Good or Bad Influence? Larry Stylinson Fanfic

Chapter 23

"Next up, One Direction." Came the croaky voice, through the old microphone. Liam, Louis, Harry, Niall and Zayn had sat across five chairs in the waiting hall on their own. They were either last up, or the auditions were separated across a wide space of time. Liam looked down across at his friends, and gave them all a weak smile. They all did the same back forcefully.

"Now remember, if we get rejected, it's not the end of the world. And after all, we have a gig at the pub tonight anyway, so that's some more publicity. We will get there." Liam advised. Then, he opened the door and led the way through to the audition hall.

It wasn't much better in there than it was in the hallway. There was a sort of dank, dusty, and damp smell about, and there were cobwebs in corners.

"Sorry about the venue, guys, we got cancelled on last night and this was the only place." A short, thin but young lady brought their attention back. She had blonde hair tied back in a tight bun. To the left of her was an old, yet finely groomed man with pain-tightened lips. To the left of a woman was a black man, who had a smile painted on his face. The old man took a sip of his water and examined the fresh meat.

"Good morning. Or, afternoon, I should say." He had a very posh voice, and he rounded his vowels. "Tell me a bit about yourselves." He gave them all a thin, forced smile that looked like it hurt him.

"Well, this is-"

"We are-" Liam started the same time as Niall. Louis thought: 'Shit, we look clumsy already.' So he took charge, with his public speaking skills.

"Hiya." He grinned genuinely. "I'm Louis. These are my best friends, Liam, Niall, Zayn and Harry." He brought his hand to each of them as he spoke. "We're called One Direction. We named ourselves this because we all want the same thing... we all have the same goal."

"And that is...?" The blond said. Louis made a face that said: I thought that was obvious.

"To be famous. For people to hear our music."

"I actually recognise you people." The black man, 'Kyle', as it said on his name tag, pointed at them. "You were on the front cover of the newspaper the other day."

"Really, Kyle? Wow, that's an achievement. You must be good. C'mon then, let's here you. You must play for a minimum of thirty seconds, but a maximum of three minutes. It has to be a song you've written as a group - but if it's a cover, then we will have to deduct serious points." She sat back on her chair. Niall counted them down. Then Liam started his bit.

It was lucky Louis didn't have a solo, because his voice was reasonably strained because he had a saxophone weighed around his neck. He only had to sing for the chorus, which was right after Harry's perfect bit. Niall sped up his guitar, and it led them all into the chorus. When the chorus nearly finished, Louis stopped singing as placed half of the mouthpiece and reed in his mouth. He inhaled, and started to play the notes to the chorus. It was sort of hard work; they were pretty much the same notes (c's and b's) but he had to play them rather fast.

He was halfway now, and he hadn't slipped up. He slightly opened his eyes and peered at the judges, who were all staring intently at him. This gave him a boost of confidence and started playing louder, putting a jazzy spin on the last bar of notes. Then he spat the mouthpiece out and belted out the chorus with his friends once more, before finishing up the short version of What Makes You Beautiful.

When they finished and bowed, Louis' mouthpiece dangled then attacked his eye, making everyone laugh. Even the judges, who were giving them a standing ovation. Niall and Louis dropped their heavy machinery and gave the other three a group hug. When they looked back, the judges had only just sat down.