iAmerican Idol Chapter 3
A/N: I just want to apologize for not updating in forever! It's not fair to you guys so here you are with a new chapter!
Sam sat in her dressing room chugging a bottle of cool Dasani water. 'Oh my gosh,' she thought to herself as she tried to catch her breath. That rendition of 'I Who Have Nothing' from last week brought the judges to tears and so she felt nervous about the expectation for tonight's show. Sam glanced at the pictures on her vanity and smiled grimly. There were pictures of Melanie and Spencer and Gibby. They always made Sam chuckle. But then, she would glance at pictures of Carly and Freddie and her heart would ache a little bit. A flashback entered her mind, they worst day of her life….well it actually had started the night before….
Sam and Carly were 17 years old. Sam giggled, "Oh my god, Carly, let's play Mash!"
Carly raised an eyebrow, "Sam, we haven't played that since we were like seven? Why do you want to play it now?"
Sam blushed slightly, "Um, well, I just want a certain fortune of mine to come true."
Carly grinned, "Oh MY GOSH! You have a new boy toy, don't you? Who is it? Oh my gosh, it's totally Nathan Scott isn't it?"
Sam blushed harder, "Um, no, besides he's married to that cheerleader! But anyways, no, um, actually it's, um, well, nevermind."
Carly narrowed her eyes, "If you say so…" although she was 99% sure that Sam was in love with Freddie. She just had to be certain.
The next morning, Sam shouted, "Carly? Where are you? You guys are out of-"
When suddenly Carly and Freddie walked in holding hands. "What's going on?" Sam demanded.
Carly smirked, "Freddie and I are dating now. Is that cool with you?" Carly inwardly wondered, 'C'mon, Sam, just tell him you love him so I can go back to hitting on basketball players,"
Sam thought, 'Of course, it's not cool with me! I'm in LOVE with him!' but instead Sam grinned weakly, "Yeah, sure. Um, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go now," just as her heart shattered into pieces.
As the weeks and months passed by, Sam rarely showed up at Carly's house and the two somewhat fell out, Carly and Freddie's relationship deteriorated, yet both were too scared to face the facts. Freddie needed something stable in his life and Carly needed someone, anyone, to pamper her. No one was surprised when they decided to both go to Stanford while Sam opted for NYU.
"Sam Puckett, c'mon, there is a commercial break now, but you're on in 5. You ready?" Tim, the stage manager, asked.
Sam double checked herself in the full length dressing room mirror. Her blonde hair was recurled, professionally to perfection. Her eyes were heavy with black, waterproof mascara and eyeliner. A sultry smoky eye made her look fierce, and a soft, pink lipstick complemented the look. She wore dark wash skinny jeans and black, knee high boots, and a loose white tee with writing on it. A large cocktail ring was worn on the thumb and bracelets were stacked high on her thin arms. She grinned, "Yeah totally, I'm ready."
Backstage, Sam fiddled with her tee, calming her nerves using her best pre-stage remedies. She had already drunk foreign tee and skyping with Melanie in the dressing rooms kept her sane. But honestly, after all those years, the only thing that fueled her enough to pour her heart and soul out and totally get lost in the music was looking at a picture of Fredward Benson. It was interesting that after all that time, his folded up, 3.5" by 5" senior picture which was now creased and dog-eared still made her heart lurch.
Sam felt Tim jab a pen onto her as he hissed, "And….GO!" He cued the music director as soon as Sam hit center stage. She looked out into the crowd full of people. For the briefest of seconds, she noticed that the crowd had little effect on her. Although the people were cheering and screaming, they didn't intimidate her. The judges sat, in anticipation, for the track to begin. Simon, looking unfazed as ever, simply twirled his pen. But Sam was willing to bet, he was as excited as Paula who leaned forward, with a large grin on her face. Randy looked pleasantly amused as though the track could go either way. Sam glanced down, and clutched the microphone in its stand, waiting for the beat for her dramatic performance.
