Life With Trent Harmon

Part 4: The Crazy Ride: Auditions

You're just getting out of the shower when you hear a knock at your front door. Your mom walks by the bathroom door and says "(Y/N) he's here. You better hurry up and get ready."
As you slip from the bathroom to your bedroom, you hear your mom open up the front door, and hear Trent say "hey, I'm Trent!"
You close your door and take a deep breath. As you start putting on your makeup, you hear them move into the living room and start talking. Katelyn comes and knocks at your door and you let her in. She plops down on your bed and you look at her in the mirror. She is smiling her little girl smile, and looks like she's going to bust. At five years old, she's quickly loosing the "baby" look and you take a second to look at her cute smile before saying "what is it, Katie??"
"Sissy. There's a boy out there."
You laugh and say "yeah I know. We are going to watch a show at his house tonight.."
Her eyes grow wide as she sits there and she says "is he the boy that was makin you smile last night?"
You look back at her and nod and then continue doing your makeup. You see her giggle out of the corner of your eye as she watches you do your mascara, and you make an extra silly face.
You finish your makeup and then you do your hair as quickly as you can.
"Hey Katie, can you grab my flannel in my closet?" You say as you turn and look at her.
She jumps up and runs into your closet. While she is gone, you Change into your favorite pair of jeans. And put on a tshirt. She brings your flannel to you and you put it on. You look in the mirror and shake your head. You run back into your closet and change into a blue and purple shirt, that you love and grab your big coat. You walk out and say "okay Katie, how do I look??"
"WOAH SISSY YOU LOOK SO PRETTY!!"
You can hear your mom talking to Trent, and can hear him throw in a few "yes mams" from time to time as you look at yourself in the mirror and spray your perfume. You look back at Katie and she comes up to you and bend down to her level. She grabs your necklace from your dresser and slips it over your head.
"Now" she says with her little girl smile again. "You look perfect." You hug her and then take her hand. As you walk out of the room, you take one last glance in the mirror and take a deep breath. As you walk down the hallway, you hear Trent say "well, I've always wanted to be a musician, but right now I'm working at the Longhorn until I can start singing for my supper, full time."
You walk into the room, and Trent notices you first. As you make eye contact, a smile starts on his lips but it quickly spreads to his face.
He has on jeans and a shirt the same shade of purple as the purple in your shirt. You look down and then back at him. "Hey great minds think alike." You say and when he notices what you are talking about, he lets out a laugh. "Well, my family won't believe we didn't plan this."
You walk up to him, look into his eyes, and smile. He stands up, and at you and smiles again, looks at his watch and then looks at your mom. "Nice to meet you Mrs.. "
"Tracy. Call me Tracy."
"Okay, Mrs Tracy. My mom probably has supper almost done, so we need to get going, if that's okay." He walks to her and shakes her hand.
"Y'all be good." She says and then looks at you. "text me when you get there and when you head home."
You roll your eyes and say "yes mam."
As he walks off and has his back to you, your mom catches your eye and mouths "he's cute and polite. I like him." You laugh and then walk behind him. "Bye mom." You say as you walk out of the door.
When you get on the porch, Trent is standing there and wraps you in a hug. "You look gorgeous. Seriously." You stand in his arms for a second and as he pulls away, you say "you don't look so bad yourself." And laugh. He smiles and starts to walk to his vehicle. As you walk down the steps, he takes your hand and leads your to the passenger side of the car and opens the door. You climb in and then he gets in the car too. As he pulls out of your drive way, he takes your hand and slowly slides his fingers between yours. You get chills and look out the window. You're lost in thought when you hear him say "you okay?"
"Yeah" you look at him and smile.. "Just thinking.. What if they don't like me..."
He looks at you with a shocked look on his face . "Seriously?? They will. RK already does. She hasn't shut up about you coming over since I said something about you meeting her at Walmart. And my mom has been super excited too. Trust me. I..." He pauses for a second and you look at him again and he glances your way. "I like you.. So they will too."
You feel the heat rush to your face and you try to remember how to breathe. "I like you too... My mom liked you, by the way. And my dad will too.. He wanted to meet you tonight, but him and Kyle are on a trip with Kyle's little league team.."
Before he can respond, he makes a left turn into a gravel road, that ends up being his drive way. When he parks, near the carport, you look around.
"Where's clay and ash?" You ask.
"Oh they'll be here in a bit." He answers as you look back at him.
