Loren's POV:
"Okay let's get started," Eddie says sitting down on the piano bench. I turns out that this huge apartment has a music room. Well actually it has 3, one for each team. Or Laura's is more of a dance room than a music room since she and all her contestants were dancers. There's also a pool on the room, but you don't even want me to get started on that.
Right now I'm in the music room that belongs to Eddie's team. I used all day yesterday settling in, and luckily there weren't any more drama. I think I've had enough drama these last few weeks than I normally get on a year, and I'm sure that there's a lot more drama to come in the future.
"I'm sure you know that there's only a few weeks to the first live show and that means we have to get started immediately," Eddie continues. He seems a lot more professional than he usually does, not that it's a problem, I just don't want it to be weird. I mean I kind of considered us friends.
"The first round is all about getting people to like you and your voice. That's why I chose a song that fits you very well, and then the upcoming rounds we can experiment a lot more with different types of songs." If I make it to the upcoming rounds I mutter under my breath, but I don't know if he heard me or not. I don't think that he did cause his professional attitude doesn't change a bit. He hands me the song and gets off the piano bench. "I want you to play piano to this song to really show off your abilities," he says nodding his head towards the bench.
"Let's get to it then," I say. I sit down at the bench and look at the song. Luckily I know this song so I won't have to practice playing it, and I know the lyrics by heart.
I start playing. I'm not gonna do it perfect the first time I'm just gonna run through it really quick. When I'm done I look back at Eddie to see him completely zooned out. He was staring at the piano, though it looked like he had been staring at the back of my head, and it didn't look like he was planning on blinking any time soon.
"Um, Eddie?" I said waving my hand a little to get his attention. I didn't really think that he had been staring at me but I was still trying to ignore the bubbly feeling in the pit of my stomach. He seemed to snap out of it meeting my eyes for a short second, before turning around looking out of the huge window. It seemed like that at least one wall in each room was filled completely with windows.
"Do it again," He said still looking out of the window. Okay something is definitely wrong with him. As his friend I think I have to find out what it is. But I'm still not sure if I'm the only one that thinks that were friends, and he's still my judge and mentor, so I just turn around to the piano without another word.
After about 2 hours of intense practice we were called downstairs. When we came down I saw it wasn't just us it was everyone who had gotten the message. Laura and her contestants, I know one of them is Chloe and Cameron but I've never seen the others, were all there, the same with Jeffrey, who was looking as professional as ever, and his 3 contestants whom I've never seen before. Chris and Becca, the other contestants from Team Eddie, are also there so the only ones missing are Eddie and I.
"Oh good you're here," an elderly man with a slight accent says. His hair is white, he's wearing big glasses and he's very petite, even though I don't think that's the right word to use about a man. I don't know why but something about him just screams French. He's standing behind a camera so I assume that he's a photographer.
He orders us to stand in a long row, with Team Eddie in the right corner, Team Laura in the middle and then Team Jeffrey in the left corner. I stand beside Becca, who's beside Laura, and I expect Eddie to stand beside me but he pushes Chris in between us. I'm sure he just does it because Jeffrey is also standing in the corner and it has to look pretty, but I can't help but feel a little bad. I just try my best to smile while the photo is taking, and that is when I come to a conclusion. A very important conclusion.
I like Eddie Duran
I've been avoiding Eddie for two weeks. The only time we've been in the same room together is when we've been practicing, or else there have always been other people. Actually I would try my best to slip unnoticed out of the room as soon as Eddie entered it. But really it's not that hard to avoid him because it kind of feels like he's avoiding me too.
I'm not denying that I like Eddie, cause I know I do. The problem is that I know he will never like me. Not the way I like him. He'll like me as an acquaintance, and friend at the most. I mean he's a man, four years older than me, and I'm still a teenager. And he's my mentor! Me liking him is nothing more than trouble and unnecessary drama.
