Always

We've been working hard on practicing the song. We even came up with a dance routine. It's pretty complicated and I trip a lot of the time but I'm working on it. Show time's in 1 day. I'm so nervous. I hate performing in front of people like that, but since I'm not in this alone, I'll do it.
So after classes, they all head to my dorm. I put on the tune we created and got in position. We use water bottles as our pretend microphones, and start singing. We practiced day and night. I just hope this pays off.

*Show Day*
God I'm so nervous. My palms are sweaty. Perrie told me to wear the dress she bought me. One look at it and I immediately say,"No," but she can be hard to reason with.




I walk into Jade and Jesy's room.

"Jessa! Come here!" Jade says.

"What?"

"You look great, but you need makeup."

"I think I'm fine."

"We need to look the same."

"It'll be fine."

She crosses her arms,"You better sit yo' ass down."

I groan and sit in the chair in front of the mirror. She applies some creamy stuff on my face. I never liked makeup. I don't see a need to look pretty. She puts fixes my hair and everything. After a little while, she sits back and looks at her work. She smiles and then pushes me to the full length mirror on the door. A gasp escapes from my lips. Standing in front of me is a girl I don't even recognize. She has straight, black hair, like mine, but it's in a neater pony tail.

"What did you do Jade?"

"Just some minor adjustments. Your features are already beautiful I just had to outline them," She smiles.

As soon as everyone is ready, we pile into Perrie's car. As Perrie swiftly turns through the streets, my hands shake. Someone reaches out and steadies them.

"You'll be fine, trust me," Leigh tells me.

I muster up a smile,"Thanks."

Once we reach there, it has a sign saying 'Performers this way' with an arrow at the bottom pointing to a corridor. We walk and a nice woman greets us.

"What's your name and what are you doing for the show?"

"Our band is called Little Mix and we're singing and dancing," I say quickly because I forgot to tell the girls. They stare at me.

"Impressive," She says as she scribbles something down on her clipboard. Then she leads us to a door. "This is your dressing room," and almost walks away, but I stop her. "Here's the music," I hand her the flash drive with the song. She nods and goes off.

We walk and immediately I hear a loud squeal. I look at Perrie. "Sorry," She says while still keeping her eyes on the room. We go forward and Jade takes out her kit.

"How on earth did you know we'd need it?" I ask.

"Always Prepared," She winks.

"Sorry I didn't tell you guys about the whole name thing," I suddenly remember.

"It's ok I even forgot about that part," Jesy says.

Leigh also responds,"Yeah, I think Little Mix is a great name for our band."

Then, as I sit down and take a deep, nervous breath, and close my eyes for a minute. I feel a brush on my face.

"Seriously Jade?"

"What? Just some touch ups."

Finally, after sometime, I hear a knock on the door. Jesy opens it and we all get to our feet.
The nice lady we met outside says,"You're on after the next act."

I can feel my hands getting sweaty and shaky. We walk out the door and she leads us to the side of the stage. I see all kinds of ropes, pulleys, and levers.

Suddenly, I feel a tap on my shoulder, "Jessa? Is that you?"

I turn around and smile at who it is. Lou gives me a quick hug and pulls me over to a group of guys. There's four others.

"Hey guys this is Jessa, my friend."

A boy with curly hair and green eyes flashes me a smile,"Hey love I'm Harry." I smile and wave to him. They go around in a circle saying their names and greeting me. Harry, Niall, Liam, and Zayn. I give all of them a hug.

Then I pull Louie over to the girls, while the boys follow. I introduce everyone to everyone.

"So you guys are performing, too?" I ask.

"Yeah," They all say together.

"What's your band's name?" Leigh questions.

"One Direction, Harry came up with it," Liam tells us.

"What about you guys?" Lou nods to us.

"Little Mix, Jessa came up with it," Leigh says, trying to mimic Liam.

Suddenly, the lady with the clipboard (Let's just call her that) motions us towards the stage.

Everywhere it's dark. I tell the girls to get ready and become as nervous as ever.

Then, we run past the guys, saying good luck and all that, and onto the stage. We take our positions and the lights and music come on. I nervously start:

Mama mama mama
Made me the way I am
My face my eyes
Someone turn me up
I'm speakin' my mind

And then Jade sings:
And I And I
I've been wasting a lot of time
Looking in mirrors hatin' on me
But now I like what I see

Perrie takes over and sings:
I know I know
I'll never be perfect
I know I know
But I'm gonna work it
Let go Let go
Put your new shoes on the new you on

The crowd starts cheering once we all sing:
We are who we are who we are
Pretty's just a pretty word
And I'm gonna shine like a star
Cause I'm the only me in this world
Throw away the books and the magazines
Never gonna look like a beauty queen
We are who we are who we are
And I'm just doin' me just doin' me
And I'm just doin' me just doin' me

All my nervousness gone, I forget about what's happening, right now, it's just the music and me. Before I know it, the song's over.

We wave to the cheering audience and run off stage. The guys were standing, waiting for us.
"You guys were great!" Screams Niall.

I grin,"Thanks!" For the first time, I actually felt like an accomplishment, and it was the best feeling ever.

Notes