Choosing America's Next Superstar (24 page)

Jimmy grinned and then bit his lower lip. “Don’t tempt me.”

When the elevator door opened, Corey gasped. It was Reuben, standing on the other side of the door. Without a word, he stepped forward and walked right past them. Corey and Jimmy scurried into the cubicle and pressed the button for their floor.

“Weird,” Corey said. “He didn’t even look at us.”

“I wonder if he knows we turned him in.”

“Or if he thinks he’s just making me sweat,” Corey said. “Maybe he’s just waiting until he’s in the mood to use me again.”

“Well, that ain’t never gonna happen,” Jimmy said. “Unless it’s over my dead body.”

W
HEN
Corey awakened Wednesday morning, he felt as if a huge burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He’d made it through the night of competition and had faced Reuben for the first time. The world hadn’t come to an end. He felt very confident about his performance, and when he turned on the television set that morning, he started screaming.
The Today Show
was running a clip of his performance.

“What’s wrong?” Jimmy came running from the bedroom, wearing only his boxers, sleep still in his eyes.

“They’re showing us on TV!” Corey said.

“Oh…,” Jimmy said, “I thought it was something important.”

“Look! Now they’re showing you.”

The hosts of the talk show were discussing their favorite performances, and the consensus among them was that Reuben had been far too harsh on Jimmy. They all thought he was spectacular. They only showed a total of four clips, their top picks from the night, and both Corey and Jimmy were among them.

“Jimmy, we’re celebrities now. We made it on
The Today Show
.”

Jimmy turned around and stumbled back into the bedroom. “Congratulations,” he muttered as he slipped back into bed. Corey barely noticed Jimmy’s lack of enthusiasm. After finishing his cup of coffee and surfing the channels to see if there was any other news about the show, he slipped back into the bedroom himself.

Very carefully he pulled up a corner of the bed coverings and crawled between the sheets, positioning himself so that he had full access to Jimmy’s midsection. When he fished inside the fly of Jimmy’s boxer, unwrapping the prize inside, Jimmy moaned and rolled over onto his back.

“Jimmy Sawyer, you party pooper, you’re gonna have to work on being a better morning person. Maybe I just need to give you something to smile about.” He then wrapped his mouth around Jimmy’s throbbing morning wood and didn’t come up for air until Jimmy was writhing on the mattress and bucking his hips.

When at last Corey threw back the covers and emerged to Jimmy’s smiling face, he knew he had accomplished his mission. “That’s better,” Corey said with a satisfied nod. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” Jimmy echoed, a broad grin on his face. “What was that for?”

“You were being grumpy,” Corey said, sprawling out across Jimmy’s chest. He nuzzled his face into Jimmy’s neck.

“Mmm, do you promise to do that every morning I’m a grouch?”

“I’ll do that anytime, anywhere you want it….”

He felt fingertips gliding gently up the sides of his torso. “Baby, I love you,” Jimmy whispered.

“I love you too, Jimmy Sawyer… my Superstar.”

It was an hour later that they finally climbed out of bed together.

“
W
HAT
’
S
going on out there?” Corey asked the desk clerk as he pointed to the front entrance. Security guards were stationed at the front door as a mob of onlookers crowded next to the building.

“You’re a celebrity now,” the young lady replied. “Those are all fans. They’re gathered outside hoping to see the
Superstar
contestants.”

“Really?” Corey gasped. “How will we get through that mob?”

“You’re going to have to plan everything from now on,” she explained. “If I were you, I wouldn’t count on being able to just take a casual stroll down the sidewalk. If you want to go somewhere, you’ll have to arrange transportation.”

“Ain’t that something?” Jimmy said, scratching his head. “We thought it’d be a relaxing day. We were just gonna go for a walk.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Sawyer,” the clerk said. “But if you’d like, I can call a cab or limousine for you.”

“You can call me Jimmy,” he said. “I think maybe we should just stay in for the day.”

“But this is our only day off,” Corey protested. The girls would be performing tonight, and all the focus was now upon them. That gave the male contestants a break for one day.

“We can go to the gym together,” Jimmy suggested. “Then we’ll have lunch and watch soap operas in our room this afternoon. We won’t even have to leave the hotel.”

Corey made a face. “You hate soap operas,” he pointed out.

“You two are real cute together,” the girl said. Corey looked at her nametag.

“Thanks, Katrina,” he said. “Did you watch the show last night?”

“Oh, yeah. You both were great.” She leaned slightly over the counter, lowering her voice. “And I voted for you both—ten times apiece.”

“Really?” Corey said. “That’s really sweet.”

“It’s cool how you two are such close friends. Is it hard? I mean, you’re competing against each other?”

“You’re not the first one to ask that,” Corey said. “But no, it’s not hard at all. It really doesn’t feel like we’re even in competition. We both want the other to do well.”

“Can I ask you something?” she said.

“Sure.”

“Are you two… ya know… um, a couple?”

Corey looked at Jimmy before answering. “We aren’t here to make any kind of statement. We’re just trying to win a contest.”

“Oh… I know, and I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be nosy. It’s just that my brother is gay. It would be so cool if a gay guy won the competition. It’d mean a lot to him, and to a lot of other people.”

“You tell your brother we’re just like him,” Jimmy said, his voice ringing with confidence. “Please, don’t broadcast it, though. Technically we’re all supposed to be virgins.”

“It’s in the contract,” Corey explained. “Romances of any kind are forbidden.”

Katrina started laughing. “That’s such bullcrap. There are all kinds of romances every year. People love that kind of stuff. But don’t worry, I won’t blow your cover. Just be careful, though. From now on, you won’t have much privacy. You don’t really have to worry about the hotel. We’re very strict about keeping the media and fans out unless they have permission. But once you walk out those front doors, you’re an open target.”

