IDOL DRAMA- CAST
Katlyn- Sunshine 1357
Lila- Strangerthanfictionclub
Isabella (Is)- xxxPurplexVioletsxxx
Jackie- An Angel in Darkness
Pat- Pepsigirl32
Allegra- xxxjonasislifexxx
Dansly- All I Can Do Is Sing (Not on this site)
Ashlyn- x3HeadFirst3x1 (Not on this site either)
Mariella (introduced later in the chapter)- m2m211 (Nope. Not on this site either.)
Idol Drama- Part 1: You Found Me
June 2008
Chapter 3: The Best Day Ever
Well, I knew that my friends would indeed go crazy. Oh well. Actually, I am amazed that I didn't yet. Before, my friends and I always joked that if we ever met anybody from American Idol that we would faint. Guess I was wrong.
"Oh yeah, don't be alarmed if anyone faints, screams, goes crazy, runs around like an idiot, acts dumb, or does all of those at once," I said to Paula, counting all of the things off on my fingers. "Or if Jodi comes in at some point yelling at Tim and hitting him with a purse because he lost another interview for the radio,"
"Long story?" she asked.
"Basically," I answered.
"You can explain that to me later,"
"Will do," I responded. We walked into the school, past the gates. "Our room is at the front of the school, hidden kind of." I walked into the classroom with Paula behind me. The others were in the auditorium, which you can get to through the Idol clubroom.
"Wow," Paula said, looking around the room. As I said earlier, there was American Idol stuff everywhere. All of the walls were filled with pictures, posters, and magazine and newspaper clippings about Idol. The background (not that there really was any to see) was even blue, since the American Idol logo was blue.
"Told you that we had issues," I commented to Paula.
"Not issues… just obsessive-ness issues."
"Yeah, that too," I added. We have so many issues. I walked closer to the door that connects the auditorium and the classroom. I heard Katlyn laughing at a joke, probably made by Lila or Jackie. "You go first."
"Why?" she asked.
"'Cause," I responded. "There gonna scream and I don't need ta go deaf," Really… I don't need to go anymore deaf than I already am. I listen to music way to loud sometimes. Okay, fine! All the time!
"But-"
"Have fun!" I said, pushing her into the room. I probably shouldn't have done that. Oh well, I do plenty of things that I'm not supposed to do. One more thing won't hurt. I waited until there was no noise to walk into the auditorium. Big mistake. Katlyn immediately started to chew me out for being late.
"YOU'RE LATE!" she yelled. Wow. Paula Abdul was standing, like, right there and they were chewing me out instead. Eh, I could have expected that.
"Yeah," said my friend Is, short for Isabella. "We HAVE to beat Andrea. It's like, not even an option here anymore,"
"I know, right?" Allegra said. They all hated her as much as I did, if not more than I did.
"Did you pick out your songs yet?" Ashlyn asked me.
"No," I whispered. They had expected me to pick out the songs like, last week. Sometimes I think that they want me to win this more than I do. Well, they are my band for the competition, so if I win, I guess that they win too.
"I think that we should throw you off a cliff," Allegra said to me. Her and I have this thing when we don't like someone in the Idol fandom, we throw him or her off of a cliff.
"Well I have some of them!" I defended.
"Let's just get started now," Lila told the group.
"Alright." I went up to the whiteboard and picked up a marker. I tried to write on the board, but of course the pen didn't work. "God, is there any pen in this place that works?" I asked them.
"No," replied Pat. "Now try this one," she said, handing me a different one. Unlike the first one. This one actually had some ink in it. I erased our DAVID COOK VS. DAVID ARCHULETA chart and wrote SONGS in its place in really big letters.
"Alright, so I have like two or three picked out… I think," I stated. I wrote, THIS IS ME on one line, and HERO IN ME on another. On the third line, I wrote SOME DAUGHTRY SONG.
"Some Daughtry song," read Ashlyn stated, "real descriptive." I ignored what she had said and wrote another thing on the next line. ROCK SONG. On the fifth line, I proceeded to write ACOUSTIC SONG. And CARRIE UNDERWOOD on the next. Then I wrote IDK on the next two lines. Then, GROUP SOMG- DSB.
