The next day was the day we found out if Simon decided to put us through. He had to choose between us and an other band, with a couple of guys who were older than us. I hadn't seen them performing, and it was hard to tell if we had a chance against them, so I only prayed that we were better. But even if he didn't choose us, I would have completely understood, we were so young, especially me. I was only fifteen, and had never been to a vocal coach, had never been on stage, had never done anything with music before X Factor. I auditioned because I thought it would be a fun way to spend my time while waiting to turn sixteen, I didn't knew that everything will turn out like this. And from what I knew about the boys, they had the same inexperience as me, except Liam, who had auditioned previously, but didn't get through at the exact same stage that we were now. I didn't want to know how he would feel if we didn't get through, it would have been devastating for him, to fail for the second time.

And even though it was maybe the most nerve-wracking for Liam, he didn't show it. It was crazy how confident he seemed, in the past two weeks that I have known him, I had never seen him show any sign of nervousness. At the rehearsals, when we had to decide who will start the song, neither one of me, Niall, Harry or Zayn wanted to, Louis wasn't there too. When Liam saw that we were too scared to do it, he took the first verse, so we could get more comfortable and less nervous by the time our turn came. I wished that I could be more like him, but even if I tried, I know I wouldn't.

Me and the boys were waiting for Simon to call us in on the same bench we stood at the previous day, all of us were too nervous to talk. There were few words here and there, but a conversation wasn't the thing we were looking forward to.

My chest was tightening, making it a little bit hard to breathe, and I hoped that when we find out if we got through or not it will go away. The amount of stress for the past two weeks I experienced was abnormal, and I wasn't sure if I could take it anymore. First, the auditions, they were kind of fine but I was still nervous as heck. Second, Bootcamp, dancing and all, and I hated dancing with all my heart, something me and the boys had in common. Then I wasn't through, I was an absolute mess for a little bit. Then they called me on stage to tell me that I was supposed to be in a boy band, the craziest one of them all. Then I packed my things to go home, but instead I went on rehearsals for a week, hardly talking with the boys, which stressed me out even more. Then I attempted to leave again, but came back to perform in the last moment, I was probably the most confused and unsure person on the planet. They were super crazy two weeks, and if we didn't get through, I felt like I would just collapse right then and there.

"Cara?" I heard Harry calling my name, and when I turned to look at him I saw all the boys looking at me.

"Yeah?"

"Are you listening?" He said back, and it seemed like they were having a conversation, but I was too lost in my thoughts to listen.

"I was just thinking, sorry. What were you talking about?" I asked.

"When you left yesterday we were thinking about the name of the band. We came with a few, but they didn't quite fit, and in the end we came up with One Direction. What do you think?" Louis told me, and in that moment I realized that we didn't have a name all this time. The name was probably the last thing I thought about. But One Direction? What kind of name was that?

"Is there any meaning behind it or you just came with it like that?" I said, and it sounded a little bit rude, I didn't intend to sound like that, but when I heard it for the first time I really didn't like it.

"Well, when you think about it, if we get through, we are going to be going into only one direction. Up. That's kind of the meaning, but if you don't like it we can change it." He said, and I shook my head no. It was actually not a bad name when you know the meaning, and even if I didn't like it I wouldn't have came up with something better, creativity didn't come to me in that aspect, so One Direction was it.

"One Direction it is." I smiled and the boys smiled back. Well, looked like we were not the five guys and the one girl anymore. We were One Direction. A band that can go home at any moment now. Pretty sad, but true. Then I heard a staff member calling us, informing that Simon was ready for us, and for the countless time for these past weeks, I felt my hands shaking. Cameras were all around us, filming our every movement and step, and right at that moment I wished that I could break every single one. In my everyday life I was surrounded by cameras because of photoshoots, I was used to it and I didn't mind, but when you are being filmed for a reality show and they get every single reaction and movement, it was annoying.

I looked to the boys, they tried to seem cool and unbothered, but I could see right trough them, because I felt the exact way they did. They were just as nervous as I was, maybe even more, especially Niall, who was visibly panicking. We walked along the little stone path, and even though it was not that long, for me it seemed like we were walking for ages. The nerves got bigger and bigger as we got closer, and when we were in front of Simon, I was that panicked that I grabbed Zayn's and Niall's hands by impulse, gripping them thightly. They weren't taken by surprise, and it seemed like they needed it too, because they gripped my hands back just as tight. When I looked at the other boys I saw that they were holding their hands like us too, and I felt a little bit more calm that way, it almost felt like we were one.

"Hello, guys." Simon spoke up and we all said "hello" back. He paused for a moment and took a deep breath, signaling that the following part of his speech will be long and deep. "You understand why I did this in the first place, right?"

I think he was talking about putting us all in a band, and if I was a little bit more brave I would have said that I didn't understand, but I just stayed silent. We all nodded our heads, and he continued.

"It's because once we got through the Bootcamp stage, there were weaknesses, which is why we made the decision that it's better for all six of you to be together. To the point where it came like a disadvantage, because you didn't have the bonding time the other groups had, for one reason or another." He looked directly at me, maybe because of the fact that I almost left right before the performance. I felt uncomfortable and a tiny bit guilty, so I moved my eyes away from him and he continued. "On the more positive note, despite all of the difficulties you had, it worked surprisingly well. My head is saying that it's a risk, and my heart is saying that you deserve a shot, and that's why is difficult for me to decide. But I made a decision."

I felt my hands being crushed by Niall and Zayn, but I clenched theirs just as tight, I had too much adrenaline to feel anything anyway. I closed my eyes, praying that Simon decided to follow his heart. That was our moment, that was the time we were going to get our chance to show what we were capable of, Simon just had to give us the opportunity. After what felt like an infinity, Simon said the words we were waiting for.

"I'll go with my heart. You're through."

   Thank god.

I opened my eyes with the biggest smile I ever did in my life, the knot in my chest now gone. All of us started jumping and screaming from happiness, proudly embracing the moment. Then I was pulled in the tightest group hug, my body almost crushed by the force of the boys. We stayed like that for a few moments, and I didn't want to let go. That was it. We made it through. We were good.

Harry was the first one to pull apart from us, and went to hug Simon, and we went after him. We all hugged him, and when we all pulled apart, I looked at the boys. Their eyes shined with happiness, their smile was the most genuine I had ever saw, they were truly proud, and I was happy that I could share that important moment with them. A moment I wouldn't trade for the world.

"Thank you, Simon, thank you so much, really..." I said to Simon, and he nodded, smiling at us. That was not the end for us. We could go to the Live Shows. We got our shot, and we couldn't lose it, no matter what.

___________________________________

A.N.:

Hi guyss, sorry for the short chapter, the next ones will be longer.

What do you think about Cara this far? Do you like her?

What about the boys? Do you think her and boys will make it work soon?

  What do you want to see in the next chapters?

Don't forget to follow me, that way you can find out when are the chapters going to be posted.

  Love,
Marie-Anne