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❪ CHAPTER TEN ! ❫
-ˏˋ BIG TIME BOOT CAMP ˊˎ-

AURORA AND HER FRIENDS followed behind Kelly onto the third floor at Rocque Records. The teenagers were both impressed and intimidated by the smooth red carpeted floor in the hallways. They tried their best not to come into contact with anything in the building, seeing that everything looked expensive.

The four boys each had a bag with a change of clothes inside of them, and Carlos brought his helmet along. Aurora had her small white backpack on her back. They trailed behind Kelly around the corner of a hallway, like ducklings following behind their mother.

Though the group could not see it, Kelly gave an award winning smile as they walked down the hall. Guitars and large posters of previous bands were displayed on the wall. Carlos, not caring about the 'no touching' rule, ran his fingers over a black guitar.

"Welcome to Rocque Records," Kelly made a big gesture with her hands and announced cheerfully. She assured, "Where you boys are gonna sing, dance, and sweat your butts off if you wanna end up on these walls."

The group of teenagers all smiled as they glanced at the displays on the walls. They stopped once they came across a poster bigger than the others, but Kelly continued to walk off down the hall. The group's smiles faded, except for James', and they cringed when they got a closer look at the poster. It was a lousy picture of Boyquake wearing what seemed to be construction worker outfits.

Kendall questioned, unimpressed, "Do we want to end up on these walls?"

Carlos and Aurora chuckled as James turned his head to frown at Kendall. He snapped almost instantly, "Yes."

"Guys," Kelly said in an ecstatic tone, making her way back over to the group with a woman next to her. Two agents also trailed behind them. Kelly continued, "Say hi to Nicole Scherzinger from The Pussycat Dolls."

The group looked away from the poster for a second to glance at the woman, not really taking in what Kelly had said. Once they realized who she was, they each did a double take and walked up to Kelly and Nicole with speed.

They laughed in shock and astonishment. Just a couple of days ago they were watching her on a television screen, and now they were standing a yard away from her.

Nicole laughed at their reactions to her. She greeted, "Hey, guys. What's up?"

Aurora and her friends had no idea what to say to the celebrity standing in front of them. Aurora and Carlos both had their jaws dropped while the rest of the boys had goofy smiled splattered across their faces. They each stood silent.

Kelly continued to smile and Nicole cocked up an eyebrow, waiting to the group to respond.

Spitting out the first thing that popped into his head, Carlos broke the silence with swift, "He's gonna marry you!" The boy pointed to James.

Kelly let out a soft laugh. Nicole raised both of her eyebrows this time and placed a hand on her hip. She spoke to James, "Where's my ring?" She deadpanned playfully and dropped her head.

James' eyes widened vaguely. "I...I...I...I...I—" He stuttered at a fast pace, completely lost for words.

Aurora covered James' mouth with her hand and Kendall placed his over James' chest. They gave Nicole sweet smiles before Kendall cut in and explained, "We're recording some demos with Gustavo." He laughed, Carlos doing the same.

Nicole's smile faltered and she nodded, "Gustavo." She spoke as if she were unimpressed with the boy's words. The look on Nicole's face did not go unnoticed by Logan, Kendall, or Aurora. Their faces mirrored Nicole's previous frown.

"Yeah." Kendall confirmed with his eyes narrowed.

Aurora cocked her head to a side and asked, "Have you worked with him before?"

Nicole took in a short sharp breath before replying. "Yes, actually on my first album." She confessed. "Let's just say we had some..."

Nicole turned her head over to Kelly who gave her an almost witty smile. Nicole continued to the teens with a smile and a scrunched up nose, "...creative differences."

"Nicole!"

Gustavo opened the black door to his office suddenly, noticing that Nicole was there. The woman whipped around to face him.

"Baby!" Gustavo held out his arms in a welcoming gesture.

Nicole, however, did not return the happy gesture. She searched around for the nearest object she could find. Once her eyes landed on a telephone, she picked it up and threw it towards the man without a moment of hesitation.

Gustavo gasped, "Ohh!" He shut his office door closed before the telephone could hit him. Before it crashed into the door and landed on the floor, Kelly covered her ears. Her and the group of teens cringed at the sight.

Kendall turned to his friends to make sure that they had all just witnessed the same thing. They gave each other bewildered looks, and Aurora practically mumbled, "Those must have been some creative differences."

