𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐎𝐔𝐓 a shaky breath as she hit the very last note and finished the song entirely. Not ready to face the judges nor the audience, she kept her eyes closed for a moment till she lightly saw the way the stage lit up in blue lights again from behind her eyelids. Her throat felt dry after singing in the high pitch for so long but she didn't are move. She inhaled heavily till she gained the rhythm to breathe again. But soon she was pulled out of her trance by a huge roll of applaud echoing throughout the whole room. The noise made her spring back to action as her eyes popped open to be met with the bright light coming from the lights around the stage.

And the view of the audience rising to their feet.

Not did a second pass before Cheryl was rising to her own feet. Avi couldn't explain how she took in the sight in front of her. Every single person had a smile on their face as their hands clasped together, clapping. Not only she aced her song, but she was receiving a standing ovation. for her performance. Cheryl gave her a cheer and sent a smile her way. Avi's hand automatically lifted up to cover her mouth in unbelief, eyes crinkling as she sported a big smile on her face, still processing the fact that she just finished her X Factor audition and was currently receiving huge applause. Her eyes watered as the cheering went on. Her mind earned to look towards the side and she almost cried at the way Dermot had his arms wrapped around Bexley, the two of them jumping up and down slightly.

When Cheryl sat back down on her seat Louis leaned in to talk in her ear quietly to which she nodded and leaned back in her seat, her eyes still trained on the girl in front of them. Simon on the other hand was sitting up then, the pen in his hand long gone. He didn't speak to any other judges, instead, he continued to look towards the stage, his focus set on the girl.

It was rather disturbing. His face was fixed in a world-weary expression. He wasn't smiling, no sign stating he liked the song nor a sense of objection.

Avi stood on the stage as the other two judges leaned forward to tap at their mics. Then the audience started to settle back down once again, sensing the judges were about to give their comments on her audition. Once the whole room was somewhat quieted and calmed down, Cheryl went and tapped her mic to speak first.

"Wow"

The simple word managed to make Avi's day a thousand times better.

Cheryl didn't speak for a couple of seconds after that, in fact, it seemed as if she was looking for words to describe her performance.

"Aviana" She breathed out, halting her speech once again. "Aviana, that was-" Cheryl sighed once again, smiling at her. "That was the most beautiful original piece I've listened to on the show so far"

The roaring of the cheering rose once again, startling her. But the judges didn't seem to mind.

The most beautiful.

"Darlin' " Cheryl cut herself off as she looked down, letting out a frustrated breath. " Your voice - I don't even know how to describe it- your voice is - is so delicate" She briefly paused to glance up again.  "But held so much power within" Cheryl continued to explain as Avi listened, her eyes trained on the judge. "The lyrics were so gorgeous, it almost made me cry" She laughed as she playfully dabbed at her waterline with her fingertips with a laugh. 

"Your voice and those stunning lyrics and the synthesizer- it was a synthesizer yeah?" Cheryl asked and Avi quickly nodded in a frantic move. " - The synthesizer went together so well, I can't even explain it. It was beautiful Aviana, but still" There's always a but, always. "There are small things you should improve in. For example, breathing and all" Cheryl stated while watching her hands around and Avi nodded, understanding that she needed improvement. "And another thing I love about you - " She looked up as the lady judge spoke up once again. " - is your confidence. Knowing that singing an Original song is a risk but still doing it, I think it's brave, singing an original song in front of a huge audience - Simon especially is only for the brave darlin' "

"And the way you seemed so - " She paused again, stumbling on her words. " Seemed so invested in it. I think that's what made this performance more touching. The whole time, you were feeling the lyrics, the music. And the way you were enduring the song, it almost told us a story. You made the whole audience feel what you were feeling while writing, composing this song, while singing this song. And that's a great achievement" She continued to talk, occasionally getting interrupted by a noise of approval by the audience as she showed a lot of gestures from her hand, trying to prove her point. "I loved it. I love you, it was the most wonderful"

She smiled at Avi at last, nodding her head in a reassuring way. "So, I wish you all the best honey"

"Thank you so much" Avi gracefully smiled at her and bowed her head out of habit, subtly trying to dry her watery eyes. There was a smile sprawled on her lips and her eyes seemed to shine brighter than they had been before Cheryl spoke. There was a new spark in them. Avi felt as if she was on cloud nine after Cheryl's comment. Just the smallest compliment was enough to make the girl feel like she won the world. Even though you couldn't see it in her bronzed skin or her face, she may or may not have been quite flustered and emotional.

