That Boy I Once Knew~One Direction

Chapter 4

Louis’s POV

“Lou!” I heard Jazzy call from downstairs. I stumbled out of my room and obediently walked down the steps to see Jazzy and Emma looking excitedly at the computer screen. “The X Factor is holding auditions here! In about….” she looked at the screen. “Seven to eight months. Can you sing?” She seemed interested for some odd reason. It’s like she knew….

“Uh, not much love,” I replied. Jazzy gave me a knowing look and I knew I couldn’t escape this. “Not to be rude or anything, Lou, but if you have a friend like Laura - who can sing that good - I have a feeling you can sing. Besised, she said in one of her video diaries her inspiration was you,” Jazzy stated triumphantly.

But one thing caught my attention. I was Lee’s inspiration? Not possible. She’s- Wait, scratch that, No one’s ever heard me sing. How could I be her inspiration?

“Play the video diary, love,” I commanded. Jaz obeyed as Emma just sat there watching the whole ordeal.

As the video started, my breath caught when I saw Lee sitting alone on the same stairs. “Hey everyone, it’s Laura here. First off, thank you all for voting for me!” I almost started crying again hearing her accent, more exaggerated than most, from awhile ago. “It’s been wonderful. It’s a bit intense, but I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

“Alright, now - as always - I will be answering a few of the questions you guys have sent in. There were quite a lot, so we had to narrow it down. First one is from Erick. ‘If you could be doing anything else right now, besides singing, what would it be?’”

I hit pause. The way she looks here…it’s incredible. It’s the way the light is hitting her. The way she’s smiling…like when she’s about to laugh. I want that Lee back. With me. When she called…. It was like some stranger. She seemed sad, distant and more…well, more grown-up. She’s only 19 or so now. She sounded in her mid-40s.

After receiving a suspicious look from Jazzy, I hit play again. “Anywhere but here…. I would probably say back home with Louis. I bet you remember him from last week. I miss him lots, haven’t seen him in ages. Right about now we’d most likely be at home watching old films and searching ‘round YouTube.” Her eyes were now rimmed with tears….

The camera was obviously paused and resumed. Stop animation does come in handy with this kind of business. “I’m sorry, loves. A bit of a sensitive subject to talk about. Anyway, next question is from Maddie. ‘What/Who is your biggest inspiration music-wise?’ Well, that’s an easy one. As before, it’s my best friend Louis Tomlinson. His voice is one-of-a-kind. Honestly, it’s angelic. I’m not quite sure if I have ever shared this story with him…. Well, a few weeks before I came here to audition, I was on Louis’s front porch. I doubt he was aware that the window was wide open. Before I could knock, I heard him singing. At first I thought it was the radio or something. But it wasn’t. LouBear was singing ‘Look After You’ by The Fray. Out of this freakin’ world. So amazing.”

I hit pause once more. “Go back to the X Factor website.” Jaz clicked on the little tab. While it was loading, I peeked at Emma. She, somehow, found a way to entertain herself with a few pieces of string on the floor, playing Cat’s Cradle. “It’s up, Lou,” Jazzy said, bringing me back into focus. We did the necessary procedure and found that an online audition would be me, dinging into the little microphone on top of the monitor.

Taking a nervous deep breath, Jaz motioned for me to sing. I closed my eyes tightly and began. I sang my heart out to Hey There Delilah.