Fifteen Minutes: A Novel (26 page)

Zack laughed, his humility very much part of his charm. “I don’t know about that.” He grinned at Zoey and the others, then back at Cullen. “Singing . . . well, it’s a gift. I can’t really take credit.”

Chandra’s heart dropped. Usually this was where Zack would’ve given credit to God. He would’ve talked about prayer or Jesus or faith or all of it. Not today. She noticed the change even if no one else did.

Cullen was still gushing. “Today the whole group was better
because of Zack. Zack and Zoey.” He turned to Zoey. “You love singing, don’t you?”

“I do.” Her cheeks were tanned from an afternoon performance at Central Park the day before. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.”

Cullen looked at Kelly. “I don’t think singing is all she loves.”

Chandra cut in before the conversation could turn to Zack and Zoey. “I agree with Cullen.” Chandra looked straight at him, through him. As if to keep him on track. This was about singing, not dating. Chandra held her hands in Zack’s direction and clapped a few times. “That was easily one of the best performances we’ve seen this season.”

“Maybe
the
best.” Kelly clapped, too. She smiled at Zack. “I still have a crush on you. But even more than that, Zack Dylan, Cullen’s right. You can saaang.” She looked at Chandra and then Cullen. “I’ll make the prediction right now. Unless someone steps up, you’re looking at the next winner of
Fifteen Minutes
.”

Cullen chuckled. “Get it together, Kelly. You’re forgetting Juliet over there.” He winked at Zoey. “Darling, if anyone can give Zack a run for his money on this show, you can.”

“Thank you.” Zoey grinned at the others in their group. “We all loved that song.”

“How’s the romance going, by the way?” Cullen straightened a stack of papers on the table before him and raised his eyebrows at Zack. “I heard people are hashtagging the two of you on Twitter.”

Chandra watched, her frustration simmering. Why couldn’t Cullen leave them alone?
Hold your ground, Zack . . . don’t give in.

“It hasn’t changed with us.” Zack reached out and took Zoey’s hand. “We’re good friends.”

“Yep, just friends.” Zoey smiled at Zack and then back at the judges. “No matter how it looks.”

Cullen’s laugh took on a sarcastic tone. “That’s what Romeo and Juliet told people, too.” He looked at Kelly. “What about Zoey Davis?”

“She’s stunning, of course.” Kelly turned her attention to Zoey. “Your tone was a little flat that time around. But I still see you in the top ten.”

“Thank you.” Zoey’s face grew red, probably a mix of nervousness and embarrassment.

“We’ll see about that.” Cullen picked up the contestant lists in front of him and straightened them. “America’s going to love you two.”

Zack leaned toward the mic. “The way we feel”—he looked at Zoey—“we’re just happy to be here. Our whole group feels that way.”

Chandra wanted to roll her eyes. No one was just happy to be here, no matter how often contestants repeated the phrase. She sat back in her seat and let her smile fade. Zack and Zoey were falling straight into the trap. They’d be a “couple” at the end of this season whether they wanted that or not. Reality wasn’t reality for the famous. Reality was whatever segment producers chose to air and whatever stories and photos were featured in magazines. It was whatever people chose to believe.

The judges made the obligatory comments about the other contestants, how they couldn’t compare to Zack and Zoey, how they needed to work on their diction or their style or their projection if they wanted to compete at the highest level of
Fifteen
Minutes
. The mostly discouraged group left the stage. Zack kept his arm around Zoey as they walked off, and again the camera followed every step.

Later there were no surprises when Zack’s group was called back onstage and three of the members were sent home. Only he and Zoey remained. The two of them hugged each of the departing singers and then Zack welcomed Zoey into his arms, swinging her around in what seemed like the most beautiful celebration.

As if Chandra had never warned him at all.

REESE COULDN’T TAKE
her eyes off Twitter.

That was how she knew before hearing from Zack that he’d made it through. He and Zoey. He must’ve sent out the tweet moments after hearing the news.

Fifteen Minutes
wasn’t like
American Idol
or other singing competitions, where they kept the news about who made it through a secret. The producers welcomed the masses to jump on social media and find out before the show aired who’d made the top twenty. There would still be millions surprised by the results, people who didn’t follow the show on Twitter or Facebook.

The contestants were free to talk about the results, though this show wouldn’t air for a few weeks. Zack had tweeted earlier about his group’s win.

Sad 2 say bye 2 some of the greatest singers ever. No group like ours! Congrats to @songleader!! Gotta represent! #TopTwenty #FifteenMinutes

And of course Zoey’s tweet in response.

Still breathless. Can’t believe me and @ZackDylan are through!! This is going to be fun! #TopTwenty #FifteenMinutes

Reese read the tweets three times over that Sunday afternoon before closing out of Twitter. That was that, right? Zack had been busier than ever and his photo showed up every day on Yahoo!. The camera loved him, that’s what reporters said. Everyone had him pegged as one of the top two finishers. The guy with the Elvis good looks. The other half of Zack and Zoey—as if they were a couple.

Her Zack, the guy who had only wanted to live out his faith raising horses and helping his family and marrying her one day. The things Zack never talked about anymore. Reese had stopped by to visit Zack’s mother yesterday. The woman was worried, seeing the same changes in Zack that Reese was seeing.

“Sometimes I don’t feel like I know him anymore.” She sat across from Reese at the table on the family’s front porch. “I don’t know, maybe it’s going to his head.”

“I don’t think it’s that.” Reese defended him because she knew him. Even now she knew him. “He’s having fun. It’s a whirlwind, one public appearance after another. There’s barely any time to call home or even think about the people back in Kentucky. That’s all it is.”

