Turquoise (L.S)

I

His feet felt heavy and his head felt light as he shuffled along the infinite line towards the arena. He'd been queuing for hours in the baking sun and acid continued to rise in his throat. Beads of sweat rolled down his toned and tattooed arms, like dewdrops falling on broken branches in a damp forest. The uneasy feeling of nervousness was well and truly lodged in Louis Tomlinson's empty stomach. In just over an hour, he would be auditioning in front of one of the biggest names in show business.

Factor 28 had been running for years in the UK, but had been revamped, following Simon Cowbell's takeover of the show. Its mission was to find the biggest stars of tomorrow and the new boss was determined to do just that. The show had been moved from its daytime slot to the desired prime time of 9pm on a Saturday and Simon had recruited some of his biggest stars to work as mentors. The title sequence and venue had been given a shiny new makeover and millions had been pumped into the production of it. It was no longer a cringy daytime tv show that stay-at-home mums would watch whilst ironing.

Factor 28 was now a serious talent competition and Louis was competing in it.

All Louis had ever wanted to do was sing. Music engulfed every moment in his life and guided him through the trials and tribulations he had endured. For years, Louis had experimented with his sound, being in numerous bands, until finally, he fell upon Brit-pop. It was at that moment he was truly inspired to start writing and moulding himself as an artist. All he needed was exposure. That was where this crazy talent competition factored in.

Ahead, Louis could see the production crew reading a list and pointing at different contestants. He prayed that they would not single him out; he was not prepared to be bombarded with questions. He pulled at his damp white tank and rubbed at his tattoo-littered arms, looking anywhere but at them. Unfortunately, luck was not on his side and soon enough he had a camera shoved in his face.

"Louis Tomlinson!" James Corden, the new presenter of the show wrapped an arm around Louis' slender waist and he tried not to squirm at the non-consensual touching. "Welcome to Factor 28," He smiled and Louis forced one back, hoping it didn't look too fake.

"Why are you here today, Louis?" James failed to sense Louis's sense of uneasiness and placed a microphone under his nose. Louis gulped and looked at the presenter. His friendly and genuine demeanour relaxed him a little and his fake grin turned into a small, but sincere one.

"I want to sing," He shrugged, pushing his a loose dark hair out of his face before speaking again. "I want to sing for the rest of my life," James nodded at his earnest answer, actually listening to him, which was comforting.

"Well that sounds like a good reason to be here," He chuckled and Louis chuckled as well, feeling the nerves dissipate.

"Well, I'm not exactly here to walk the dogs," He bantered back sarcastically. James looked a little taken aback by the sassy comment but laughed nonetheless. He raised his eyebrow at the small, young man from Doncaster.

"Ah a comedian as well as a singer," Louis took a little bow, which resulted in a few members of the camera crew chuckling. Around him, other contestants shot him envious glances at the attention he was gaining but he didn't mind. He'd handled the situation a lot better than he initially expected.

"Are there any mentors that you really want to work with?" James then asked, once the laughter had died down.

Louis paused to think. Simon had recruited some amazing talents for the reboot. Jennifer Lopez was an icon who had been in the industry for decades. She knew it like the back of her hand. Louis could imagine her being an incredible mentor. Then there was Ariana Grande, probably one of the kindest people in show business as well as the most talented. Her voice always transported Louis to another dimension and he would love to work with her. Of course, he couldn't forget Drake! That man had broken record after record and seemed like a very funny guy, plus he was friends with Rihanna and Nicki Minaj so that was a positive. Imagine the parties they would have. As a serial partier, he could not even imagine the crazy scenes. Louis would be over the moon to work with any of them.