CHAPTER 5

He nodded and made his way back over. I looked down getting my shaky nerves together before looking up and saying, "I want to say sorry."

He raised his eyebrow at me and I once again saw amusement in his eyes but I ignored it. I had to do this.

"You were right; I didn't know you and I judged you before I got to know you. I was also annoyed about some things and I took all my frustration out on you. I'm sorry."

He smiled a genuine smile and said, "It's alright Annie. I understand."

I grinned at him as relief flooded through me. I resisted he urge to hug him and instead put my hand in front of me, "My name's Annie Kennedy and I want to start over."

He grinned and shook me hand, "my name is Xavier Matthews and I like your hair."

I blushed but laughed it off. I said goodnight to him once I saw it was nearly midnight and ran back outside to my caravan. Rose and Lindsay were both fast asleep but I was wide awake before falling asleep some time before three.

Rose was given the impossible job of waking me up. I groaned and rolled over but was hit repeatedly with a rolled up magazine.

"Get up, get up, and get up. It's going to be a great day tonight!" I pushed her off me but heard a thump to the ground. I ignored it but Rose screamed, "You just pushed me off the bed!! You're going to pay bitch!" She said in sadistic voice.

Uh-oh.

I quickly climbed out of bed, carefully down the ladder and locked myself in the bathroom while she laughed evilly. Rose is an evil mastermind. One night we stayed up discussing plans to attack Lindsay. I had no idea what she could do to me. Instead of panicking I jumped into the shower and spent twenty minutes showering before realising I used all of the caravan's hot solar water.

Lindsay was going to kill me.

I got out and wrapped a towel around myself when realising I had to go out to get my clothes. I groaned and carefully unlocked the door and checking the perimeters before finding my suitcase and grabbing Joshua's old oversized jersey and my black leggings. I slipped my feet into white Rabens and walked outside. Rose was nowhere in sight and I was starting to worry.

I made my way to the dining room and instead of sitting next to Rose sneakily made my way over to Taliah and sat down. When I looked at Rose she gave me a sly grin and I gulped.

Elliot called everyone's attention and told us what the plan was for the week before eliminations this Sunday.

This week was the Athletic Challenge. It didn't have a huge impact but helped Xavier narrow down who goes home. This time next week only twenty five girls will still be here. The plan was pretty simple.

All we had to do over this week was play five different sports. We were placed into groups of ten and alternated between the five different sports. I was fortunately put in a group with Rose and Taliah and unfortunately Lindsay. Six other girls were in our group but they all sucked up to Lindsay. We were in group 5.

Today we were going to play soccer and netball. It was ironic because I hated netball but love soccer. Every girl was given a pair of Adidas soccer boots which we could keep along with shin pads and soccer socks. Adidas was a sponsor of the show, and one of Xavier's sponsors so clearly this was organised. We all went back to our caravan and dressed in shorts, fortunately I had brought my jogging shorts which were good enough unlike Lindsay who had was going to play in extremely short denim shorts, or which I liked to call denim undies, dundies for short. Her butt was hanging out and she wasn't even running yet.

We were against Group One and once we were on the field they game started. I played as a striker along with Rose who was pretty good. It was no surprise with those long legs of hers. We kept Lindsay as a midfielder as she was scared of getting hit by the ball. No way were we putting her as the goalie or defender.

Halfway through Xavier came over to watch us play and at the end of the game we had won, seven to two.

The rest of the week consisted of playing netball, softball, hockey and basketball. I probably had lost at least five kilos by Friday. My body was sore from all the exercising but I could tell it had an improvement.

Hopefully I could beat Lily in the fitness department when I got back home. It was two days before the eliminations and all the girls had free time. I think there were a few girls trying to sneak into the mansion and find his room but Jono had told me that he had gone to Japan for promotion on his most recent album. The girls' efforts had gone to waste.