Nicole whipped back around to face the group with an innocent smile. "Good luck, guys." The woman wished before walking down the hallway the group entered from. Her two agents followed behind her.

Aurora and her friends watched Nicole walk away in shock and awe. Kendall's brows were pulled together. "Sh-sh-she, wait, she..." He stuttered and questioned, unable to fully comprehend what just happened.

James and Carlos had dreamy looks on their faces, but James was worse. The two of them waved Nicole goodbye although she was not facing them. James practically moaned as he continued to swoon over Nicole. Aurora noticed and gently nudged her elbow into her friend's side.

Gustavo opened his office door once again, this time scanning the area for Nicole. Seeing that the woman was out of sight, Kelly announced, "All clear!"

Gustavo fixed his gray hoodie and walked out of his office as if nothing had happened. He closed the door behind him. "Okay," He spoke aloud, causing the group of five to swiftly turn around to face him. Carlos put on his helmet in preparation.

"So," Gustavo continued pleasantly and with a shrug, "You guys ready to be stars?"

The group of five looked at each other with excitement. The four boys replied, "Yeah!"

Gustavo spat with his normal hostile voice, "Good." He grabbed and removed Carlos' helmet from off of his head, and Carlos sent a frown in his direction. Gustavo glared at the group as he went on, "Then prove to me you can be stars."

The group frowned. They almost forgot for a second that Gustavo was not actually a very warming person.

The man held up three fingers. "We have three days to prove to this record company that there's something, anything here." He looked at the group with a hint of disgust.

Aurora glanced around at her friends to see that they were just as bewildered as she was, including Kelly. Their contracts stated that the boys had three months to record demos and get the band together, not three days. That was obviously a much shorter amount of time.

"Uh, I'm sorry, three days?" Aurora's eyes narrowed to slits, "I thought you guys said it would take three months?" Her friends nodded at her question.

Gustavo barked back, "Uh, the CEO of all of our butts wants to see you guys on Friday."

Logan chewed on his lip as his brows knitted. He spoke up with worry, "We have to be a band in three days?"

"No," Gustavo dismissed. "You have to be a great band in three days."

James and Aurora both let out dry scoffs. Logan's lips were pressed together, while a look of distress began to appear on Carlos' face. Kendall simply shook his head.

Gustavo cocked his head up a little after seeing the group's reaction. "Unless, you don't think that you can do it," His brows pulled together underneath his red glasses. He took a step towards Kendall. He spoke, "Mr. 'Make Us A Pop Group.'"

Kendall tilted his head back slightly with pride in himself and his friends. He spoke unconcerned, "Oh, we can do it. No problem." He stepped forward and almost taunted, "Bring it."

Gustavo stepped even closer to Kendall. His voice deepened, "Oh, I will bring it." He bantered back, his face so close to Kendall's that the boy could feel his breath on his face. "I'll bring everything I got." Gustavo carried on.

Kendall blinked and looked Gustavo up and down. He would have continued their banter if he was not standing so close to the man.

"This is a little too close for me." Kendall pointed out.

Gustavo agreed right before walking away, "Yeah, me too."

After introducing his team to the teenagers and explaining the necessities of being a great pop group, Gustavo instructed the boys to change in order to start their first task in boot camp, the great dancing.

The group was now in one of the dance studios in the building. The walls in the room were painted red and gray, and one wall had a couple of mirrors in front of it. The wall across from it had a large black curtain covering it, and the boys were currently standing in front of it while facing the mirror. Just like in the hallway, there were a couple of posters hanging in the studio. There were ballet bars around the room as well as a stereo speaker.

Gustavo, Kelly, Aurora and the band's dance choreographer stood across from the four boys who stood in a straight line. The boys were now each wearing comfortable clothes for them to dance in.

Gustavo began, "Mr. X has choreographed for Boyquake, Boyz in the attic, Madonna, Beyonce, and Yo Gabba Gabba."

Mr. X did a special dance move for every artist or band mentioned, which made a few of the teenagers in the room smile. Kendall's smile was the biggest, him looking like a five year old who had just won a goldfish at a carnival. Aurora and James were smiling too, but Logan and Carlos both gave each other confused looks.