“Thanks, Katrina,” Corey said. “It’s great advice.”

“Can I ask one more thing?”

Corey smiled and nodded.

“Can I have your autographs?”

“
W
E
’
RE
gonna have to be careful,” Jimmy said. It was Thursday morning, and the boys were having breakfast together in Corey’s room.

“What do ya mean?”

“Well, we both know that Reuben wants to get rid of me, right?”

“Probably both of us,” Corey said, taking a bite of his toast.

“I don’t think so. He sees me as the instigator. I’m the one who challenged him, who kept him from you and who interfered with his involvement with Tristan. He voted against me when they chose the Top Twenty-four, and he’s always made nasty comments about my performances.”

“Okay, I see your point. But why’s that mean we have to be careful?”

“You know the rules, Corey. Contestants are not allowed to be romantically involved with each other.”

“But he already knows. I think everyone knows. How can they not?”

“That’s not the point. Everybody knows that gay people are everywhere, especially in the music industry. Officially, the policy is that they don’t discriminate. But even though they have this nonfraternization policy, they turn a blind eye to the straight couples. They have an image to maintain, though, and if a gay couple were exposed, they might not tolerate it.”

“So you think they might kick us out at this point? Don’t you see that as being a much bigger problem for them in the long run? If they kicked us out for being gay, the whole country would turn against them.”

“Well, probably not the whole country, but it would be a lot of really bad press. They wouldn’t kick us out for being gay. They’d say it was because we broke the rules. They’d call it a sex scandal.”

“That’s such a double standard,” Corey said. “They never kick out the straight couples who are in the tabloids every year.”

“And I really don’t think they’d want to do it to us either. I’m just sayin’ that it is something that Reuben could use against us if he chose to. I mean, if he wanted to get rid of me bad enough, he could bring us both down. I think that right now he’s very motivated to keep you in the competition. Corey, he wants you.”

“Then why hasn’t he contacted me?”

“I bet he will. It’s just a matter of time.”

“And then what? When I refuse him, maybe he will try to kick us out.”

“Let’s just hope that Devin’s able to convince the prosecutor to move quickly.”

C
OREY
had never been able to dress this nicely. He’d never purchased a pair of designer jeans or even an expensive pair of shoes. He prided himself on always looking fairly fashionable, but it was fashion on a budget. For the first time in his life, he was dressed to the nines. He stood there in the dressing room, examining his reflection. The sport coat alone probably cost as much as his mom’s secondhand car.

Well, this was it. The moment of truth had arrived, and he would find out for the first time what the American people thought of him. He’d been following his website, the one that the social-networking specialists had designed for him. It had gotten more than seven million hits since Tuesday. His fan page on Facebook had 300,000 followers. The only thing he didn’t know was how many of those fans would vote for him.

Standing backstage next to Jimmy, he couldn’t even hold his hand. The cameras were on them because the show was about to start. All the contestants smiled, many of them waving, as the camera panned the group. Suddenly the lights dimmed and the theme music started. Dylan Seagraves took the stage and delivered his trademark introduction. The first song of the evening was performed by a former
Superstar
winner. When she was finished, the twenty-four contestants were introduced.

“Tonight we’ll be announcing America’s Top Ten, and in addition, the judges will choose three wild-card picks.”

Corey stared out into the audience, noticing that many of the fans were holding up placards and posters declaring support for their favorite contestants. He saw a couple of signs with his own name and tried not to smile.

“Please dim the lights as I read the top ten,” Dylan went on.

Corey was glad that this part of the show presented quickly. He hated it when they drew it out into a long ordeal. Generally they tried to make it as dramatic as possible, and waited until the last five minutes of the show before delivering the final results. On this particular episode, though, they had to announce the top ten first, and then the drama came in with the selection of the wild card picks.

Corey’s knees nearly buckled when he heard Dylan call his name. He was the very first contestant chosen! He turned to Jimmy and grabbed hold of him, hugging him tightly.

“Congratulations,” Jimmy whispered in his ear. “I knew you’d make it.”

Corey was instructed to step over to the side of the stage and take a seat on one of the benches that had been set up. After seven more names were called, Corey was starting to sweat. There were only two more chances for Jimmy to be called. The seriousness of the situation suddenly hit him. What if Jimmy got voted off? How could he possibly go on without him? What would he do about Reuben, and how could he make it through the upcoming weeks on his own?

Most of the contestants had family members. If their families were not there in person, they at least were able to call home. Corey was pretty much on his own. Plus, he knew how much the competition meant to Jimmy. He knew how unselfishly Jimmy had lived his life. He’d done everything for his family, and his very motivation for being in the contest was to provide for his family and to make his brother proud.

“Elaina Covey, you are in the top ten!” Crap, that only left one slot. This was Jimmy’s last chance to be selected. If he didn’t make it, he’d have to earn a wild-card slot, and that was not likely—not with Reuben as one of the judges. The wild-card slots were chosen by unanimous vote. The four judges had to decide upon three contestants they all agreed deserved to move on.

“And America, your last top-ten contestant for this year’s
America’s Next Superstar
is… Jimmy Sawyer!”

Corey shot to his feet and began applauding. So did the rest of the auditorium. He could see the relief wash over Jimmy as he doubled over, burying his face in his hands. It was all Corey could do to avoid bursting into tears himself. As Jimmy headed over to the benches, Corey stepped out and hugged him, patting him hard on the back.

“I was so scared,” he whispered.

Jimmy looked at him and smiled, tears streaming down his red cheeks.

Chapter Fifteen