Elyssa Sparks' POV:

The next day, we arrive at the venue early, wanting to make the most of the time given to us, all three of us.

When we reach, only Nicola and Silvan are around, the latter very shocked that Em and I are this early.

He greets Lia, who smiles and shakes his hand.

Her phone then rings.

"Sorry, I'll be back..." she says and walks out to answer her phone.

She comes back and hands Em her phone saying, "Mom wants to talk to you..."

"Okay..." he says and takes her phone and walks away, talking on it.

"Wait, you know these two??" Silvan asks Lia, who nods with a smile.

"How do you know them?" asks Nicola.

"Well, I watch the show, and also, we're siblings, so-" Nicola cuts Lia off with, "Oh, she's the sister in Minnesota!"

Lia and I nod, and Em now comes back and hands Lia her phone.

"Thanks..." he says.

"No wonder you guys are all so talented! You have the same genes!" Silvan says, as Em, Lia and I laugh.

"Hello, beautiful girls!" Rina says as she walks in and hugs both Lia and me.

She high-fives Em, who flashes her a big smile, in response to which she exclaims, "Ooh, someone's happy today!"

Em just smiles wider at this. People start arriving and soon the room's filled...

Nicola, Silvan and Rina climb up on the stage and stare impatiently at the door. I stand in front of the stage, trying to locate Charlotte...

After what feels like a million years, Charlotte walks in, apologizing for being late. Silvan scowls at her and Nicola and Rina stare at her, trying not to yell at her.

She runs up onto the stage, but at the very last step trips and falls back, about to fall down hard when I catch her and steady her.

"Thank you, Elyssa!" she says, and this time around, she carefully walks up the stage and takes her place between Rina and Silvan.

"Let's start!" says Nicola.

Silvan says, "Let's welcome on stage the eighteen stars who are going to duet with you today!"

Rina starts, "Alessia Cara!"

It goes round and round until nearly everyone is on stage.

"Celestia Macen!" yells Charlotte.

Lia walks up onstage and stands next to Shawn Mendes, who's at one corner.

"And last, but not the least, Valerie Tyler! She isn't here right now, but she'll come in a little later..." says Nicola.

"Now that you're all acquainted, you can kick-start the day! Off you go, then!" says Silvan.

Everyone rushes to the chart again, well, everyone but Lia, Valerie Tyler (who isn't even here) and me...

I stand on the stage looking at the hordes of people, wondering if they're going to succeed in their performances when someone taps my shoulder. I turn around to see Jade.

"Well, could you swap with us? Nothing personal, just that, you know, you guys would be good together..." she says, motioning to Lia and me.

I think about it, and then nod. We step up to the chart and exchange.

"Hey you!" I say as I reach Lia, "Guess we're singing together, huh?"

"Yay!" Lia responds and claps, making me laugh.

"Well, then, let's get started, shall we?" she says, and I nod.

We go to a corner of the room and discuss for a while. All of a sudden, I spot Em, looking at us worriedly. I beckon him to come over, and he does.

"She's not here yet?" I ask, and he shakes his head.

"Ely, I'm so worried..."

I look at Lia for a second, and ask Em if he can swap with me.

"Why would you do that?" Em says, in response to which I just shrug.

I look to Lia, who nods, and then Em and Lia walk over to the band to discuss with them. I wait for sometime, and when she doesn't show up, I walk up to the judges, who are discussing something.

"Hey, could I talk to you for a second?" I ask no one in particular.

"Sure, what's up?" Nicola says casually.

"Is Valerie Tyler even showing up today?" I ask, exasperated.

"Wait, weren't you supposed to be singing with Shawn Mendes?" asks Rina.

"Yeah, but then Jade got me to swap with her, and it was Celestia, and then Emmett started freaking out, so I swapped with him, so, yeah, now it's Valerie..." I say.

"I'll check with her..." Rina says and whips out her phone.

She soon hands me her phone and I answer it.

"Hello, Elyssa?" a vaguely familiar voice comes from the other side.

"Yes, that's me..." I say.

"Look, I'm sorry, but I can't show up today!"

"Well, tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'll come; I'm sorry for today-"

"It's okay, I'll manage..."

"Well, what do you want to sing? You pick a song..."

"Umm, Maroon 5, maybe?"

"Sure! Which one?"

"Can we do like Animals, Maps or One More Night?"

"I'm fine with any of those..." she asks.

"Animals, then?" I ask.

"Great! Tell you what, I'll give you my number, you send me your idea, eh?"

"Sure!" I respond.

"Thank you for understanding, Elyssa... Sorry, I've got to go! Good luck, eh?" she cuts the call.

I hand Rina back her phone and thank her...

"All okay?" Nicola asks.

"Kinda..." I say and walk away.

At least I can work on my solo...

I walk out onto the balcony.

This is like a place where inspiration comes hunting me down!

I decide to sing some One Direction, so I pick 'Best Song Ever' and improvise on it...

Once I'm done, I walk up to the band and practice twice with them.

It comes together well, and then I ask them to play for 'Animals' tomorrow.

I give them a grateful smile and walk out, wandering across the hall and up and down the entire building aimlessly.

After I've roamed through the entire building for four times, Charlotte catches hold of me and asks me if I'm done with practice and I nod in response.

"Okay, good luck!" she says and leaves.

I watch the others practicing.

When I reach Kristen, Cole and Zöe working on their solo, Zöe looks at me with remorse writ large on her face. Cole notices and shakes his head at her, and she quickly composes herself.

"Sorry I'm bothering you..." I say and walk out.

Having nothing else to do, I plop down on a couch and stare out the window on the opposite wall, people randomly popping in my field of vision to say a few words and go back again.

After what feels like a million years, someone taps my shoulder.

It's Lia.

"Hey, Elyssa, look who's here!" she points to the door, where, wonder of wonders, Valerie Tyler's standing.

"Hey, Elyssa! I felt bad about not even showing up, so I finished up early and came here for a while!" she says.

I cannot believe my ears and eyes.

I jump up and just stare at her, until she says, "So, wanna practice?", to which I nod.

We walk up to the band and discuss some, and practice some more...

- - - - - - -

You might be wondering who the hell Valerie Tyler is...

Then, I should probably tell you this: a Valerie Tyler-centric story is coming up!

'Sparks' wasn't supposed to be published first, with me completing Valerie Tyler's story, and then this was supposed to be a spin-off of that, but looks like it's going to be the other way round!

I don't know exactly when I'm starting Valerie's story, but it's #SOON!

I'll notify you here when I'm starting that story...

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