant to be here. Demi smiles at me when I turn back to her, "Don't I get a goodbye hug?"

The way she says it makes me feel guilty and giddy at the same time, and I obediently go back up and wrap my arms around her. We hug shortly. She initiates pulling away first, but keeps her hands on the tops of my shoulders. "You know your way back down without me." She says, a smile appearing on her features, "I don't want to be seen, so I'm heading out a different way." Her hands slide away from my shoulders and she starts to back away from me.

The voices below are growing louder, so I know there's no risk of what Demi says being overheard by anyone other than me. "Make sure you rest up for tomorrow, our mentor first session is after you finish your photoshoot. I'll see you then."

I want to ask her more; tell her more before she goes, but I know I have to settle by saying a simple, "See you." Back to two syllables.

And with that, Demi gives me a little wave and then walks briskly down the hall towards her alternate means of an exit.

When I get back downstairs, I'm almost back to reality and off of cloud Demi. Figures, that the moment she's gone, my mind starts whirring with things I wanted to say and ask her.

No one seems to notice me randomly coming down stairs, everyone crowded together abuzz with conversation. I remember that Willie's amongst these people and I feel myself smile at the thought.

I know I'll feel more calm with him with me: he is the other half of our two-person wolf pack, after all.

The wolf pack thing started sometime during bootcamp. Willie and I were sitting next to each other with nothing to do, and very out of our element in the fast-paced world of the X-Factor. So we decided that we should team up like pack-less wolves in the wild would and create our own pack.

Willie's the Alpha and I'm the Beta – or, as he like to nickname me: cachorro. It means pup in Spanish. He's lobo, which means wolf, but I hardly use it. He enjoys using the nicknames more. he invented them, after all. As soon as Willie found out about my Puerto Rican roots he surprised me by picking up a Spanish dictionary and looking up wolf terms. At first he was only kidding ("How about cachorro?" He had said, looking at me over the top of the dictionary. I remember laughing at how unusual it sounded to hear Spanish mixed with his mild Southern drawl, "What? It means 'pup' in Spanish doesn't it? Pretty damn cool, right? I thought it's only fair since you're the Spanish wolf of the pack, and you're small-" That earned him a punch to his arm, "I mean, smaller than me. But you definitely throw a punch like a guy, jeez, Jennel."), but then be both agreed that it was actually a great idea because no one else would understand what we were on about, it was our thing, so the nickname stuck.

There was originally 3 in our pack. Our third was Nick Youngerman, but since he didn't make it through we're looking for a new member. I'm too shy to ask any of the other contestants to join our "wolf Pack" so I left Willie to it, he is the smooth talker after all, and if anyone could convince you of joining something it was him.

I search the crowd of arrivals for Willie and finally spot him at the back of all the activity, the last one over the threshold.

He looks like he's looking around for someone he knows so I call out to him, "Willie!"

Willie's head immediately turns toward the direction of my voice and he gets a huge grin on his face when he spots me. I start my way towards him, quickly weaving my through the throng of other contestants.

He barely manages to drop the bags he's carrying before I'm there, embracing him like it's the first time I've seen in him months.

It's only been a day since I last saw him, but being my best friend here, a day feels like much longer.

Willie's arms encircle themselves around my torso and then he hoists me up off the ground like I weigh nothing. He squeezes me gently. "We made it." He says, sounding disbelieved. "We earned it." I correct him. After giving me one last squeeze he puts me back down, giving a light kiss to the top of my head. "Hello cachorro," He murmurs into my hair. I can already feel myself relax in his presence, temporarily numbing the physical and mental tension that I've been battling all day.

It's been like this since we met, well, more accurately, he's always been like this; able to diffuse the tension and put me at ease. It feels like we've always known each other.

That's how our friendship first sparked; because our back stories were so in sync. Both of us grew up in small places with just enough to get by, looking after our younger siblings to help out our busy parents, all the while and going to a school day after day feeling like your life's a broken record, but we never quit or went astray because it was difficult. We kept at it, because it's what we had to do for things to work.

