Chapter 3

Well here I am on a plane sitting next to Danny. Of course I bought her ticket because the X-Factor only pays for the contestant. We were siting in first class, which was a first for both of us and we loved it. I knew we were headed to Spain and we had never been there before. Actually I didn't even have a passport before the X-Factor. I was curious as to who my mentor was going to be. Usually I would think it was Simon because everyone knows he lives in Spain, but just to confuse us this year all of the judges had bought a house in Spain so no one knew who their mentor was going to be.

"Well we know whoever your mentor is got the whole girls group." Danny pointed out. I was the contestant and she was getting into this more than me.

"Yeah thanks for pointing out the obvious. I really hope I get Simon. I know everyone thinks he's like the worst but I can't help but think how amazing a mentor he's gotta be you know." I told her while staring contentedly out the window. I don't really like planes but after the first few hours I got used to it. I still wasn't looking forward to the landing though. They were supposed to be having very special guest judge's houses this year and I couldn't help but wonder that would be with my mentor.

Once we landed, which was a horrible experience might I add, we headed straight to the judges house. Once there the car took Danny on to the hotel we would be staying at the two days that we were here. We were all grouped up outside this amazing mansion. It was a beautiful cream color with burgundy outlines. I hadn't made any friends with any one else in the group because most of them were either really rude or too shy to talk to anyone else. Personally with Danny around I didn't feel the need to make any friends.

We had been standing there for about twenty minutes when suddenly the front door opened and Simon stepped out. All you could hear was about 8 girls screaming at the top of their lungs, including me.

"Alright girls calm down." Simon said with a smile on his face. You could tell he was happy to get the girls group this time.

"Alright you are going to have 2 hours to choose a song and practice it and then you will be singing it in front of me and my musical guest. Oh by the way I would like to introduce you to One Direction." Behind him all five boys stepped out the door smiling. I could not believe that not only was I going to be singing in front of Simon but also in front of one of my idols One Direction. The girls were going nuts but I just stood there quietly not wanting to seem like every other fan girl.

"Hey guys we are really looking forward to hearing each of you." Liam said

"Yeah we can't wait to see who is going to make it on to the live shows." Harry said while flipping his hair. You could hear the audible sigh when he did that.

"Just so you know only three instead of four will be going to the live shows this year. I want to wish you all the best of luck and I'll see you in a few hours." Simon told us as he led the boys back inside with him. A lady came around the building and started calling off names. She got to my name and I walked up to her. She showed me a list and asked which song from the list I would like to sing. I chose "Home" by Michael Buble. It's a great song but I was slightly worried that Simon would consider it a to safe. We all sat around in different parts of the house and yard practicing. We were each given an accompanist to play the guitar behind us. I was happy about this because it was the perfect song for the guitar. I was also lucky enough to get an accompanist that was very easy to work with. Two hours later we were all assembled on the back deck. The same lady came up to each of us with a hat and we were supposed to draw a number out of it to see what order we would be auditioning in. I got number 9, which was the last number. We were then all told to go wait in the holding room, which was really just the living room of the house. About an hour and fifteen minutes later my name was called. I walked out onto the back deck trying to look as confident as possible. Once I reached the deck I saw Simon and all of One Direction sitting in lawn chairs quietly talking. Once I was standing in front of them they all turned and smiled at me.

"Hello Andi. What song will you be singing for us today?" Simon asked me.

"I'm going to be singing, "Home" by Michael Buble." I told them smiling the whole time. Simon nodded to me and all the boys gave me either a nod or a smile. I heard the opening chords of the song start and opened my mouth and let the words flow. I lost myself in the music and just let the emotion take over. I looked at the faces of all the boys while I was singing. Harry had a cheeky grin on his face and winked when I looked at him. NIal smiled shyly at me. Zayn gave me thumbs up when no was looking. Louis had a huge smile on his face and was bobbing his head to the beat, and Liam had his eyes closed and was nodding to the beat. I took a quick look at Simon to see him with his hand under his chin staring at me. Once the song was over I lowered the mic and smiled.

"That was lovely. I love how you put so much emotion into it." Louis told me.

"Yeah, I agree and how you kept your eyes open almost the whole song. A lot of people close there eyes while they sing and I think it takes something away from the song." Liam told me. The other boys all nodded their heads in agreement.

"Thank you Andi you may go wait with the others while we make our decisions." Simon told me. I thanked them all and headed back to the waiting room. When I walked in I saw a few girls crying and even some looked like they were having panic attacks or something similar. I sat in the corner of the room and watched everyone else freak out. There were only two other people in the room besides me who seemed to be coping well. We all waited in that room for a good three hours and I'm pretty sure at one point I heard yelling coming from the back yard. The lady walked back in and told us all to come to the back yard. We all walked out and stood in front of the boys and Simon. I noticed that Louis, Harry and Nial looked pretty upset, while Liam, Zayn, and Simon looked proud of themselves for some reason.

We have come to a conclusion as to which three of you should move on the live shows. The next six names I call out will be escorted to a car and driven back to their hotels where they will then be sent on there way home. The first name I will call out is Sasha. I'm sorry but you will not be moving on to the live shows." Simon said. I saw a girl with black hair tearfully walk away. Liam then stood up to call out the next name.

"The next person who has not been put through tot the live shows is Ashley." He said and a girl with long blonde hair ran off.

"The next one is Sarah." Harry said. Zayn and Nial called out two other girls to be sent back home and now it was down to Louis to tell us who was staying and who was going. I felt my heart speed up and I was sure I was going to faint soon if they didn't tell us who was going to live shows.

"Last but not least the last person to be sent home today is Rosalie." I sort of remember seeing a girl run off but I was to preoccupied trying not to cry because I was going to the live shows. I could not believe it.

"Congratulations girls you are all moving on to the live shows. Now there is a car waiting out front for each of you to take you back to your hotels. We will meet tomorrow morning to discuss the next phase of the show. Once again congratulations." Simon told us as he and the boys walked back into the house. That night after much celebrating I went back to my hotel and fell asleep dreaming of winning the X-Factor.