Singing My Heart Out For Love

Introduction
Once upon a time there lived a girl named Cameron. She was a prodigy at golf and played at a nationally ranked level. Now, Cameron was a teenager; she was 16 years old. Her parents were protective but not strict. They believed in letting her experience the world on her own. But Cameron had her own dreams; she longed to dance and sing. Her parents saw her obvious talent but were insistent on her future to be golf. Her parent didn't know that the SN Company was looking for Korean American teens to start a new boy/girl group called Karma. The music directors were looking for one girl and three boys. Cameron knew if she tried out, her competition would be tremendously hard; three times harder than the boys. Auditions were coming to Texas and it was the last auditions available. This was Cameron's chance to make her dreams real.

The alarm clock rang; I hit snooze for the third time and rolled around in my bed. With a start I jumped up and flew out of bed. It was the day; the day that would determine my future as a musician. The SN Company was holding the last auditions available today at the Compel Music Conservatory and I had signed myself up. I put on sweats and made my hair into a messy ponytail; the day was about comfort not style. It had taken me forever to convince my parents to let me go.

I pulled into the conservatory's parking lot and the lot was jammed. Girls all over the area had arrived thinking they would make it into Karma. All three boys' spots were filled and only the girl needed to be selected. The music director seemed to have the hardest time finding the right girl because he had not decided from all 37 auditions. He needed a tough girl that could survive living and touring with boys, while being girly and sexy at the same time. I, Cameron, knew how to handle boys and look good at the same time. I had gotten many compliments on my looks from girls and boys alike. People always saw me as the pretty and accomplished one; most girls were envious of my wonderful life. Only if they knew how I had to always watch my back from manipulative and controlling people trying to take advantage of me; parents who thought only of golf and nothing else. My life was not easy, but everyone thought it was perfect.

I shut her car door and walked toward the doors. Behind me I heard a familiar voice. "Oh, here is little miss perfect. Cameron are you here too? I thought your parents wouldn't allow their precious daughter out of their sight. What happened, did you whine and they granted your every wish?" The voice belonged Brittany Walker; she was the most vile and evil bitch around in the area. I hated her ever since my ex-boyfriend was found in a passionate lip-lock with the snake.

"Oh hey Brittany! I thought they only wanted people with talent trying out. If I knew they would let you be here then I would have let my dog try out! You know he's just as talented as you are. Oh well since I do have talent I guess I'll be going in now. Bye bye!" I waltzed in leaving Brittany with her jaw hanging open. I called back just to annoy, "Close your mouth honey, it's really unattractive." Brittany just wanted to be me and I really didn't like her as a person. Everyone who was anyone knew that we used to be best friends in middle school, but people change over time. The check in desk was over in the corner and there was a swarm of girls waiting to prove what they got. Seeing all those girl finally made me realize that I was here and soon would be joining the girls all waiting for auditions to begin.

Cameron walked into the mass of girls and waited along with the rest of them. There were at least a couple hundred and most were stretching and getting into gear for their performance in front of the producers. Cameron recognized some faces of girls she had seen around the area but most faces were those of strangers. Slowly and tediously the auditions began to take place. Girls went in and came out again and again and again. The wait was horrible and most of the girls that came out were discouraged and disappointed. Almost all the girls were done and Cameron's turn was coming up. Cameron stood up to stretch and get into shape. She saw other girls eyeing her and checking out her routine. Cameron knew that the other girls would not be able to copy her routine since it was so complicated and intricate. Finally the assistant called Cameron to come into the auditorium.

I can do this, I thought. This will be a piece of cake; I can do this. I stood in the center of the stage and waited for the music cue. I can't hold on to this anymore, what I'm doing is changing me into the worse. Even though I want to I can't. If I tried I will fail~~just hold on tight and never let go. The music will come as soon as you're ready; the melody on your tongue...The original song was working wonders on the judges. I instantly knew that I had impressed the judges because they were leaning forward and listening instead of being distracted or acting like they couldn't care less. As soon as I ended the song I knew I nailed it; it was perfect.