Having someone that knows exactly what you're going through, especially in a time like this where we're both going through crazy new experiences, barreling headfirst into the unknown world of the X-Factor, is really comforting. I'm so thankful to have him, he's like my rock, always there - and vice versa with me to him.

I withdraw myself from our hug.

"I left one of my bags in the shuttle, wanna come help me with it?" He asks.

"Sure." I say.

I walk out with him to a fleet of sleek black SUV's and my jaw drops a little. "This is the shuttle?" I expected a bus of some kind, not vehicles that looked like secret service replicas.

Willie chuckles quietly as he approaches one, "Yeah, I know, these things are insanely cool." He opens the door of the SUV he's in front of, leans in to retrieve a brown suitcase and ducks back out. He shuts the car door behind him and joins me back on the sidewalk.

For a moment I eye the suitcase he's holding that he supposedly needed help with, which he clearly doesn't. I'm about to comment on it, but realize that he brought me with him for company, not for help.

"So, what happened to waiting for whoever showed up later?" He asks, referring to my momentary absence when he first arrived.

"Sorry, I was upstairs." Courtesy of Demi Lovato tours. I bite the inside of my bottom lip, barely stopping myself from pronouncing the name.

Of course I trust Willie to tell him that Demi was the reason I was upstairs in the first place, but we're not alone and I don't know who's listening. I don't want Demi getting in trouble for giving me a sneak peek of things.

Willie's expression brightens at the word, "upstairs".

"What's it like? Heavenly?"

I smile at his enthusiasm, I don't have many details to give him but, regardless, he eats up my answer, "I've only seen the girls' bunk room, but it has an amazing view. Oh and there's a pool on the top floor that's really awesome."

"Mm-hmm," Willie hums, considering it, "I bet. This place is like something out of a dream I never knew I had. I can't wait to check it out."

"Well once we get your stuff inside we can." I say, and to prove my point, I begin to walk back the way we came.

He follows suite beside me, talking to as he goes, "We were told we're not allowed to go up until the camera crew get here and set up so they can get our reactions."

"Oh, that makes sense." What making less sense are Demi's motives for secretly showing me parts of the house if she knew the show wanted it recorded. Going against the company employing them can't be what mentor's are supposed to do. I'll have to put off thinking about it until later when I can privately tell Willie and get his thoughts on it.

We reach the front door and I go over to the intercom and to buzz us in, proud that I know how do so.

I walk back inside behind him. The foyer is still full of contestants buzzing with conversation. An indication that the camera crew clearly hasn't arrived.

Willie looks over the crowd and seems to think the same thing, a look of impatience showing on his features as he puts his suitcase down with his other things.

Although it would be nice to see more of the house, now is the perfect time for a hushed conversation. So many people are talking at once in here that it will drown out what I have to say if I say it's quiet enough for only Willie to hear.

God, I already have so much to tell him, mostly about my one-on-one time with Demi. I'm hoping he'll be able to help me work out the who/what/why/how's about it. And he'll know what to say to make me more relaxed for the next time I see Demi by myself(I'm hoping there's a next time).

Willie turns to me When I look up at his face, he's grinning like he has a secret. I'm curious, so I push what I have to say to the back of my mind for later.

"I found our third comrade." He tells me.

It takes me a second to realize he's talking about our Wolf Pack Trio-Turned-Duo. I knew he would be able to get someone to replace our missing position. "Who is it?" I ask, trying to animate my face and add eagerness to my voice.

Willie's eyes leave mine and focus somewhere behind me. He nods his head in the direction that he's looking and I turn around and see CeCe Frey approaching, with her usual disregard for blending in, wearing a bright crimson tank top. When she's within speaking distance, she holds up her hands like paws and give me a crooked smile that seems a little timid around the edges. "Woof?" It sounds like a question, like she's asking permission from me if it's okay that she fills out third spot.

