Nowhere Fast

Chapter 6: Beyond Us

Rehearsals consisted of finding out what groups the girls were in the for the coming taping. The top eighteen, as they called them, were divided into three groups of six, each group getting one song to practice throughout the next week. Each girl got her own part of each song to memorize, and that was that. 

They were pre-sent bits and pieces of each song, so they had time to practice and talk to each other. In that way, they knew who belonged in what group, but the names of each band were undecided as of yet. 

First song: "Secret Love Song" by Little Mix. 

It was actually one of Melody's favorites, but she quickly realized she wasn't part of that group. 

For one thing, "When you hold me in the streets, and you kiss me on the dance floor. Wish we could be like that, why can't we be like that, 'cuz I'm yours," were the opening lines to one song, whereas "I know you're never gonna wake up, I gotta give up, but it's you-ooh-ooh. I know I shouldn't ever call back, or let you come back, but it's you-ooh-ooh" were two very different songs.

The first part was the section Alex had been assigned, and she was excited over receiving a part in one of her favorite songs. 

As for Mel, she quickly realized that she was assigned a part in "Problem" by Ariana Grande. It was actually one of her favorite songs, but it wasn't always easy to push her voice into Grande mode unless she was having a particularly good time or she had practiced enough. As it was, they had very little time to get this memorized and structurally sound. 

Then of course she remembered Iggy Azalea's part in the song and her eyes couldn't help but shine. 

Alex was excited, especially when she found out who her group was comprised of: Gaby, Hayley, Alyssa, Diana, and Kim. 

Melody was less excited. 

She had Jasmine, which was one of the coolest things ever, but she also had Lindsay, and she wanted to stab herself in her secret heart of hearts. She didn't hate Lindsay; she just really disliked the girl's attitude and hoped it would improve in a group setting where she wasn't allowed to always take the lead.

But somehow, Mel doubted it. 

Besides those two, Erin, Rachel, and Izze completed the team of six. 

That just left Becca, Alana, Lizbeth, Keri, Josephine, and Faye on the final team. They had the song "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga. 

Melody was grateful to be left out of that group. 

The girls gathered together under the supervision of the Architects to determine their band names. 

It was a quick huddle and Mel somehow found herself stuck between Lindsay and Jasmine. Rolling her eyes, she decided she needed to be in the team spirit if she was going to give this performance her all. "So, anyone have any ideas?"

Rachel smiled. "I don't know, should we go for cute or classy? We need a memorable name that has functionality." 

Melody grinned. She loved Rachel's masterful use of language. "What you're saying is that it needs to be ambiguous, right?" Mel asked, looking at the bright, peppy brunette. 

Izze nodded, looking interested. "Something that is special to us but connects to audiences." 

Lindsay let out an ungrateful snort. "Honestly, I think you're all overthinking this. It's just a band name, it's not like it's permanent, we'll just have to change next week." 

Jasmine was quick to step in. "While you have a point, we might want to make a good impression on the Architects and audience with creativity. It's our first week, so we should put our best foot forward." 

Mel suddenly had the revelation that she was surrounded by a group of beautifully positive girls, and that made this competition both better and worse. Someone would be going home very soon, and she hated that. Part of her wished she could save someone from that by any act of self-sacrifice, but that would defeat the point of the show. More than that, it would make whoever she had rescued a target for the next week and it would disrespect the talent of the other girl. 

Erin piped up, "So what connects us? Like Izze said, it should be something unique to us but that can be relatable, and it should be pretty ambiguous, like Mel mentioned," the shy girl added, smiling slightly at her co-conspirators. 

Mel chanced a look behind her, seeing that the other groups looked ready to announce their band names. She shot a look at the Architects, who looked surprisingly patient. 

"Okay, what if we recognize something about how we've come together, but this whole experience is beyond us? It belongs to all of us, but at the same time, it's in the hands of America, ultimately," Melody suggested, unable to quench her thirst for ideas.

Jasmine nodded slowly. "Hmm..." 

Izze quickly darted into the conversation like a light bulb had gone off in her head. "Beyond Us! That's perfect! It's simple, but concise, and it's ambiguous at the same time." 

Jasmine's eyes lit up. "Yes," she added, nudging Melody," Good job, girl, that was iconic!" 

Melody, smiling, rolled her eyes. "All in favor, say aye!" 

Erin smiled, giving her consent, and Izze and Rachel quickly followed, Jasmine nodding and giving her a 'duh' look. Everyone looked at Lindsay, who just waved her hand.

"Whatever, I don't care as long as I get to make a mark in my solo," Lindsay announced, looking down and picking at her manicured nails. 

"A band isn't about just one person," Mel couldn't help but retort. "It's about all of us, but at the same time, it's beyond us," she added, for a chance to toss in their group name. "It's the work of so many people on this set, and I'm grateful for all of them," she tried to add humbly, though the speech for all intents and purposes seemed to rather fail.

Without even having registered the fact that he was now standing behind them, she heard Tim Davis's voice. "That was a rousing sentiment," he commented, his eyes focused rigidly on Melody. 

It was interesting, because she'd been around a lot of strong people in her life, but she didn't think she'd ever been so intimidated as when Tim Davis was staring her down. 

"I do hope you hold onto that ideal as the competition goes on," he added. 

She wasn't sure if that meant her idealism was a positive thing or not, and his tone of voice left it pretty ambiguous, until he cracked a very genuine smile.

Emma started clapping her hands for attention, and she indicated the groups to get close together. "All right, so what bands do we have here," she asked, a sly wink in her voice. 

The group performing "Secret Love Song" was up first. Alex, the oldest, cheerfully took up playing the leader, and lead the six girls in chorus - "Destiny," they called themselves in what sounded like a positive tone. 

Next went the group of Becca, Alana, Lizbeth, Keri, Josephine, and Faye. "Rebound," they declared, and that soured something, but perhaps we had all had terrible relationships and found a rebound from them, so it was a twisted sort of hope that they gave off. 

Finally, it was Beyond Us. "We're called Beyond Us," we called out in nearly perfect harmony, given that Lindsay was saying it in a bored tone that slowed her words down. 

All of the Architects wished us good luck and sent us off to our first rehearsals. Needless to say, they did not go as expected. But when you're actively expecting something, that something almost never happens.