As we walk down the stairs from my third-story apartment, Amber pulls out her phone and orders an Uber to our casting call. "What is this casting for again?" I asked with my voice still what I deem 'girl mode' as We walked out into the early spring LA air. Amber says, "The ride will be here in 5 minutes. But the call is for a new show that is starting up. My agent got some intel on it. It is supposed to be like American Idol mixed with Japanese idol groups. But they are looking for a girl group like the Spice Girls but more marketable like the Japanese idol groups." she says, rummaging through her purse, pulling out a handful of crumpled papers, and handing it to me. "god, you're messy as always. And that sounds fun, but I bet that contract will be so predatory." I say as I uncrumple the pages and read through them. The papers are about the company and the show's leads, plus minimum guarantees if picked. Then, where to go for the audition.
The show was being produced by Netflex by some no-name Producer. The show was a competition-style show. It would start with 50 girls and push them mentally and physically to weed out the weak and less talented. While also pushing them to work together despite all being enemies. as they were hoping to have the final 5 be the overall winners and form a new American idol group. "are you up for this? This seems like a lot of work for someone like you." she glares at me and says, "What do you mean someone like me." I ignore her anger and just say, "You know, lazy as fuck. You stay up late and go clubbing and hardly get up before dawn. Honestly, I'm surprised you're here right now." she sighs out loud as she can't fight my accusation but as she rebuttals her phone ping signaling that or uber is here. We hopped in the car, and the driver was a cute young guy with blond hair and blue eyes. He greeted us with a bright smile and some water. We say hello. I blush a little as I feel strongly attracted to him but shake my head, raining in my emotions. *god, I hate this. Well, mostly being young again, and my hormones are everywhere. But I was a little Bi in my past life, so it's not that bad being attracted to a guy, but dame, this feeling makes me feel like a love-sick puppy for this guy I just met.*
After flirting with the guy as he took off to our destination, Amber turned back to me with a smirk and elbowed me while raising her eyebrows at me, telling me to get in on this. I just gave her a death staircase to leave me alone. but she does stop and starts up our Conversation again. "well, I agree that it is too early to be up at this ungodly hour, but my agent threatened to only book me hemorrhoid commercials for the next 3 months if I didn't at least try at this call." She sighs, slumping into the seat. "well, I know your dancing is good, but what about your singing? Are you even ready for something like this?" I say as I stare out the window. She punches my arm, "fuck you, I'm a great singer. I won a few competitions on my voice alone, I will have you know. And it's not like I'm banking on making it at this audition. I'm just showing up, trying my best, heading home, then power napping till heading to the club." I punch her arm back and say, "That's all you think about." and shake my head at her.
A memory pops up in my head from this life. It was about how Amber and I met. It was when the original Hase found his way into LA proper, and he went to a club on his first night here as he had only ever seen them in movies and TV and wanted to try it out. But he ran into a problem as they were carding at the doors, and they turned him away. As he was sulking away, he noticed they were not carding any girls going in, and the idea of crossdressing popped into his head. So he rushed to a thrift shop, threw on some old club clothes with no makeup and a wig, and returned to the club to try again. Well, he got in primarily due to the bouncer being drunk. Hase looks passable, but if you really looked, he did a terrible job on his disguise. But as he made it in, he was overwhelmed the moment he stepped in. he ended up staying there an hour before trying to leave but was stopped by two drunk men who got really touchy. But as I was about to call for help, women jumped in and smashed a beer bottle into the back of one of their skulls, then kicked the second in the dick and pulled me into a booth to hide. The girl was Amber, but in a better dress, a skin-tight black dress, heels, and full makeup. We bounded thanks to her heroic rescue, and she noticed I was crossdressing and complimented my cunning to get in. I learned that night Amber was 19 and was raised in a small town on the east coast. She ran away last year and has set herself up in LA to try to be a model and actor. She had a few gigs as a model, but primarily for artists, not big brand names. As the night went on, she told me how to dance in a club and avoid douchebags. As my mind came back to the present.
*That was intense*, I think as I shake my head. As I come back, we are stopping at what looks like an old theater with a line of girls out the front. The cute driver gives a charming smile and wishes us luck as we get out, then drives away. We see there are two doors, one for open calls and another for scheduled show-ups. I take a deep breath as we walk to the scheduled door.