"DSB?" Paula asked.
"Don't Stop Believing," we all chorused. Andrea and I were supposed to do 1 song together but we couldn't get along long enough to do it. So her group was doing one together, same as me and my friends.
"Right. I knew that," she responded.
"Alright, this is what I have so far," I said.
"How about I hear you sing first, then we can go through your iPod and see what fits?" Paula suggested.
"Sounds good to me," I said.
"Isn't that like, cheating or something?" Allegra asked.
"NO IT'S NOT NOW SHUT UP!" Jackie yelled ay her. We all cracked up.
"Yeah, they can go find their own music person if they want," Lila added.
"Sounds good. Now to the auditorium!" I shouted, pointing at it.
We all got to the auditorium and walked in. Pat went to the Drums, Jackie to the Piano, Allegra and Lila to the Electric Guitar, Is to the Electric Keyboard, and Katlyn to the Bass. Dansly and Ashlyn would substitute later in my set. And yes, I am aware that we had to many guitar players. I really don't care. Dansly and Ashlyn sat in the seats in from of the stage with Paula.
"Wait, were doing This is Me first, right?" Jackie asked.
"Yeah," I said. "Then I guess we can do either Hero in Me or Don't Stop Believing,"
"Well we have to since someone didn't pick out their songs," Lila said.
"Oh, whatever!" I yelled.
I started to walk backstage, but then turned around. "I need the microphone," I stated, grabbing it.
"Yeah, that might help," Ashlyn said. I walked backstage (again) and stood where I would come out. I couldn't believe that I was actually going to do this. I heard the music start and I walked out and started to sing, holding the microphone in one hand.
ALLY (THINK OF DEMI LOVATO'S VERSION FROM CAMP ROCK):
I've always been the kind of girl
That hid my face
So afraid to tell the world
What I've got to say
But I have this dream
Right inside of me
I'm gonna let it show, it's time
To let you know
To let you know
I walked to the top of the stage as I hit the chorus. I started to belt the chorus of the song out.
This is real, this is me
I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be, now
Gonna let the light, shine on me
Now I've found, who I am
There's no way to hold it in
No more hiding who I want to be
This is me
I started to walk to the front of the stage. I love performing this song. The lyrics are so powerful.
Do you know what it's like
To feel so in the dark
To dream about a life
Where you're the shining star
Even though it seems
Like it's too far away
I have to believe in myself
It's the only way
This is real, This is me
I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be, now
Gonna let the light, shine on me
Now I've found, who I am
There's no way to hold it in
No more hiding who I want to be
This is me
I finished the song, holding the last note out. The song was short right now, I know. I am really trying to add more to it, but I can't find the perfect lyrics to add to it. I wrote it one night while I was over at Tim and Jodi's apartment. No, they aren't dating or married or anything, they just live together. But I'm pretty sure that they secretly like each other.
"So, whataya think?" I asked her.
"Wow." Okay, so was that a good wow or a bad wow. On the show when Paula says wow that means that the singer is really good. But I'm not that good… am I?
AT THE AIRPORT WITH RANDY AND RYAN
"Man, why did I have to go to the airport with you?" asked Ryan.
"Because, dude. One, Fuller and Nigel told us to. We don't have much choice there. And second, you were the one who wouldn't shut up all night yesterday and all day today about Kara," replied Randy. It was true. For the past 24 hours, Ryan wouldn't shut up about Kara. He asked questions that no one knew the answer to. Like, 'Is she hot?', 'Does she have a boyfriend?' Randy was about to smack him upside the head and lock him in a room duct taped to a chair with tape over his mouth so he couldn't talk.
And now he was stuck at an airport with him. Great.
"I know, I know," replied Ryan.
"Good… oh, over there is where her plane gets off over at that gate," Randy said, pointing at gate 108B. Ryan followed behind Randy to the gate to wait for Kara's plane to land.
BACK AT THE MIDDLE SCHOOL
Well, Paula said that I was amazing. I couldn't believe it. But she said that I was. And that was when everybody went crazy. Now she wanted me to perform the first song that I ever wrote, Hero in Me. The lyrics are kind of… well, weird. But hey, I was like 10 years old or something. What do you expect from a crazy 10 year old?
