Chapter 10

Lila's POV:

"I have to run away?" I repeated out loud. "Why?" Tessa facepalmed herself.

"You're seriously asking me that? Mom can't find out. Can't you remember what she did to you when she found out you were keeping some of the money you earned. It's going to be even worse if she finds out you pulled a stunt like this."

That's true. "B-but…"

"No buts. You're going to pack all your things, both big and small and leave right now!"

"What about you?"

"Oh, I'll be fine. I'm thirteen, remember?" Tessa replied. I didn't know when I went over to hug her.

"Thank you so much! I can't thank you enough." I said as I hugged her, tears building in my eyes.

"No biggie." She replied, and I pulled away from the hug. Then she pulled my hands and directed me to my room.

"Come on! Let me help you pack your things." Tessa said as we walked in.

***

After a while, we were through with the packing. I heaved a sigh of relief as I stared lovingly as Tessa.

"Thank you for helping me." I said sincerely.

"You're welcome." She replied. Once again, I hugged her. We were still in the hug when someone pressed the doorbell. I looked at Tessa.

"Stay here, I'll go get it." Tessa said and left the room. I followed behind her. There was a man at the door and he was in a uniform.

"Is this the residence of Miss Lila Walker?" He asked gruffly.

"Yes?" Tessa replied.

"Well, I'm from Beamlights Entertainment. I'm here to pick her up."

What? I've even got someone that'll pick me up? This is amazing!

"Give us a moment, please." Tessa said, before closing the door.

"They're here. What are you waiting for? Take your things and leave!"

I quickly nodded and went to my room to pack my bags. Tessa helped me with some. As we got out, the attendant took it from us and put it in the car's trunk he brought. Then he opened the back seat for me. I was dumbfounded.

I slowly walked to the car but stopped, turning to Tessa. She was at the porch.

"I'll miss you."

"Me too. Go chase your dreams!" Tessa replied. I smiled out tears and walked into the car. As the car drove off, Tessa waved wildly. I waved back, cleaning my tears with the back of my hand.

***

Chad's POV:

Min ho and I were busy playing video games when Nico walked in with a phone in his hand.

"Guys, did you hear? They've selected the girls that have a shot in being the next beamer girl."

"They have?" Jayden repeated.

"Yep. Look at the list." He said and handed over his phone to Min ho. I dropped my game pad.

"Just twenty? Of all of them that came?"

"They have little time to waste." Jayden offered, while sipping his fruit juice.

"Boy, I sure hope they're pretty." Nico muttered. I looked at him.

"And if they aren't? What are you planning to do with that?" I asked.

"Must you know?" He shot back. Dean walked in with a towel around his neck. Looks like he just finished with the pool.

"Hey guys. What's up?"

"Nothing much. Just discussing." Min ho answered. Oh look, Lila's part of the girls."

"She is?" I said, as I collected the phone to check the list. Sure enough, she was there. That's good news.

"What's good news?" Nico asked me. Huh? Didn't realize I said that out loud.

"Um… Nothing." I replied. "Here, take your phone." I said and gave it to him. Nico gave me a weird look before collecting it. Whatever.

***

Lila's POV:

The driver took me to a completely different place that was under the Beamlights Entertainment. It wasn't the company that I first visited. As we drove in, I noticed other expensive cars there, too. There was a huge water fountain at the center of the building and beautiful flowers and trees were planted at every corner. I could even see pools in the place. It looked like paradise.

Of all girls that came for the audition, only twenty were chosen and only one will remain. I gulped. The driver soon parked at the entrance and stopped the car. I came out of the car as I stared at the building. The designs were astonishing. I've seen nothing like it. Cars parked behind mine and a girl would come out and go straight into the building. I'd better stop staring and go in as well.

I noticed the driver had brought out my luggage and put them beside me and was giving me a card.

"What's this?" I asked, as I collected it from him.

"Your access card," he replied.

"Oh…" I muttered as I stared at it. It was just like Conner's… Sorry Chad's own except it was blue and it had my name printed on it. I smiled as I remembered him.