"Aviana Rae" Louis started, interrupting her own little bubble. Avi's focus quickly snapped to the quiet elderly man in front of her. 

"Before I start, can I ask who made the track for the song?"

It was a question Avi was expecting first handly. So she confidently replied. "I play the synthesizer keyboard in the track and the mixing was also done by me" She stated clearly. "With a little help from one of my friends back home"

A sudden erupt of cheer roared from the audience much to her surprise. The way Louis' eyes slightly widened and the way he turned to look at the other two judges didn't go unnoticed by Avi. She, herself was rather proud of her track. She had gotten help from her friend - her brothers friend truly, Dharshan, who was also the school Dj - to do some composing but other than that, the whole track was made by her.

"And you're only fifteen?" Louis asked, his mouth slacking as the girl nodded. "Did you hear that Simon? and she's the youngest one in the show"

Avi felt as if she just accomplished the greatest achievement of her life as her eyes dragges over to where Simon was now looking down at the paperwork in front of him. But without giving him time to reply, Louis continued to comment on her performance.

"As Cheryl said, the song, the music, the lyrics, all of them were nice" He kept going before stopped to let out a sigh, removing her glasses and giving her an indescribable glance. "But there's one thing that doubts me" Suddenly a flame of fear started to burn inside her heart as she feared what he would say next.

 "You're only fifteen Aviana"

She knew it. He thought she was too young to be out here auditioning for X-Factor. Although he seemed rather excited with the fact that she made the track for Brush Fire when she was only fifteen earlier.

"I just think that you're still a little bit too young for all this. The song was nice but it's not what we're looking for" Her heart started to deflate in her chest. "I don't think you're not quite ready for the - " Louis paused. "For the stress, the pressure"

"Not ready for the pressure my mother fucking arse." Avi almost wanted to laugh as she brought the mic down and hid it behind herself so no one would accidentally hear her as she mumbled to herself. If only Louis Walsh knew how much stress and pressure lived with for a fifteen year old.

It was just then was when the audience started to boo the fuck out of Louis loudly. Almost every single person in the audience started to get up on their feet to show their objection. Avi, whose face had started to fall quickly lit up in amusement as the crowd joined together to voice their protest towards Louis' comment. It was rather amazing how she received support from them just after a two-minute audition. Cheryl who was giving Louis a weather glare started to throw her hands in the air, riling up the crowd to vocalise their objections louder. All while throwing not-so-kind glances at Louis occasionally. They even had their thumbs stuck downwards as they shouted. Louis lifted up his hands in surrender, showing no move to take back his comment, however. Instead, he spoke up again. "Clearly, the audience liked you and  I should've"

"Clearly, you don't have taste in real music like an X Factor judge should've"

Avi snapped her eyes to the man who was now leaning away from his mic after uttering those words, a somewhat smug look on his fish face. The roars of Boo noises quickly died down as it swiftly switched to yet another screaming fest. Avi's cheeks were hurting from how big she was smiling now, all thoughts of disappointment after hearing Louis' words were long gone. The only thing that was running through her mind was the fact that Simon Cowell called out Louis Walsh for not having taste in real music because he thought she was too young.

"Aviana" Simon had officially interrupted Louis' speech. "When I look at you, I see potential. I see confidence. When I look at you I see talent"

"I love the fact that you confidently took the risk of singing an original song for us today. And most importantly, as I did not expect it, you nailed it" Another round of cheer's started to uproar from the people behind him. as Avi held her breath, scared to breathe too loudly in case she missed something he says "The way you were invested in the lyrics and the music, like Cheryl here said, it made us- the audience feel something emotionally. Usually, it's hard to capture the heart of the audience unless you do it right" He stopped for a short second before continuing. "And you did"

Simon suddenly stopped his words, staring at her with a gleam in his eyes. She felt as if she was waiting for eternity although, in reality, it was just a brief pause. A feeling of worry started to crawl up her neck and slither around her bust, wrapping encompassing her heart. But Simon didn't speak up, leaving her waiting with distress and anxiety lacing her thoughts. He waited for a skimpy moment before turning to look at the other two judges and opening his mouth to complete his feedback comment.