Rose and I were in baggy track pants and tank tops. We had crept out of our caravan wanting to breathe clean air instead of the stuffy hairspray air thanks to Lindsay. We were sitting on the wharf and I had brought my guitar out. We were mucking around singing random songs. Rose's passions were acting and dance even though she had an incredible, maybe that was part of having African-American blood.

I was playing some random notes and Rose started dancing a made up ballet routine and laughing while at it. Unfortunately just before midnight a SS guard came up to us and politely told us we had to go back to the caravan.

It was Sunday morning and finally the amount of squeals and gossip from the other girls had died down. They were all tense as twenty five of us were going home. There were multiple stylists rushing around the place. Apparently the girls in the Top 25 got their own stylist.

Jo had dressed me in an original white Beatles Band shirt and a high waist leather skirt. She let me wear my old white High top Converses as she said it gave me my 'bad-girl' vibe. I have no idea where she thought I was a bad-girl from. My dark hair was straightened for a change and my blue almost purple eyes were coated in mascara and eye liner.

I saw Rose dressed into an elegant white dress with sleeves. Her hair was out and flowing in a curly mass and she got away with wearing baby green low cut converses. I saw Lindsay arguing with one of the stylist assigned to her. She was wearing a bright skin-tight sparkling pink dress while the stylist held a more modest baby pink dress which honestly would look great on her but now she just looked like a slut with her 8 inch high hot pink pumps.

I heard Rose chuckle next to me and I joined in. Jo looked over and saw what was happening and rolled her eyes but smirked. Jo was really nice and still very pretty. She had three kids at home with her husband but she spent her time making famous people look pretty.

We were ushered into a modified stage in the massive lounge room. Elliot stood on the circular platform with spotlights aimed on him and us girls sat to the sides, 25 on each side. I could see Xavier to the side talking to Jono as they discussed tonight's show. An assistant, the guys Rose was flirting with, held a tray of 25 white roses. I looked over at Lindsay who seemed to be smirking at Elliot. I looked back over and saw Elliot talking to a big guy who was in his middle ages. He was dressed in a suit and tie and screamed out rich. Looking between Lindsay and the man I saw the similarities and assumed that he was her dad.

But what was he doing?!

The theme song to the show started playing and Elliot introduced the show. It showed footage from the past week of us girls playing the sports.

Finally Elliot began the eliminations when Xavier came on stage with the assistant. We girls stood where we would and he would come around giving a rose to those who were eliminated. Some girls cried, others sobbed hysterically. I just didn't hold my breath.

When he got to my row I looked at him expectantly but he didn't glance at me at all. I saw he only had one rose left and was completely surprised when he handed it to a girl next to Rose.

He walked calmly backed to the stage as if he hadn't wrecked the dreams of twenty five girls. The cameras filmed when he gave each girl a hug as they left. Elliott then wrapped up the show but something he said caught my attention.

"Now this show's going to have a major twist!"

I saw that Xavier looked shocked as well.

"From now on, Xavier will not be choosing which girl he takes to the grand ball but you America will have the choice. You can text your choice in during the week to the number on the screen. Goodnight America!"

Jono called 'Cut!" and Elliott quickly walked off the stage to avoid the confused looks and questions thrown at him by the producers and girls. I looked at Xavier who was still standing there in shock. Then he looked annoyed and death glared the spot where Elliott used to stand. Finally he looked up and my eyes met his. He gave me a blank look before shrugging, still annoyed, and walked off stage.

Rose walked over to me and grinned, "We get to sleep in real bedrooms now, in our own rooms!"

I grinned remembering that the top 25 get to move into the mansion.

I went down to the caravan and got my suitcase out and guitar. I saw Lindsay struggling with her multiple bags full of who knows what. I made my way to the meeting room and saw the map. The girls would be spread among five levels, five girls on each level. I saw that I was on the fifth level, one below the attic or whatever was on the sixth level.

I found the fancy elevator with Rose and we arrived on our floor within seconds.

The floor was covered in royal red cover and the bars fencing the balcony were made of most likely real gold.