"Excuse me." The driver said and got into the car, driving off. I picked up my luggage and walked into the building.

Woah! The interior was even more breathtaking than the exterior! The chandelier hanging from the ceiling could make anyone cry. Is this where I'll be staying till God knows when? I wondered. I looked around and saw the rest of the girls. We were almost complete, just remaining a few people as we stayed at the hall.

A woman in her mid-forties—not Mira—came in from one of the rooms.

"Line up please." She announced, and we all fell to a straight line, facing her.

"Congratulations girls for making to this point. As you all know, many are called, but few are chosen. You are among that few. But this is not the time to relent as you need to work even harder to prove you are eligible for the spot as a beamer girl member. I wish you all good luck."

"Thank you, ma'am," we all chorused.

"Though you are all contestants, for now you will live like teammates, each of you helping each other to move up the ladder. Anyone who isn't sufficient will be kicked out. Is that understood?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. I'll like to present to you your dance instructor. She'll also be foreseeing your activities in this place. Girls, meet Mira Kentucky." She announced, and we clapped.

It was the same woman Chad had introduced me to the first time I came and as expected, she looked as graceful as ever.

"Hello."

"Hi." We chorused together.

"It's so nice to meet our top twenty finalists. I hope you enjoy your stay here and prove to us you can be one of the Beamer girls. It's been a long day and am sure you are all tired, so we'll be sleeping early tonight. The real work will start very early tomorrow. Just like my colleague said, even though you're all contestants, for now see yourself as teammates. You will be directed to your dormitories now so you can all relax and freshen up. If you like, you can also come down for a late dinner or sleep early. Whichever one you chose. I leave you girls to yourselves now." She said and nodded.

"Thanks ma'am." We said, and she nodded and left. The rest of the girls immediately burst into chatter as they kept talking and taking pictures of themselves. I just kept staring around, feeling slightly out of place.

"Lila!" someone called, and I looked around. Wait, they already know my name?

"Over here Lila!" The person called again. I looked in the direction where the voice was coming from. It was Zoey! The girl I met at the auditions. She walked up towards me.

"Hi." I greeted, giving her a small wave.

"Oh my gosh, I can't believe it! You're also one of the chosen girls. I knew you could do it!" She said excitedly.

"Um… Thanks."

"You know my name, right?"

"Yeah… Zoey, isn't it?"

"Damn right!" she muttered, nodding. "Did you hear what they said? We're all going to share rooms. I wonder why though. This place looks big enough to house us individually."

"I guess that's why they said we should see each other as teammates for now."

"Oh right… Come on, let's go see whether we are going to be in the same room." She said as she dragged me along, I quickly picked my luggage. We got to a huge notice board, and I noticed we've all been grouped together a room.

"Zoey Martinez, Paige Carter, Jade Patterson, Lila Walker! We're in the same dorm!"

"Yeah… Great." I exclaimed, uninterested about everything.

"Where are we, anyway? Oh, room 3. Guess we better start looking for Room 3." she said and I nodded.

Checking the labels on the door, we eventually found the ones for our room. We slipped in our access card and the door opened. We walked in and once again I was wowed. Even though we were going to share a room, this was way bigger than Mrs. Stella's entire house!

Four beds were delicately placed in each corner. Each area looked like a mini room with a huge living area. The bathroom even looked like a Jacuzzi! Zoey hurriedly picked a bed and jumped on it, while I went to the one closest to me.

We waited a while for the rest of the girls, but they didn't show up.

"Why haven't they shown up yet?" Zoey wondered.

"I don't know."

"Didn't they read the part that says if they didn't show up today, they'll lose their chance of being in the training?"

"They might be held up, who knows? But they might definitely come." I offered.

"Hmm. Hey Lila, would you like to come down for some late dinner? You could also meet the rest of the girls."

"No thanks. I think I'll just stay here. I need to shower and do some pretty important stuff."

"Okay… I'll be going alone then." She stood up and walked towards me, giving me her phone.

"What's this for?" I asked as I collected it.

