ChapterEight-The Judges' Houses

August 24th, 2008

  It's now August, and it's the final round on The X Factor before the live shows: The judges' houses. There were four categories; the groups, boys, girls, and over 25s. Each group had a mentor, and for the groups, they had to go to Castle Leslie in Ireland.

  7th Anthem were staying at a hotel with the other groups, including JLS. 7A were in their suite, resting up from a flight from London. In addition to that, it was the night before they meet their mentor.

  It was evening, and Amanda need to talk to someone. So she approached Libby, and asked, " Can I talk to you, like, privately?"

   Libby agreed, and the two girls went to the lobby of the hotel. Libby asked, "So, what it is?"

  Amanda said, "I'm in a really f*cked up situation. I really like Aston, and we've been on a few dates. But at the same time, I'm dating both Andrew and Justin, who have girlfriends. I would rather be with Aston, but I can't seem to shake off my two secret boyfriends. Andrew has been really sweet to me. He was willing to give me a real second chance. As for Justin, I have a feeling he's secretly a bad boy cuz he would never pull this kind of shit. He's supposed to be this nice, British, blonde guy, not some Andrew clone. I'm actually turned on. What should I do? The situation is so bad that I'm getting dreams of me, Andrew, and Justin having a threesome while breaking Aston's heart."

  By now Libby was aware of this love mess. Andrew and Justin confided to Trevor about this since Andrew couldn't know about Justin's relationship with Amanda. At the same time, Amanda told Libby everything. Both Libby and Trevor told each other this drama.

   Libby replied, "Ew, I hope it doesn't come to that."

   Amanda glared at her, saying, "What? You didn't do that?"

   "I may have been the school's slut, but I never did anything that extreme."

   "Yeah, well the dream starts with-"

   Libby said in a disgusted tone, "Spare me the details. Look, you really need to dump Andrew and Justin. I get that Andrew is sweet to you. You know he's a romantic towards girls, but he also tends to cheat on them. I should know. I caught him cheating on me with Alyson, and he also cheated on you with several cheerleaders. And no, I never told Andrew since I was cheating on him at that same time. Justin, on the other hand, is unpredictable. He's really nice, but he doesn't talk much about himself. Go with Aston, even though his boy band is our competition.

   With that, Amanda started to think about her decisions.

 It's the next day, and 7th Anthem were surrounded by five other groups, including JLS. They all arrived at a mansion. The 7A members talked amongst themselves as they waited for their mentor to come out.

  Andrew said, "I hope got Simon Cowell."

  Bailey said, "Cheryl Cole would be great for us. She's in a band, and we toured with Girls Aloud last year."

  Alyson chimed in, "Whoever we get, I'm sure they'll love working with us. The judges loved us during the boot camp round."

  Then their mentor came out of the house. It was Louis Walsh. Everyone was excited, including 7A. Louis said to the groups, "I'm glad to have you all. Here is someone who will help me make a decision."

  A man came out of the house. Louis introduced him, "This is Shane Filan of Westlife. He'll be helping me pick the three groups. So, let's get started."

  Then the groups entered the house. Amanda took Andrew aside to talk to him. He asked her, "What is it?"

  Amanda explained, "I know this is bad timing, but I'll make this quick. It's over between us. I'm dating Aston, who's single. Trust me, I checked. You go be with Alyson. You've never cheated on her, but you are a player. Whatever you do, don't do this again."

  Then she walked away, leaving Andrew stunned. He knew she was dating Aston, and he expected her to dump Andrew. What he didn't know was that Justin was also dating her.

  Amanda walked up to Justin, and dragged him to a private room. Feeling intrigued, Justin asked seductively, "So, you want to get it on whilst everyone's here?"

  Just as he was about to kiss her, Amanda pushed him away. She told him sternly, "I'm dating Aston now. It's over between us. Besides, you need to be honest with yourself. Are you the good, English guy, or the bad boy?"

  With that, Amanda left the room. Justin stood there, thinking to himself, You don't know who I really am, do you?

   At the same time, the six guys in the boys category were heading to a mansion in Barbados. One of the guys was Ethan. Yes, he actually made it to the judges' houses, despite not being the best singer and dancer. Yet, apparently he was good enough.

  When the guys arrived, Ethan told one of guys, Liam Payne, "Simon Cowell should be our mentor."

   Liam asked, "Why do you say that?"

   "Because I want to win," Ethan replied coldly. With that, Liam backed away.