It's the night before the very first live show and I can't sleep. I would say that it's because I'm nervous but truthfully that's only a little part of it. Not only have I been avoiding Eddie in person but I've also been avoiding thinking about him. But now when I'm lying in my bed at midnight, Eddie seems to be the only thing that pops into my head. I've tried thinking about my mom, my friends and even my future but nothing works.
I finally decide that sleep isn't gonna come any time soon I get out of my bed. I would go down in the kitchen to get something to drink, but unfortunately there's not tea and I know that I will be up until Christmas if I drink coffee, so I decide that now would be an as good time as any to try the pool. I haven't had time to do that the past two weeks so why not?
I go to my dresser, thankful that Mel decided to pack me a bikini without me knowing, and pull out my white bikini with white and blue dip-dyed fringes. It's not normally something that I wear but it's very pretty and it's not like anyone is gonna see me.
I grab a light blue towel and make my way to the roof. As soon as I open the door my jaw is on the floor. There are windows all the way around, except the wall where the door is aka where I'm standing, so you can look out on almost all of LA, and in the middle of the room there's a large pool. The water in the pool is reflecting on the windows and the wall, making the room light up.
I put my towel on one of the chairs beside the pool and dive in. The water is very cold but I still stay under as long as possible, wishing that I could just stay here forever and forget about the rest of the world. Unfortunately my lungs soon start craving air and I'm forced to get up. I get up just in time to hear a big splash. I turn around and don't see anyone, but the water is very uneasy meaning that someone definitely just jumped in.
Not even 5 seconds later I see Eddie emerge from the water. His dark brown hair is wet, dripping down on his defined jaw. I can't see below his shoulders, where I'm sure there is a six-pack, but what I can see is his big strong shoulders and arms. Eddie's eyes widen when he sees me and I feel my face heat up. He just totally caught me checking him out.
"What are you doing here?" he asks still a little stunned. "I didn't see you; I didn't think anyone was here."
"I was under the, uhm… yeah," I say awkwardly. We used to make easy conversation but after the conclusion it's just like everything between us is awkward. I'm glad he doesn't know how I feel about him then things would be even worse.
"So, couldn't sleep?" Eddie asks. I nod. "What about you?" "Same," he says. We both swim to the edge so we don't have to use a lot of energy not to drown. Not that I think I would, cause I'm sure that Eddie would save me way before that happened. Oh no, bad idea, now all I can think about is Eddie as a lifeguard.
"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" asks Eddie.
"Yeah. I'm pretty confident in the song though."
"And you should be. It sounds amazing." I'm trying my best not to blush.
"Well, I've learned from the best," I say. I don't know what happened but it's like we're back to the way we we're before I moved into the contestants' apartment. Fun, easy going and maybe, just maybe, a little flirty. I'm not sure; I'm not good with that kind of stuff.
"That's true," Eddie says with a playful smile that makes his eyes glow. I slap him playfully on the chest, momentarily blown away by his hard muscles.
"I promise Loren, you are gonna do fine," Eddie says just above a whisper, his appearance suddenly turning very serious. I haven't really noticed before but we are very close, I can feel the heat radiating off his body. Our faces are merely inches apart, and it may be my imagination but it feels like he's leaning closer…
Sorry, not the longest I know. But on the bright side, I updated yay! As I said before I am really busy with school and stuff, and I've actually just gotten a job so I will have even less time but I promise that I won't forget about the story.
There probably won't be an update for about 3 weeks but when it comes there's gonna be a surprise. Can anyone guess what it is? And it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with Loren and Eddie.
Sooooo… thoughts? Please take your time to write a review I really appreciate it.
Slightly important:
I have this new story in my head and I'm obviously not gonna start writing it before this one is finished, but I'm actually really looking forward to it. I'm not gonna tell you a lot about it, but it's gonna be sweet and sappy and romantic and just completely cliché. There's not gonna be and evil dad or a lot of drama or anything, it's just gonna be about two people falling in love. So I guess my question is… would you read it? Let me know in a comment.
Thanks for reading!