You know I used to hear a voice that said
Troubles coming better stay in bed
Then I even tried to run away
Cause I didn't even know my own strength
I was shocked, no I couldn't believe
My world rocked, it was news to me
When I looked in the mirror today
I looked back and I heard me say
I gotta own it, breathe it, live it like I mean it!
I got the hero in me; it's all I wanna be!
Someone to rely on and looks good on TV
To save the day, is part of the routine
Out of my way, this is the job for me!
I gotta own it, breathe it, live it like I mean it
In control and so good to go yeah
Figure it out and it's time you know!
I got the hero in me; it's all I wanna be! (All I wanna be)
Someone to rely on and looks good on TV (yeaaa)
To save the day, is part of the routine
Out of my way, this is the job for me!
I got the hero in me, it's all I wanna be!
Someone to rely on and looks good on tv
To save the day, is part of the routine
Out of my way, this is the job for me!
There's a hero in me yeah
There's a hero in me-e
Oh, oh, oh, whoah, whoah
My friends and me were dancing around like crazy while I was singing this song. We all have fun while performing this song for some reason. Probably because it is so crazy.
"Good, but the lyrics are… um," Paula said.
"Weird," I said.
"Unusual," said Allegra.
"Strange," Jackie added.
"Odd." That one came from Katlyn.
"Creepy," said Is.
"Freaky," said Dansly.
"Crappy," said Lila.
"Oh, like you write better songs?" I joked.
"Haha," replied Lila.
"Strange," said Ashlyn.
"I ALREADY SAID THAT!" Jackie yelled at Ashlyn.
"Oh, whatever," she replied.
"I was going to say different," Paula said to me.
"Yeah… that works to," I replied.
A short while later, we were all in the classroom. We were going through my iPod, only to find that I have a lot of crap on there.
"Do you have anything good on here?" Allegra asked me. "The only stuff you have is Disney Channel, Hannah Montana…" she trailed off.
"You have the same stuff, stupid," I said, smacking the back of her head. "Remember? You had the CD… I browed it…"
"I KNEW THAT!" she yelled, causing us all to crack up even more than we already were. We are pretty crazy when it comes to this stuff… or anything.
"Oh, give me that," Dansly said, grabbing my iPod from Allegra. I really didn't see why I couldn't go through my own iPod.
"Hey!" Allegra shouted. "I was like, using that!"
"And I like, don't care!" she replied.
"Are they always like this?" Paula whispered to me.
"Eh, usually. We're crazy. It's just how we are," I replied.
"How about What About Now for 'Some Daughtry Song'?" Ashlyn asked.
"That works," I replied, walking back over to them. Ashlyn erased SOME DAUGHTRY SONG and wrote WHAT ABOUT NOW.
"All right, now we need a rock song," Lila said, looking at the list on the white board.
"Man, do you have anything on here that isn't country or Disney channel pop?" Pat asked. I grabbed my iPod away from the three of them.
"If you're just gonna do that, I'll do it myself," I said. I started to go through the rest of my songs. "Wow. I really do have a lot of crap on here," I said.
"Told you," Pat replied.
"Oh, shut up,"
"You said it," she said back.
"Yeah… as much fun as it is watching the two of you fight all the time, we really need to find songs to do," Jackie told Pat and me.
"What about If Today Was Your Last Day by Nickelback?" Paula asked me, leaning over my shoulder.
"Yeah. That'll work," I said. I love that song. It's one of my favorites by them. "Put that up there, Is,"
"You do it. I'm to lazy to walk all the way up there," She answered.
"Your closer," I responded. Okay, she was closer by a whole two feet, but still.
"Oh, I'll do it," Katlyn said, getting up from her seat. She erased Rock Song, and in it's place, wrote If Today Was Your Last Day.
"Oh, and for Acoustic song put God Bless the Broken Road," I said to Katlyn, who was still up there. That was a country song by Rascal Flatts. Rascal Flatts was one of my favorite country artists. Actually, he is one of my favorite artists ever.
