Page 37 of Forever Yours

Chapter 11

Ali

Therevealshowwentoff without a hitch. Not surprising, really, considering there wasn’t much to it. The contestants were announced individually, followed by their celebrity partners. The way all the contestants were dressed alike—black skirts and pink tops for the girls and black pants and blue tops for the guys—reminded me of the opening number of a beauty pageant. The emphasis was obviously supposed to be on the celebrities, which was what I’d feared as soon as the whole celebrity thing was announced. But whatever. At that point, there was nothing to do but enjoy the ride.

For the twenty-four hours after the show aired, my stomach was in knots. I kept expecting an outraged phone call from my mother, but none came. No one in my parents’ circle watched the show, and it wasn’t as if I’d stood out, which apparently had been by design.

It occurred to me that with so many contestants, there would be no front-runners for at least several weeks. My parents might not learn about me being on the show for quite a while. I had mixed feelings about that. I knew my mother wouldn’t be happy, but part of me wanted her to find out so I could stop stressing about it.

If I was that worried about it, though, I could always tell her myself.Nope, not gonna happen.

After the reveal show, life became a whirlwind. It felt like I blinked and it was time to film the first performance show. The episodes were structured to appear as if they were live, but they were actually filmed in segments the day before they aired, which meant the girls filmed on Tuesday. Trenton and I opted not to make use of the costume department, instead wearing our own clothes. He showed up in jeans and T-shirt, and I wore black skinny jeans and a strapless black top. My outfit was very understated, especially compared to some of the other contestants, but that was what I wanted. The focus needed to be on the music, not my ensemble.

Georgia wore the plaid shirt she’d styled into a dress. Walter had apparently liked the shirt so much he’d gotten one for himself so they would match. I couldn’t decide if it was cute or cringeworthy. For her sake, I hoped the audience would think it was cute.

We’d snagged a dressing room to share, and she was curling my hair into long soft waves.

“I wonder if the other girls are helping one another out,” I mused. I’d soured on my fellow competitors after they gave me the cold shoulder over Trenton being featured on the poster. True to his word, Evan had gotten it changed, and anyway, it hadn’t been my doing. If our positions had been reversed, I might have been miffed, too, but since I was on the business end of the stink eyes, I wasn’t feeling too charitable.

“Some of them are really nice,” Georgia said. “Not as nice as me, of course, so don’t go getting any ideas about getting a newSing BattleBFF.”

I snorted. That was definitely a nonissue. I’d been friendly with the other students in my music program, but my heart hadn’t been in it like theirs had been, so we naturally drifted apart after graduation as they pursued opera careers and I drifted between dead-end jobs. Though I hadn’t known her long, Georgia was the first true friend I’d had in a while.

She put down the curling iron. “Close your eyes.” She doused my hair with an ungodly amount of hairspray.

I coughed. “I think I inhaled it.”

“You’re not supposed to breathe in while I’m spraying it, silly. Every Southern woman who has ever worn big hair knows that.”

“I’m not from the South.”

“I keep forgetting that.” I didn’t see how that was possible, considering that I didn’t speak with the same pronounced twang.

“I didn’t think big hair was still a thing.”

“Honey, every little girl with a Southern grandma of a certain age has had their hair teased. You should see my third-grade school picture. My mom was out of town, so my grandma stepped in. Let’s just say people still referenced it when they signed my senior yearbook.”

I peered into the mirror to inspect the soft waves Georgia had created. I’d planned to wear my hair straight, but this was way better. The lavender color really popped against my black clothing. “Thanks. This looks amazing.”

“You are very welcome. Now stand back.” Georgia closed her eyes and sprayed her own blond hair, which bordered on the big Southern hair we’d just been discussing but went well with the plaid. She and Walter were going old-school country and had selected “Islands in the Stream” as their first song, which was another song on my hell-no list. I didn’t say that to Georgia, of course. Ever since she’d learned that it was Walter’s last hurrah, she’d made it her mission to send him out in the style that he would appreciate, even if it came at the expense of her success on the show. She was kindness personified.

I did one last check of the tape I’d used to tack my top to my strapless bra. Though we weren’t live, I still didn’t want any costume malfunctions. I glanced at the clock. Only fifteen minutes until I was due backstage. I was oddly calm and centered. Or maybe it wasn’t so odd—Trenton and I had rehearsed excessively, so much that I dreamt about the song, among other things involving Trenton, which I tried not to think about. No sense getting all hot and bothered over an itch I couldn’t scratch.

“Well, how do I look?” I did a slow twirl.

“Amazing!” Georgia gushed. “Girl, you’re going to kill it.”

“Thanks.” I squeezed her hand. “You are too.” We didn’t discuss the fact that one or both of us might go home as a result of what we did that day. The guys had it lucky—they only had to wait two days for the live-results show, while the girls had to wait three. That meant we would have to start preparing for the next performance before we knew if we would still be on the show.

I left the dressing room to meet Trenton just outside the stage doors, as we’d agreed. He was already there, leaning against the wall as he scrolled though his phone. Even though he was wearing casual, everyday clothing, he looked amazing—every bit the rock star.

He must have felt my gaze on him, because he looked up and smiled. My steps slowed. Ever since the kiss, things had been different between us—not bad or anything, not even awkward. Just stilted. We were both so careful not to cross the line we’d drawn for ourselves.As it should be.

He grinned. “Are you ready?”

I shook out my arms and bounced on the balls of my feet a little to get my blood moving. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

He nodded. “That’s the spirit.”

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