Against one side of the inside balcony there was a black baby grand piano opposite of my room.

My door had a pink star made of sparkled with my name written in gold cursive printed on. I grinned when I saw that Rose was my neighbour next door.

I opened my door and grinned when I saw my room. One whole wall was made of glass and overlooked the creek and the beautiful garden. The other wall were plain white and I knew I was going to stick posters and photos up. There was a double bed mattress on the floor against the window covered in a floral patch worked doona with many pillows. I had a desk against another wall with a half full bookshelf next to it and then to the other wall was a walk in wardrobe!

I put my guitar next to my desk and put my limited amount of clothing in the wardrobe. I plugged my laptop in and connected to the free Wi-Fi.

My fans on my Youtube page were asking for another video and I smiled when I saw their support. I also noticed that since I joined the show my amount of subscribers had gone up drastically.

Maybe I had to thank this show for something.

I saw a comment which made me roll my eyes at first but then I thought about it.

@ilovexavier: You should do a Xavier Matthews song while on the show!!

The comment had gotten quite a few likes and some other fans agreed. Although I didn't cover many pop artists at all I decided maybe I should give it a go. The only pop song I had covered was the Best Song Ever by One Direction and I had changed that completely and fans seemed to like it. (A/N: Video to the side is how she did it)

I searched up some of Xavier's songs on Youtube and found the one I thought I could change to something I liked best. It was one of his best sellers which were full of auto-tune and a lot of beats. There was an electric guitar in their somewhere hidden among the beats but it was your typical standard four-chord pop song.

After confirming the chords on Youtube I changed it from strumming to picking and added a few extra chords in to go with my voice. I changed the tempo of the song making it slower and dragged out and cut out a few lyrics while going over some a lot more.

Finally, I set up my tripod and Canon camera and sat on my bed so the window and view were in the background.

I recorded the intro as I always put up and intro up an hour before a song comes up explaining what song I'd be covering.

"Hey guys," I grinned waving at the camera, "As some of you may know I am on the show with The Xavier Matthews," I rolled my eyes, "Anyway despite my reluctance at first and rude intro to Xavier I'm having a lot more fun on the show with my new friend Rose. I'm still missing home but hopefully, in the end, this will be worth it."

I smiled again, "Some of you have asked for me to cover one of Xavier's songs since I'm on the show although it's not normally what I do I decided to do one! I changed it around though and stripped it back and hopefully, you guys will like it. The song I'm going to cover is Big Lights. I'll see you in an hour!"

I turned my camera off and plugged it in to edit the start and end bits out where I'm walking around the camera to turn it off and on.

I uploaded it and within twenty minutes I had gotten excited comments and likes. With fifty minutes to go, I recorded the song sitting on my bed with my semi-acoustic guitar.

I picked the first few notes on my guitar before singing in a slower tune.

Walking 'round

The city which never sleeps

Neon signs and headlights

As we take a wonder

'Round these big lights

I kept going skipping the first chorus to the second verse then I changed to strum my guitar and gently sung the chorus.

And these big lights

Flash and twinkle

And blind my eyes

As we take a wonder

'Round these big lights

I went to the third verse back to picking then to the chorus again. I repeated the chorus before I hit the bridge as an acapella. Closing my eyes I lost myself in the music.

And these big lights

Hide my face

Hide my eyes

And I lose my sight

Of what's ahead

And I try my best to see

But these big lights

Wash out all colours

Left to see

Finishing it up; I went back to the chorus strumming softly until I finished the song. Opening my eyes I grinned at the camera and gave it a small wave.

"Thanks guys for watching. I know it's not like the original but I hope you like it."

I stood up and turned off the camera and after editing it I uploaded it on the hour. I left it up and decided not to check the response until morning.

I was woken by knocking on my door and Rose barged in smirking.

"Can I have your autograph?!" She squealed at me and I looked at her confused. She rolled her eyes and shoved her iPad in my face. It was on Newspaper pap and I looked at the headline.