I've known CeCe a little less than I've known Willie. At first I thought she was a bit stand off-ish, which intimidated me too much to try and start a conversation with her. But ever since she made it into the final 4 with us she's become a lot more chill.

And if Willie thought she was pack-material, I was going with it. Plus, it would be nice to have a close girl friend.

"Woof." I say with a nod, flashing her a smile that I hope is welcoming.

CeCe returns the smile and then looks to Willie, her eyes lighting up a little. "So, are you gonna keep all the grub for yourself, Mr. Alpha?" She asks, a trace of flirtation in her tone.

I don't know what she's talking about, but I'm guessing they must have picked up some food on the way over here. I feel my stomach growl and it dawns on me that all I've eaten today is breakfast. I bite my lip to distract myself.

"Oh, yeah," Willie says, bending down and picking up a bulky white plastic bag that's lying at his feet that I didn't even notice with the floor being the same shade, "I was with CeCe and Arin and we stopped and grabbed some food. The shuttle driver let us have a pit stop since the traffic wasn't budging anyway." He explains to me, before spreading open the plastic bag so I can see the contents inside it, "Take your pick."

There are several brown paper bags to pick from and at my first glance I can spot at least 4 different fast food logos. As I scan across the choices, Willie speaks above me, "Therewas some pizza- if this one didn't have a snack attack on the way over."

Out of the corner of my eyes I see CeCe rub her stomach, "Girl's gotta eat." She says with a wink.

I'm only partly paying attention to them since half(alright I'll be honest, a little more than half) of my attention is on the bag of food in front of me with a couple of my favourite friends inside it, and their names are Jack In The Box, Wendy's, Dunkin' Donuts, Taco Bell, and McDonalds. I know, it's all terrible. Terribly good. Mmm, mmm.

I hear CeCe snicker. "Jennel, are we trying to undress the food with our eyes or pick something to eat?"

I feel myself blush, not thinking I was taking that long. Honestly, it's nearly impossible to choose just one, but CeCe's words hurry my choosing along and settle on picking the bag of Taco Bell. "Wow, you guys went all out. That must have been expensive. I have a few bucks if you wan-"

CeCe cuts me off before I get any further, hands on hips and shaking her head. "No way Jennay," She says, tweaking my name into a rhyme, "It's our 'Welcome to the Epic X Factor Life' treat to anyone that wants it. We all have families that can't stay in this place with us and we need a little comfort. I mean, c'mon, second to family, what's more comforting than junk food?" She's clearly thought this over and won't let me offer any funds as a "Thank You" payment. CeCe's eyes dart down to the Taco Bell I'm holding, "Unless you want to hand that back..."

I glance to Willie to see what his thoughts are since he must know where I'm coming from with wanting to give something back in return, but he's been nodding along to what CeCe's saying, so I already know he stands with her.

Although I feel a little guilty for getting the food for free, they did go and get food for everyone without being asked or expected to, so it would be even more rude to refuse.

That, and the fact that I'm starving and don't have the heart to put up a fight.

CeCe's still expecting an answer, so I raise my chin a little and shake my head, "Thanks, but no thanks. These taco's need a home and my stomach's happy to oblige"

Willie chuckles to himself, "Man, we all need to catch up. I'll make my rounds with the grub and then we need to talk." He says, and I'm guessing that be 'all' he means CeCe's invited too. My heart sinks a little. I kind of wanted to share my Demi story with Willie only.

"Okay, yeah, that sounds fun." I say in spite of myself, because I'd anything I don't want do do to avoid a confrontation. I push telling Willie about Demi even further down my priority list.

If my response sounded dejected, neither of them acknowledge it.

It's a Catch-22 because I know whether I say yes or no that I'll feel guilty about it will later tonight when my head clears and I'm all ready to go to sleep it will hit me- BAM! Remember today when you did that dumb thing? Or remember how you could have done that instead of this? Hahaha! You're going to be up all night!

