When Everything is Nothing. (Niall Horan Fanfic)

Mistaken

I plinked the last few keys before finishing the outtro of the song on the piano.

I sat back down at the panel and began pressing buttons.

Flipping a red switch, I popped in disk #243 and set the track to number seven.

I turned a yellow knob to increase the lighting downstage and two small gray ones to adjust the speaker volume.

A huge window was built above the control-panel, overlooking the stage.

I glanced out it and flipped a couple switches, as a backdrop with a giant red "X" logo on it lowered to the floor of the stage.

Done.

I leaned back in my swivel chair and spun around a few times.

My walkie-talkie beeped before Stans voice echoed out of it-

I stopped spinning.

"Brodie, everyone will be on in groups in two minutes. Make sure to have the track ready," he requested, stress showing through the absence in his words.

"Way ahead of you, Stan. Relax, you're great at what you do. The combination was really interesting to watch."

"I don't know why I doubt you," he admitted, and I could feel his tension fading, "I really like this group, there's a lot of potential. A bunch of them are around your age and I feel you'd get along well with them."

I immediately recognized what he was trying to do.

And no matter how much I wanted him to be content with my social life, I knew he wasn't.

Living on the road with the crew meant being home-schooled.

Being home-schooled meant not getting to know people my own age, which I didn't mind in the least.

He wanted me to make friends, and I could understand that, but I couldn't bring myself to do it

I remember, when I was younger, how my mum used to always say to me,

"Brodie, there are some people in this world worth fighting for. But others, if you love them enough, you will have to learn to let go."

And when she died, a part of me did too. But I learned to let go... Until letting go turned into shutting out, and that's what I relied on. Shutting out the ones I cared about most to prevent myself from getting hurt. Almost everyone who I've ever known has hurt me in some way, and now that they're out of my life, I am not letting anyone back in.

"Brodie? Are you there?"

I fumbled for the button on the side of the walkie-talkie, forgetting that I was drifting from the conversation.

"Yeah I'm here. Sounds good. I'll make sure to talk to some of them soon,"

"Alright, well, I'm very happy to hear that," I could imagine the huge smile across his face, and who was I to prevent him from feeling that way?

He deserved to be happy every chance he got, even if that meant I had to occasionally stretch the truth.

"I can hear people coming, it's probably just about time, good luck up there and I'll see you later."

I pressed down the button one last time, "Bye."

~

Within a few moments everyone began filling back on stage.

I peeked out the window above the panel to see everything happen.

The judges were all seated at their table.

Stan split everyone up into groups of about twenty, and each group had their chance to either shine or crumble through the combination.

It was pure genius actually, the combination Stan created was really good. Every move was articulate, yet open enough for each individual to add their own style, it was a matter of whether or not the contestant took the opportunity as a chance to be themselves or not.

In every group, there was at least one person who really stood out, most of them were young, maybe a tad bit older than me.

After about an hour of dancing and decisions, the groups were all called back on, and one by one the judges sent people home, until around fifty people remained.

Of those fifty, a few faces I had recognized from earlier especially stood out, catching my eye.

For a second, I could've sworn I saw a blonde boy, about my age, staring directly at me.

I quickly shook the thought from my mind.

I am unnoticeable up here.

I'm just imagining things.