"And that is what I call a real pop star"

Something inside her sparked and Avi felt as if she was floating. A single tear escaped her eyes and started to roll down the side of her face. Her heart squeezed in her chest, the vines of worry and dread slowly sinking back down. Avi quickly lifted up her hand to wipe at her waterline and kept it lying there in case if another one tried to escape. Between the applauding, Cheryl noticed this and sent her a reassuring smile, reminding her to keep her head up. She sniffled as she brought her hand down, her mind driven high with ecstasy. She really made Simon Cowell call her a pop star the first try.

Avi wished her family was here - right there so they would've seen how wrong they were when they doubted her and her talent. She could've shown them how every single "You're not going to make it" and "You're wasting your time, this is stupid"  was utter bullshit.

"So Aviana" Cheryl's voice pulled her away from her thoughts, bringing her focus back to the judges who all had smiles on their faces. Before Avi even had time to think about what was happening, Cheryl had opened her mouth. "It's a yes from me"

Avi visibly heaved as her face split up into a large grin. "Thank you so much" She felt great admiration towards Cheryl as she had been nothing but nice and reassuring since she stepped onto the stage. She knew Cheryl was known to be the more laid back judge within everyone. Louis was alright but sometimes he could be really judgemental and false. And everyone knew Simon was the judge who was hard to please.

"Aviana" Hearing Louis' voice made a pinch of fear of nerves settle in the pit of her gut. She knew there was a fifty-fifty chance of Louis changing his mind on his earlier opinion by saying yes - or no. She only hoped Louis would give her a chance so she could continue. "Although I still think you're a bit too young for all of this, you delivered the song beautifully"

"I'm going to say yes" Yet another round of cheer came from the audience and Avi felt the shards of anxiety started to chip away one by one, a big weight getting lifted off her shoulders at his words. Her eyes briefly closed before she let out a shaky breath.

"Thank you so much" She lightly bowed at him. She really didn't expect Louis to say yes to him after what he had said earlier, but she was glad he had decided to give her another chance. And she was already committed to proving to him that although she was young, she could actually do it. 

It was only Simon left. Avi figured she should be scared of his response but somehow, she felt much more at ease after his confrontation of her being a real pop star type. His words had given her some kind of confidence, a reliance. Something she didn't have when she stepped onto the stage earlier.

Simon was a hard man to read as his face nearly held the same fish emotion 24/7. So right then, Avi couldn't  even think of what was going inside his mind and it somewhat worried her.

"Congratulations Aviana, you've got three yesses"

She did it.

She actually did it.

Avi couldn't help but let out a small squeal of excitement. Her whole body was high on adrenaline as she bowed and thanked him. Her mind was running wild, she couldn't even think of what she should do next. Her ears were almost defeaned from the way the audience started yelling cheers loudly. The only thing in her mind was how her family was mistaken when they told her she would get eliminated in the first round. Her mind was still hazy as she walked to the legs of the stage between the loud applause of the attendees, meeting Dermot halfway.

Dermot let out a loud cheer and opened his arms to give her a big hug, which she gladly took. He rocked the both of them back and forth a couple of times, trying to soothe down the girl who was on the verge of tears.

"You did it, Aviana"

When Dermot said it out loud, it really hit her once again. She had really gotten through the auditions to compete in Bootcamp. "I did it"

Dermot kept her in his embrace for a couple of minutes, only pulling away and releasing her once he felt as if she was calm and back on earth.

"Congratulations Aviana" Dermot said, holding both of her shoulders and keeping her at a length. "Now off you go, your friend, Bexley is waiting for you"

But before she couldn't even think twice, a body was slamming into her while a pair of arms were snaked around her neck, holding her in place. The familiar scent of smoke and the cheap jasmine perfume filled her nostrils.