The judges were very impressed with Cameron and wanted to keep her for a test trial with the boys. Only two other girls had been given this opportunity and Cameron was their final girl. When Cameron heard the news she went ballistic! She called her parents and related the good news and her parents were excited, but not as willing as Cameron thought they would be. Cam danced out of the auditorium and instantly felt the jealous gazes of hundred of girls on her. Brittany walked up, "Oh so I'm guessing they called you back? Well I guess they saw something in you that's worth something because I don't see anything right now." Cam wanted to punch Miss Bitch in the face and get it over with. Cameron just ignored her and listened to the results. Cameron was one of three girls who were going to meet the other three members of Karma; the other three would decide which girl would be their newest member.

The girls' names were: Cameron, Nikki, and Jenny. There were no pictures; only age and other insignificant knowledge. The girls were arriving in LA today and are currently being picked up and driven to the HQ.

Jared stared at the other two members in Karma: Young Jae and Shin Woo. Jared knew that Shin Woo and he were the same age, seventeen, while Young Jae was a year younger. The information on the girls read that Nikki and Jenny were both nineteen while Cameron was sixteen. Jared was chosen for his voice, he was the lead singer, Shin Woo was the guitar player, the second in command, Young Jae was the keyboard artist, and the girl would also be lead singer. The music director personally favored Cameron; he said she had the voice of an angel. Karma would see who deserved the last spot the most.

Right on time the girls entered the building. Karma was standing ready for the girls' arrivals and everything was in order. Jared's eyes were drawn to the girl on the right. His breath was taken away; she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. The girl had light brown hair that cascaded down past her shoulders in slight curls and had the creamiest complexion that looked like milk; it seemed as though she was half Asian and half white. Jared looked around at Jae and Shin Woo; Shin Woo was just as surprised by the girl on the right and was staring at her with an interest. Jae just seemed awed by the sight of girls. As if on cue, Jared stepped out and introduced himself to the girls.

Jared stepped out and his gaze automatically drifted to the girl on the right; she saw him looking and a blush crept up from her neck. "Hello everybody, I hope you had wonderful flights here. My name is Jared and I look forward to working with each one of you." Jared put emphasis on you while looking directly at the girl on the right. He wanted her to step out and introduce herself, but the girl in the middle solved the problem for me.

"Hey guys, my name is Nikki and I really hope you choose me." The comment sounded very cocky and confident, Jared was impressed with Nikki's guts to speak her mind. Then to his disapproval the girl on the left said, "Oh and I'm Jenny. I look forward to the next week with you guys."

That solved the problem of finding out who the third girl was. The beautiful one that held the boys' attention was Cameron. According to Finch, the manager, Cameron had the voice of an angel and Karma wanted to test that statement. "You must be Cameron, I'm Jared. It's a pleasure to meet you." Jared outstretched his hand so that Cameron could shake it. Her hands were so small and delicate that they looked as if they might break in his hands.

I told myself to not keep staring at Shin Woo and take Jared's outstretched hand. The moment I walked into the room my attention had been attracted to the handsome boy in the back. I knew he was Shin Woo from pictures and he looked even better in person.

A cough sent Cameron back to reality; she took Jared's outstretched hand and said, "It's an honor to meet you Jared. I really look forward to working with you this week and I have my utmost confidence in you guys to make the right decision." Cameron batted her eyelashes and smiled her mega-watt smile that no one could resist. She knew it would dazzle the male members and felt some pride that she could have an effect on them.

Finch stepped up and said, "I know you girls just came from the airport, but we need to get down to business. Today's schedule will be to stretch your vocals and get settled in. Tomorrow you're going to learn the dances and lyrics. The final day will be Thursday where you will perform for Karma and they will choose their newest member. Today is Monday so spend your time wisely. Now you girls get up to your rooms and get settled in. Ta-ta." Workers carried the girls' bags upstairs to their rooms and the girls followed in suit.