Mr. X was wearing all black. He had on a sleeveless black button down shirt and black pants to match. He wore yellow and black mixed-matched sweatbands on his wrists. He had on black glasses similar to Gustavo's, and he wore a gold headband.

"And now," Mr. X started as he walked up to the boys. He stood directly in front of Carlos and spoke, "I will make you x-plode with the dance."

Mr. X made an 'x' with his arms. Carlos, in fear of 'x-ploding,' quickly turned to Logan before putting on his helmet.

Mr. X dramatically lifted up his leg before heading back over to his original spot next to Gustavo. He looked at the boys and stated, "We will start with an x-amination."

Gustavo folded his arms as he practically glared at the boys. Aurora held onto the straps of her backpack. Kelly opened up her folder and began to write something down.

"Cross leg, spin, pose." Mr. X instructed, right before demonstrating exactly what he said. He motioned for the boys to repeat the step.

Kendall and James shared a look before shrugging and doing the step. Carlos and Logan shared the same look, but did the step about a beat behind their two other friends. Kendall managed to do the step with ease and almost perfectly. James was not bad, but he looked like he was trying too hard. Carlos did the move wildly and span around a little too fast, and Logan ended up hitting him right in the middle of his face with the back of his hand.

"Whoa!" Carlos exclaimed before he fell onto the floor.

Kelly let out a quick gasp before cringing and biting on her finger. Gustavo shook his head and face palmed.

Aurora gave a soft snort, "That was x-terrible."

Logan and James quickly helped Carlos get off of the floor. Logan and Kendall both gave reassuring smiles and James gave Carlos' helmet two taps. Carlos assured, "I'm good." He fixed his sleeveless hoodie.

Mr. X placed his hands on his hips and walked up to Kendall.

He pointed at him and commented, "He is great, but not serious."

Kendall dropped his head as he gave a sly smirk.

The rest of the boys straightened their postures, realizing that Mr. X was commenting on all of them. James held his head high and smiled proudly at himself.

Mr. X moved over to stand in front of James. He remarked with a snarl, "He is serious, but not great."

James' proud smile dropped into a frown and Mr. X moved on to Carlos, who's eyes were sparkling like an excited puppy.

Mr. X went on with a fake pout, "He lost a pet when he was young, and he is still sad."

Carlos' face changed. He pouted as well, "Sparky."

Logan raised his eyebrows and pressed his lips together as he waiting for Mr. X's comment on him.

The man took a step in front of the boy. He bluntly spat, "And he is just plain awful."

Logan took in a breath of air. "Yep." He chuckled sheepishly.

Mr. X made his way back to Gustavo. He made an 'x' with his arms and spoke a little softly, "They are x-cruciating and cannot be ready by Friday."

"I'll x-double your salary." Gustavo said plainly.

Mr. X did not hesitate to agree. He replied, "X-done." He rested his hands on his hips.

Gustavo spoke up, "All right, I'm gonna be back in one hour, and I wanna see dancers," He spoke in a harsh tone, "Not dogs."

Kelly closed her folder shut as she and Gustavo turned to face Aurora. Gustavo called out, "Aurora!"

The girl almost jumped and removed her gaze from the boys. She looked at Gustavo with slightly widened eyes. Gustavo snapped and pointed at the door. "Follow." He commanded, heading in that direction with Kelly right behind him.

Aurora looked back at her friends, who all gave her encouraging smiles. Kendall and Carlos both gave her two thumbs up. Aurora nibbled on her bottom lip before trailing behind Gustavo and Kelly.

The three of them did not go too far. They only passed a couple of rooms before Gustavo headed inside one. As usual, the walls were painted red. The room seemed to be a recording studio. There was a long black leather couch and music equipment, as well as a sound booth.

Once they were fully inside of the room, Kelly and Gustavo stopped walking and turned around to face Aurora. Kelly presented, "This is the studio. This is where the boys are going to be recording some of their songs." She grinned.

"Hopefully going to be recording some of their songs." Gustavo corrected her with elevated eyebrows. Kelly inclined her head to a side and gave him a plain expression.

Gustavo took a step forward. He stated, "Since Kendall says you're apparently quite the song writer, I want you to write their first song."

Aurora's lips parted in surprise. She should have seen this coming, since the reason she was currently in Los Angeles was because Kendall wanted her to be the band's songwriter. She chewed on the inside of her cheek as she nodded to the two adults.

