Suddenly it’s the first day of filming. I barely get out of bed before Ryan barges in and yells that we have to hurry down to the studio. He reaches into my closet and throws a shirt at me.
The studio is even more of a whirlwind of activity than yesterday. Camera crews and stagehands rush around carrying equipment, paperwork, and coconut waters. Out of the fray comes Blair in her high heels and perfectly sleek hair. “You two are late!” she scolds. “Come on.”
She drags us into the dressing room and starts throwing clothes at us, just like Ryan did to me only minutes ago. “Eve—put this on. We need to make sure the logo is showing while you’re on camera. Ryan—try this.” She fluffs and tugs and pats us down until she’s decided we look presentable enough. Instead of my usual comfy sweatshirt, I’m wearing a stiff faux leather jacket. Ryan’s new outfit consists of a bright red blazer and matching tie. With his blue hair, he looks like a parrot.
“What was wrong with our own clothes?” I whisper to Ryan.
“It’s just part of the whole reality show thing,” he replies. “We have to look like celebrities.”
Maybe he’s right, but I don’t like it very much. Ryan doesn’t seem bothered, though, so I try to push my discomfort aside.
Next, Blair opens a door on the other side of the dressing room and reveals what looks like a waiting room at a doctor’s office. Except rather than being full of patients, it’s full of teenage musicians. The other seven duos. Fourteen pairs of eyes stare at me and Ryan as we sit down. I flush, my nervousness returning. All of them look like professional musicians. The ones who catch my eye are two punk girls with spiky black hair, a boy in a cowboy hat who flashes me a creepy smile, and a girl whose small mouth makes her look like she’s constantly displeased.
Blair claps her hands together loudly, interrupting the stare down.
“Hello, contestants!” she says. “Welcome to the first episode of The Right Note! If you haven’t already met me, I’m Blair Casanova, one of the production assistants. And I am so excited to be here with you all because this season’s theme of ‘teamwork’ is really special! We’re going to shine the spotlight on how you duos work together, compete with each other, and make friends—or enemies—with each other.
“For the first two weeks of the show, you’re all going to compete on teams chosen and coached by the judges. In a moment, each duo will head to the stage to perform in front of the judges, and then they will decide what team to put you on. Isn’t that exciting?”
Some of the contestants murmur in agreement.
Blair continues, “Every three days there will be an elimination round where all the teams perform. At the end of the round, the judges will choose which team did the worst and send home one of that team’s members. So you’ll want to work together with your teammates to put on a good show. When there are only ten of you remaining, we’ll change things up a bit and have you all perform solo in front of the judges until we get to the final four contestants. Those final four will perform one last time, and from there the judges will choose the winner.”
After a brief pause she continues, “I hope you’re all ready to show the judges what you’ve got! But before I send anyone out there, we’re going to film some quick introductions to each of the duos so our viewers can get to know you all. How does that sound?”
The boy with the cowboy hat says in a Southern accent, “Sounds good to me!”
“Fantastic!” Blair exclaims. “Do you and Lark want to go first, Asher?”
“Yeah, we do.” The boy in the cowboy hat looks eagerly at the girl with the small mouth. She shrugs.
One by one, the duos vanish through the door. Ryan and I go last because we arrived late. When it’s our turn, Blair takes us to a small orange room and sits us down on a pair of stools. Behind us is the rainbow logo of The Right Note. She goes behind one of the cameras. “Hello, my dears. Are you comfortable? Feeling excited? Ready to go?” Ryan and I make eye contact, clearly uncomfortable about being on camera for the first time. Blair continues without our response, “Great. I need you two to look at this camera when you answer your questions. Rolling in five.”
I look up at Blair’s hand, which holds up five fingers. Then four. Three. Two. One. A red light pops up on the side of the camera. We’re recording.
The questions are all about what it’s like being a duo together. How did we meet? What kind of music do we make? What are our inspirations? I tell the cameras about how Ryan and I became friends almost instantly. We were the only kids in our guitar class who could successfully play “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” by the end of the first lesson. Ryan talks about wanting to start a band with me because he thought I was really cool, even though everyone else thought I was a shy, quiet kid. Then I talk about our first live performance at the middle school talent show. And about how we watch every season of The Right Note together.
Then, Blair asks each of us what we admire most about each other.
“I love how you break the rules,” I say to Ryan. “You make music out of everything. It’s like your superpower.”
“And I love how you keep it real,” Ryan says to me. “You remind me not to go too crazy.”
“How sweet,” Blair coos as the cameras shut off. “Oh, that was so wonderful. I hope you’re ready to go in front of the judges and show them what you’ve got. They’re going to love you.”