Nikki had the first door in the hallway, Jenny had the second, and I had the third and last. The girls each settled into their rooms and started to wander around the house. I came back downstairs to get a drink of water in the kitchen, but Jae was in there rummaging through the fridge. When he saw Cameron he smiled and said, "Hey, I think you really had an impression on Shin Woo today. I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but he seemed to be really taken by you. I mean it's not like your ugly or anything; it's just that I've never seen him so tongue-tied when it came to girls. Oh, by the way my name's Young Jae, but you can just call me Jae, everyone does. So how do you like it here?" I could already tell that Jae talked a lot and was very warm and friendly.

"How do I...? Oh yea well I think the weather's really nice and stuf-ff-f." At that moment Jared walked into the room and I began to stutter. I didn't understand it, but whenever I saw Jared my heart started to pound so fast that I thought the others could hear it. "Hello-o-o Jared. Uhmm well I think I'll get going back upstairs, I need to unpack and stuff. I'll see you guys later." With that I started to back away towards the stairs and right when I turned around.

"Hold it!" Jared spoke, "you need to get in the recording studio to show us what you've got. You don't think that we'll just let you in, do you? C'mon." Jared grabbed my wrist and tugged me down the stairs into the studio. Shin Woo was already inside. "Get in there Cameron and sing what's on the stand. Don't be nervous ok?"

I was so surprised that Jared had touched me. The spot were his fingers had been felt like it was alive. "You want me to sing now?" I asked. I couldn't believe they had to choose me to bring downstairs. "I mean, I need to get ready. You know how it is with singers Jared, we need to warm up our singing voices."

"Then you can warm up right here. We'll just wait, we have all the time in the world," Jared replied, "You aren't scared are you Cameron?"

"Cam, call me Cam."

"What?"

"I said for you guys to call me Cam. Only my parents call me Cameron." I felt really stupid just standing there telling the three most cutest guys ever what they could and could not call me. I turned away from them and made a face at the ground. I jumped back around and just wanted to get the singing over with. "Ok, you know what I think I'm ready. Jae could you please move out of the doorway so I can get through?" I walked past Jae into the recording studio and it was obvious that he was surprised that I would actually sing for them. I closed the door and signaled Shin Woo that I was ready. He gave me the thumbs up and I started to sing, "Love me, Love me, say that you love me. Fool me, fool me, oh how you do me. Kiss me, kiss me, say that you miss me. Tell me what I wanna hear, tell me you love me....." I sang on and on until the song had ended and said, "You guys heard right? Well what did you think? Good enough to let me just in?" I teased them until they admitted I was good.

Shin Woo spoke out," Hey just cuz we said you have talent doesn't mean you can let it get to your head. There are two equally talented girls upstairs and just because we're messing around now doesn't mean that you have an automatic in, ok?" His words instantly killed my good mood and I began to get angry. I hated people who thought they knew everything and could just tell anyone off; Shin Woo was being exactly like that kind of person.

I turned to walk back upstairs when Jared blurted out, "God Shin. Why do you have to be such an ass to her already. We already know that she's the one we're gonna pick. Do you want her to hate you?" Jared seemed genuinely pissed off at Shin Woo for dissing me, and it made me feel better to know someone was on my side.

I turned back around and said, "Jared it's ok. Shin is just playing the game fair. I can take whatever he dishes out. You don't need to worry about me, I'm a big girl and can take care of myself. Well I'm gonna go back upstairs so I'll see you guys later. Bye." I walked out the door and up the stairs. At the top of the stairs Nikki and Jenny were waiting. It was obvious they had been listening to everything that was going on downstairs. "Uhm can I help you guys? Or are you just eavesdropping on us down there?"

Nikki seemed pissed off. "We see that you got your alone time with the boys." I turned to look at her straight in the eye.

"So what if I did, it's not like your jealous right?" I was being bitchy but I needed to let out some inner bitch after what Shin had said to me downstairs. "You can go down if you want. They're all yours." With that I walked to my room and shut the door.

I lay on my bed listening to my iPod and just tried to absorb everything that had happened in the first day. I had met three very cute guys my age, told that I was talented, but then told again that I shouldn't be so overconfident by a pompous know-it all. Not a great start, but when Jared had stood up for me was cute. Actually Jared was cute just in general; he seemed like the one I would get along with the best. I kept thinking about what happened that day when there was a knock on the door. I didn't know who it was, but I was curious. I told whoever to come in and in walked Shin. He walked in and just leaned on the door.