You try to smile, but it must fall a bit short because he turns toward you, releases your hand and leans toward you. "It's gonna be fine, (y/n). I promise." You take a deep breath as he climbs out of the car. You open your door but before you can get out, he rushes up, closes it back and then opens it. As you climb out of the car, he says "lemme do my job" and winks. As he leads the way to the door, he takes your hand again. He opens the door and as you walk in, you can hear the laughter and over the sound of the tv. He looks at you and smiles, again and then y'all walk into the kitchen. Music is playing and Randi Kathryn is dancing around, holding her little dog. She sees you and says "hey! You're here." And comes up to hug you as his mom looks over her shoulder and smiles at you "oh hey there.! You must be (y/n)! I'm Cindy! Trent has told me so much about you." And hugs you next. You look up at Trent and see him glaring at his mama with red cheeks. His dad walks up and says "I'm Randy." And shakes your hand. And then walks into the room where the tv is playing.
"Suppers almost ready!"
"Good!" Trent says as he walks over to the table and looks at his mom. "Cuz I'm hungry." She looks at him and then at you and rolls her eyes playfully. You giggle and start to realize how much at home you already feel. The nerves are almost all gone and you step closer to his mom. "Mrs. Cindy is there anything I can do to help you out??" You ask quietly. RK walks out of the room and Mrs Cindy looks at you and says "sure!" With a smile and points. "The plates are in that cabinet. You can get 7 out and put them on the table." You walk to the cabinet and smile as Trent says "mom."
"She offered, Trent. And you aren't doing anything, and I have a lot going on, so of course she can help." Mrs. Cindy sends him a look across the room and you see his attitude go away as you walk to where he is. He stands Up and you put the plates on the table and comes back quickly with napkins and silverware. He puts one at each plate as his mom sets up the food.
"It's ready." She says into the other room as the door opens again.
"Just in time" Clay comes in and says in his sing song voice, with Ashley not far behind him.
Mr. Randy and RK come in from the other room and everybody grabs hands. Clay takes your right hand and Trent slips in between you and his dad on your left and slides his fingers between yours again.
"Trent?" His mom says.
He nods his head, closes his eyes and starts "Hey God! Thank you for this beautiful day that you gave us today, and I wanna thank you for giving us this chance to gather together as family and friends, to fellowship. Thank you for the people you have put in my life, God," he says as he squeezes your hand a little "and thank You for all of the opportunities you have given each of us. No matter what happens tonight, let us give YOU all of the glory, I wanna pray that you'll bless this food and let us use the nutrients from it to be a glowing light for You in this dark world. In your name I pray, amen."
Everyone starts moving at once, but you stand back and look at Trent, and once again you are breathless at this guy, who you felt like you had known forever. You fix your plate after RK and Ashley and then go sit next to Ashley. As you sit down, she looks at you and smiles "you doin okay??" She asks.
"Yeah. I'm great." You say back as Trent sits down beside you with his plate. You all talk and laugh as you eat. You end up telling them about Trent asking clay for your number when he could have asked you himself and all about your first date. They all laugh and then Ashley tells the story of how Clay made her ride in the back seat on their first date because he didn't want to move his baseball bag.
After supper, you carry a few dishes to the sink, where Mrs. Cindy is washing them.
"Hey (y:n)" she says "is my boy treating you right? You can tell me if he isnt, and I'll get him, I don't care if he's 24 or 29." You laugh and pick up a towel "yes mam. He's really being a gentleman." You start drying the dishes and continue the conversation.
Trent walks in and says "hey, wanna ride with me to feed the cows before idol comes on?" He says while looking at you.
"I'm helping your mom..." You look sheepishly from her back to him.
"I've got it from here" she says quietly. "There's only two things left anyway."
"Are you sure, Mrs. Cindy??" You look at her.
"Yes!! Thank you for your help." She looks at the clock on the wall and the at Trent. "Idol starts in 15 minutes Trent. Hurry. Do not be late." She says and the turns back towards the dishes
You walk over to him and he winks at you "mom it'll be fine. We can be a few minutes late." He says laughing
She gives him a pointed look and says "fifteen minutes Trent."
"Yes mam." He laughs again as you walk out of the door. He takes your hand and leads your to a side by side. as he puts a bucket of feed in the back and climbs in on the drivers side he says "see? You're fitting right in."
"Yeah I feel right at home." You say, looking at him.
"I told you" he says teasingly as he cranks up the mini automobile. The engine is too loud to talk, so he just holds your hand. When he pulls up to the gate, ten cows come walking over. He pats one and says "hey old girl. You know when it's feeding time, don't you?"
You sit and watch him speak to every cow and the pour the food into the trough. You hear him singing as he pushes the food from side to side in the large bowl.
"So," you say "tell me about your music."
