"She's pretty good," Kevin commented to Brian. They were at Nick's friend's house watching the audition tapes from Boston, along with the rest of the guys. Nick was in the kitchen getting a snack.

"I don't know...do you think she really fits the song?" Brian asked. "And yeah, she's got a pretty voice, but look at how she carries herself. She doesn't really have stage presence."

"Here she is," A.J. said, holding up a resume and head shot. "Amanda McFarlan," he read. "Well, I like her name," he remarked with a cheesy grin, alluding to his girlfriend who had the same first name.

Brian smiled and shook his head. "You're hopeless, Bone."

A.J. grinned. "So she's a 'maybe' then?" he assumed.

"Yeah, I guess," Brian agreed. He sat back and watched as Amanda finished the song and flashed a glitzy smile at the video camera before exiting the stage. He ran a hand through his hair as another girl walked up on stage. She had light brown hair and green eyes. Brian groaned as she started to sing, hearing how off-key she was. "Fast forward," he muttered to Howie, who held the remote control.

"Hold on, Bri, give her a chance," Howie ordered.

A.J. held up her picture. "Gina Thompson," he informed the guys.

They listened as she continued to croon "From The Bottom Of My Broken Heart," hitting maybe three of the notes correctly.

"Hey, she's almost as good as the real thing," A.J. muttered under his breath, making Kevin snicker.

Brian glared at Howie.

"Okay, we are fast forwarding," he complied, hitting the button.

"Who else wants nachos?" Nick called from his kitchen.

"No one, only you eat that crap," A.J. called back.

"I wouldn't talk, A.J.," Nick returned. "Thanks to you we had McDonald's every single day for breakfast on the last tour!"

"Yeah, whatever," A.J. murmured as Howie finished fast forwarding. He covered his ears as Gina finished singing "For The Rest Of My Life."

"God, you can hardly tell that's your song, Bri," Kevin remarked, laughing.

"Damn it, this was a bad idea. We're never going to find anyone!" Brian complained. "Just turn it off!"

"Come on, just give it another chance," Howie coaxed.

"Yeah, give...Kayla Prescott a chance," A.J. added, reading the name off of a piece of paper and holding up her picture. He glanced at her resume. "Hey, she's got a lot of experience. And she's pretty cute. Maybe she won't be too bad."

"All right," Brian sighed.

Nick started to walk in just as a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes appeared on the TV, sat on the stool, and tapped the mike once to make sure that it was on. Nick didn't pay attention to the TV at first as he carefully set down the plate of nachos. He started back towards the kitchen to get something to drink just as the intro to "We're A Miracle" started up. But when the girl closed her eyes started to sing, Nick stopped dead in his tracks and slowly turned to look up.

"Here we are, safe at last
We can breathe or sigh
Seems the storm has passed
All my friends would as us why
With all that stood between us
Why did we even try?"

Nick found himself walking to stand just inches from the screen as she kept singing, and letting out a little sigh as she hit the high notes of the song.

"No one I know imagined we would make it
But it only matters that we both believe, oh

"You and me, we're a miracle
Meant to be, and nothing can change it
Mountains move and oceans part
When they are standing in our way
You and me, we're a miracle
Angels stand watching over us
And heaven shines upon us every day..."

All my life, I've felt incomplete
But you touched my soul
With your love, so sweetly
You hear my thoughts, you read my mind
You are the part of me I'd never thought I'd find
No one I know can make me feel like you do
You hold me and I feel like I can fly

"You and me, we're a miracle
Meant to be, and nothing can change it
Mountains move and oceans part
When they are standing in our way
You and me, we're a miracle
Angels stand watching over us
And heaven shines upon us every day..."

Nick stepped back slightly and could help but chuckle as she cracked a little on one of the notes and stumbled on one of the lyrics. Her cheeks flushed slightly, and he could see her hands grip the microphone a little harder with determination as the music swelled underneath her.

"The chance was so unlikely
That we would ever win
Two stars among the heavens
Destiny brought you to me, oh

"You and me we're a miracle
Meant to be, and nothing can change it
Mountains move and oceans part
When they are standing in our way
You and me, we're a miracle
Angels stand watching over us
And heaven shines upon us every day

"You and me we're a miracle
Miracle."

He smiled as the girl finished the song and opened her eyes hesitantly and stayed riveted as she sang Brian's song. He had never seen anyone like her. When she was finished with the second song, he stared at her for a second before turning to the other guys. "Um...wow!" he commented. "Who's she?"

"Kayla Prescott," A.J. told him, holding the head shot out to him. He walked forward eagerly and took it, smiling again when he saw her. She was looking coyly at the camera as if she was flirting with it, and a secretive half- smile was spread across her face. Her blonde hair was slightly in her eyes, giving her appearance a touch of mystery.

"She's amazing," he murmured, staring at the picture.

"She was pretty damn good," Kevin agreed.

"And she had presence too," Howie seconded happily.

A.J. practically had to rip the picture back out of Nick's hands. "So she's a yes then?"

"Yes," Kevin said before Brian could say anything.

"But...she messed up," Brian pointed out.

"So?" Howie returned. "Do you know how nervous the poor girl probably was?"

"But the person we pick has to work well under pressure," Brian informed him.

"Look, we're not saying anything final, she's just a possible candidate, okay?" Kevin compromised.

"And...she's beautiful," Nick added.

Brian smiled slowly. "Yeah, I think that *someone* sure likes her," he said to Kevin, looking at Nick.

"How could I not? Look at her!" Nick replied. "Is her phone number on that form?"

"Nick, you can not call her. She's just some random girl, and we can't be personally involved with any of the people if we want to consider them for the job," Kevin reminded him.

Nick sighed heavily. "Okay, fine...but after we pick someone, if it's not her, then I'm getting her number," he resolved, popping a nacho into his mouth.


Feedback

Next Chapter

Lyrics from "We're A Miracle" by Christina Aguilera
From the Pokemon soundtrack
Words and Music by David Zippel and Christina Aguilera