"Alright," she responded. She changed that before sitting back down on top of one of the desks.
"For the Carrie Underwood song, either Wasted or Some Hearts would be the best," Paula spoke.
"Crap. I love both of those… Uh, just put both of them up there," I said to whomever.
"Your turn to write it," Katlyn said.
"Oh, for crying out loud!" Jackie said, walking to the front of the room. She changed Some Carrie Underwood Song to Wasted, and IDK to Some Hearts.
"All right. Almost done. Just one more song," I said. "Um… How about Teardrops on My Guitar?" I asked. That song was another country song by Taylor Swift. Although people who didn't like country also listened to Taylor Swift, so it wasn't that much of a country song, I guess.
This is what the final set list looked like, once we put it in order of what songs I was going to do first, second, and so on.
This is Me
Wasted
God Bless the Broken Road
If Today Was Your Last Day
Some Hearts
Hero in Me
What About Now
Teardrops on My Guitar
Don't Stop Believing- DSB (All)
"And we have to make sure that you play the guitar and the piano too," Ashlyn told me.
"OH MY GOD! YOU"LL NEVER GUESS WHAT I FOUND OUT!" Mariella yelled, running in through the front door. She said that she was out with her grandparents for lunch… what a liar.
"WHAT? WHAT? WHAT?" Lila asked. Okay, more like yelled.
"THIS! THIS! THIS!" She replied, shoving an article in Lila's face, still not noticing Paula. Lila grabbed it and started screaming. Really loudly.
"OH MY GOD!" she yelled.
"Um… you going to explain?" Mariella asked, gesturing with her hands to Paula and I.
"SHE'LL EXPLAIN LATER! YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS!" Lila yelled at the two of us. I swear, I am going to go deaf with her as a friend. I got up and ran over to Lila and the article. Then I saw what she was freaking out about. American Idol, of course. No surprise there. But they were getting a new judge. Kara something.
"OH NO YOU DID AINT!" I yelled. Everyone else huddled around me and the article, which I had taken from Lila.
"THAT'S IT! IM NEVER WATCHING AMERICAN IDOL AGAIN!" Ashlyn stated. I knew that she was lying, though. She said that like, at least once a week. But this time, she may actually have a point. If this new chick messes with our Saula, then Idol will have a lot of angry teenagers on their hands.
"Um, Ashlyn," I said. "You've said that, like a million times before. When Michael Johns left… when Brooke White left… when Carly Smithson left… when David Archuleta lost…" I said, counting all of them off.
"OH WHATEVER! I MEAN IT THIS TIME!" She yelled.
"Um, Paula, can you give us like, five minutes?" I asked her.
"Sure. I gotta call Simon and yell at him for not calling me this morning," She said. "And call Randy to see if Ryan has killed him yet."
"You should wait until it's like, two in the morning there. As payback," I replied.
"YOU SO STOLE THAT FROM MY STORY!" Jackie screamed.
"Oh, whatever. I jacked a lot of crap from your story!" I replied. I turned my attention back to the magazine article with the rest of my friends. We finished reading the article before we threw it across the room. We tend to do that a lot. All I knew was that was one article that wasn't going to go on our walls.
"I SWEAR IF THIS CRAZY LADY GETS IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR SAULA I'M GONNA COMPLAIN TO NIGEL AND FULLER!" Dansly yelled.
"I'M GONNA COMPLAIN ANYWAY!" Allegra added.
"ME TOO!" said Is.
"ME THREE!" yelled Ashlyn.
"ME FOUR!" Katlyn said.
"Okay. You so have to write about this in the newspaper this week," Katlyn told me. "Instead of David Cook beating David Archuleta in Idol… except you kind of put that off for like three weeks, but whatever. I guess that it will never get done. This is way more important."
"Oh," Mariella said. "I already wrote it. We went to lunch with my grandparents but we had to leave early because my little brother got sick. And on the way home we stopped by the store where I found this. So before I came over here, I finished it for you."
"All right. Thanks," I said. "I owe you one."
"It's no problem," she responded. "Here's a copy." She handed me a copy of the article that she wrote. I decided that I would read it later, so I folded it up and shoved it in my jeans pocked.
