How it all began...
The line was impossibly long. It seemed to wind in and around and up and down every possible inch of the parking lot. Sam looked at her watch and sighed. She'd made it in with about 10 minutes to spare. She knew there were people who spent the entire night in that parking lot, sleeping on the concrete, braving the elements, just for their shot. She'd never understood that though...how could you expect to give a great performance after getting 2 hours of nap-time on concrete? It just didn't add up. She'd take her chances with a great nights sleep in her own bed, showered, and looked about as presentable as could be expected. If it meant she had to stand in line waiting for 10 hours, well at least it'd be 10 hours awake, not 10 hours she could be sleeping.
American Idol auditions. They were here, and having just celebrated her 28th birthday a couple of weeks ago, Sam was running out of chances. She'd tried out 4 years earlier and made it to Hollywood, but the dreaded Group Performance had done a real number on her entire group, thrown together of people who couldn't find anyone else to work with, they'd barely even been able to work with each other, and it showed. They'd all been cut that day, and Sam had gone home defeated, angry at herself, and angry that three other people's poor attitudes had helped ruin her chances. She hadn't bothered trying out again until now partially because she didn't want to seem like one of those desperate people who keep trying out every single year until the judges finally give in and let them through, and partially because she was scared. Scared that she wouldn't even make it to Hollywood, scared she'd end up in another awful group, or even worse, scared she'd make it. The fear of success was almost harder to take than the fear of failure. But it was her last year, and things at her job were getting mundane and frustrating, so she figured no time like the present to try for a change.
Sam glanced around her at the waiting crowd. She knew she'd be the oldest one there, being at the age limit for auditions, but she was surprised at HOW old she felt. There were so many girls huddled together giggling to themselves, guys there making fools of themselves, trying to get the girls attention. And of course, there was a fair amount of people either dressed or acting crazy, just WAITING for the camera crews to walk past, looking for ANY reason to get on television for so much as a fraction of a tenth of a second. On the other hand, there was the REALLY young crowd with girls clinging to their Moms for support, nerves showing in every move. Sam had come alone...her friends and family all wished her well, but they all had their own jobs, and no one really wanted to spend 10 or more hours just standing and waiting. Not that she blamed them at all, she probably wouldn't have waited either if the roles were reversed. Her Blackberry was in her pocket, she could message someone if she got bored, and she could phone her Mom and Dad as soon as she got the results.
There was ONE other contestant who stood out to Sam. At 5'10", she was used to being one of the taller females in most situations, and now being older than everyone, she wasn't surprised that she was almost towering over some of the hopefuls. But right behind her stood someone who was head and shoulders above the rest...quite literally. She'd noted his presence (quite happily) when he'd slid quietly into line behind her a moment ago, but she didn't want to come across as creepy, so while she HAD been scanning the crowd, taking in the competition, she'd also secretly been eying this man out of the corner of her eye. He was tall, at least a few inches over 6 feet, Sam guessed. He was dressed casually in a pair of jeans and a button-down shirt, and had sandy blond hair, tied neatly back in a pony-tail at the bottom of his neck. He had just enough stubble to look manly without looking scruffy and un-kempt. And then, there were the eyes. There was something un-naturally blue about them, and Sam wondered if they were coloured contacts.
"Been waiting long?" The voice connected with those ridiculous eyes shook Sam back to reality, and she realized that without even noticing it, she'd gone from casually glancing around her to flat-out staring.
"Uh...yeah well...I just...not so...not really. Just got here." Great, Sam thought to herself. She can't even get a coherent sentence out in front of a stranger...get prepared to TANK with the judges! "Not nearly as long as the people waaayyy up there!" There! Sam sighed, proud of her recovery, and hoped she didn't come across as a TOTAL idiot.
Blue Eyes smiled at her, not seeming to notice her awkwardness, or maybe he just didn't care. When you looked like that, you were probably used to people acting weird around you. "Yeah, I don't get it...how'd they get here so quick? I mean, did they like, get up at 3am to get here or something?"
Sam raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, up off the pavement maybe..."
Blue Eyes gave her a blank look. "I don't get it." Simple statement, but confused the hell out of Sam. How could he not get it? Jokes were never as funny when they needed to be explained.
"Got up...off the pavement..at 3am...from trying to sleep...here...overnight." See, it just didn't come across the same. But the blue eyes just got bluer, and wider. "Why on EARTH would they be sleeping on the pavement at 3am?!"
Sam was starting to wonder if this guy was a joke. Everyone knew that people CAMPED OUT for American Idol auditions, why was he playing dumb? "I don't know, maybe they like the way the concrete keeps them cold at night..."
"Oh...well...I always prefer to be warm when I sleep...." the blue eyes were starting to lose their sparkle. Sam didn't realize there was such a thing as a "frustrated" shade of blue, until just now. Her hazel eyes darted suspiciously across his face, looking for a crack, a hint of a smile, something to suggest that he was simply messing with her, but there was nothing. She decided to try one last smart-ass remark to break his cover.
"Well, there's this kind of big deal going on, it's called American Idol...it's this TV show that's kind of popular, it's in it's 9th season and everything, and they only let a certain number of people audition, so people tend to line up pretty darned far in advance."
The blue eyes narrowed, changing almost instantly from Frustrated Blue to Insulted Blue. "Well I KNOW it's American Idol auditions, why else would I be here? I just didn't realize people were THAT crazy about it."
Sam felt bad...this guy seemed genuinely clueless about the process. She wrinkled her nose. "Haven't you WATCHED Idol before?"
"Nope."
"WHAT?! You're lying! Everyone's watched Idol! At least ONE episode!"
"Nope. Don't have a TV."
"Ok now I KNOW you're lying. Who, in THIS day in age, doesn't have a TV?"
"Me."
Sam stared back at the blue eyes, and when, after about 15 seconds of staring each other down, he hadn't cracked, she decided that he was actually telling the truth. "Incredible", she said with a sigh, not entirely sure if she was referring too the fact that he didn't have a TV, or his alarmingly good looks.
Blue Eyes stuck his hand out. "I'm Casey, by the way."
Sam accepted his hand, and was not surprised to find that his handshake was firm, but not bone-crushing. Everything else about him seemed pretty much perfect, why should his handshake be any different? "I'm Samantha...but everyone calls me Sam."
"Nice to meet you, Samantha."
"You can call me Sam too, y'know."
"But if I call you Samantha, then you can't say EVERYONE calls you Sam...besides, I think Samantha's a really great name."
"Oh. Well...what's Casey short for? At-the-bat or and-the-sunshine band?"
"That depends...do you want to watch baseball, or do a little dance, make a little love, and get down tonight?"
Sam blushed instantly at the last comment. She had in theory, set herself up for it, but she didn't think he would be so quick-witted. She tried quickly to come up with a witty remark that wouldn't make her sound slutty, but all she could think of was "Well, I do like baseball."
And so it began.