"Oh, sorry, that's my number. You can save it on your phone and call me if you need anything."

"Oh… Wasn't thinking in that direction," I said as I brought out my phone and saved the number. "Here, all done."

"Cool. See you tomorrow."

"You too, Zoey" she flashed me a smile and walked out of the room. I watched the door close and sighed. I was here. I stared at the jacuzzi like bathroom and I knew exactly what I wanted to do while I was alone here. Have a long warm soak. Maybe call Mr. Patrick later on and tell him I won't be coming to his club ever again. I hope last bit is true.

***

Chad's POV:

News had already circulated to the entire Beamlights Entertainment of the new trainees that had been recruited by the company. They've taken them to their temporary base, more like a school but for performing artists like them.

I knew where the place was and I had decided that I was going to visit there. Maybe I'll just keep it to myself this time so I don't get asked unnecessary questions by the rest of the boys.

Nico and Jayden were in their rooms, leaving only Min ho, Dean and I in the living room close to the pool. I checked the time and realized that by now all the girls would have probably arrived at the temporary base. Time to get going.

I picked up my phones and drank the remaining contents from my wine glass. Standing up, I wore my flip flops.

"Going somewhere?" Min ho asked, with his eyes glued to his phone.

"Um… Yeah. Just a quick trip, won't take long." I replied.

"Okay." He muttered and I left the place to my room. Changing to a new set of clothes and wearing a few accessories, I was ready. I covered up just in case, so it'll be harder for me to be recognized.

I got out of the penthouse and picked one of the many cars and drove out. Beamlights training base, here I come.

***

Mrs. Stella POV:

I arrived home feeling tired and starving. Dropping to the chair, I kicked off my shoes. Tessa came to meet me.

"Good evening mom. How was work?" She asked.

"Fine," I replied, cracking my knuckles.

"Let me go get you some water." She said as she scurried off the kitchen. Where's Lila? She is supposed to be in by now.

"Lila? Lila!" I called as Tessa returned with the cup of water. I took it and drank some contents. Then put it on the table.

"Tessa, where's Lila? She's supposed to be in by now."

"I don't know." came her reply.

"You don't know?" I gave Tessa a questioning gaze, but she just shrugged. Then I stood up and walked to her room. The sight I met shocked me. It was swept clean! Like no one lived in it. More shocked than surprised, I stormed to the parlor, where I met Tessa shuffling her feet.

"Tessa, where's Lila?" I asked, sternly.

"She left." Tessa simply said.

"She… LEFT!?"

***

Lila's POV:

After a very long soak in the bathtub, I finally came out and dried my body. I changed into fresh clothes and dried my hair. Since I didn't have any hair dryer and I couldn't possibly borrow one, I started combing it out. Super strenuous.

Eventually it dried a bit, and I packed it into a ponytail. Then took my phone and walked out the room, using my access card. I needed to call Sir Patrick and tell him I wouldn't be coming anymore. On my way out I met the rest of the girls in a large dining area eating, talking and a few were on their phones. Hmm, looks like we're almost complete.

I finally got to a quieter place to make the phone call. Just as I was about to click on the number someone called me.

"Um hello?" A voice said behind me. I held my phone and turned behind me. Oh… It was one of the workers in the base.

"Hi." I quietly said.

"Are you Lila Walker?" She asked.

"Yes."

"Please come with me." She said and gestured. I looked at her a bit and nodded.

"Okay." Then followed me. She took me through a hallway till we got out of the building and into a garden. It also had a fountain and was much closer to the pool.

"Please stay here. Someone would like to see you." She said and left.

Who is it? I wondered. Nobody knows I'm here… What if it's Mrs. Stella? Oh my gosh! I felt a little panicky, but I forced myself to calm down. I stayed there for a while until I heard footsteps approaching. I glanced over.

First things first, it wasn't Mrs. Stella. Good news. But since it was already nighttime and the person was all covered up, I also couldn't see the person's face either. The person walked over and stopped right in front of me.

"Hello Lila." The voice spoke, and my face lit up.

"Chad!"