Search for Cinderella contestant, secretly a Youtube star, covers a Xavier Matthews Song!

I read the article as it talks about the past covers I've done and whether I'm doing it get more votes from America or not. It even mentions my rude introduction at the beginning with Xavier and I roll my eyes.

Rose looks at me and grins, "I watched all your videos and I'm now your number one fan!" I laugh at her.

"Thanks Rose, I just hope Elliott doesn't give me crap for this. I would have done a video anyway while I'm here, whether it was one of His songs or not."

"I know and it was much better than the original anyway," I smile at her and she leaves me to get change. I check the video response and see lots of people commenting 'better than the original' I see other critical feedback which I liked getting so I could improve. As long as it wasn't mean. One comment caught my eye and it said, "I love both versions so much but this version gave the original a deeper meaning, like Xavier's actually trying to say something; especially during the bridge."

And I had to agree with her. When I searched the lyrics I saw the bridge and thought he must be meaning something else besides the big lights in the city which never sleep.

I googled the song a bit more and found that it was the only song Xavier had written on the album as his dad, or his boss, had only limited one song by him to be put on the album. I was surprised as all the other songs were about hot girls, getting laid and stuff like that. It wasn't straight out but if you looked at the lyrics close enough you could tell it was.

I shrugged and changed into ripped light blue jeans, a red chequered flannelette shirt with three quarter rolled sleeves with a hood and my white converses. I braided my hair back and wiped my face with facial wipes not bothering with make up as Jo would do it for me later.

I made my way downstairs to breakfast and saw some girls still in their pyjamas including Rose. Some girls were dressed in tight showy dresses despite the morning chill.

I got my plate and got my breakfast of bacon and eggs with hot chocolate from the buffet table and sat with Rose and Taliah who were talking about dancing. I zoned in and out of the conversation when I heard cutlery cluttering down onto the table. I looked up and saw most of the girls in their pyjamas with no make up look pales as ghosts before sprinting up the stairs.

"What happened?" I asked Rose.

She smirked, "His highness has graced us with his presence." I looked to the side and of course there was Xavier with Jono, the camera guy. They were talking and holding their plates of breakfast.

He looked over to me and gave me a small smile which I returned remembering that we had started over.

I looked back over at my friends who didn't see the small exchange and were still discussing something about Pointe. I felt the chair beside me move and saw Jono sitting next to me and Xavier next to Taliah who blushed being the shy girls she was.

"Morning girls," Jono greeted us. We replied back and then we all started a highly intelligent discussion on abortion. I don't know how we got started on that but we all were pretty fired up with our beliefs.

Soon enough about ten girls came down the stairs with their neatly brushed and straightened, their make up perfect and their clothing somewhat decent although not appropriate for the weather. I mean Lindsay was once again wearing high waisted shorts, I mean dundies, and a white crop top. It was freezing!!

The girls rushed over to sit on the other side of Xavier and there was a loud commotion. The SS guards suddenly seemed a lot more alert. Lindsay was giving the three of us a death glare along with a bunch of other girls. I couldn't deal with the squealing surrounding me so I stood up with my empty plate.

I looked at Jono and Xavier as Rose and Taliah stood with me to, "I'll see you guys later," I muttered to them. Xavier gave me a strange look with his eyes but I ignored it and walked up to my bedroom. I snickered when I heard Taliah and Rose dissing the squealing girls, especially Lindsay.

We all went to my room to hang out and they helped me stick old CD's, photos and posters up on my wall, the one with the wardrobe. As it was my feature wall. At lunch time we went downstairs again and I was surprised to see Elliott as he never ate with us.

Once all the girls arrived he smiled at everyone and I saw that the cameras were recording.

"So, this week challenge will only be over one day and that will be on Thursday. Tomorrow though, we'll be doing something different to capture more footage of each girl individually. In small groups of less than four, we'll be going to the city district and going shopping!"

Girls actually squealed at this announcement. Some people are so materialistic.