   Just then, the boys' mentor came out of the mansion. It was Simon Cowell. The guys cheered, and so did Ethan. He thought to himself, I figured out how this show works. I'll make sure Simon will get into the live shows.

  Back at Ireland, two groups have performed, and now it's 7A's turn. They faced Louis and Shane as they performed 4 Minutes by Madonna and Justin Timberlake. Each member had a part in the song, and they gave slick dance moves, choreographed by none other than Andrew.

  After they were finished, they gave their "thanks," and left the room. Shane said to Louis, "They're really good, almost too good."

  Louis said, "They said they used to be signed under a major label, and under an old name. I've looked into their history, and they've done quite well. They've released a couple of albums, opened for Girls Aloud, and they even released a single in the UK."

   "So why weren't they picked up by another label in the US?"

   "I did more research. They apparently had two images in two parts of the world. They were very kid-friendly in North America, whilst in Eastern Europe, they were near pornographic. I also saw a couple of YouTube videos of them performing in nightclubs in America under different aliases. I came to this conclusion: They were being treated unfairly by their previous management. They were forced to do this ridiculous two-image concept, but they couldn't speak out against it. So they resorted to perform at nightclubs to get their message out. That might be why they were dropped from their old label, and couldn't land another one."

   Shane thought for a moment, and then he asked, "Would it be fair to let 7th Anthem go through the competition? They're good enough to be signed right now."

   Louis then thought about that suggestion. Should 7A go to live shows, or eliminate them and sign them?

  Around the same time in Barbados, after three guys performed in front of Simon and his guest judge Sinitta, it was Ethan's turned. He sang a UTurn/7th Anthem song, No/Yes. His singing had gotten better, but he was still not as strong as Andrew, Justin, and Trevor. He didn't do much dancing.

  When he finished, he walked away with an air of arrogance. Sinitta told Simon, "I don't like his attitude."

  Simon said, "I don't get why 7th Anthem had him as a member. He's arrogant, he doesn't have much stage presence, and he's voice is weak."

   Back in Ireland, it was the next day. The groups returned to Louis' house. 7A, along with JLS and other groups, waited in one of the rooms. Everyone was nervous. They all wanted to go to the live shows, but only three bands can go through.

  Alyson told the members, "This is it, guys. We'll either go to the live shows, or our future will be hanging in the balance. But no matter what happens, we have each other."

  Just then the director call for one of the groups. After several, this group came out, cheering. They made the live shows, and the five remaining groups became more nervous.

  After two rejected bands, JLS went off to see Louis. After several minutes, JLS were cheering as they made the live shows. 7A went from nervous to scared. Andrew and Alyson held each others' hands tightly, and so did Bailstin and Trebby (Trevor/Libby).

  Amanda walked up to Aston, and said to him, "No matter what happens, Aston, 7th Anthem will support you and JLS as much as we can."

  Aston hugged her tightly. Then before they knew it, 7A was called in. The band walked over to another room, where Louis was waiting for them. They never felt so scared for the band in a while.

  Louis greeted them, and said, "7th Anthem is really good. Almost too good actually for this competition. If this were to end now, I'll be willing to sign you right here, right now. If you continue, I'll help you grow into the group you're meant to be. You'll regain a new identity, a new sound, a new look, and a new reputation. So what will it be?"

  After several agonizing seconds, Louis smiled as he said, "You are in through to the live shows."

  7A couldn't believe what they heard. They were going to the live shows! They filled with joy, shock, and excitement. Even the girls started to cry.

   Alyson told Louis while trying to hold back her tears, "Thank you so much, Louis!"

 Then the 7A members ran to another room. They were sent there so the remaining groups wouldn't know who were being chosen.

  When they entered, Andrew and Alyson kissed passionately. Amanda smiled, seeing how Andrew was staying close to his actual girlfriend.

   Andrew said to Alyson, "We're close to having a comeback."

   Alyson asked, "Are you crying?"

  Andrew bit his lip as he tried to hold back his tears. She reassured him, "I've seen you cry. It's okay."

  They hugged each other. Then Justin asked, "Did Louis just say he would sign us if he didn't let us through the live shows?"

  Alyson replied, "That's true, he did offer that."

  Andrew said, "Either way, our comeback is in full swing."

  And he was right. 7th Anthem were now on their path to winning a British fan-base while fighting for a 1 million pound recording contract. So things are looking up...or are they?