Behind the Cameras

Chapter One: Getting the Band Together

Harry was absolutely crushed. He had stood in line with the rest of the boys waiting and waiting for his name to be called, getting more and more anxious as time passed. He wanted to move on so badly.

"Okay, that's all I have. I am sorry guys.."

The statement left Harry feeling numb and cold. He couldn't stop the quiet sob that escaped his lips. He covered his face and quickly turned away so he could go sit down somewhere in private. He felt like a large dark pit had yawned open in his soul and had begun sucking everything out, and he didn't know how to stop it. 

He despised the pitying looks that people would give him. No one ever knew how to comfort him. When roles were reversed, he didn't know how to comfort others either, so Harry found a bench away from the rest of the heartbroken contestants so he could sit with this heartbreak in peace. After a few moments, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and scrolled over his mum's contact, his thumb hovering over the message button. He did not want to face her and his friends back home. He didn't want to have to explain how he hadn't been good enough to move on. How he hadn't been good enough to get to the live shows.

'mum, I didn't make it.'

Harry felt a tear slip down his cheek as he hit send. He knew that his mum wouldn't be mad. She would comfort him until the hurt was a little more bearable. But he didn't want to have to put her through that; he didn't want to go back home empty-handed. She had given up a lot to let him go to the audition and stay for boot camp. She had given so much, and he just wanted to be able to give back; he wanted to make her proud.

"There's been a recall! Don't go anywhere! Please, everyone, line up and listen for your name. I have nine more people here that the judges would like to see."

Harry wiped his face. What kind of sick joke was this? Were the judges just going to drag them along to apologize for crushing them? He didn't really want to hear it. He didn't want his heartbreak televised. He just wanted to pack his stuff and get going on the long journey home.

Harry sighed.  If they called him back, maybe they were going to give him another chance? The boy scolded himself. He didn't want to get so hopeful again just for the judges to tell him that he was very talented but they were very sad to let him go. He couldn't take the emotional roller coaster. He didn't feel up to it.

He sent another text to his mum telling her that there had been a recall and to stand by. Harry lined up next to the Irish lad he had met a few days ago. His name was Niall and he had been crying even more than Harry had. His eyes were red, and his cheeks were flushed. He looked so hopeful, and Harry hoped that whatever was coming was good, and that Niall was a part of it.

Most of the people who now stood near him were in a similar state. Everyone wanted this so bad. A guy with a clipboard and an earpiece in stood in front of the line of heartbroken acts with a matter-of-fact expression.

"Can I have the following acts: Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles-"

Harry let out a breath he hadn't known he had been holding, placing his face in his hands once again. Niall was anxiously chewing on his nails looking around at each of them.

"-Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson."

Louis Tomlinson had been the boy he had met in the toilet previously after he had accidentally dribbled some wee on Louis. Harry had been so embarrassed, but Louis had only laughed saying, "Oops!" Harry had zipped his jeans back up quickly, blushing hard with complete embarrassment. "Erm.. hi." he had said. The two boys instantly hit it off, Louis making it so much easier to forget the incident ever happened. Before they had gone their separate ways, Louis had told Harry that he would go really far in his career, and to remember him when he became famous. Harry had wanted to protest and say that they were both going to go far, but Louis had already left the room.