Here it came. Our final moment on the show. I took Jared’s hand for support, then realized everyone would see that on TV and quickly reached for Kyle’s hand, too. Jared grabbed Hector, and the four of us all stood linked together on stage, united against our mentor.

Angel’s eyes narrowed at the sight of us together, and then she plastered on one of her big fakey smiles. “I choose The Static Klingons!”

I squeezed my hands into a death grip around the guys’ as the audience cheered. It was over. Our fifteen minutes of fame were up, and now the entire country would see us get kicked off on week two of the show. If only I hadn’t spilled coffee all over Angel, if only Jared had kept his mouth shut, if only we had picked a different mentor at audition, if only we’d practiced more… I wanted to rewind the last week and do everything all over again.

Ray went over to The Static Klingons, who were all jumping up and down and smacking each other on the back. The mic was thrust into Sean’s face, and he grinned at the audience. “Thank you, Angel!”

They left the stage, and Ray made his way back over to us. “Any last words for our mentors and the audience?”

He shoved the mic in my face, but when I opened my mouth, nothing came out. I was frozen, blinking back tears, wishing this wasn’t the end. What was I going to do now? I’d given up everything to be on this show, and now we were going home.

Jared leaned in, saving me. “We’re really happy for The Static Klingons. They’re great guys, and they deserve to be here.”

A loud buzzing rang out, and something around us flashed red and blue. The audience erupted into frenzied cheers. What was happening?

“A rescue from Dan!” Ray yelled into the mic.

Dan wanted us on his team! We weren’t done yet! I started laughing and wiped at my eyes. Kyle shouted, “Yes!” while Hector grinned and thumped Jared on the shoulder. Jared just looked shocked and squeezed my hand harder. We were still holding on to each other, even though the other guys had let go.

“I think this band has a lot of potential,” Dan said. “I wanted them from the beginning, and now that Angel was dumb enough to let them go, I have my shot.”

“Hey!” Angel said, glaring at him.

“What? You made the wrong choice.” He shrugged, and I already loved our new mentor. “Anyway, they’re really talented, and I’m excited to have them on my team.”

“Thank you so much!” Jared said into the mic.

“And that’s Villain Complex, the newest member of Team Dan!” Ray said, and our time on stage was over.