"Oh my god, Angel" Bexley's voice was a hushed whisper in her ear. "You did it"

Avi's arms were tight around Bexley's back, it was almost suffocating. But Bexley didn't complain, in fact, she didn't even feel it. Her mind was preoccupied with the fact that her best friend has gotten through the X Factor auditions. Bexley knew being on X Factor was one of Avi's biggest dreams. Years ago, Bexley would sit at the foot of Avi's bed while Avi laid on her back with his neck dangling down the side of the bed as she told her stories about the new winner of the X Factor. Other times Avi would force her to come over to her house and sit in front of the television so she could watch the X Factor live show together. There were even times Avi would demand Bexley to sit still on her dining table while she stood in front of it, pretending to be auditioning in front of Simon and Louis on the stage. 

Bexley knew how much this meant for her. She couldn't wait to text her mom about the news about Avi.

"I'm so proud of Angel" Bexley said as she pulled away, a couple of tears gathered in her waterline, threatening to fall down her cheeks. She took Avi's face in her hand before leaning in, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek.

"So proud of you"

"Thank you Bex" Avi's voice was quiet and if she hadn't spoken louder, Bexley might've not even heard her. Both of them stood in front of each other without speaking a word for a couple of seconds, only coming back to earth when Bexley speak up again.

"Our DLR leaves in twenty minutes" She spoke with a loud sigh. "We should get going"

Avi nodded before she grabbed Bexley's hand, starting to pull her towards the dressing rooms. "Yeah, we've got a train to catch"

When Avi figured out her auditions will be held in the ExCel London studio, she fussed about the way she was getting to the venue. Her house was located in the corner of the Hampstead Village, so it only took a twenty-minute car ride to get to the venue. And if by train, it took about thirty minutes. She reckoned out her parents would say okay to dropping her off and picking her up at the audition day, at least only for that day, oh how she was far from the assumption. Unfortunately, her father left for a business run in Cornwall and left her with no other option than to ask her mother. But not so surprisingly her mother refused to drive her to the studio because "I do not encourage you singing on this foolish television show, Ruhi Aviana" and "If you took this reality singing audition upon yourself, look for somebody else to drop you off yourself"

And it was then Aviana decided to be a nonconformist and asked Bexley if she wanted to take the DLR train with her to London. Of course, they had to ask permission from Bexley's mother, but being the laid-back and chill mom, she agreed after Bexley promised to keep her phone GPS and child tracker on all the time. Although Avi's audition was scheduled to happen around twelve in the afternoon, the two decided to take the seven o'clock morning DLR so they could arrive early at the venue to take care of her admissions.

When the two reached the dressing rooms, Avi entered the slightly crowded room with a knock while Bexley agreed to stay outside as she pulled out her phone, probably to text their friends. After Avi had pushed all her belongings, into her tote backpack, she stepped out to the room to find Bexley leaned against the wall, her eyes trained on her phone.

"The pack is freaking out right now" Bexley laughed and pocketed her phone as Avi adjusted her bag, mentioning their friend group. "Yu may or may not have caused a scene in class"

Avi chuckled as she remembered her other friend having no chill about the audition, it was not a surprise he had caused a scene after hearing the news about her. The two of them were soon stepping out into the light of the day. Bexley and Avi's hands were tangled together as they walked on the sidewalk together as they walked towards the nearest DLR station.

"So when is Bootcamp starting?" Bexley asked as she walked beside Avi, kicking small rocks which were lying on her way.

"July" Avi answered, hicking her bag up in her shoulder "Twentieth if I can remember clearly"

Bexley frowned and look up at her. As much as Bexley hated hearing it, she was about an inch shorter than her best friend so she always had to slightly tilt her head to look her in the eye. "Dude, that's almost a month away," She said, confusion lacing her words. "Today is only the eleventh of June"

"Kind of fair though" Avi replied as the two of them were nearing the underground station. "Contestants from Ireland gotta fly here for Bootcamp. And then fromCardiff, Manchester, Birmingham and whatnot" She said. "The good thing is they get a hotel for themselves to stay while us Londoners have to stay at our own houses"

"Stop complaining" Bexley rolled her eyes playfully. "Your house is literally a mansion you hoe"

After a small five-minute walk and countless gossip sessions later the two of them were hopping down the cement stairs of the DLR station. They still had ten minutes till the train arrived so once they had purchased their tickets, Avi dragged them over to a bench to sit down. Normally she almost never sat on benches in public places - stations, bus stops but today her legs were aching. With every step, she took, her legs were screaming at her to stop and plop down somewhere. The two girls spent the short ten minutes chatting about the latest gossip of the school - about how one of their older students might have gotten herself a sugar daddy.