The first instruments began to make their beat. Sam snapped her head up and began to sing, "There's a fire burning in my heart, Reaching a fevered pitch and it's bringing me out the dark," The audience cheered in recognition of the song. "Finally, I can see you crystal clear, go ahead and sell me out and I'll lay your ship bare." Sam began to tap her foot with the louder beat. "See how I'll leave with every piece of you, don't underestimate the things that I will do. There's a fire starting in my heart, reaching a fever pitch and it's bringin' me out the dark."
Sam ripped the microphone from its stand marched to the stage right. "The scars of your love remind me of us, they keep me thinking that we almost had it all." With a twirl she marched more towards stage left, right by the judges. "The scars of your love, they leave me breathless, I can't help feeling…." Sam used all of her power and soul to bust out the chorus of, "We could have had it all, rolling in the deep, you had my heart inside of your hand, and you played it to the beat." The audience roared and clapped along with Sam's heartfelt, yet upbeat cover of the song. Sam cut to the third verse, clapping her hands.
"Throw your soul through every open door, count your blessings to find what you look for. Turn my sorrow into treasured gold, you'll pay me back in kind and reap just what you've sown." Sam made her way back to center stage as background vocals carried the bridge. She gathered all of her depleting energy and burst out once more while moving her arms as well as her hips, "We could have had it all, rolling in the deep. You had my heart inside of your hand, and you played it to the beat. Could have had it all, rolling in the deep. You had my heart inside of your hand, but you played it, you played it, you played it, you played it to the beat." Sam ended with her fist in the air, chin held high, and sweat dripping down her forehead. The crowd was flamboyant with praise and it took a good 20 seconds for them to settle down. Sam's head was pumping loud in her ears as she awaited the judges' feedback.
Randy began, "Wow, that was just, really, really good, man. Like, I was expecting you to come out here and sing some little song but you just blew me away! Um, a little work on pitch and more control of your breath if you're gonna be dancing all across stage, but I liked that. I really did, because you made it a performance instead of just singing so good job." The audience applauded Randy's positive approval. Sam grinned, but was too tired to respond.
Paula grinned, "WONDERFUL! Sweetie, wow, that poor sucker who broke your heart is definitely getting it tonight. WOW! Ugh, I just loved that little dancing and your energy is just so amazing up there is just so inspiring and so contagious! Like Randy said, watch your pitch at times. I know it's exciting, but you really gotta watch that. Great job, sweetheart." The audience cheered again but quickly died down in anticipation for Simon's reaction.
Simon began, "Well, you know, Samantha, that last week you sang something true to you, and wonderful and sad and I am glad you showed us a stronger side of you. And your performance tonight was good, I would say. But, honestly, I didn't like the song choice that much," The audience collectively booed at Simon's negativity. "Sorry, that's just me, so just give us something hopeful, something happy. We've seen you hurt, it's easy to channel hurt. But it's hard to channel hope and happiness, especially if you've got none." Simon shrugged and relaxed back into his seat.
Ryan then turned to Sam, "What do you have to say about this?"
Sam smiled slightly then shrugged, "Well, I mean, he's entitled to his opinion and stuff, but I mean, I take it that the audience liked it, so I guess it's a win-lose situation."
Ryan grinned widely at the camera. "So if you want to see Miss Sam Puckett next week to knock our socks off, call *INSERT FAKE TV NUMBER HERE*
When Sam reached backstage the next contestants patted her on the back and as soon as she reached her dressing room, she collapsed onto a white sofa.
"Hey, Sam," a voice shyly called from her windowsill.
Sam whipped her head around; she felt a mixture of happiness, sadness, anger, shock, and confusion. "It's y-you? After all this time?"
The voice responded, "Yep, it's me. Carly Shay."
Was it good for not updating in months? So SORRY! I hope that we're cool though because this was a nice long chappie for you guys!