Chapter Ten
Elly
I can’t remember ever being so nervous in my life. I was shaking so hard I was afraid if I tried to sing my voice would come out sounding like an eighty year old woman. Tristan and I had gone over and over it. It was fun practicing with him, and although he didn’t say it, I got the impression that he was happy with my voice. We were singing a duet that Chris Brown and Jordin Sparks had made famous: No Air. It was a love song. Tristan had, of course, changed the music so the tempo was more rock and less pop. I liked it though. He was genius when music was involved.
“Hey, Elly!” I jumped about six feet off the ground.
“Geez, Molly! You have to stop sneaking up on me like that.”
She laughed and said, “You should stop being so nervous all the time. What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” I lied.
“You look really pretty tonight,” she told me. I was wearing one of the dresses that I always wore for the live shows, but I’d taken extra care with my hair and make-up. Singing in front of millions of people was bad enough; I didn’t want to worry about what I looked like, too.
“Thanks,” I told her.
She got closer and in a whisper she said, “Have you talked to Tristan?”
Keith was not far away, so I only nodded. Again, Molly whispered, “Do you know who he’s singing with? The drummer from the band said it’s a chick.”
“You’re gossiping with the drummer now?” I asked her, my eyebrow rose.
She giggled and said, “No, just talking during lunch hour. You ditched me yesterday.”
“I’m sorry. Clint said you guys didn’t really need me.” Molly stopped me; she could tell that I really felt bad.
“No worries. Work was fine; I just missed you at lunch. I was forced to gossip with the drummer.”
I laughed, “So sorry you had to endure that,” I told her.
“Don’t let it happen again!”
“Since we only have two weeks left, unless I get fired, I can commit to be here all two weeks.”
“Unless you get fired?” she said, with a distressed look.
“Figure of speech,” I told her. “We better start setting up.”
The first two contestants were there early, before Tristan, of course. He always slipped in at the last minute, but that night I was glad. I knew everyone was curious who he was singing with and the longer it took him to get there, the less chance they had to ask him. The contestants had been given special passes for their co-singers who would sit in the front row of the audience until it was their turn. There would likely be a lot of speculation when the cameras panned across them, revealing one empty seat.
I tried to shake all of those thoughts off because they were making my anxiety even worse. I helped Molly finish getting everything ready and then I stood at the stage entrance and watched the first duet. It was Ethan and he had brought his girlfriend. They sang a love song from the eighties, from Dirty Dancing or something. It was sweet and they did a good job harmonizing….but it sounded like a boyfriend and girlfriend singing to each other. There was no real ‘wow’ factor to it, and the judges told them so.
Rosa went next. I was trying to get my breathing under control. The closer to time it came for me to go out there, the more nervous I got. I felt like I couldn’t breathe, so I was gulping in big mouthfuls of it. I knew that wouldn’t do while I was on stage. I needed to get it under control; I needed to blow them away. If I was going to lose my job, I wanted to go down fighting.
Tristan arrived during Ethan’s song. He was sitting alone in the back. He hadn’t made eye contact with me at all. I wondered if he was as nervous as I was.
Rosa sang with her brother and they did a fast, upbeat song. Again, it was sweet, but I wasn’t blown away by it. When I heard Molly tell Tristan that he was up, I casually took off my nametag and sat it down on the snack table. Tristan came over and took my hand and I walked out with him. When we got to center stage, I could see Molly’s shocked face looking at me. I could only imagine what my parents were thinking as they were sitting in their living room.
The judges hadn’t had any more than a passing contact with me, so they had no idea who I was. The host looked at me a little strangely. I’m sure he at least thought I looked familiar. Tristan introduced me as a friend and just gave them my last name. I was thankful for the bright lights; they kept me from really being able to see the audience that was looking at me. I was going to have to completely forget about the cameras; every time I thought about them zooming in on my face, my insides would quiver and I would feel like I wanted to throw up.
“You ready?” Tristan whispered in my ear. I nodded. He handed me my ear piece and I put it in. Then we both took a seat on the tall stools that sat facing the microphones; we were seated facing each other. Tristan strummed his guitar and then nodded at the musicians. I wondered if it was too late to back out now.
I kept my eyes on Tristan’s face and when the note was right, I opened my mouth and the words just came out. They came out clear and in tone and I surprised even myself as I sang.
If I should die before I wake. It's cause you took my breath away. Losing you is like living in a world with no air, oh . . .
Tristan looked happy and when he opened his mouth for his part, his lyrics came out beautifully as well.
I'm here alone, didn't wanna leave. My heart won't move, it's incomplete. Wish there was a way that I can make you understand.
After the initial lyrics, I forgot that I was on stage in front of millions of people. It was like it was only Tristan and me again, back in that group room at rehab. I forgot about the producers, the judges, and the host. I forgot about the rest of the world.
When we got to the end of the song and we were singing the chorus together I got the strangest feeling. It was a vibe from Tristan—one that I’d never felt before. The only way it could be described was passion. He was looking at me with real passion in his eyes. It was different that the lust he usually gazed at me with…and I liked it.
As the music ended, I started to turn towards the judges, but Tristan stopped me…with his lips. He kissed me in front of the judges, the producers, my parents…and eight or ten million other people. It was a soft, sweet kiss, and in my head, we were suddenly in a vacuum. It was void of all the other people and all the troubles. It was just me and him and the song we’d just sung.
When he stepped back, my whole body was tingling and there was a white-hot flame burning in the pit of my stomach. I wondered what the producers thought; then I realized that the best part was I really didn’t care. I wished that he would do it again. His kisses had been filled with lust up until then with sex being the end game for him. I hadn’t fooled myself that it was anything other than that….until that moment. That one felt real.
The judges were on their feet, applauding us. When the noise settled down, Diva said, “She’s amazing, Tristan! Where have you been hiding her? I want to see more of you, sweetie. The two of you sing together like angels. I loved it. That was the best of the night for me.”
The country singer simply said, “Best of the night for me, too.”
The producer looked at Tristan first and said, “If you learn how to manage yourself, you’re going to go far. Take this girl with you.” I saw Tristan smile as we gave the audience a little bow and ran off the stage. Molly had her eyes on the television set. She turned when she saw me but I went around behind Tristan and out the door. I felt bad, but I still couldn’t talk to her about it.
I went into the employee room to get my things, and I probably should have still been worrying about what the producers were going to do, but I just couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss. I decided that I needed to talk to Tristan about it before I let myself make it more than it was. I grabbed my purse and sweater and I went back out to find him.
He was already gone.