Finding My Voice

~11~

//A/N//: i'm on winter break for three weeks!! so hopefully i'll be able to update more!!

thank you guys for reading, i really appreciate it. x - s

...

I'm scrolling through my Instagram feed in what has become my room in Casey and Thomas' house. Technically, my Thanksgiving break has been over for a while now, but I kinda can't go back now. I mean not like I'm complaining or anything.

Six notifications make me sit up straight on the bed abruptly. My followers on Instagram have grown significantly since my Blind Audition, but I wasn't mentally prepared for these just yet.

niallhoran started following you

claire.jensen.music started following you

anthony_greenland201 started following you

greenlandalex1 started following you

jamieee_oaksss started following you

official_almighty_music started following you

I quickly follow back all of them just as Thomas opens the door, causing me to jump out of my skin.

"Jesus! You'd think you'd know how to knock by now." I said holding my heart. Yes, unfortunately, Thomas should know by now to knock before entering my room. Both times he has run out covering his eyes and screaming like a girl.

"Ew I don't need to be reminded of that," He shivers, "also sorry, my bad. But I just wanted to let you know dinner is ready."

"Okay okay, I'll be out in a bit." I chuckle.

I'm about to roll out of bed when I get I see I get a DM from somebody. I clicked on it to find that Jamie messaged me.

jamieee_oaksss: hey what's up?

pyper.anne17: hi. nothing much hbu?

jamieee_oaksss: yeah same here

Suddenly I feel a heavy weight throw itself onto my back, and I turn my head to find Casey's brown curly hair in my face. "Come onnnn! Dinner's ready! I want to hear about your rehearsal! Get up get up get upppppp!" She screams in my ear.

"Ouch. Stop screaming and maybe I'll think about telling you." I say raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I'll stop screaming once you get out of bed!"

"I think you gotta get off of me first."

"Oh yeahhh, good idea," Casey says while getting off of my back. "Okay, now come on! We made your favorite!"

Oh no. Casey cannot cook for the life of her, so this should be fun. By the time I sit down at the table, I see that Jamie has texted me twice.

jamieee_oaksss: so what'd you think of rehearsal?

jamieee_oaksss: you did really good btw

pyper.anne17: aww thanks, you did great too ;)

pyper.anne17: yeah it was fun ig, i'm still getting used to it tho haha

I wonder if Jamie is just being nice, or if he likes me. Also, what would I even do if he liked me? Why would he like me? Also what was going on with that Alex guy? Why is he so creepy and silen-

"Bon appetit! Remember how I would always make this for you, but it never ended well?"

My thoughts get interrupted as Casey puts a bowl of mac and cheese in front of me. Oh. She still thinks this is my favorite food. "Oh um, thanks," I say awkwardly.

"What's wrong? Does it not look good?" Thomas asks. "I knew you shouldn't have cooked it, Casey, we still need to work on your cooking skills." He says with a slight smile.

"Hey, that's rude. But not surprising." She says with a laugh.

"Oh no it looks fine, I just..." I start.

"What?" Casey asks.

"I-I just haven't had mac and cheese since I'm not 11 anymore, so it's not my favorite anymore. But it's okay! I'll still eat it."

"Right, I guess I should have remembered that you were only 11 when I left," Casey says with a sad look on her face. "Uh, anyway do you want to hear about my rehearsal?" I ask, desperate to change the subject so I don't hurt Casey's feelings.

"Oh yeah, I wanna hear about this!" Thomas says as he walks into the room. Trust him to always lighten up the mood. He seemed to shake Casey out of her thoughts, and she nodded as well.

"Okay well, they started with filming the reactions to see who we will be up against, and I'm up against Almighty. Do you remember that really good group that was up before me?" They both nodded. "Yeah. Then Niall took us all individually and did some vocal exercises to find our range, I guess?" I said as I looked at Casey, to see her nodding.

"Yeah that sounds about right, I would do that too if I was a vocal coach." She said.

"Yep, and then he had us sing a song to try and get us used to singing together." I continued.

"Ooh, what song was it?" Tom asked while stuffing his face with the mac and cheese. Ah well at least one of us is enjoying it.

"When We Were Young by Adele."

"Oh, I love that song! Hey Casey, remember when you sang that song for our graduation?" Thomas asked turning to look at my sister.

Casey just smiled awkwardly and nodded. I could tell that she was hurting right now. I really wish that this could've been her and not me. "Uhm well, yeah so we sang that and then we talked about what we'll be doing next time," I said, finishing my story.

"Sounds fun. How many more rehearsals do you have?" Casey asked.

"Well, as far as I know, we have two more this week and then a 'dress rehearsal' the day before the show," I said, "But I can check right now."

I pulled out my phone to open my email, but I noticed the messages from Jamie that I hadn't seen before.

jamieee_oaksss: yeah it's hard at first but you get used to it.

jamieee_oaksss: you're doing amazing tho. like your voice is absolutely incredible and it totally fits in with the rest of ours.

jamieee_oaksss: it really sucks that we're going against each other:(

God. This dude is so nice what the hell.

pyper.anne17: omg you're so sweet :)

pyper.anne17: yeah i agree 100%, it's going to be horrible for niall to choose one of us.

"Hey, Pyper? Who're ya texting?" Thomas asks with a smirk. "I thought you were going to tell us your schedule."

"I was, I just got distracted texting one of the guys from Almighty. Now shush and let me tell you," I said waving him off. "Yeah, I have a rehearsal tomorrow, and then on Thursday. Our 'dress rehearsal' is on Sunday, but it says that if I want I can ask Niall for a private rehearsal before then if I feel like I need it."

"Gotcha." Casey nodded.

"Well, it's time for sleep! Go to bed Pyper, you better not stay up all night texting that dude! You have to wake up early for your rehearsal!" Thomas sang out while standing up to wash the dishes.

"Oh my gosh shut up!" I said back while walking to my room and shutting the door.

As I flopped on my bed again, I opened my phone to my messages.

jamieee_oaksss: hey i'm just calling it like i see it ;)

jamieee_oaksss: seriously pyper, i'm genuinely in awe of how amazing you are.

Now, if that gave me butterflies, no one had to know. No one else had to know if I did in fact stay up all night texting him. Absolutely no one.

...