Shivley: A Now United Story

Ch 4: Rude Boy

Shivani stepped out of the elevator behind the others taking in the wonderfully chaotic scene around her. Colorful balloons filled the room, along with cupcakes topped with fondant flags of every country that was being represented at auditions, and about fifty people - parents and other fellow Now United hopefuls.

Shivani spotted her mom near the back of the room and walked towards her, passing several girls who smiled brightly at her. 

"Shiv, where were you?" Shivani's mom looked expectantly up at her. "I got up here about 10 minutes ago." Shivani was about to respond, when she heard a voice that she had heard far to many times that day say, "Oh Shivani was little clumsy so I had to help her pick up her stuff." Bailey chuckled and reached out his harm towards Shivani's mom, "Hi Mrs. Paliwal, my name is Bailey. I know we briefly met at the airport, but I just wanted to properly introduce myself."

Shivani risked a quick peek over at Bailey, only to be caught by Bailey who gave her a quick wink before introducing his parents. Shivani wondered who this strangely polite person was and what they had done with the obnoxious, arrogant, awful, ... person she had interacted with earlier. 

"Well, we'll leave you to it. Shivani and I are going to go mingle now." Bailey smiled at his parents and motioned for Shivani to walk with him. Shivani was pleasantly surprised, maybe she had judged him too quickly. As soon as she was next to Bailey, she quickly remembered why she disliked him. 

"Just so you know, Ylona told me to be nice to you. I have no interest in being friends, but seeing as she is my sort-of girlfriend, I figure I have to." Bailey shrugged like it was no big deal.

"And you're telling me this why? Trust me, the last thing I pegged you for is nice so you don't have to pretend for your girlfriend. I have no interest in talking to a jerk like you." Shivani rolled her eyes and was about to turn away when she felt a hand on her arm.

"Just so you know most girls think I'm nice. I have no idea what your problem is, but maybe you should be a little nicer to me."

"Wow. Why am I not surprised? Of course a guy like you with a "sort-of girlfriend" - what does that even mean?- would think that most girls like him. News flash: we don't. You're a jerk."

"Whatever. As if I care about your opinion. I feel sorry for all the poor blokes who have to date you, you're a real piece of work." Bailey rolled his eyes.

Shivani could not believe it. "You're unbelievable." She turned around and walked into the crowd of people. Bailey truly was the worst, where did he get off telling her that he, he, was sorry for the "blokes" she had dated. She had not dated any blokes! She figured that piece of information would not be viewed as an argument in her favor so she hadn't used it against Bailey. She couldn't believe him. He was rude, he was-

"Hello, my name is Hina! What's your name?" Shivani's angry thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a sweet voice and she looked up to see this girl smiling at her. As Shivani was talking to Hina she learned that Hina was a year older than her, she was from Toyko, Japan, and she was struggling with her English. Hina was sweet and Shivani, for the first time during this trip so far, was happy to have met someone she liked so much. She made a mental note to tell Kinjal about her when they talked on the phone later. 

As they were talking a girl named Sofya from Russia joined in, Joalin from Mexico came a little later, and finally Sina, one of the girls from Germany. Sometime in the midst of the conversation the lights turned down and a booming voice roared, "Welcome Now United! My name is Simon Fuller and I am so excited to meet you all. Before I meet you all, however, we will be doing a little challenge to get you all acquainted. In a minute my friends Kyle Hanagami and Rochelle Adams will be meeting you all and they will announce partnerships. They will give you more information about what these partnerships are for. I just want to say thank you to you all for coming to auditions and this is only the beginning of a four day adventure."

A giant spotlight aimed at the center of the room and sure enough standing there were Kyle Hanagami and Rochelle Adams. The whole room fell quiet in awe. Shivani herself was fangirling - Kyle was her favorite choreographer and Rochelle Adams had managed Beyoncé's career back in the day. 

"Hey guys! My name's Kyle!" Kyle held post it notes in one hand, and with his free hand, he waved warmly at the group. 

"And my name is Rochelle." Rochelle placed a small basket near her foot. "We are going to have you all write your names and place them in this basket. Then we'll go around and have you all draw names. If the name you pick is your own, then draw again. Is that clear?"

The room echoed a collective "Yes!"

"Wonderful. Well then, we hope that you all get someone you can work with, otherwise these next four days are going to be anything but easy." Kyle smiled and began passing out post it notes while Rochelle handed out markers.

As Shivani folded up her note and went to drop it in the basket, she hoped she would not be partnered with Bailey. Clearly he felt the same way because when she passed him on her way back from dropping her name he said, "Here's to hoping I don't get stuck with you."

Yup it was official. Shivani hated him. Now all she could do was hope that she didn't pick his name from the basket.