Evan drove around singing Lola Stars and Stripes and picturing Lily's face for an hour or so. He had the day off and nowhere to be. When he finally did go home the first thing Evan did was make for his bedroom. He sat down on his bed, pulled his laptop into his lap and logged onto Facebook. No notifications, but that was nothing new. He searched Lily Trent.

The name Lily Trent brought up nothing, but he searched for Marty Trent under Matt's friends and found him almost instantly. He added Marty as a friend. They hadn't spoken much since middle school.

He began searching Marty's friends.

Only a few rows down, there she was.

Lily Talent was her profile name.

Of course, that's what Clancy the bouncer had called her.

Her profile picture was stylized in black and white; a close-up selfie, looking down her pointed chin at the camera, her eyes black and apathetic, her mouth hanging open in sultry indifference.

Evan's hand hovered over the friend request button.

Should I wait, he thought. I already have her number.

Fuck it.

He clicked it.

The last time she'd been on was three weeks prior, and she'd posted a status that said, "Play the pussy get fucked that's what I always say." It had ten likes.

Evan tore his eyes away from her profile picture, resisting the urge to look through the others. He lasted about three seconds and then clicked it, thoroughly examining her whole gallery, hoping to find at least one that showed off some portion of that luxurious body.

Lily didn't have many pictures of herself, and the ones that were posted only showed her face. She was smiling in only one of them, and it was more of a half-smirk. It looked candid, her sitting on a park bench on an autumn evening. She was dressed in a grey coat and pink scarf. It had twenty-five likes and there was a comment underneath it.

Adorable, said some emo-looking fucker named Tim McLachlan.

Lily had written a description underneath it.

In b4 bullshit about my zits, it said.

Evan continuously rifled through the four or five profile pictures she had,

taking in her face and enjoying the feelings of bliss that flooded him when he looked into her eyes.

"Lolaaa, lolaaaa," he sang-mumbled to himself.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

He opened iTunes and played Lola Stars and Stripes again. He put it on repeat.

He kept scrolling through Lily's Facebook, imagining scenarios in which they could be together. He Googled her name just to see what he would get. There were a lot of Lily Trents out there, but nothing related to the Lily he wanted.

Googling led to YouTube to look up the music video for "Lola Stars and Stripes." After watching the Stills run through nondescript urban streets in black and white, Evan went down the YouTube hole, losing track of time until he saw a trending video advertising Chris Daughtry's sophomore album tour.

Seeing Chris's balt pate shocked Evan into an important realization.

The audition, he thought. He hadn't done anything whatsoever to prepare for the audition. He needed a hotel room. He needed his paperwork printed out. He didn't even know what time he'd need to leave in the morning. .

He opened Google again and searched for American Idol. The auditions were that Saturday. He'd need to leave tomorrow. It had been a spur of the moment decision, but if he wanted it to happen he had to act now. In his head-mist over Lily, he'd nearly forgotten all about it.

After some minor research into the Nashville area, Evan booked his hotel for the weekend at a Motel 6 about twenty minutes south of the downtown area, the only place he could afford for three nights.

He'd need to get his paycheck from work before he left tomorrow. He would also have to convince his supervisor Rex to give him the weekend off, which shouldn't be a problem. Evan hadn't taken too much time off that summer. In fact, the only days he'd missed were due to Jason's suicide and Maddie's hospitalization.

He visited the American Idol website and read over the instructions for auditioning for a second time. He printed off the paperwork he'd need and rummaged in his file cabinet for his social security card, which he kept in a sealed envelope.

After all that was done he clicked through various profiles of finalist and semi-finalist contestants on the official American Idol website. He looked at Lee DeWyze's profile last; all the questions they answered, all the enthusiasm and starry-eyed wonder they had to emit at being chosen for such an exclusive and coveted accolade. It looked tiring.

There was a knock on the door.

"Evan?" It was his mother. "Can I come in?"

"Sure."

She opened the door. Her eyes were red and watery.

"We're going to make an impromptu visit to Maddie. Do you want to come?"

Evan hadn't known about this. He hadn't seen Maddie in over a week, since their last visit. She had still been raving about a place called gloryland then.

"Yeah," he said. "Yeah, definitely. Just let me do one thing."

"K, we'll see you in the car in fifteen."

The last time Evan had seen Maddie he'd given her a CD full of Idol performances to add to her laptop and iPod playlist. Her Internet access was limited so she couldn't download music freely. Her latest favorite playlist was one comprising the previous season's winner and runner-up—Lee DeWyze and Crystal Bowersox.

Maddie had loved Lee, thought he was cute, and she'd likened Crystal to something of a big sister figure. She hadn't cared a fig for the rest of the finalists, although early on she'd flirted with getting behind the handsome Casey James and the power-belter Siobhan Magnus. She'd obsessively listened to a mix of Lee and Crystal's early performances, all the way up until the finale, which aired the week before Jason killed himself.

The week following Jason's suicide had been one of numb chaos, and Maddie hadn't used her computer much, but she had used her iPod. She'd displayed a host of troubling behaviors-- first odd, then alarming, then enough to send her to the hospital she was staying at now.

Evan had always meant to LimeWire the last couple Lee/Crystal studio performances and bring them to her, but he hadn't gotten around to it for one reason or another. Now he speedily downloaded them all, added the extra songs to her Lee and Crystal playlist, and burned a CD. He took it from its slot, new and warm, and went downstairs. His parents were waiting in the car.