I won't let it bother me. I tell myself there's a reason for everything. It's time for new experiences, I need to say yes to the aspect of being friends with CeCe and opening up to her too, I can't have Willie to myself all the time. And who knows; maybe she'll understand me and I'll understand her and we'll click like Willie and I did.

A small voice in my subconscious asks me, and the reason for Demi spending off the clock time with you is? But it's quiet enough that I ignore dwelling on it.

"You've really got to stop doing that," CeCe breaks into my thoughts and I look at her. She's staring at my mouth and I belatedly realize that I've resumed to biting my lip without even noticing. I release it and fumble for an excuse, "I... it's, it's habit. Old habits die hard right?"

CeCe tut tut's me, "Old habits need chapstick." She says.

Willie is already turning away from me to offer some of his food bounty to Emblem 3, sitting together on the nearest of the white couches. They all perk up when they see Willie coming over, but before they get even a whiff of the greasy delights, CeCe glides past and holds out her hands in front of Willie, "No, no. Ladies first." She says. Willie heaves an over-dramatic sigh and makes a show of slumping his shoulders and bowing his head, very slowly handing her the plastic bag of food as if parting with it is the toughest thing he's had to do. I can't suppress my laughter. Typical Willie.

CeCe takes it and heads over to where all the girls seem to be gravitating. I watch the back of her brunette head as the contestants in her path part for her like the red sea. I had to hand it to her, the girl knew how to get her way. Willie catches my eye and rolls his own, but follows behind CeCe. Probably making sure she doesn't give any of the girls extra handouts.

With no sign of the camera crew, it's still plenty crowded down here, and I'm pretty sure no one's risked it to sneak upstairs to investigate this place. No one seems to know where to go or what to do with themselves. At least I'm not alone in feeling nervous and out of place.

My stomach grumbles loudly and I'm reminded of my hunger. Licking my lips, I open up my bag of Taco Bell and look inside. There's a dozen or more individually wrapped tacos inside it, way more than I need unless I want to be the one that says it's over by being the fat lady who sings.

I pull a taco out for myself, then another one because I know I'll need seconds in order to be satisfied. They barely feel lukewarm now, but I couldn't care less.

Before I dig in, I bite my lip as I consider on what to do with the rest.

As much as I want to eat right now, it seems wrong to start eating just two tacos with a full bag of them next to me left untouched while someone else could be putting them to use and enjoying them. Handing it off to another person seems the obvious first choice, but I don't really know anyone other than Willie and CeCe that I'd be comfortable going up to out of nowhere.

For some reason, my mind ends up going to Demi. But I know she's not here for me to offer her some lame tacos. She's probably out at some awesome restaurant somewhere thinking I have some kind of problem. Jennel Garcia: incredible on stage, incoherent nimrod off of it.

I roll my eyes because I'm being ridiculous; as if she'd be thinking about me.

This leaves me to choose from the ones of us still hovering in the foyer.

Since Willie's not by my side making me feel confident and calm, I look around the room for somebody that's standing on their own like me, and the closest I get to that is Emblem 3. Sure, there's three of them but they're only talking amongst themselves, and from the brief time I talked to them after Bootcamp when we exchanged compliments about each other's performance, they seemed like really nice guys.

I decide to go offer my Taco Bell to them, seeing as they probably got false hope when Willie came over, only to have his course diverted by CeCe.

I make my way over before the tacos, or my feet, get any colder.

As I approach I'm mentally trying to remember who's who. I know it's Wes, Drew and Keaton, but I'm not completely sure which name matches which face.

I'm right in front of them now and I hold out the bag of food at arm's reach so they know it's for them, keeping my two tacos separate in my other hand.

"You can have these if you want." I say, in their general direction, not singling anyone out.

Three pairs of eyes lock onto the bag I'm holding and I know they must be as hungry as I am.

