Hello, all! I'm so sorry I didn't update this sooner, but for a time I was very sure that I was going to delete it. But upon re-reading the first chapter and the reviews, I've chosen to continue it. Thank you to my reviewers thus far- passing4insane; Girl in Blue; kristi; teddygeiger'sinsanecrazyluver; Half-elf; and Purple Mystic.

Note: Song selection for this story is not necessarily based on personal taste, but on songs that I think suit the characters. And since I am not supposed to use song lyrics in the story, I will post the song titles and artists in my profile under the story title. I have also posted a link to a lyrics search engine, so that you make look them up, should you choose to do so.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Danny Phantom TV series, in whole or in part. Nor do I own any work by Britney Spears or Alicia Keys.

Sam arrived at the studio thirty minutes prior to her audition, according to the over-the-phone instructions she'd received upon registering. She was wearing her wrap dress, had her hair falling about her in spiral curls, and also had on subtle make-up. She brought nothing more than a small purse and a copy of the sheet music for the song she'd chosen.

After finishing her homework the day before, she'd called an emergency practice session with her piano/voice coach. Once that was done, she spent the remainder of the evening practicing the song she'd chosen. She had managed to contain her nerves, but as she went through the back entrance to the studio, they started to get to her.

Sam stopped and took several deep breaths, calming herself down before making her way to a large meeting room. She looked around, making observations of the other potential contestants. Some of them looked nervous, while others looked entirely too confident. One person in particular stood out to her.

Paulina.

Paulina was the most popular girl in school. She was pretty, but extremely shallow. But the worst part was that, although he insisted he'd gotten over her, Danny still had a crush on her. Paulina symbolized everything Sam wasn't-preppy, perky, pretty, and popular. As well as ditzy, superficial, snobby, manipulative, and even downright rude.

Sam was pretty in her own right, although it was something that never seemed to occur to her. Much of that could be attributed to her refusal to get by on looks alone. When she didn't feel plain, she fretted that she put too much emphasis on her natural beauty.

Sam turned away, hoping that Paulina (or the "Shallow Little Witch," as Sam preferred) hadn't spotted her. But it was too late.

"Well, well, well, what's the Goth Girl doing here?" Paulina drawled, faking a smile. "Working minimum wage as a messenger for the TV station or something?"

"For your information, Paulina, I'm here to audition," Sam hissed, somehow maintaining her self-control as she showed the other young woman her sheet music as proof.

"Oh, well, you'd better hope you get to go before me, because once they're done seeing me, they'll probably stop the auditions."

"Why, are you that horrible?" Sam couldn't resist.

"No, because I'm so good, I can carry the whole show on my own. Duh," Paulina answered matter-of-factly.

"We'll see about that," Sam murmured under her breath.

At that moment, two of the show's producers came in and separated everyone into groups, based on which talent they would perform. Of course Paulina was grouped together with Sam, as both were going to sing.

The two young women went to one of the stages with the other eighteen singers. As each person entered, they drew a number to determine the order in which they would audition. Sam would go up right after Paulina, much to her relief somehow. Provided, of course, that the latter was really as bad as she thought she was good.

The first nine singers went before Paulina had her turn. She put a CD into the boom box and stood on the marker, greeting the judges with a broad grin.

"Hello, my name is Paulina, and I go to Casper High. I'm here to sing 'You Drive Me Crazy' by Britney Spears!"

"It figures..." Sam muttered, rolling her eyes.

As soon as Paulina completed the first line, snickers could be heard all around. She either ignored it or didn't notice as she began dancing and gyrating around the stage in her skimpy red tube top and denim mini skirt.

"Wow, she makes Britney Spears sound good," a fellow singer whispered to Sam, and they shared a giggle.

"So what did you think?" Paulina asked, jumping up-and-down excitedly, having been asked to stop singing after she got through the chorus. As she bounced around, she succeeded in bouncing one side of her chest right out of her top. "Ooh, I bet that's bonus points," she said, turning to give Sam a smug look as she fixed her "wardrobe malfunction."

"Well, uh... we'll put up the list for callbacks later," one of the judges spoke up.

Paulina turned to leave, but stopped when another judge added, "But don't bother looking for your name! That was the worst singing I've ever heard!"

Part of Sam felt sorry for Paulina, but the rest of her caused her to bite her lip to keep from laughing as the young woman hurried out.

"Next, please," one of the judges called.

Sam stood on the mark to introduce herself. "Good evening. My name is Sam, and I am a high school senior. I'll be performing 'Fallin'' by Alicia Keys."

Sam took her place at the piano, accompanying herself as she sang. Much to her surprise, the judges didn't ask her to stop, letting her complete the song. Had she not been so caught up in her audition, she would've noticed all the people staring at her, mouths agape.

Sam finished the song, arose from the piano bench, and politely bowed with thanks as applause arose throughout the auditorium.

The judges were beaming as she took her mark, awaiting feedback on her audition.

"I'm speechless," one judge said, and two others nodded in agreement.

"That was an absolutely amazing rendition of that song. It is so hard to both play and sing the right keys, and you nailed both. Unbelievable job," complimented a fourth.

"Ladies and gentlemen," spoke up the fifth judge, "I believe we've just found Amity Park's newest singing sensation."

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