Now Reese was in her parents’ barn, sitting at the top of a stack of hay bales. The only place far enough from the curious eyes of her parents. Everyone knew today was the day. Now that Zack had made it through, she had a decision to make.

The biggest one of her life.

She was about to call Ms. Coltrain when a text flashed on
her phone’s screen. Like always lately, Zack tweeted his three hundred thousand followers before reaching out to her. That was okay. The producers expected that from him. Reese had to understand. She had promised to support him. Whether he noticed or not.

A quick tap on her phone and his text appeared on the screen.
Baby, I made it! I’m in the top twenty! Can you believe it?

She held the phone with both hands and let her thumbs fly over the virtual keys.
I saw your tweet! Congratulations, Zack. I knew you’d make it. I’m so proud of you! You and Zoey from your group. And who else made it?
This wasn’t the time to talk about London or her own feelings. She had to make that decision apart from his success. She realized that now.

A minute passed and then two. Reese checked the
Fifteen Minutes
Facebook page. Sure enough, Zack had posted the news and already hundreds of girls had commented their approval. She checked the clock on her phone. Ten minutes. Wherever he was, whatever was happening around him, he was no longer able to text.

She would have to understand that, too. What choice did she have? This was what Zack had prayed for, what he wanted. The show had become his all-consuming passion. She could tell from his tone and see it in his eyes during interviews.
God, give me wisdom. I feel like You’re leading me to London, like that’s where You want me to be. Where I can make a difference.

Even as she prayed she felt the Lord approving, giving her the green light. A thrill of excitement began to build in her. Moving to London for a year wouldn’t be the end of her and Zack. He’d be busy touring and working on his album, after all. A year was nothing. Maybe when she came back home he’d have time to talk. Maybe they’d still have something between them.

She checked the time. It was nearly nine o’clock at night in London. Reasonable enough. She dialed Ms. Coltrain’s number and waited as the phone began to ring.

“Hello?” The connection was clearer than before. “Reese?” The woman sounded enthusiastic. It was a good sign.

“Yes, ma’am.” Reese realized she was smiling. For the first time in a long time she was smiling from the inside out. “I’ve made up my mind about your offer. I’d love to move to London and work with your instructors.”

On the other end of the line, Ms. Coltrain shrieked. “Really? You don’t know what this means to us!”

Reese’s heart swelled. She was good at what she did. She would go to London and make a difference, and along the way she’d be too busy to think about Zack and his run on
Fifteen Minutes
and the hundreds of thousands of girls who followed his every move. Too busy to worry about what Zoey was saying on Twitter. The break would be good for her.

Ms. Coltrain was talking about how the dates had been changed some. “The best time to come would actually be September. Say the first or second week.”

That would give her more time to wrap things up with her current students. “That’ll be perfect.”

They discussed a few more details, and in very little time the plan was set. Reese hung up and slid down the stack of hay bales. Tears blurred her vision, and she blinked them back. This wasn’t how she had imagined the year. The plans she and Zack used to have were so different from the ones playing out.

She stared at her phone. Nothing. No response. She clicked her phone off.
No crying,
she told herself. Not for herself or for how much she missed Zack or for how uncertain things were between
them. She had no time for tears. A year in London lay just ahead. She could hardly wait to tell her parents the news. Never mind what Zack was doing right now or why he was too busy for her. Her future was suddenly filled with adventure and excitement.

She was moving to London!

S
omething inside Kelly Morgan was changing. She could feel it deep inside.

Somewhere at the center of her heart a softening was happening, whether she liked it or not. She noticed it in quiet times as she watched the top twenty practice their choreography for group numbers or when she and the other judges sorted through music for the live shows.

Usually it started with a memory.

She would see herself at seven years, playing catch with her dad in the backyard. Other girls played with dolls; Kelly played catch. Back then she thought she would pitch for the Yankees one day. Her dad humored her, telling her she could do whatever she set her mind to. Then the image would change. She would be twelve, pigtails and braces and sitting in the front row at church while her dad practiced his sermon.
He’s the greatest man in the world,
she would tell herself. And when he finished he
would take her by the hand and they’d go to Della’s Diner for chocolate shakes. “Extra sprinkles,” he’d tell the guy behind the counter. “Give my girl extra sprinkles.”

Sometimes she’d be older when the memory started up out of nowhere. Seventeen and behind the wheel for the first time, her dad there beside her. “You can do it, baby girl. You’re gonna be the best driver in Greenville.”

When she took out the family’s mailbox that year, her dad only blinked a few times and smiled at her. “We needed a new one, anyway.” The memory would put down roots and she’d close her eyes for a few seconds, feigning weariness so the other judges wouldn’t ask what she was thinking about. In the darkness another image sometimes took shape. She and Cal, holding hands and singing songs to God by Steven Curtis Chapman and Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith. Songs that still played in her mind if she let them.

Kelly tried to stay busy so she could find shelter from her memories.

She talked more to the contestants. They were a mess by now. A few of them had marriages in trouble and others were starting to crack under the pressure. They cried more often. Forgot to eat. Kelly found herself wanting to be there for them. But the contestant she talked to most often was Zack Dylan. The guy always seemed to be around, and every time their eyes met Kelly was struck by him. Yes, he was good-looking—though her early infatuation over him was more of a joke. Her way of making an impact as a judge. Now, though, she knew Zack. She had talked to him about his family and the horse farm, his sick sister and his longing for Kentucky. His love for God and his girlfriend. At this point in the show, Kelly could no longer lie to herself about what drew her to Zack Dylan.

It was his clear-eyed, full-hearted faith. A faith he talked about less than before, but one she recognized all the same. Because she’d seen it all her life growing up.