"You sure?" Drew asks, glancing up at me. He's sitting in the middle of the other two. I know for sure that he's Drew because when I first saw him I remember making a mental note that that he has ear gauges like I do, though his are a size up from my baby ones.

"Yeah, take it. I have what I want right here." I say, holding up the two I have reserved for myself.

There's a moment of hesitation as if they expect me to change my mind, but then Drew grins and takes the Taco Bell bag out of my hand, "Sweet. Thanks...uh..." He trails off, and I'm pretty sure he's trying to remember my name. "Jennel, right?"

I smile slightly, appreciating fact that he actually remembered correctly, "Yeah, and you're Drew?" He nods, "And..." Now it's my turn to fumble over names. I'm grateful to be saved by embarrassment when the guy wearing a snapback hat sitting on Drew's right speaks up, "I'm Wes," He says, then points to his left. "And that's Keaton on the end."

Keaton's already well into his first taco, but gives me a wassup nod.

"Cheers for the tacos." Wes says as he grabs one.

"It's no problem, really–" The words dwindle off my lips as a sudden commotion drowns me out.

Coming through the door – or trying to – are several men carrying large black duffel bags and camera equipment.

Camera crew.

About three of them head upstairs to set up and an official-looking woman in a black polo, with the words 'security' across it in white, stands at the foot of the stairs and speaks to us.

"Alright everyone, thank you for your patience. Go check it out."

A few hours later...

After getting to explore the mansion, I've decided on 3 things:

1. at all times, the colour theme is white, transparent(apparently it's a colour) and black.

2. all the bathrooms are the sizes of small houses

3. sharing bunk beds suck sometimes

I had hoped I would get the top bunk that I decided on with Demi, but somehow I ended up getting manipulated by the other girls into giving up my spot. So now, not only am I on the on the bottom bunk, but I'm on the wall side of the room.

Oh, well. I'll just spend the night in a luxurious mansion with the prime spot next to an amazing view some other time.

The upside of the downside is CeCe's in the bunk above me, and she must have seen I wasn't happy about being on the bottom because she offered to rotate each night. I said no, because it's just for sleeping and I'm being an idiot.

I'm also irritable because I didn't get to talk to privately Willie like I wanted to. Any free time we might of had, after exploring the mansion, flew by when Willie and I tagged along with CeCe and a couple others to check out the Hollywood strip. I was all for it at first, but it took longer than I thought it would and when we got back we had little time to spare before the viewing party.

It's nearly 9:30pm which means everyone's either in the living room, or making there way down to it like I am.

Because I realized that my skin-tight dress was impractical for curling up on a couch and watching TV, I change into 3/4 jeans and a flowy black top.

I walk from the girls' bunk room and into the kitchen, deciding to grab an apple on the way to the living room. That is, if I can even find an apple. Everything in the kitchen is so immaculately organized I have no clue what's what.

I open a cupboard at random and a white piece of paper falls out.

I pick it up off the floor and recognize what it is, because I've seen it before, there's a laminated sheet of paper just like it in every room of this place. House rules.

Dear contestants,

In your time here please enjoy the facilities supplied and follow the set rules below. These rules are here for a reason, and failure to follow any of them will result in a warning. If rules are broken on a second occasion, he/she will be removed from mansion and premises.

- No intermingling in bedrooms
- Coasters must be used WITH ALL DRINKS
- No loud music
- No physical altercations of any kind (not just biting)
- No guests
- "Be sensitive to others"
- No drinking or drugs
- No diving into the pool
- No use of fireplaces
- Make your own bed

Sincerely,
Simon Cowell

I half-laugh, half-snort like I did the first time I read it. Some of the things on the list are just plain weird, but have to wonder what happened for some of the rules to get on there like the 'no biting'.

"1 minute!" I hear someone yell from the living room.

I screw getting an apple and hurry downstairs.

Everybody in the living room is gravitating around the 32" plasma television like moths to a light bulb. There are plenty of couches in from of the TV, but almost everyone is on the floor, crowded around the coffee table that's overflowing with half-empty plates of Chinese take out.