He finishes up what he is doing, looks at you and says "music is my whole life. It has been all 24 years of my life. I'm always writing a song, or singing a song. My life is my music. It's what I've always wanted to do." He walks to the other side of the barn and you hear water running. A cold breeze blows over you, and suddenly you remember that it's January. He comes back, wiping his hands on his pants, and wiping sweat from his head. "Music is how I breathe." He says as he cranks the side by side again and you slide closer to him, trying to get warm. He takes your hand and he is so warm. You touch his hand to your face and he laughs. "You cold?" He yells over the engine.
"Uh yeah." You say as he pulls back up to the porch. He laughs as you both climb off of the side by side and takes your hand as you walk back into the house. You hear the American idol theme song, immediately, and look at the clock on the wall. "Perfect timing" he whispers to you. You both walk in the living room with everyone else. You sit on the couch between clay and Trent and Trent hands you a blanket. You get comfortable. As the auditions start playing, Trent gets quiet and slides his hand to yours.
"So, Trent. Are they gonna show your audition?" Clay looks around you at Trent.
You look up at Trent and he glances at Clay and then back at the TV "uh I'm not sure man. If they do, it'll be this week, cuz it's Little Rock week. "
"Oh, okay" clay says and then scoots closer to Ashley.
You look up at Trent, and he's already looking at you, smiling. As the auditions go from one to the next, trent starts to get noticeably nervous. He will sit up, and then slump and keeps moving around. All of his moving gets you in an uncomfortable position on the couch, with your arm bent a weird way. He must sense your uncomfortableness because he releases your hand, and sadness runs its way through your veins but before you let it take root in you, Trent slides his arm around your shoulders, and you lean into him. You lay your head on his shoulder and he puts his hand on your waist. His hand on your side sends chills down your spine, and as you shiver, he pulls the blanket up to your shoulder and starts rubbing your arm.
Eventually, Ryan seacrest comes on the screen and says "and when we come back, we will have our last audition of the night, and then suddenly on the screen is a pair of eyes and a smile could only belong to the guy sitting beside you. Clay looks over at trent and says "hey that was you" as the commercials start. Trent sits up to see clay better, and this forces you to sit up too. His arm comes out from behind you as his mom, who was sitting in the floor in front of you and him, turns and flashes him a nervous smile. When the theme song comes back on, everyone seems to sit up a little more, and Trent takes your hand again.
"From Amory, Mississippi. This is Trent Harmon" his pre audition package ends, and then he's on the screen, walking into the room with the judges.
He tightens his grip on your hand as he starts to sing
"Everyday, the deficit grows..." He starts and your jaw falls open. You look at him, but he is focused on the screen. You look back at the screen and see JLO having the same reaction that you were having. "You say that you care, I was unaware" he continues and you can feel Clay and Ashley take deep breaths. RK is sitting in the arm chair, holding her phone in the position that suggested that she was videoing the group's reaction. "Push pull tear" he finishes and he releases his grip on your hand a little but slides his fingers between yours.
Charlie Kate, RK's puppy, starts barking and she quickly bends down and picks her
Up to get her to stop.
The judges all give their opinions, and then JLO says "Come get your golden ticket," clay and Ashley start screaming. You look at Trent in complete shock and he looks down at you smiling. You look back at the tv to see the video of him after he got the ticket, and then back at Trent. He's smiling from ear to ear, and suddenly a phone starts ringing, and then another one. Mrs Cindy gets out of the floor and hugs Trent and then goes to answer the phone. Clay jumps off of the couch and says "man, why didn't you tell me you made it through??" Trent starts to answer but is interrupted by another question "when do you fly to Hollywood for that round?"
"Already have. The first round was back in October." Trent says calmly as he pulls his ringing phone out of his pocket. He hits the ignore button and looks at you.
"What'd you think?" He asks you, looking deep into your eyes.
You search for words for a second but only manage to say "wow." He pulls you in for a hug and his phone starts to ring again. He looks at it and then turns it on silent. He stands up and walks into his bed room, and you look at clay and Ashley "woah."
"YEAH WOAH." Clay says "MY BEST FRIEND IS FAMOUS" he says as Trent walks back into the room. Ashley stand and walks over to Trent and hugs him.
"Don't be all sappy, ash. This all happened back in July" Trent says, hugging her back and laughing .
"Yeah well."she says "I just found out!!! IM SO PROUD OF YOU TRENT!!"
His whole family laughs and he blushes. "Thank you!" He says as he pops a DVD into the player. His mama walks back into the room and says "I was on the phone with GMa for three minutes and I had 7 people calling the whole time. We can call people back tomorrow. But we need to make sure to call everybody back."