"All right," I said to Paula. We're done freaking out like crazy fan girls now."
"Wait, were done for today, aren't we?" asked Allegra.
"Actually… yeah. We are. Let's just do DSB before we leave," I replied. We were going to be focusing on my songs this week, so we won't be able to be working on Don't Stop Believing that much.
We all walked back to the auditorium and people got on their instruments. They started to play the beginning notes to Journey's Don't Stop Believing.
Just a small town girl
Livin' in a lonely world
She took the midnight train
Goin' anywhere
Just a city boy
Born and raised in South Detroit
He took the midnight train
Goin' anywhere
A singer in a smokey room
A smell of wine and cheap perfume
For a smile they can share the night
It goes on and on and on and on
Strangers waiting
Up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching
In the night
Streetlights, people
Livin' just to find emotion
Hidin', somewhere in the night
Workin' hard to get my fill
Everybody wants a thrill
Payin' anything to roll the dice
Just one more time
Some will win
Some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh, the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on
Strangers waiting
Up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching
In the night
Streetlights, people
Livin' just to find emotion
Hidin', somewhere in the night
[Instrumental Interlude]
Don't stop believin'
Hold on to the feelin'
Streetlights, people
Don't stop believin'
Hold on
Streetlights, people
"You guys sound good together. Have a lot of talent." Paula said.
"Thanks," we all replied.
"All right," I spoke, "Homework is to learn the songs, get more Idol gossip and just the usual." They all ran out of the place, edger to get on with their weekend. Unlike me. I looked at the clock on my cell. Wow. 1:30. The longest that I have ever gone without screwing things up in my life.
"You have anything else left to do here?" Paula asked me.
"Just a couple, if you don't mind," I replied.
"Yeah. That's no problem," she said.
"Cool." I walked back into the Idol clubhouse and found the magazine on the floor. I walked over to it and picked it up.
"Cool," I shrugged. "A free magazine." I picked it up and tossed it on one of the desks. Then, I copied down the set list in the order that I was going to do the songs. I grabbed that list and the magazine, before walking back out to the auditorium where Paula still was.
"Almost done," I announced. I found a manila and shoved the magazine and the set list in there. All of a sudden, my phone beeped, signaling a text from Skip.
Wife is sick. We're doing the show next weekend or so. Jodi and TA will be over any second.
-Skip-
I sighed. "Jodi and TA will be here any minute… probably to tell me that TA lost another interview, then Jodi and I can kill him again, then we can get going."
"All right," she laughed. No less than ten minutes later, TA and Jodi walked into the auditorium. Jodi was smacking Tim on the arm with her purse.
"Should I even ask?" Paula asked me.
"Nope," I replied. I hopped off of the stage and walked over to the two of them.
"OW! OW! OW! WILL YOU PLEASE STOP HITTING ME WITH THAT PURSE… GOD, WHAT DO YOU HAVE IN THERE?" Tim shouted.
"What did you lose now?" I asked with a sigh. So help me, if he lost the David Archuleta interview, I am going to kill someone. Jodi and I have stocked him so much that if David ends up dead, Jodi and I will end up in jail. Although I have never met the kid, I still stocked him pretty badly.
"Um… David Archuleta," he said.
"Can I borrow that?" I asked Jodi, motioning to her purse.
"By all means," she replied, handing it to me.
"Thank you," I said.
"NO!" Tim said. I got the purse and started to smack him. "NO! NO! PLEASE!"
"Too bad!" I replied. "Do you know how hard Jodi and I worked for that interview?" I asked him. "And what else will we put on the show next week?" I asked.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. If David Archuleta turns up dead the two of you will end up in jail." TA said.
I sighed. "I'll try to find something else to put on the show next week," I said. I knew that I could find something. Well, I hoped that I could find something to put on the show. But I have rehearsals all week, and the show so I didn't know how much time that I would have free…
I gave Jodi her purse back. She hit Tim one last time before putting it back on. "Oh, here's your paycheck for the month," she said. Most of what I make from the radio station goes into the bank. But I get to keep some it for pocket money and stuff.
"All right. I'll see you guys sometime this week, then," I said.