I look around until I spot Willie waving me over to where he is, on a couch with CeCe and Emblem 3. There's an empty spot for me there too, but on the opposite end that Willie's on, next to Drew. It's either that, or I stand. And I don't want to be the only one awkwardly standing around, so I decide to squeeze in between Drew and the side of the couch. He tries to move over for me, but all that does it make the couch cushion we're on tilt towards him so I have to fight even harder to sit upright. Not my first choice, but at least I sort of know him and I'm not nervous sitting by him like I would be a complete stranger.

His bandmates, Wes and Keaton, are flanking CeCe's sides with Willie on the end by Keaton.

"You excited?" Drew asks me.

I give him a smile I tell myself is believable and nod just as the opening music for X-Factor starts and the volume gets keyed up 20 notches higher. Everyone shushes each other.

The episode is harder to watch then I thought it would be and I find myself blushing through the first 15 minutes because it's me who's on the screen, getting my verdict.

As much as I want to look elsewhere, I don't look away because I'm curious to see what happens even thought I know the outcome.

It feels like I'm watching and experiencing it for the first time all over again. I hardly remember what Demi said, even though this only happened last week. All I remember is being in a haze of happiness, relief and shock. Then when I found Jillian didn't make it I couldn't let myself celebrate my gain, but rather help her with her loss. X Factor's loss, more like it.

I watch as Demi slowly talks to my TV-self on screen, "I just wanted to start of by saying you have an incredible voice, there's no doubt about that... the first time I saw you I was just, blown away." The words are vaguely familiar to me, but they still make my heart soar.

She goes on to tell TV-me about how I need to work on not being in insecure, and I watch my TV-self's face fall a little. Don't worry, me! I want to tell her. You'll be put out of your misery soon.

"I've made my decision... Jennel." TV-Demi lets my name hang in the air, prolonging delivering the news to my TV-self like all reality show hosts did. "You're in my final four!"

I'm so engrossed in the TV, I nearly jump out of my seat in surprise when everyone around me erupts in cheers, Willie being the loudest, "YEAH! That's what I'm talking about!" He woops.

Drew turns to me and I can see him smile at me in the illumination of the TV. "You did awesome."

I'm not sure why Drew keeps making a point to talk to me because I'm sure the look on my face shows I'm too exhausted for small talk, so I do the safest thing and politely reflect the compliment back to him, "Thanks, you too."

Wes, who somehow ended up on the floor in front of us, hears this and whips around with his mouth agape. "Is he taking all the credit?" He asks with mock-shock, looking at me then to Drew with narrowed eyes. It's actually quite hilarious to watch and it becomes clear to me that he's the joker out of the boy band. "Dude, that's band mutiny!" He declares, loudly, and everyone shushes him. Drew knocks off Wes' snap back, mussing up his hair and telling him to shut up.

"Guess it's better you trapped yourself in your own way,
and if you want me back,
you're gonna have to ask,
nicer than that."

Even at a low volume, The Used song playing out of my iPod echoes around the tiled bathroom walls as I finish brushing my teeth and changing into my pajamas. I've already showered and put my hair into braids so it will be somewhat maintained for the hair stylists to deal with tomorrow.

I hum along as the song finishes, before I plug in the earphones so I don't disturb any of the other girls, unlocking the bathroom door and tip toeing quietly over to my bunk.

The lights are off, but I know many of us are still awake. Homesick, excited, thinking - or all of the above.

The mattress creaks a little as I sit into my bunk and I can hear CeCe furiously texting away on her phone above me.

I'm reminded of my own phone, and reach for my satchel to get it out. There's a goodnight and good luck text from mom, but that's it. I reply to her with a goodnight and then open up my contact list.