"Hey Cam I just wanted to apologize for what I said downstairs. I know it was really out of line and that you didn't deserve to be talked to the way I did." He went on to say that he thought I was really talented and that he was really sorry. As he turned to leave he hesitated and turned back around. The next words out of his mouth really stunned me. He said," Cameron, I just want to let you know that if you join Karma you're going to make it hard for me to just work with you. I guess that's why I said the things that I said earlier. I'm scared of the things that might happen if I'm going to be constantly around you." With that he just turned and left.

I kept replaying Shin's words in my head as I lay in my bed. What did it mean? Was he trying to say something important? None of my questions were answered and that night when I went down to dinner I didn't know what to expect. I walked slowly down the stairs and was greeted by the sounds of talking people. Jared and Jae were lounging around in the kitchen; they were randomly throwing things into a pan sitting on the stove. I was curious where Shin was so I asked, "Hey you guys. Where's Shin?" They just looked up at me curiously and for a moment it seemed as though Jared was annoyed by the question.

"Why do you want to know where he is Cam?" Jared asked. "Well since you're so curious, Shin headed out for the night about ten minutes after he came back from talking to you. What did you two talk about anyway?" Jared's question went unanswered as I reached for my scarf and gloves hanging on the rack next to the door. I planned on heading outside to look for Shin and not return until I found him. Without a word I went outside and just aimlessly started walking. I had no idea where I was heading or where Shin was. I thought that Shin probably took his car, so I didn't expect to find him very soon. As I was walking I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around and there were 3 or 4 guys behind me and they didn't look too friendly. The way they were walking was making me nervous and scared.

Suddenly a voice rang out, "Hey there pretty lady." the speaker said. "We fine fellas were wondering if you wanted to play with us? Aw come on, we won't hurt you. Hey I asked you a question." I started to walk faster and ignored them, but the voices came closer. When they were so close that you could hear their breathing, I started to run. I ran as fast as I could but still one of them got a hold of my arm; just as he was about to pull back something hit him from the back. I didn't look back until the grunting and fighting had stopped. The other guys had run away from whoever saved me.

To my surprise it was Jared behind me. He had a signs of slight bruising on the left side of his face and he had a bloody lip; his jacket was torn in the sleeve and he didn't look too good. I was worried. I walked up to him and started to clean up his face as best as I could. "Jared what are you doing?! You could have been seriously hurt." All he did was smile at me.

His words were surprising but made me feel better. He said, "Cameron I think it's better that I got off with a bruised face than you being seriously hurt." Without a word he took my hand and steered me back to the house. My hand in his felt comforting while we walked in silence. "Are you okay Cameron?" The concern in his voice touched me and I felt warm all over.

"I couldn't be better Jared. Thanks for saving me and being so nice about it. But I'm wondering why you followed me?"

"I followed you because I wanted to make sure you were okay. Back at the house you seemed a little shaken so I decided you could use someone to watch over you," he replied. "I don't know what's wrong with me, but I have this urge to protect you and to make sure you don't get hurt. I know it all sounds so weird to you." Jared's voice was shaking as if he were nervous. Instead of making me feel weird, his words comforted me.

"No it's fine Jared. I want to thank you for looking out for me." We kept walking in silence and arrived back at the house. It was late out and the lights were all turned off. When we walked inside Jae, Shin, Nikki, and Jenny were all waiting.

Jae looked pissed as he asked, "Where the hell have you two been? Do you know how worried we were about you guys?" The others looked at us curiously and Shin seemed a little awkward. "We've been waiting for like 3 hours! You guys didn't even call." I looked at the clock and it was 11. I didn't realize it had gotten so late.

Jared was the first to speak. "Jae calm down. We just took a little walk, nothing to be freaked out by."

Jae noticed Jared's face for the first time. "Dude what the hell happened to you? Why are you all beat up?"