The audience cheered as the music played and the show wrapped. Zack went straight to the judges’ table. He shook Cullen’s hand. “Thanks for believing in me.”
Cullen’s disappointment darkened his expression. He shook his head and glanced at his fellow judges. “This is rubbish. You’re the most talented bloke we’ve had. I’ll never understand what happened tonight.” He grabbed his things and headed up the stairs and off the stage.
Zack turned to Kelly next. “Good-bye.”
“You understand, right?” She looked nervous. “I voted for you as a person. Not you as a singer.” Her smile softened her face. “As a singer, you should’ve won the whole thing. Just know that.”
“Thanks. That means a lot.”
She nodded and followed Cullen. Next, Chandra stood and came to him. Zack faced her. “You . . .” He took her in his arms and hugged her. She had become a friend in the last two days. As he stepped back he looked deep into her eyes. This was their moment. Never mind the mass of fans being kept at bay by the bodyguards. “You were praying.”
“I was.” Tears sparkled in her eyelashes. “You were my reason.” She put her hands on his shoulders and grinned at him. “You gave me meaning, Zack.”
They hugged again, and one last time Zack looked at her, into her very private heart. He didn’t have time to say everything he felt, but he sensed she understood. With that he waved to the crowd, and two bodyguards walked him offstage. Before he reached the door, he stopped and looked back.
The crowd was no longer trying to get to him.
Zoey and the other three contestants had come to the edge of the stage, smiling for pictures and hamming it up for the audience, their arms around one another’s necks. The packed house screamed and waved at them.
Zack smiled at the bodyguards. “Looks like they need you more than I do.”
The guys nodded and patted him on the arm. “Take care, Zack.”
“You, too.” He shook their hands. Then he watched them hurry to the front of the stage to help the winners.
In a rush, Zack felt a mountain move off his shoulders. He was free. Ready to go home. He walked backstage, found William Gaines and asked the only question that remained. The one burning in his mind.
“How soon can you get me to the airport?”
chapter 29
The kickoff show played on every television in the airport.
Reese couldn’t get away from it, so she settled in at Gate C21 and watched. Zack and the other remaining contestants performed three group numbers, and Kip Barker showed clips from each of yesterday’s performances. She didn’t look away when they showed Zack’s highlights. She needed to see again who he’d become. She needed that as often as possible.
London beckoned to her, and she had made her commitment. But her life, her future . . . everything she had hoped for was here in Kentucky. Seeing Zack now reminded her she had made the right decision. She could hardly wait to board the plane. Only ten minutes of the show remained. The part where two contestants would be sent home.
Reese had figured Zack would be golden with the audience. At Carnegie Hall that night, girls had practically fainted at the sight of him in a cutoff shirt, and they went crazy for his duet with Zoey. But Reese had spent a few minutes on Twitter earlier and now she wasn’t sure. Overall, his fans seemed disappointed. Apparently she wasn’t the only one who could see how he’d changed.
A voice came over the speaker system, interrupting the show. “This is our first call for Flight 449 to Atlanta. First-class passengers are welcome to board now.”
Reese slid to the edge of her seat. She was in the final boarding group, and now that she had watched this much of the show, she wanted to know if Zack had survived. Zoey and one of the married singers were saved right off, and then one of the contestants was sent home. That left three of them. Kip Barker drew out the drama as he sent another singer to the sofa. Only Zack and one of the remaining women stood on the stage next to Kip.
One would go home and one would stay.
“Attention, passengers. Groups one through three are now boarding at Gate C21 for Flight 449 to Atlanta. Groups one through three, please board now.”
Reese was in the fourth group. She stood and pulled her carry-on bag close to her side, her eyes locked on the television screen. She could hardly believe what she was seeing. Zack was in the bottom two? This hadn’t happened since the live shows started.
Next to her, she heard a man talking to his wife. “That Zack kid’s the most talented of all.”
“Yeah, but he’s changed. You should’ve seen him last night.” The woman shook her head. “Wouldn’t surprise me if he goes home tonight.”
For the first time Reese considered the pressure Zack had been under. Half the country was talking about him, analyzing him, judging him. Declaring that he was or wasn’t worthy of continuing on the show. A commercial break ended and Kip made the announcement.
Zack Dylan was going home.
“Attention, passengers, group four is now free to board. All passengers for Flight 449 to Atlanta, you may now board through Gate C21.”
Reese walked a few steps closer to the TV, her eyes locked on Zack’s face. What happened to you? Where’s the guy you used to be? She searched his eyes, his expression. What was he feeling? Was he devastated after coming this far? Or was this God’s way of rescuing him? If this were the old Zack, she would’ve said he looked almost relieved. Happy, even. But Reese could no longer be sure. She was still studying him, missing him, when Kip delivered a shocking update. The judges were being given permission to save Zack.
“Final boarding call for Flight 449 to Atlanta.”
Reese hesitated. So this was how he was going to stay on the show. She wasn’t surprised. The press had talked often about Zack and Zoey helping ratings. Reese took a last look at Zack as the show broke for another commercial. Then she pulled her bag to the gate and boarded the plane. She was glad she wouldn’t be here to see next week’s show, what songs he would perform and how he would leave a little more of the old Zack behind him.
