Heart & Soul

Chapter 24 - Lane (Weeks 20 to 23)

The "Full House" Activity. It's a huge activity with all the girls who are still competing just to bring them closer and have some girl bonding time. The guys and I aren't even allowed to be in the house while this is happening, so we decide to just head to a hotel and discuss what is going on with our lives, since we don't get to talk as much as we'd like. Packing a small suitcase with a couple changes of clothing, each of the five of us hops into the car, sitting in our usual seats.

"Alright, boys. So, what's the gossip in the house?" Kindrah asks, with a sly grin on his face.

"Well, Lane is still looking for his mystery girl, and surprisingly, no one knows who she is still." Hayden says, and I see Kindrah's expression change.

"There's one girl who I know I need to get rid of, but can't seem to each time there's an elimination." Theo says, and we all look at him like he's insane.

"Who? You get along so well with all of them." Zain voices the confusion the four of us share.

"Casey. There's just something off about her." He says, before Beckham, Hayden, and Zain all share their little secrets. Beckham and Hayden both haven't kissed any of their girls; Zain, on the other hand, has kissed three; and Theo is just not telling any of us where he is at with any of his girls. Knowing him, it's probably nowhere because of his childish nature.

"So, Lane, who do you think was the replacement singer during the ball last week? She sounded a lot like your mystery girl." Hayden asks, a curious look in his eyes, hoping for a reveal of her identity himself. The other four mouths in the car immediately silence as soon as the question is asked, all interested in her identity as much as I am.

"I have a hunch about who it might be, but I don't want to get my hopes up in case it isn't her." I honestly doubt it's the person I think it is, but there is a tiny sliver of hope that it really is her. "Most likely, it's either Kelly, Hayden's Madilynn, or even Zain's Addilynn."

"Yeah, it's not Addilynn. She is a really pretty singer, but not your girl." Zain argues, probably after having heard her sing more than once.

"Well, that narrows it down quite a bit. Plus, there are a lot of other options I haven't considered, but I think I know what I'm going to do in case I don't find out who she is by the Break Week," Break Week is the entire duration of Week 31 and there's going to be a small concert the final day of it, where the girl I've been searching for will finally have a chance to reveal herself.

"Like what? It's called Break Week for a reason. You can't see the competitors and they can't see you." Theo points out, just as we reach the hotel we're going to be staying in for a few days, and I'm sure we'll see a few fans while we're here, but none of us really mind all that much. I mean, we've been dealing with extreme fan girls for four and a half months, so this isn't too bad.

As the week passes, we find out more about the drowning incident that ruined Erika's Christmas and ours in the process. Erika knows who did it. And apparently, there's more than one culprit. Sadly, she won't tell any of us because she doesn't want anything to happen to them.

She forgives them.

How can this girl be any more perfect? I swear, she has the sweetest heart of anyone here, and doesn't want to hurt anyone. Maybe, she'll tell me once this whole show is over, because although she is a kind-hearted girl, whoever tried to drown her meant to kill her, and would have succeeded if Zain wasn't there.

The rest of the events during the weeks leading up to the choosing of the Top Seven are filled with fun, laughter, and a bit of competition. Since one of the many activities we do is supposed to help us determine who we want to keep, the producers want us to choose a few lighthearted competitions to choose at least a couple of the girls. That, and because it keeps the viewers on their toes so they don't know who we're going to pick. They will only see fragments of the competitions, so they won't be aware of who won, probably they'll show a lot more of the drama surrounding the competitions.

"Okay, so our final little friendly competition will be a partner obstacle course. Pick a partner who is part of a different group, and once you have all done that, we will start." I watch from the balcony that extends from one of the many back rooms, standing with the other four guys as the girls team up.

"Who's gonna win?" Theo asks, a huge smirk plastered on his face, and we all pick two groups we think are going to win, with a pool of a hundred dollars to whoever wins, but we all get our twenties back if it's none of the ones we picked ends up winning. Rayna shouts for them to go, starting the big race through huge blown up obstacles that take up a good portion of the garden.

"Come on Dayana and Leilani! Go Adrianna and Liana!" Zain yells for his two groups, watching as both get shoved behind ten or so people.

"Let's go Alexis and Leila! Go, go go!" Beckham shouts just as Leila trips and one of my groups, Neveah and Alana overtakes them. This continues for about five more minutes until a group we all thought would be one of the last teams to finish ends up finishing in first place, Erika and Isabelle, one of the not-so-athletic girls in Zain's group. Well, at least I'm not losing twenty bucks.

"So, who did you pick to win?" We hear Rayna's voice behind us, and we jump, not even having noticed she left the gardens.

"None of us picked Erika to win, let's go with that." I admit, and she shakes her head, laughing silently as our immaturity.

"I don't know how I've managed to stay your manager as long as I have been. You boys are a menace." Rayna heads out, and we watch as Erika hugs Isabelle and they both smile widely, and I look to Zain, who is also watching the two of them, starstruck. That boy is definitely in love with her. Once all the girls are done, they all sit around various parts of the garden, chatting and sipping their drinks, which mostly consist of lemonade or Sprite with the occasional Coke or Iced Tea.

"So, looks like we have our work cut out for us. Top Seven selection is in two days. We're not going to get anything done by ogling the girls outside." Well, Theo, that's where you're wrong.

"I have my seven picked. So, I'm going to go see if I can't write one more song. Adios, boys. Have fun." I head to the recording studio, where I hear a familiar track playing, one of the songs I've heard my mystery girl play, and rush inside to see nobody singing, but the voice is still just as loud. I turn to see the laptop playing a CD of the song, and it's untitled, just giving a track number without an artist or any identifier, until I eject it and see a name I didn't expect. Well, I just found out who my mystery girl is. And I liked her already, so this just helps me not eliminate the right girl. The girl I've been trying to find since we started this whole thing. And I'm not letting her go. Not this time.