I scroll through the list, the A's, the B's, the C's. I'm not really close with any of them. Most of my contacts are people from my high school that haven't made an effort to talk to me since I graduated, but ever since I made it onto X Factor I've received surge kiss-ass texts from a bunch of them like: "I'm so happy for you. We need to get to together and talk! I love you so much! Team Jennel!" although the majority of the time it looked more like: "OMG! im so happy 4 u! we need 2 catch up ily. team jennel lol."

I scroll until reach the D's and my thumb hovers a little longer over Demi's name. She was listed as "Demi Lovato" with a star next to her name.

My stomach twisted nervously as I think about tomorrow and all that's to come. I'm not so worried about the photo shoot part since I'll be in clothes and make up that aren't mine which will make it easy to pretend I'm a sexier and more confident person. Pretend is easy. The thing I'm most worried about most is my first mentoring session with Demi. What song is she going to choose? What if she hates the way I do it? What If I touch my hair too much? What advice is she going to give me? I know for sure that she still wants me to step up my confidence. Even today she dropped hints that I needed to loosen up, and we were in a totally a casual setting, and I'm pretty sure I didn't take the hint because she had to remind me several times.

God, the last thing I want to do is disappoint her.

I can feel a frown worry itself onto my forehead, and I've started chewing on my lower lip again. I can hear CeCe's voice in my mind telling me to quit it, but I don't listen.

Before I can stop myself, I tap Demi's name and bring up a new message window.

I type the question that concerns me most then hit send.

Me: "Are you sure I can do this?"

As I wait for a reply, I glance at the upper corner of my phone's screen and I feel a pang of guilt for texting her at such a late hour. It's almost midnight and I probably woke her up by because I'm having a stupid nerves. But another part of me knows Demi is my mentor, and being our age she probably expects and understands that her contestants could be riding on a roller coaster of emotions at any hour of the day. And she did say to call anytime...

My phone buzzes in my hand and I almost drop it. Her name pops up as the sender's address and I open the new message.

Demi: "Who is this?"

I'm confused for a second, but then I remember that she only gave us her number, we didn't give her ours. I start to type my name but then backspace over it because I need to bring justice my tense and awkward past self and come up with a smart way of telling her who I am. I think of out conversation today and grin as I type back.

Me: "I'm the hot one."

I'm not flirting with her... just reminding her who I am.

I wait.

It's 12:01 now.

Give her 10 minutes and then go to sleep. I uncoil from my sitting position and lie down.

I'm on top of the covers, but it's too hot for me to need them.

A light turns on beside me and I look over to see Paige is holding a flashlight, aiming it at a notepad that she's hastily writing something in with her other hand.

I give her privacy and divert my gaze to the mattress above me, my eyes tracing the perimeter of the area that's sinks under CeCe's weight. I'm just trying to waste time so Demi will text back faster.

I cave, and check to see that it's 12:05.

5 more minutes.

What's taking so long? I bet it didn't go through and she thinks she's being left hanging by some insecure anonymous weirdo.

12:06.

4 more minutes.

Just in case, I resend my first message, because I'm really hoping to get answer in order to get to sleep without worrying.

Me: "Are you sure I can do this?"

I stare at my phone, watching the 12:06 become 12:07, and then 12:08. Then 12:09... 12:10... 12:11. She's not texting you back.

Feeling defeated, my eyes sting a little as I put my phone down and slip it under my pillow.

I'm untangling the earphone wires to my iPod, because I always fall asleep listening to music, when my pillow vibrates. My heart skips a beat. I instantly reach under my pillow and grab my phone. I tap the screen; this has to be her.

New Message (1) Demi Lovato. 12:18am.

I open it.

Demi: "I know you can do absolutely anything. See you tomorrow x"

That's it. I read it a a couple of times before it sinks in, then silently close my phone and tuck it back beneath my pillow. I know you can do absolutely anything.

I put in my earphones and press play.

I know you can do absolutely anything.

8 minutes late but:

I know you can do absolutely anything.

My iPod plays, the tangled earphone wires curving around my cheeks and framing my gigantic smile.