The door to Casey's room flew open and Luan dashed in. Today she was dressed in a smart red pant-suit.
"I've seen it!" She shouted.
"Seen what?" asked Casey from the bathroom, her voice muffled by whatever she was doing in there.
"Her outfit." Luan said approaching the bathroom door curiously.
"Oh." Casey sounded underwhelmed.
Luan looked peeved. "You know, you really aren't entering into the spirit of this competition are you?"
Casey emerged from the bathroom, her hair a matted mess and her scalp red raw from scrubbing.
"What the hell happened to you?" Luan gasped.
"Chloe." Casey said simply. "She put honey in my shampoo bottle and I was over-tired and forgot to check that my shampoo was okay. I should have known. I wondered why it reminded me of Derek."
Luan looked confused. Casey sighed.
"Derek used to pull the same trick on me every six months or so. Just when I let my guard down he would do it again."
"Have you tried washing it out?"
"Yes but water alone won't do it. I need proper shampoo and she's taken all mine."
There was a knock at Casey's door.
"I'll get it." Luan said, crossing to the door.
"My God! Duckie! What happened?" Trevor entered the room carrying a dress bag, his eyes bugging out of their sockets. Harriet followed hard on his heels.
"Chloe." Luan stated on Casey's behalf. "Honey in her shampoo bottle."
"Wait right there!" Harriet announced and disappeared out of the room. She re-entered a few minutes later with a large bottle of expensive-looking shampoo. Trevor snatched it from her gratefully and propelled Casey back into the bathroom.
"Into the shower with you, ducks." He said. "That's it." He added as she began to strip. And then he started removing his own clothes so that he could climb in with her. Casey began to protest.
"Casey. Believe me, sweetie, you could never rock my boat girl, you don't have the right equipment. It's going to be easier for me to get this gunk out of your hair if I'm in here with you. Okay?"
A naked, vulnerable looking Casey nodded.
There was another knock at the main door to Casey's room. Harriet opened it.
"Hi!" Said a squat man in scruffy jeans. "I'm Louis. Camera 4? Is it convenient for us to record Casey now?"
"NO!" Four people hollered.
There was an advantage to having a tiny rehearsal room, Casey decided. It was that there wasn't enough room for her to rehearse with the cameras present. So far she had got away all week with the minimal amount of time in front of the camera, just a couple of minutes when they filmed breakfast.
Unfortunately, the director had noticed that she was absent from most of the shots and was insisting that they get some shots of her today.
Fortunately, he agreed to wait until she was out of the shower.
Unfortunately, it meant that certain details about their campaign would need to be discussed before Casey came out of the shower and into the range of the cameras.
As soon as her hair was clean again and her body clothed, her three friends muscled their way into the tiny bathroom and shut the door.
Trevor sat down beside Casey on the side of the bath. Luan hauled herself up onto the counter top and Harriet, flashing them all an evil look, gingerly put the toilet seat down and sat on it.
"I've brought the dress…" Trevor started but Luan cut across him.
"I've seen the dress!" she squealed.
"You can't have, I've had it covered up since I finished it."
"No not Casey's…Chloe's."
"You've seen Chloe's dress?" Trevor asked standing up in excitement. Harriet pulled him back down again.
"Sit down! There isn't room for your exuberance in here." She reprimanded him.
Trevor flashed her the kind of look only a pissed drama queen can. Casey sighed audibly, and they both mouthed an apology at her.
"Do you want to hear about her dress or not?" Luan asked.
"What difference does it make?" Casey asked.
"A lot." Trevor said. "Believe me, what you wear is as important as what you dance or sing to, and they are all more important than how well you perform."
"This is for charity. This is for charity." Casey recited under her breath.
"Anyway. I only got to see the dress for the song, but apparently the dance dress is the same colour so I guess we can all see what she is up to."
Trevor frowned. "And?"
"And what?" Luan looked confused.
"What colour is it?"
"Oh! Red. Tight, asymmetrically cut so that it sits as a mini-skirt on her right hip and ankle length on her left foot. It's made of shiny lycra with a low cleavage and a netted back. It doesn't cover a lot."
"Wow!" Harriet exclaimed.
"I know. I mean, you should see the damn thing! And rumour has it, the song is dirty."
Harriet shook her head. "No. She'll choose something family friendly."
"Not dirty." Trevor snorted. "Diirty! As in Christina Aguilera's song 'Diirty'. Although I have to say, that's hardly Disney."
Luan shrugged. "That's what I heard."
"Did you find anything out about the dance number?" Trevor leaned forward.
"Yes actually. She's dancing to 'Ain't No Other Man.'"
He frowned. "Hmmm. So she's doing two pop pieces in the same segment." He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "The dance music doesn't require much. If it's anything like the video it will be all skirt swishing and strutting. Strange choice." He looked thoughtful.
The others waited for a while. "And?" Luan said eventually.
"And?" Trevor asked distractedly.
"And what's Casey's dress like?"
"Oo! Hang on I'll get it."
He flounced out of the bathroom and returned a moment later carrying the dress bag. He hung it up on the back of the door and zipped it down to reveal two dresses: one black, one white.
The white one was at the front. It was sleeveless and cut from plain white cotton as though made from sheets. The shape was basic and knee length. It wasn't lined and it had nothing in the way of embellishments on it.
"It's…plain." Casey said underwhelmed.
"Exactly!" Trevor said. "Don't wear any jewellery, no make up and leave your hair down…oh! And dance barefoot."
"Trev? Are you feeling okay?" Harriet asked.
"Hunky-dory." He replied.
She pulled a face. "Okay. Hit me with the brilliance of your plan."