We follow her down the hall to the backstage area. Leaning against the wall are my guitar and Ryan’s sampler. I rush over and grab the guitar. Its familiar curves feel so much like home that I instantly relax.
Then Tix’s voice booms from the other side of the curtain, announcing our arrival: “Our final duo, Eve Hardt and Ryan Okri!” He sounds cheerful and proud—the opposite of when Ryan and I first met him.
We pick up our instruments and race onto the stage and into the spotlights.
My first glimpse is of the judges. They are sitting at their table, staring right at me. On the right is Xavier Sandalwood, one of the most famous songwriters in pop music. Next to him is Peter Vasquez, the harshest judge on reality TV. Then, Marina Murphy, an opera-singer-turned-pop-star from Ireland whose concerts bring in thousands of screaming fans. Finally, at the end is Cassandra Holmes, my idol and the winner of the first season of The Right Note. My heart nearly stops. These judges are the best of the best, the biggest names in music. The cameras, spotlights, and judges’ eyes are all on us.
I gulp. But Ryan doesn’t seem fazed by any of this. He sets up at his sampler and gestures for me to plug in my guitar. So I do. And before I know it we’re jamming “The Quiet Night” again. Ryan goes all out with the layers of sound, bringing me out of my funk and into the music. I sing my heart out. I realize with the spotlights shining brightly into my eyes, I can’t see anyone except the judges. No audience to stare me down. I even risk doing a little shimmy.
But then Ryan’s voice cracks during his part. He closes his mouth and his face turns as red as his jacket. Thinking quickly, I fill the void with some freestyle guitar.
When we finish, the judges clap. Tix comes out from the darkness, also applauding us. “Bravo, bravo!” he cries. He claps Ryan on the back and shakes my shoulder. “What a performance from our last duo of the day! Let’s see what the judges thought.”
“I thought it was splendid. Just great. You wrote that yourselves?” Xavier asks.
Marina nods. “Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.”
“I agree. Some iffy vocals from that one, but nothing we can’t work with,” says Peter, pointing his pen at Ryan.
“The way you two perform is . . . very interesting,” says Cassandra.
I cross my fingers behind my back that Cassandra picks us. She knows what it’s like to come from the bottom and rise to the top.
The judges whisper to each other for a few seconds.
Then, Cassandra looks at me. “I will take Eve.”
My heart soars and I break into a huge grin.
“And I want Ryan.” Peter points at him with the pen again.
My face falls. “Wait, what? You’re putting us on two different teams?”
“That’s right.”
“We’re a duo,” Ryan says. “You can’t split us up.”
“You aren’t the only duo we’ve split up,” says Xavier.
“As the judges, we get to pick the teams,” Peter says.
Cassandra leans back in her chair. “You two are a remarkable pair. But we want to push each of you to be the best musicians you can be. We believe that can only happen if you compete against each other.” She points at Ryan. “He needs some work on his voice. That’s why he’s going on Peter’s team. And you, Eve, need to embrace the passion of the music. That’s why I want you.”
“But we came here together. We want to go on to record an album together,” I protest.
“I can’t compete against Eve,” Ryan says.
Peter glowers at us. “If you can’t compete against her, then you’re welcome to drop out of the competition. There are plenty of other duos out there who would love to fill your spot.”
Please, Ryan, hold your tongue, I mentally tell him. Thankfully, he seems to get the message. He looks at the floor, clearly not excited to work with Peter.
Tix shows us off the stage and back down the hall. Once the cameras are off him, Tix goes back to being his grouchy self. “Kids these days,” he mutters.
***
That evening, Ryan and I decide to head down to the beach to talk. But neither of us knows what to say, so we walk along the shore in silence. The ocean waves lap at our feet, reflecting the pink sky. The wind coming off the water is cold, and I wish I’d brought my sweatshirt.
Finally I turn to Ryan and blurt out the question that’s burning in my mind. “Should we drop out of the competition?”
“What? No way!” he exclaims. “Look how far we’ve come. We already made it this far—we just have to beat those other seven groups. We can totally do this, Eve.”
There’s a bit of nervousness in his voice, but his enthusiasm makes me feel better.
“I just wish I could compete alongside you,” I say.
“Me too. But remember that as long as one of us wins, we both get the record deal.”
We stare out at the water for a moment, and then Ryan sticks out his hand toward me.
“Promise you won’t go easy on me,” he says.
I grin. Maybe everything will work out. “I promise.”
We shake hands and then head back to the studio to get a good night’s sleep.