You and me, belong together (WIP)

Chapter 3: The meeting

"Well...I certainly wasn't expecting this" Aisha says as she stares at me in shock.

"Neither was I" I said as I glance at Drea.

"Wait you said you were hired on to help with production" Aisha said.

"Well technically I am helping with the soundtrack. But I didn't know if I was supposed to tell you who I was yet, I'm sorry to lie like that" I said earnestly.

"If we are being technical she didn't lie she just didn't give the full truth. And besides she has to be a new actress, I've never seen her before. Its a little scary, you don't wanna mess up on your first big role" Kenny says, patting my back.

I nod a lot, hoping I didn't mess up my first impression.

Aisha nodded. "That's true, it has been a while since my first role, I guess I'm just so used to this life. Sorry kiddo"

"No it's totally okay, I would be wary too. I mean, I wasn't expecting this in the slightest so I haven't even had time to prepare for the actual acting part" I chuckle nervously.

"Wait, you've never done any acting practice?" Peter said in shock.

"Closest thing I've done was a play in fifth grade, and even then I got sick the night before the performance so I never went on stage. Someone," I said, side eyeing Drea as she looks away, "signed me up for this randomly and sent in tapes of me singing without telling me. I didn't know until I got a phone call from the directors a couple days ago"

Drea chuckles nervously. "Well at least you made it and you'll be famous"

"Yea, on top of college and the internship and the job that I get calls from every day of people needing my help because I'm the only trainer" I say dryly at her. "I still haven't told mommom or pop"

"Oh you're done for" She says quickly.

"No, YOU are done for. I'm not the one signed up for this. I'm just the one who's not passing up the opportunity for extra cash and the opportunity to be in my favorite show" I remind her.

"...I should go call them" she says.

"Yea, you might wanna get the apology ready, I was supposed to be there to get the decorations ready"

"aw damn it" she groans as she walks away, getting ready to call my grandparents.

"So...you two are close?" Ryan says to me as everyone else is shocked at how close we are. "I don't see managers and actors that know each others families often"

"That is because she's my best friend. She said she was my manager because she's the one who supports my dreams and delusions the most. And she wouldn't pass up the opportunity to be away from her job and our idiot friends for a couple months. This is basically a mini vacation for her and she gets to force me to do things I normally wouldn't." I say, leaning against a wall, feeling my heart rate go back to normal.

Kenny then excitedly looks at me, "Wait if you're that good at singing, can you do a quick song request?" Everyone else rolls their eyes, as if they know what he's gonna choose. 

"W-well I don't mind but I'll have to know the song first since I most likely won't have tracks, a band or back up vocals. What's the song?" I ask, nervous that I won't live up to his expectations. 

"It's Hopelessly Devoted to Yo-" 

"Put the headphones on" I say quickly as I all but run to the booth, putting my in ears back in and putting the headphones on as I see someone walk to the piano to start me off. I start singing the song in time, having been obsessed with this song for so long. Once I get to the chorus, I can feel the nerves melt away as I belt out the notes, knowing I'm doing decently at this since I was obsessed with this song when I was younger. Once I finish I take my headphones off and go to Kenny. "Well? I hope it wasn't too bad" I smile sheepishly.

"Kid that was- that was amazing! How are you able to do that, that's insane talent!" Kenny said excitedly.

"I wanted to try out for Sandy in the Grease musical so I learned all the songs by heart, but I wasn't able to make it to auditions so I just have these songs known by heart. And all of her lines and the dance moves" I smile a bit.

"Why didn't you make it to the audition? Did something happen?" Ryan asked. 

"Uh- well- uhm-" I stutter a bit, just in time for Drea to come back. "Oh wow would you look at that Drea's back what-what did Mommom and Pop say-" I laugh nervously.

"...Okay that's totally not suspicious- They're not mad at us, Pop said they're proud of you and Mommom said that you were gonna kill it. Then they said they were gonna have your cousin and his girlfriend help"

"And by help they definitely mean-" I start, and we both say, "Take double the time we would because they keep having clothed sex and making out" 

"yep 100%" Drea says as I groan. 

"I don't get how they're able to be around that, I'm gonna text them while we finish the last couple of demo's." I say as I go to my booth and get ready, while the others get in their booths to and the producers help them set up. 

"Ok everyone, we're gonna do a couple more songs and then we'll be done for this demo. We're gonna do Did I mention, L.A. Boyz, Dear Maria Count Me In and The Ballad of Jane Doe." One of the producers told us through the headsets as he the other handed everyone else the lyric sheets and explained how the tracks worked, the metronome and what parts they sing. "Hey guys just before we start. I suggest having my vocals about midway, and the tracks and metronome higher so you can hear where you come in, and then have yourselves in one ear so you can hear yourself. The more we do this the more you'll be able to tell what you need to hear, and what isn't as important for you."

Aisha looks over to me as everyone else adjusts their settings. "So Lex, what do you have for your settings?"

"I have myself muted, band muted, metronome max, and tracks about midway" I say as I finish typing the message to my grandparents and my brother. 

"Wait really? Doesn't having that max in your ears mess up your hearing?" Peter asks.

"Oh 100%, but I go to metal and rock concerts with no ear protection. I've also worked lighting, audio, video and photography at some and will be on stage with the band for rehearsals and actual performances without anything in my ears because I'm so used to it. Might be deaf by 40 but its worth it to hear the actual music and not muffled. I love loud music, it's soothing to me" I explain.

"Yea, Lex thrives in chaos. Should've seen her when we worked at McDonalds, girl ran that restaurant at 16, doing four jobs at once while our manager would just stand there having her fifth mental breakdown of the shift and yelling at kitchen for no reason." Drea snorted at the memories.

"Best three years of constant chaos of my life. I miss those idiots. I should call Ca-"

"Nope you will not call him, now lets get started." Drea interrupts me as she started the tracks. I roll my eyes and start singing the songs with the cast. 

[Oliver's POV]

This girl is insane. How is she so talented, but hasn't done anything about it? And what was that about? Who is the guy she can't call? What happened between them. I gotta know more about this girl.

[Lex's POV]

As we do the songs, I'm blown away by the fact that I'm actually in the presence of the 9-1-1 cast. Once we finish the producers let us go so they could work on the demos and get them sent out. 

"Hey we're gonna go grab lunch, want to come with us?" Oliver asked me as we all walked out. 

"Wait really?" I asked shocked, as Drea is slapping my arm in excitement. 

"Yea, you're gonna be our costar and friend now, so of course we'd hang out. C'mon kid, it'll be fun!" Kenny says as he puts an arm around Drea and I's shoulders.

I smile happily and put my arm around Kenny too. "Sure, that sounds fun!"