Ladies First (Zayn Malik) Book 4

Chapter 3

The two weeks until boot camp were the hardest weeks of my life. Not being able to tell anyone was killing me. I wanted to scream from the rooftops that I, Emily, had been told by Simon that I could sing. It was an indescribable feeling. As hard as it was for me, it seemed to be 10 times harder for Maddie. More often than not, I’d have to stop her before she blurted it out to a random stranger that ‘Emmy is going to be on TV!’ If she was that inclined to tell random strangers, I was almost afraid to know how many people at her school knew.  Not telling people wasn’t the only hard part of those two weeks. Finals had come and gone during that time and studying had been virtually impossible. Every time I’d sat down with my textbook, my mind had wandered to the performance, to the crowd’s reaction or the judges’ faces. Somehow I’d managed to survive my exams though and it was finally time to board the plane to L.A.

“I’m going to miss you!” Haley says hugging my tightly.

“I’ll only be gone a week” I say with a laugh. “Even if I manage to make it to the judges house, there’s like a month break until then.”

“I know but still” she says breaking away and looking at me with a smile. “Just don’t forget about all us little people,” she adds teasingly. I grin putting on a mock confused expression.

“What was your name again?” I ask jokingly. She laughs and I hug her one more time before looking to Maddie. All I have to do is smile and open my arms and she throws her arms around me hugging me.

“You be good ok? Help mom out? When I get back I want to hear all about how school is going,” I say since she took summer school to try to help her. She nods her head and I step back. “I’ll call you tonight ok?” I add and she smiles, nodding again. I turn to my mom and she smiles as I step into her arms.

“I always knew you’d go on to do big things. I’m so proud of you Em,” she says petting my hair.

“I haven’t made it yet mom,” I say with a laugh.

“You will though. Everyone will love you, you’ll see,” she says with a smile pulling back and looking at my face as if she wanted to memorize every detail. “I love you sweetie,” she says kissing me on the forehead and releasing me.

“I love you to mom” I say, picking up my carry-on and stepping into line. I wave one last time as the flight attendant scans my ticket before stepping onto the plane.

When the cab pulls up to the hotel, my heart is hammering so hard I can’t get out of the car.

“Here we are” the driver says, glancing back at me as if I hadn’t realized we were here. I hesitantly open the door and step out as the cabbie unloads my bag from the trunk.

“Thanks” I say, managing a weak smile as the cabbie hands me my bag. His expression softens seeing the fright on my face.

“You’ll do great” he says, obviously used to all the hopefuls who come in and out of this town. I nod, giving him another smile. He heads back to his cab and I take a deep breath before walking into the hotel. When I go to check in, the lady behind the desk hands me a key and tells me my roommate is already here. I smile, thanking her and head up to my room. As I walk down the hall, I hear singing echoing out of the rooms. A real smile forms on my face as I start to relax. This was where I belonged. Surrounded by people who loved music as much as I do. I slip the keycard into the lock and it clicks open. I come to a halt in the doorway, an amused smile growing on my face as I see my roommate dancing around the room, eyes closed, her headphones in. Her eyes open and she does a double take when she notices the door open, almost falling over the bed in surprise.