"Yes mam." Trent says and walks back over to you. Before he can sit down, Ashley makes him take a picture, and that starts a chain reaction. After taking a lot of pictures, Trent pulls you to your feet and says "RK." She turns toward you and a smile creeps up on her face as she points her phone at you. You smile, and hear the camera shutter. When everything settled down, you all sit back down and Trent starts the movie. Before it begins, you open your phone and see that you have a few new messages, but you decide that they can wait until later. You open your Snapchat and get Trents attention. You both smile and you save the picture and then type "he's going to Hollywood!!!!" And post it to your story. As you start to put it up, he takes it out of your hand, gets ready for another selfie, and makes a funny face. You do the same, and he snaps the picture. "We're excited!!!" You type "can't you tell?" And send that one to your story too. Then Trent takes a picture of you two and Clay and Ashley on his phone and then yours. Before posting that one to your snapchat, you tap the screen and type "#TeamTrent" and post it. You out your phone up and Trent puts his arm around you and you lean into him. You stay that way until "Forrest Gump" is over and the you look at him and say "I need to get home. Katie will be worried" he laughs and stands, pulling you up with him.
You thank his parents again, and hug them and promise to come see them soon. You tell them bye.
As y'all walk out, Clay and Ashley follow. Trent opens your door for you and then walks around to his door where clay is waiting for him. Ashley has already climbed into his truck, but clay seems to have something important to tell Trent. When Trent climbs into his car, he is laughing. He starts the car and backs out.
Once on the road he says "so what'd you really think??"
You look at him and say "I don't even know what to say. You were amazing."
He slides his fingers between yours again and says "thank you. That means a lot."
You spend the rest of the ride home talking about what he could say about Hollywood week. As you pull into your drive way, he says "all I can say is that it's emotional, and it was one of the longest weeks of my life..."
"You can't tell if you made it through?" You say in a begging voice, testing him.
"I can't.. I'm sorry!!" He says in a steady voice as he parks the car and gets out. He opens your door and the cold air hits you again.
You start shivering as you climb out of the car and he takes you in his arms and hugs you again. He holds on a little longer than he ever has before and says "thank you for coming tonight. It meant more than you'll ever know."
You wrap your arms around his waist and say "thank you for inviting me... I had so much fun.."
He pulls back, looks into your eyes, and hugs you again. He says "I need to get home. I'll text you when I get there.." He releases you from the hug and kisses you on the cheek.
"See you later" he says and then climbs into his car and backs out.
You go inside and are so relieved to find your mom already in bed. You race up the stair and into your bed room. You Change clothes and brush your teeth in the bathroom. When you lay down, you check your phone for messages.
You had four new messages.
The oldest of the four was your mom's response to your "headed home" message: "be careful"
The next was from Clay: "you seemed to have fun tonight 😏 I told him he should kiss you... You're welcome.."
You click reply and send "😡😡😡 Clayton."
Before you go to the next message he sends back "you know you wouldn't have minded. But I know he didn't. He's not that kinda guy."
You laugh and then click on the next message . It is the picture of you and Trent from what you guess is RK's number. You save it and send back "thanks RK" and immediately get a a response "sure thing!!"
You click on the last unopened message. It's from Trent : "hey pretty girl. Im home.! I had so much fun tonight. Thank you again for coming. Can't wait to see you again... Is tomorrow too soon?? 😜"
You smile and type back "I had fun too. Thank you for inviting me. And tomorrow will never be too soon. 😉" you send it and then go check your social media.
When you click on Instagram, you see that Trent had tagged you in a picture. You click on the notification and see that it was the picture of you and him and clay and Ashley. The caption was "wouldn't want anyone else by my side, for this crazy ride. Thank y'all for all the congratulations!! #TeamTrent #AIXV" you like it and comment back "glad to be by your side, literally 😏😜"
You click on his profile and see that he has already went from 400 followers to almost 900 since his audition aired.
You get another message, but you check the rest of your social media before you respond.
"So tomorrow then??"
"Yeah. Sounds good to me." you say back and then "we can make plans when we wake up tomorrow so I can make sure it's okay with mom"
Almost instantly he says "absolutely!! Goodnight (y/n)! I like you. A lot. 😊"
You feel the heat on your cheeks instantly "goodnight, Trent. I like you a lot too. ☺️"
You hit send and then go back to Instagram. You click the "post a picture" button and select the picture that RK sent you. As the caption, you put "Had fun watching this boy on the TV tonight, while he was sitting right beside me.. Congrats on making it to Hollywood, Trent. Thank you for letting me be by your side tonight. 😉☺️" you tag him and post it.
You check and see that you have another message from Trent "good.😁"
You send "☺️" and then lay your phone down.
As you go to sleep that night, you can still see the bright blue eyes shining under the moon light and the smile that so many American families had seen that night too, and you can't help but feel like you have just gotten on a rollercoaster scarier than any one at Disney world, but nothing inside of you wants to get off. Just as long as you can look into those blue eyes the whole ride.