She took her seat and checked the time on her phone. She had a five-hour layover in Atlanta. Not ideal, but then she’d be on the flight to London. She could hardly wait. But over the next few minutes maintenance workers discovered faulty wiring in the cabin door. A repair team was brought on board, and an hour later they finally pushed back from the gate. But they didn’t move two feet before they stopped and once more the mechanics were called in.
Another thirty minutes passed with occasional updates from the cockpit. Finally the plane seemed to be fixed and they were about to find their place in line for takeoff when the captain’s voice came on. “Sorry for the inconvenience, folks. We’re looking at big storms in Atlanta. I’m afraid we’ll have to sit and wait a while. Thanks for your patience.”
Reese sighed. She hated the delay. Here on the ground in Kentucky, she could feel Zack Dylan. Her memories were alive and everything about yesterday still seemed possible. Not until the plane took off could she truly give herself permission to move on.
After nearly another half hour the captain came on again. “Folks, we have some bad news. Our crew has timed out. We’ll have to return to the gate to switch crews. Again, thanks in advance for your patience.”
A chorus of grumbles rose from the crowd. Reese peered at the Kentucky night sky and her heart ached. Please, God . . . get me out of here. I can’t stay much longer.
Her flight was supposed to leave at eight, but as she got off the plane and turned on her phone, it was nearly ten o’clock and some sitcom was on the TV. Reese bought almonds and water at Hudson News. As she returned to the gate, the airline agent was giving another update. Her flight was now leaving out of C11.
She gathered her things and walked with the other passengers to the new gate. She took her seat and felt the weariness in her body. She had never felt so exhausted. Missing Zack, wondering why he had done the things he’d done, walking through the days alo
ne. Getting ready for her move. All of it had drained her energy. She closed her eyes. At least her layover in Atlanta would be shorter. And then finally she would be on the plane to London, where she could get some rest.
And put the last few months behind her.
ZACK COULDN’T SLEEP. He had begged God from the time he left LaGuardia until now as his plane was landing that maybe . . . just maybe he might see her. They would be on the ground in five minutes, sometime around eleven o’clock. He wasn’t sure when her flight took off, but his mom said Reese was on a red-eye through Atlanta.
Every minute would count.
When the plane parked at the gate, Zack barely reached the concourse before a group of Fifteen Minutes fans ran up to him. He had no seconds to spare, not if she was still in the Kentucky airport. But the fans didn’t know that. God, let me shine for You. This is a privilege. I realize that now.
The moment was profound because it stood as a beginning for Zack. Here in this moment he could do nothing but treat it that way. If he wanted to return to the person he’d been before the show, if he wanted to glorify God in moments like this, then he needed to be intentional. He signed autographs and took pictures for ten minutes.
The group was clearly upset with his elimination. “You should have won the whole thing.” One young guy shook his head.
“That’s what I thought,” another chimed in.
A girl with them crossed her arms. “Yeah, I was so mad tonight.”
“Thanks.” Zack smiled. “I appreciate your support.” He took a final picture with a couple of the girls. Then he turned and smiled at them. “God must have better things for me back here.” They nodded, happy with that, and Zack waved. His answer felt wonderful because it was the truth. Here at the airport he was free. No one from the show was watching him or pushing him to say what was best for ratings.
Like before this journey, he didn’t answer to anyone but God. That new reality filled him with hope. A flight board hung on the wall down the concourse. Zack ran to it, frantically searching the departures. Please let her still be here. He spotted the one that had to be hers. A red-eye to Atlanta. His heart sank. The flight was scheduled to leave hours ago. One word next to the gate number gave him hope. Delayed.
In a full sprint he took off toward the C concourse, but by the time he reached her gate, the seating area was empty. He was out of breath as he walked up to the gate agent. “Flight . . . 449?” He looked around, desperate. “Did it leave?”
“It moved to C11.” She checked her monitor. “They’re boarding now.”
Zack could have hugged the woman but he had no time to waste. He ran as fast as he could back down the concourse. The gate was crowded, and people were boarding. He wanted to scream for everyone to stop. She couldn’t slip away from him now that he’d come this close.
Like a crazy person, he darted about trying to find her. Some of the passengers definitely recognized him, but they left him alone. As if they could see he was caught up in some deeply personal moment. Zack looked over everyone in the crowd before he realized the awful truth. She must’ve already boarded. He dropped to the nearest chair and hung his head. How could he have come this far and missed her?
He stayed there, his head in his hands, eyes closed, while the rest of the passengers boarded. Just when the reality had taken root in his heart, when he had come to terms with the fact that he wouldn’t have this last chance, he felt someone walk up to him. He couldn’t take another picture, couldn’t sign another autograph. Not when the girl he loved was leaving.
“Zack?”
His eyes flew open and he was on his feet. It was Reese. Standing in front of him for the first time in months. “I . . . I thought I missed you.”
“I was in the restroom.” She smiled, but it didn’t touch the sadness in her eyes. “I thought they gave you another chance.”
“No.” He came a step closer. “They sent me home.” He held up his hands and then dropped them at his sides. “I’m finished with the show.”
