Love, Roz x

Chapter 1: That Band.

Jake.

Casey sat on the seat in front as we crowded around, we had made it this far but still we held our breath with fear. God knows if we'll make it through or if we'll be swapped.
Two other groups were left to perform for Louis, two incredible groups that brought a fresh style to this competition. We were all feeling the pressure.
I looked at James who exhaled trapped nerves, he was shaking with adrenaline just like me. Still, I kept my hand firmly secure on Casey's shoulder, reassuring myself more than anyone that I wasn't living a nightmare.

"Next up, Fever Dawn" Louis' clear Irish accent filled the silent room as those five incredibly hot girls strutted onto the stage. They seemed good through boot camp, but now the competition was tough and no one was safe.
They started to sing 'Somebody I Used To Know' by Goyte. It was alright but not their strongest performance as their pitching was off but their harmonies were perfect.
I watched Louis' face, the pressure was clear.
Cheryl and Mel B both gave their shared pessimistic thoughts along with Simon but still Louis stood up and gave them his final chair.
I'd be lying if I said you couldn't cut the thick, tense atmosphere with a blunt knife.
Barclay looked at me with slight pain as he swallowed the hard lump in his throat. I knew what he was thinking: "what about that strange group?"
"Lastly, The Red and Black" called Louis and immediately all of our eyes snapped to the stage, this was the performance we had been waiting for...
They strolled on like smoke rolling over undisturbed water. Their main man who's name I recall as 'Blake' stood by the centre microphone with a red tinted electric guitar, their pink haired member with his sticker-covered electric stood slightly away from him but in line with the ginger haired, hilarious bassist. I never recalled their being a drummer but then I realised the dark haired one with the silver nose ring was seated behind the drums.
But there was one member we all had our eyes on: the small, intriguing girl with the long, blonde hair. She stood behind the piano and started to play a soft melody that was soon accompanied by the sound of a rhythm guitar and the drummer's singing.
My eyes widened. They were also singing 'Somebody I Used To Know' by Goyte.
But this version was different, it was unique, beautifully crafted and fitted both their style and the competition. They had changed a popular pop song into a punk hit.
And it was breath taking.
They all reached the climax of the song, her intelligent voice blending over her band members chorused harmonies to create a high melody over Blake's lead part. Finally they finished to a massive round of applause.
The audience had rose to a standing ovation in some parts, full of cheers and whistles.
"They're bloody amazing!" Barclay spoke to James, surprise and delight plastered his face as we applauded.
"Her voice gets me each time" James replied to a nodding Barclay.
But now it was Louis' painful decision to decide their fate, everyone froze to the silence.
"Louis," Mel B started, "These bring an edge to the competition, I'm completely speechless as to how amazing that performance sounded!" She waffled with excitement.
"These are like nothing we've seen before here on the show," Cheryl commented to the sounds of cheers within the statue audience. "It's fresh, new, rough and original..." She smiled as the cheering quietened "There's a lot of room for improvement but it opens more doors for possibilities to experiment with their sound." She finished, we watched Louis' face concentrate hard.
"Louis you're making the wrong decision if you send these home," Simon started clearly to a round of applause. "They're different, you have three acts that sound almost the same with no variety... You can't lose these."
Simon had a point. After an infinite minute, Louis' voice projected around the chorusing chants of 'Swap'.
"The Red and Black," the cheers' dynamics faded slightly, "I'm gonna have to give you a seat."
Cheers erupted from around the arena, and smiles formed our faces only for a split second.
Who was he going to swap?
The room screamed incoherent numbers as Louis configured with the other judges, I swear our number Two was mouthed by Mel B a few times, I don't know.
He stood up with his microphone as the chants quietened once again.
"I have to swap you guys with...."
James firmly gripped my hand tightly as if to steady himself as if he would shatter. I was shaking violently from the tension.
"With Fever Dawn, I'm so sorry." He spoke with such pace, nearly dropping the microphone on the panel. We froze as the crowd became a mixture of cheers and negative noises towards the decision.
But the entry of The Red And Black wasn't so welcomed.
But then as the girls stormed from the seat, they stopped in front of the successful group. We watched wide eyed as the lead grabbed the nearest microphone from the stand.
"We're not giving up that seat!" She blared her words into an emotionless Blake who glared down to her. "We'll fight for it!".
No one knew what to do. I looked at James as panic laced his face, Charlie turned round to me mouthing 'No'. I could tell the pair of them had some form of a soft spot for this unique rock group; I can't lie, so do I.
"Um okay girls..." Louis started, he was taken aback by the dismissed group's forced proposal. "What song?"
She smirked up at Blake, his expression never twitched, she pulled the mic to her lips and said,
"Bad Romance by Lady Gaga" she smirked again, suddenly her girls chorused a harmony as she lead the song,
"Caught in a bad romance," she harmonies with another girl, smirking like she was winning. The band stood around in a bored wonder as the girls took a lead.
️But then,
"Want your bad romance" she sung to silence.
