Flashlight (Sam Woolf)

Chapter 6- Bring it On

"Buildings with a hundred floors,

Swinging 'round revolving doors

Maybe I don't know where they'll take me 

But gotta keep moving on, moving on..."

-Kelly Clarkson, "Breakaway"

*****

"You can begin selecting your groups starting... now." 

That one sentence was enough for chaos to break loose. The once silent room broke out into a frenzy of shouting and yelling, and saying it made me panic just a little would be an understatement. It made me internally freak out. My head began spinning, but I was able to calm down a little when Sam lightly squeezed my shoulder. 

"Follow me." he whispered.

I quickly nodded, and followed him closely to the opposite corner of the room. People bumped me occasionally on the way, and some of the people towered over me due to my abnormal shortness. But when we got to our destination, I was brought over to Alex, Briston, and another unfamiliar girl. In Alex's hand is a piece of paper, which I'm assuming is the song list. 

"Did you guys choose a song yet?" Sam asked, sitting down next to Briston.

The girl shook her head. "Not yet. These songs are kinda sucky, if you ask me." 

Alex handed Sam the list for us both to look at. The songs on the list made me want to vomit. Every single year, the artists on the list are the same- Bruno Mars, Katy Perry, One Direction, etc. Only one song stuck out to me, and I instantly knew that it would be the perfect choice- Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson.

A grin spread out across my face. "I've got the perfect song." 

"What?" the still nameless girl asked, sipping from her Starbucks cup. 

"The song." I repeated. "We could sing Breakaway."

Sam nudged me with his elbow. "You're a genius." 

While Alex told the producers our choice, I began chatting with the other girl in our group. Although she hasn't told me her name yet, she seems nice enough. She seems like somebody that I can get along with pretty well. 

"So... your name?" I asked, kinda awkwardly. 

She chuckled. "Oh, right. I'm Jillian, but you can call me Jill." 

"I'm Avery." 

Once Alex came back, we instantly got to work. Within a span of twenty minutes, we finalized the solos for each of us, and made sure we all sang equal chunks. Sam and Alex interrupted us a couple times with their squirrel jokes. Those two probably will never stop with those. But I have to admit, the random stuff they come up with is pretty hilarious. 

I took a quick look around the room, to get a glimpse of the other groups. And it appears that the stress is already getting to some people. Tears are being shed, and harsh words are being said. Close friendships are being torn apart, only because of some stupid Hollywood round on a TV show.

I'm just hoping that Sam and I don't end up like that. We just got our friendship back. 

*****

Letting my head fall to the side, I stared up at the ceiling. Everyone decided to camp out in the studio for tonight, since we start filming group rounds early in the morning. There are a few groups still arguing and trying to practice, which is part of what is keeping me awake. Listening to the fighting makes me thankful that our group is cohesive and can work well together.