Kelly spoke up and explained, "All of the other rooms at Rocque Records are currently occupied, so this is the only quiet space you'll have for now to write."

Aurora nodded once more.

Gustavo pressed his fingers together. "The song is going to be called Girl Time." He instructed in a commanding voice.

Aurora's brows were raised and curved. She bit her tongue in order to force herself not to laugh at what the man had said. She questioned, "Girl Time?"

"Yes." Gustavo replied.

The brunette wanted to give herself a face palm. She did not want to sound rude and criticize Gustavo's song title choice, but she most definitely did not want her friends to have an embarrassing name for their first song.

Aurora questioned with narrowed eyes, "Why do you always put the word 'girl' in your song titles?"

Without hesitation, Gustavo nearly shouted back, "Because I can, and because I want to."

Aurora shifted her gaze towards Kelly. The woman gave her an rictus grin, showing that she had not really enjoyed the name as well. She looked back at Gustavo.

"I mean, it was cool the first couple of times," Aurora testified, referring to the songs Gustavo has written in the past. "But, don't you think that it's getting a little...old?"

"I mean," Gustavo mirrored the girl's words. He spoke in a plain but obnoxious tone, "I could write the song myself and fire you, if that's what you want."

Aurora's eyes bugled open and she shook her hands as a decline. "No! No," She responded quickly. "Girl time is fine. I love it." She covered up.

Gustavo lifted his chin up. "Good." He carried on, "I want the lyrics to be about no matter what time of day it is, it's always girl time. The song needs to be romantic and extremely cheesy." He asserted.

"Sounds...great." Aurora gave a grimaced fake smile.

She fiddled with her fingers. Aurora only had three days to write a song that would decide whether or not the boys, Katie and Mrs. Knight would have to go back home to Minnesota. She only had three days to write a song that would decide whether or not she would have to go back home to her mother.

Gustavo directed, "I need this song to be done by four o'clock today, or else you're fired."

Well, make that two hours.

Aurora was dumbfounded at the words that came out of Gustavo's mouth. She blinked her eyes and had a gaping jaw. She leaned her head forward, "Come again?" She asked.

"The dogs only have three days to prepare before the CEO comes here to watch them perform," Gustavo continued carelessly, "Which means that I need this song, and I need it now."

Aurora pressed her fingers against her temple, already feeling the headache starting to form in her head.

"If you can't finish this song by your given deadline, that proves to me that you do not deserve a spot here at Rocque Records." Gustavo asserted with stern.

Kelly bit her lip.

Aurora moved her hand away from her face and clasped her hands together. "Fantastic." She remarked with sarcasm.

Gustavo started to head out of the studio, and Kelly followed behind him. The man began to conclude, "Kelly and I will be gone for an hour, so when I get back, I wanna see progress. Got it?" He pointed his index finger to Aurora.

Aurora hesitantly nodded her head. "Got it."

Gustavo stopped in his tracks right in front of the door. "And please..." He continued, "Don't touch anything. This stuff is expensive."

"Yes, sir." Aurora replied. Gustavo headed out of the studio, and Kelly sent Aurora a warming smile before walking out as well.

Once the two adults had left the room and shut the door, Aurora let out a heavy breath of air. She scanned the walls of the studio for a clock, wanting to keep track of her limited amount of time.

2:07

Aurora bit the nail of her thumb and sat down on the leather couch in the studio. She quickly took off her bag and flung her legs up on the seat. She unzipped her bag and removed her brown journal.

Aurora could not believe she was actually doing this. She had never even written a song before. She has written poems before, so writing a song should technically not be that much harder.

However, she only had two hours to do so. 

Aurora cracked her journal open and picked up the pencil that was inside. She licked her lips before titling the top of the page, 'Girl Time.'

"Romantic and cheesy." Aurora shut her eyes and exhaled slowly. "I can do this."

✧∘ଂ ࿐ ཾ

STARTED WRITING: July 15, 2019
PUBLISHED: October 31, 2019
WORD COUNT: 3374

this chapter is kinda boring to me omg

i'm SO SORRY I TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE AGAIN school is just annoying, and i've been busy on the weekends as well. today is halloween and i have the day off so i decided to take advantage of that.

here's a manip as an apology for taking so long to update this chapter lmao

^^ i made that like last summer because i was bored :)

anyways, i love you guyssss