“Hmmm.”
A voice came over the speakers. “All remaining passengers for Flight 449, please board at this time.”
Reese looked over her shoulder and then back at Zack. “I have to go.”
“No. Please . . .” He set his backpack on the seat beside him and came closer, so their faces were inches apart. “You can wait a week, Reese. We need to talk.”
In his mind, he had pictured this moment a hundred times. He would find her in the airport and tell her how sorry he was. She would understand and she’d cancel her flight. But now . . . the walls around her heart were locked in place. She shook her head. “I made a commitment.”
The message was clear. She kept her commitments. Zack’s heart raced and he searched desperately for the right words, anything to make her stay. “Reese, listen.” He put his hand alongside her face. “I love you. I’ll never love anyone the way I love you.” Fear made his voice shaky. “Please, don’t go. I need to talk to you. I need to explain what—”
“Last call for Flight 449. All remaining passengers please board at this time.”
“Zack . . .” She covered his hand with her own. “You don’t need to explain. We have different lives.”
“I don’t want that.” His words came like rapid fire. He was running out of time, and she wasn’t hearing him. Wasn’t budging. “Please, Reese, come home with me. You can go next week.”
“I can’t.” Her eyes softened. She came to him and put her arms around her neck. “Good-bye, Zack.”
“Please . . .”
She pulled away and walked with her things toward the gate.
The airline agents were watching them, anxious for Reese to board. Zack felt himself giving up. He couldn’t chase her onto the plane. She had made up her mind. He stopped and watched her leave, his sides heaving from the way his heart was breaking. “Reese . . .”
She turned around one last time.
“I love you. I’m sorry.”
Her eyes told him that somewhere inside she felt the same way, that she loved him and was sorry it had come to this. But she only held his eyes for a few seconds and then mouthed one last word. “Good-bye.”
With that she boarded the plane and the gate agent locked the door behind her. Zack shuffled to the window and put his hand on the cool glass. He stayed there while the jetway pulled back and the plane taxied out onto the runway. How can this be happening, God? It wasn’t supposed to go like this.
When the plane moved out of sight, Zack grabbed his backpack and walked slowly down the empty concourse toward baggage. He had lost her. Because of his careless actions and self-centered motives, he’d lost the only girl he ever loved. Reese wasn’t only moving to London. She was moving on. Her eyes had told him that much.
As he collected his bags and waited out on the curb for a cab, Chandra’s words came back to him. There’s a cost to fame. You may not see it now, but it’s there. Everyone pays something. Yesterday Zack hadn’t wanted to hear that. He had insisted his life and Chandra’s were different. Certainly he hadn’t lost anything he couldn’t get back. Even Reese was bound to forgive him. That’s what he thought. But now, with the humid summer night air surrounding him and home a half hour away, he understood her words better.
The cost was not only real. It was almost more than he could bear.
chapter 30
They had reached the finale, and Chandra wasn’t surprised when Samuel Meier gathered them an hour before the show and told them the results. The winner they would announce that night was Zoey Davis. The girl who had captured America’s hearts with her face and voice, the other half of the Romeo and Juliet team.
The second finalist was Kent Jordan, the married guy whose goal had remained the same throughout the show. He had told America that if he won, he’d sing for a Christian label. He knew who he was, his style, his genre. The show hadn’t changed him.
Chandra took her place on the panel with the other two judges. Cameras would roll soon and
excitement buzzed through Carnegie Hall. From her place, Chandra waved at the audience and then spotted Kent near Zoey, the two of them talking to Kip. Since Zack’s departure, Chandra had taken to praying for Kent. His second-place finish was an answer, she had no doubt.
Suddenly she remembered Zack. He had to be in the audience. The top ten contestants had been brought back for tonight. They would perform as a group early in the show, and then after Kip Barker crowned Zoey as the season’s winner, the group would join her onstage for the final song while confetti rained down. Chandra scanned the audience, but she couldn’t see Zack or the others in the front section. They were probably backstage preparing.
Chandra looked at the stage and studied Zoey Davis, the girl who was about to win it all. Zoey would have a much harder time with the fame than Kent would have. Chandra didn’t like to think about the pressure and changes and celebrity that awaited Zoey in the pop world where she planned to make her mark. Her win hadn’t even been announced, and already every talk show and variety magazine wanted a piece of her. The teenager had no idea how her life was about to change.
The frenzy onstage and in the wings continued to build, but Chandra remained quiet, reflecting. Remembering. In Zoey’s interview last week, she had said the same thing Chandra had said the week before her own win. “This means everything to me. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.” Chandra narrowed her eyes. Would the girl look back and regret those words? How badly would she wish to climb into some special moment from her past, before her first audition?
Chandra clicked open the photo album on her phone. She pulled up the picture. Her parents and her fiancé standing beside her. The moment she still tried to live in. Tears stung her eyes and she shut her phone. Often she had wondered how it had happened, how she’d become so famous overnight. Here at the end of her ride as a judge, she had the answers. The show needed to create a celebrity each season. Someone to stir interest and drive ratings and draw another hundred thousand kids out to auditions when summer came around again.
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