When the DLR finally arrived Bexley was almost jumping up and down in excitement. Both of them had always been big fans of travelling by train. There was something about leaning against the window pole as the train strolled down the rails at a high speed. The way her hair would flow over her face with wind seeping through her dark roots would calm Avi down. Bexley equally enjoyed the feeling of travelling by train. She always told Avi the rhythmic growl and rubles of the train would help her gather her thoughts. Once they were safely inside the doors, the two girls kept an eye out for any creepy men or older boys. They soon stumbled upon a less crowded area on the train. There was only a kind-looking old woman who looked over at them and smiled, a girl who had her head buried in what looked like university notes and a couple who had their heads together, listening to music from the same pair of earphones.

Bexley and Avi decided to sit closer to the woman just because they felt much more protected. Once the train started moving, Bexley reached out and beckoned Avi closer, gently taking her head and lying her head on her shoulder. Avi softly smiled and gave her hand a light squeeze, thanking her. Bexley silently nodded before whispering to her. "Go to sleep, I'll keep an eye out"

"Scream and wake me up if some suspicious person gets too close. Or kick them" Avi whispered back before lifting up her head to look at her eyes with a stern expression. "I mean it"

"I will" Bexley chuckled, forcing her to lay back down. "Just rest, you're tired"

A silent chuckle interrupted their conversation and both the girls turned their heads to see the old lady scooting a bit closer to them. "You girls don't worry, I've got my cane I could put to use if someone even thinks about getting a little too close"

An expression of relief washed over both of the girls' faces. Even though nobody really spoke upon it, everyone was aware of how unsafe it was for girls their age to travel publicly alone. It was rather disappointing and revolting.

"Thank you, ma'am"

With that, Avi laid back down on Bexley's shoulder whilst closing her eyes. Just when her eyes fluttered close a heavy tiredness washed over her. Her hand was wrapped around Bexley's forearm, the simple action reassuring her that her best friend was there and they were safe and sound. Flashbacks from the audition started to flash in her brain and unknowingly a small smile had risen upon her face. 

She promised herself to only think about the fact that she was through to the Bootcamp and push away the negative thoughts about how her parents would react to the news.

|

|

|

|

———▴———

𝐄𝐗𝐂𝐄𝐋 𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐃𝐈𝐎 𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐍

|

𝐃𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐖𝐀𝐘, 𝐃𝐋𝐑 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐒

♪

Namaste peeps! so here is the second update, I hope you liked it as much as I spent writing it. Also as you might've already realized, after every chapter I will upload the face claims of people you find in the chapter, places and other things so you can imagine them better! Also, I have absolutely no idea how Dockland Light Railway or any station in the UK works for that matter, so please don't take anything that seriously. Although if there are readers from UK or US or any other countries with DLR's please feel free to educate me and correct my mistakes!

Also HSLOT started this week and I am so emotional. Harry looks so good, he's so hot but so adorable at the same time. Today the Denver show happened and he was basically wearing a recreation of 2012 Louis' outfit and he wore the peace ring! Basically all the Larries our fed right now. And his new band! Omg, FIRE. So fire. Paulie and Niji is so cool and amazing! To everyone who will be going to see Harry at some point, remember to wear a mask and be safe! Oh how I wish I was able to, meet him or see him live.

And obviously, we cannot skip talking about the Away From Home festival. I still didn't see the full documentary but I'm deciding to finish tomorrow or so. So far it was so beautiful and emotional. Just seeing Louis like that makes me cry!

Gracie Abrams is also going on tour right now! She's so amazing and beautiful, I luff her so much :(

Moving further quickly today because its almost 11.45 at night, here's a couple of questions for this chapter,

1, And Aviana is through to Bootcamp! How did you guys feel about the comments she was given? Was Louis being only fair to her? How did you feel about the audience's reaction to her?

2, Do you want me to make Simon a dick or a little nice in this story?

3, How do you think her mom would react to the news of her getting through the auditions? Will she be excited for her daughter?

So these are the questions, please don't hesitate to drop your opinions, ideas, comments down below! 

Stay safe and wear a mask!

TPWK ♡

- 𝑬𝒔𝒂