Project Popular (A James Mcvey Fanfic)

Chapter 22

The rest of the week had flown by and it was now the weekend, me and the girls had to dedicate our time to rehearsing our dance and finding a way to knock every audition out of the park. Throughout the week we had been watching snippets of auditions that had been taking place up and down the country and our nerves were growing more and more, I really hoped James had been able to pull something great out of the bag for us and help our audition stand out.

We had been practicing all morning and it was around 11:30am when the boys decided to show up, to say I was nervous was an understatement but I had a new found hope in James, so I was begging he did not let me down.

"Hello ladies, hello," Brad said smoothly, winking as he entered the dance studio followed by the other boys. We said hello to them all and sat down with them so they could discuss their plan with us, I expected James to take the lead as he was usually the one who wanted to lead everything but surprisingly Connor stepped up.

"So, this song, it caused a few difficulties. We all spent time learning it and playing it but when we played it together it just did not sound right, and we don't want to butcher your audition before you even get there. So we were thinking that just one of us will perform it for you, but the other boys can still come to the audition and be like your personal assistants or something." Me and the girls let out a little laugh but this seemed like a shock to the boys,

"We didn't say personal assistant, we said we can assist any of you in whatever you need help for." Brad said,

"So basically you're going to be our personal assistants." Danni smirked, Brad grinned back at her but Connor quietened them down so he could finish talking.

"I seem to be the most confident in playing the song and the guitar that goes with it, so I'd like to be the one that performs it for you all while you dance. If that's OK?" We all nodded in unison, Connor had a very distinct voice that was certain to get some recognition at the audition, even if it was just for his talent.

"Great! Shall we practice?" I frowned at the boys,

"Have you got your equipment?" 

"Yeah we brought it with us just in case, your audition is only a few days away, we want this perfect." James smiled, staring directly at me. I felt a rush of warmth, this was the last thing I expected from the most popular boys in school but it certainly felt good to see a nicer side of them. We all got to our feet and did a few stretches whilst we waited for the boys to get set up, and then rehearsals commenced once again.

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By the end of the weekend the audition felt perfect, Connor had perfected his performance and we were feeling more confident than ever about our audition.

"I'm really proud of you girls, it honestly looks amazing. I'd hire you as back up dancers for our group if we ever went on tour." Tris joked, sticking his tongue out at us as we left the studio.

"You never know, it could end up our full time career." We joked back. A part of me was secretly hoping that I could get into dance college and end up being a performer on stage with musicians, but that was something I was definitely keeping a secret for now, I didn't want any added pressure or for people to know what I was working towards until I was accepted into my dream dance college.

"So what time are we meeting tomorrow?" Connor asked,

"Our audition is at the studio in town at twelve, so we can meet you there for half past eleven to get set up." He nodded and loaded his guitar into the car,

"Sounds good to me. Does anybody want a lift home?" Brad, Danni and Hope all accepted his offer, soon followed by Tristan who realised James and I were going for some food ourselves and didn't want to be a third wheel.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," Connor smiled, clambering into the car with our friends, I nodded and waved him goodbye before turning to James.

"So, are we thinking fast food, fancy food..." I trailed off noticing James' eyes glued to his phone, paying no attention to me.

"Or no food." I mumbled, still waiting on a response. Moments later he looked up and stuffed his phone away into his pocket.

"Sorry El I was dealing with something, nothing important though so don't ask. Please." I was a little taken back by his words, there was a part of me that wanted to ask just to annoy him but I knew that it wasn't worth it, and I was too hungry to get into an argument.

"Where are we going for food?" He shrugged his shoulders and looked around,

"You can decide." He said, getting a cigarette from out of his pocket and placing it into his mouth. I leant forward and pulled it back out, earning a very angry looking stare from him.

"Do you mind?" He questioned, attempting to get it back from me.

"These things will kill you James, they are more dangerous than you think."

"OK miss little pep talk, thanks for the advice, now give it me back." I shook my head and chucked it backwards over my shoulder.

"You don't need it James."

"I don't need you but you're still here," He replied, immediately regretting his comeback.

"Wow." I huffed, wrapping my jacket around me.

"I didn't mean it like that - you know what I meant." I shook my head at him and walked to the car,

"I suggest you just take me for food before this gets worse." He walked over and collected the cigarette off the floor before joining me in the car, I wanted to moan but his mood was worsening by the second and I was getting hungrier and hungrier. 

We sat in silence on the way to the restaurant, besides James' puffing sounds as he sucked more death into his body. I put the window down as far as it could go as we parked up and pretended to gasp for fresh air, earning a rather concerning look from James.

"You don't have to over react every time I smoke, I'm not blowing it in your face." I shrugged and placed my hand on his thigh as the car came to a stop,

"Yeah but with breath like that, you won't be anywhere near my face." He raised an eyebrow at me and disposed of the end of the cigarette.

"Oh you wanna bet?" He said, eyeing me carefully. I weakly nodded and he grabbed my hand off his thigh, pulling me in towards him. His face was close to mine and I could smell the cigarette on his breath, but I didn't pull away. Instead I leant forward and placed a kiss on his cheek,

"I refuse to kiss anyone that tastes like an ash tray." He shook his head lightly and cupped my chin in his hands,

"I refuse to let you think you're the one in charge here." I swooned a little, despite trying my hardest not to and shared a small sweet kiss with him. But I soon pulled away, the taste really was bad. 

"Now come on pretty, we've got food to eat." He chuckled, climbing out of the car and opening the passenger door for me.