"Kay. Call us if you need anything," Jodi said. The two of them were the closest thing that I had to a mother and father. And Skip was just… well, Skip.
"All right," I said, hugging the two of them goodbye. They left and I walked back to the Idol clubhouse with my paycheck and manila folder. When I got into the room, I put the envelope in the folder.
"What's that?" Paula asked, pointing to the envelope.
"Huh? Oh, that's just my monthly paycheck from the radio station… well, what's left of it and not in the bank," I replied. "And that noise was Jodi and I beating Tim up with Jodi's purse because he can't seem to keep a hold of any interview that we get… Well, I am ready to go if you are,"
"All right," she responded. "Let's go then, shall we?"
When we were in the car, I stared out the window. I thought the best when I was moving, for some reason. I don't really know why, but I was just like that. Tomorrow all of the other Idol nuts had family stuff and chores till three, so I was alone till three PM in the foster home. Not how I really wanted to spend my Sunday. Oh well. But I think that there is a marathon of American Idol Rewind on tomorrow, so I had that to look forward to. Then next week was my last week before summer break. All of my friends had to go out of town to see relatives or on family vacation. So basically I would be all alone. Not really how I wanted to spend my summer. This would be my second summer here, but the first full one. Last summer, I came in the middle of it, so I only spent half of the summer here.
"So explain the radio station thing to me." Paula's voice startled me, as I was in my own little world at the moment.
"Ugh… there's not really much to say," I responded. "We just have an Idol fan show thing. They were going to start it, and then they found me," I said. "They realized that I knew more about the show than anyone, so they offered me a job."
"Where'd they find you?" she asked.
"School." I immediately responded.
"Huh?" she asked.
"School," I said again. "Tim, or TA, as we call him, teaches the eighth grade at the middle school. One day at the beginning of the year, we needed a sub. Sometimes other teachers are the sub's so the district saves money or something. IDK. Anyway, he was subbing in my World Cultures class, and that was where we met. He's like the father I never had,"
"Who was that other girl that came in with him?" she asked.
"Oh. That was Jodi. TA, Jodi and Skip met in collage, so they've known each other for a while. Skip's wife is sick, so he's with her right now. Her and TA share an apartment a mile or so away. I think that the two of them like each other, but whatever. Skip thinks so too. We have a bet going on," I laughed. "Anyway, Jodi's cool. She's like the mom I never had. Her and TA… they take care of me and everything.
"Yeah… so I work in the radio station with the three of them. The three of them are on air over the weekend, but I'm not since I'm just a kid and have homework and everything. The pod cast isn't really on the radio. It's on iTunes and all that." I told her.
"Isn't it weird, though? Since he's your teacher and all?" she asked.
"Nah. Not really. It was at first, but it just takes me some tome to warm up to new people. Plus, TA teaches eighth grade and I'm only in seventh grade. He teaches Science, so I can get him next year if I'm lucky. But everyone wants him. But I'm pretty sure that he can pull some strings and get me in one of his classes," I replied.
We sat in quiet silence for the next couple of minutes.
"So, do a lot of people come into the agency?" she asked. Great. I didn't really want to talk about this. No one wanted me. I get it. I knew that I shouldn't be getting this close to Paula, but I just am.
"Yeah," I replied. "But no one is ever interested in me."
"What? Why not? You're fun," Paula told me. I smiled and continued to talk.
"Because. They always go for the little kids. If they don't they just skip over me or think I'm too weird. But I don't care. I'm used to it," I shrugged.
"I'm sure that you'll get adopted one day," she said. I scoffed.
"Yeah right. The only people that want me won't get accepted by the government,"
"Tim and Jodi?" she asked.
"Yeah," I responded "And Skip and his wife. I could see why about TA and Jodi, but not really about Skip and Lauren," I replied. Lauren was his wife. They were trying to have a child, so I didn't know if they would adopt me. If any of the three of them got accepted by the government, I would probably go with Jodi and TA, since I am closer to them anyways.
When we go to the agency, Rachel was sitting on the couch in the front office, looking worried.
"Ally! There you are! I don't know how to tell you this… but… something happened in San Diego," Rachel told me.