He smiled. "The Wicked Witch is glamming up…yes?" They all nodded. "So we're glamming down. Casey will look simple beside Chloe."
"Thanks." Said Casey wryly.
Trevor patted the back of her hand. "Duckie. I meant that in a good way. Chloe will look manufactured, false, like a gilded lily. In contrast, you will be simplistic, uncomplicated, raw unadulterated talent."
"The public don't think like that Trevor." Casey said.
"No. I know. Chloe will still win this round, because she'll win the public vote, but you will stay in the competition because the judges will love you."
Luan jerked her head towards the other dress in the bag. "And the little black number."
Trevor smiled. "Casey's song is a song about grief. So I've given her a plain black dress. Although it's actually cut to be a lot more flattering than the white dress." He glanced at Casey. "Do you know the song words now?" He asked.
Casey nodded and then seeing Luan's enquiring look she went on.
"I didn't know the song before this week. I keep messing up."
That wasn't strictly true. Casey knew the words to the song perfectly, and she also knew the words she was planning on singing tonight.
Five hours later (and most of them in front of the camera) Casey was dressed in her simple white dress, her hair artfully dressed to make it look like she hadn't brushed it in a week, her make-up light and invisible, and her feet bare. She was waiting in a side room with the other contestants, and currently she was watching Chloe give an on-camera interview about her song choices.
"Oh they are both incredibly personal songs to me." Casey heard Chloe say with an artful little smile. "Christina wrote songs that really speak to me right now."
The interviewer raised an eyebrow. "So your choice of 'Ain't No Other Man' would be a message to someone special?"
"I couldn't possibly say."
Casey snorted. Hmm. I bet she does though.
Chloe sighed dramatically. "The price of having marital problems when you are in the public eye is that everyone knows about it."
Marital problems? The fact that you aren't even married would be a massive problem, I guess.
"So maybe a message for a certainly hockey player?" The interviewer led. Chloe gave an enigmatic smile. "And 'Diirty'?"
Chloe chuckled. "Ah…yes…well…erm…that brings back memories of a special night in the parking lot of a rink…I'm saying no more."
Casey's eyes widened and she elbowed Luan. "Did she just imply that she and Derek had sex in the rink parking lot?"
"Sounded like it to me."
"Pah! I'll believe that when I see it!" Casey exclained, wincing slightly at the thought.
"Oh?"
"Derek has a no PDA rule. He won't even hold hands in public. I doubt that he would do anything else."
"Maybe she converted him."
Casey sighed and her shoulders slumped. "Maybe."
"Hey Ed! Where's the popcorn?" Derek hollered through to the kitchen from his spot on the armchair.
"Where you left it." Edwin replied, re-entering the living room with a tray of drinks in his hand. He handed one to Nora, one to George and then made his way around the room making sure that they all had drinks.
The whole family was there - even Marti who had made it back from college for the weekend and Robbie who wanted to see his sister on TV rather than spend his evening on social networking sites.
Lizzie remembered another time when they had all sat around to watch Casey on TV. Of course, that time, Derek had been with her. Lizzie glanced across at her step-brother. He looked nervous and with a sudden understanding of a man who she had always found an enigma, she realised he was nervous for Casey rather than himself and effect this show would have on his own public profile. She stood up.
"It's okay." She announced. "I'll get the popcorn."
Derek stared at her in surprise. She raised an eyebrow challenging him.
"As a one-off, of course."
He grinned his genuine thanks.
"Quick Lizzie! It's starting!" Nora called a few minutes later. Lizzie dashed back in and threw herself into the tiny space beside Edwin on the sofa. Neither of them commented when he stretched an arm around the back of the sofa behind her.
"I'm so nervous for her!" She said. Nora concurred. Marti giggled.
"Come on! This is Casey! She's used to making an exhibition of herself."
"Says the girl who got up on stage at my graduation in purple heels and fishnet stockings." Edwin interjected. "Lassiter had to be taken away hyperventilating."
"Sssh!" Nora hissed.
"Welcome to Stars and Hearts, the show where the stars show their hearts and give back! A week ago we locked eight of Canada's brightest stars away in a Gothic mansion to torture them into performing for you tonight.
And boy! Was it eventful! Without further ado, let's meet the stars and find out what they got up to."
"Okay." Derek said, as they watched some link piece where the stars were announced. "That announcer is irritating."
"Ssh! There she is!"
"Casey McDonald: Step-sister to Derek Venturi, who also happens to be an award-winning author…"
"Ouch!" Lizzie exclaimed. "She won't like that!"
"Chloe will have written it." Derek muttered.
"Casey claims to have danced regularly in her youth, and to be able to sing a bit. I guess tonight we'll find out how true that is."
"In her youth? Yup!" Nora said. "Chloe wrote that."
"Poor Casey." Marti said quietly.
Derek snorted. "Casey can handle Chloe. I'm looking forward to the fight actually."
"Derek." George spoke up. "Don't you think it's a little inappropriate to cheer on a bitch-fight between your ex-wife and your sister?"
"George!" Nora admonished.
Derek ignored his step-mother. "Chloe is not my ex-wife, and Casey is not my sister. And you're probably right, it is inappropriate. Jeez Dad, you've known me 30-odd years. Everything I do is inappropriate."
And so it began.
AN: Between the two programmes the performances are probably going to be quite long, so apologies for leaving it there tonight. At least you've had two updates in one day.
I'm not going to include huge sections of songs in this story, but I will list the songs at the end of the chapters, and on occasion there might be the odd line mentioned to show why that song is important.
Unfortunately, the nature of the beast means that some of this is left to your imagination. However, when I chose the songs, I went via YouTube and tried to pick things where the video looked like Casey/Chloe so that you don't have to squint too much.