Bam! The band blasted into a sudden burst of life! Their guitars strumming an unorthodox but uncanny rhythm to what the girls had just sung! The lead girl of the unpredictable band stood and smirked as Blake took to the closest microphone and sung the verse.
The band became alive with music again as if they'd rehearsed the song a thousand times! They battled out for the final chair their voices screamed the song with such passion it made us all stand in such amazement.
I saw from the corner of my eye Barclay and Jordi from Overload exchange some amazed but feared looks.
The song finished and the audience were on their feet, chanting for The Red And a Black, we applauded like crazy too! They deserved that seat so bad! The look of surprise on the band's leading girl was a picture.
"There's no doubt about it," Louis' voice could just about be heard through the microphone over the crowd, "You deserve that seat The Red And Black I'm so sorry Fever Dawn, I really am."
I swallowed a lump as the girls just stormed off, no congratulations were exchanged from them as they barged past.
The Red And Black strolled to the empty chair slowly, their ginger bassist sitting on the edge as they formed around it. Dermot spoke his ending to the 'Six Chairs' round and that it was onwards to the Judges' Houses.
God knows where we'd all go with Louis.
I reached out my hand and tapped the small girl's arm next to me. She flinched slightly with fear before turning her head to me.
"Well done, you deserve it" I spoke but my voice was drowned out by the crowd. She smiled and mouthed a 'thank you' before a tear escaped her beautifully crafted eyes. I moved from my spot and pulled her to me, wrapping my arms around her in a warm, congratulating hug. I looked up and saw the chosen six acts all congratulating one another, she pulled away from me as she was greeted by a smiling Charlie, hugging him and Chris the same.
We were all soon taken off the stage. There backstage we all formed our groups again, this time smiles remained on our faces as we'd passed this round.
But as our nameless group smiled with such enrichment, her group came passed.
"Hey!" I called to her, she turned around looking. "Over here!"
We walked over as a group to them, I noticed Tom high-fiving and congratulating Blake with warm smiles. Did they know each other?
I smiled and pulled her to me for another hug, she accepted with a huge grin. Her long blonde hair fell ghostly over my arms as they cradled her back, I pulled away as James and Chris appeared by my sides.
"This is James and Chris" I smiled as I pointed to each. James stood with a wide smile on his face as his dark eyes warmed the place, his tall quiff moved slightly with his movements as he gave her a hug. Chris had the most happiest smile plastered to his face ever, she giggled when she hugged him.
"You're the Irish one?" She smiled. Her question made him blush and scratch the back of his neck.
"Yeah that's me" his blushing getting the better of him.
"Aw," she smiled, hugging him again. "My names Roz" she beamed shyly.
"You're performance was incredible!" I smiled. "Fucking insane!"
She laughed.
"Glad you enjoyed it" she smiled, tucking a piece of long hair behind her ear.
At that moment Tom appeared along with Blake.
"Looks like we're flying in two days time, I've arranged with Tom that we meet the boys there at the airport so we know where we're going" Blake smiled to Roz.
"Sounds like a plan, you must be Tom?" She held out a hand towards our eldest member, smiling as he shook it.
"And you must be Rosanne, good to meet you" he smiled widely.
"Call me Roz" she smiled again.
"Right," Blake started speaking again but slightly louder, "Let's get ourselves some sleep tonight guys, or head home." He grabbed the attention of the stray dogs that were their remaining band members.
"I'll see you boys at the airport then," she hugged us all finally.
"Yes you will." James smiled widely as she turned upon her heel and followed her band as our remaining group gathered around us.
"Wait! Roz!" I called suddenly, making the whole band turn round. I jogged over to her and took my phone out.
"I don't know if Tom's gave you his, but have my number so we can find each other at the airport." I don't know why but I felt nervous in the presence of the whole band.
"Sure thing, it's better to have two numbers than one" she smiled widely and took her phone out too. We exchanged numbers.
She smiled widely as we said our final goodbyes, then she headed off with her crew out of sight of the enormous backstage set.
"I never thought I'd say this," Casey spoke as he wrapped an arm round my shoulder, "But I think an emo has just made its way into my wank bank."
"She is pretty hot." James joined in, earning a small agreeing nod from Barclay.
"But she's different..." Charlie silenced us all. We looked at him to continue as we walked slowly through the endless corridors back to our cars or pick ups back to Boot Camp.
"What do you mean she's different?" James quizzed.
"She doesn't act like other ordinary girls... I don't know, she's quiet but feisty... It's weird..." He struggled to get his words out, confusing James even more.
"She's quite intriguing," Chris' unique voice turned James' head as he came to Charlie's other side, "I know what you mean Charlie." Charlie nodded.
"It's hard to explain," he gestured widely with his hands, "I don't know, but I really want to get to know her."
We all agreed.
"Hey Jake, give us her number yeah?" Casey gripped me suddenly in a speedy playful headlock, attacking my styled quiff with his rapid hand.
"Please Jake!" Reece joined in with the playful bullying that bound us weirdly.
We laughed and play-fought all the way to the cars, saying our goodbyes to Charlie as we climbed into our van and headed back to the Boot Camp residential.