MISSING...A NEW BEGINNING

 Summer was over, and school was in session. There were a lot of new things going on. Lots of new relationships and break-ups, people had grown taller and even become slightly unrecognizable. I think it's fair to say; the only thing that changed much were people's bodies cause their attitude still remained the same.

I walked through my school halls in excitement, I resumed on Monday while everyone else had resumed the day before, so I went straight to class.

"How was your summer?" I asked as I walked up to both Taylor and Corinne in class.

The sound of my hand hitting their desk startled them a little.

"Oh, hi Emily" Taylor said.

I took a seat beside them.

"Nothing really. Honestly, I missed you girls." Corinne said. She was sitting in the middle, so she stretched out her hands and hugged us both.

"You guys have anything planned for this session?" Taylor asked

"In fact—I do" I said, brought out my book and continued, "we should go back to the flawless fragrance. What do you think?" I asked with both hands under my chin.

"Definitely" Taylor said, giving the table a little bang.

"But not yet though" Corinne said.

"Oh—no, definitely not now. School comes first." I said.

"School comes first." they repeated, and we continued with our books.

We didn't take school for granted at all. As Canadian artiste Johnny Orlando had once said in an interview; 'if you get your stuffs together, school will be a breeze.' And he was right.

Weeks had gone by so fast, every one settled in and buckled down. There were no dramas, rumors or gossips. Everyone was more focused on their studies, trying to make up their grades for their college applications.

We finally decided to get back to the flawless fragrance because there was a lot demand. Even people who didn't attend our school had heard about it during the summer.

Along the line, we created an IT GRAM page to advertise for online buyers.

One day when we were having lunch, the flawless fragrance topic came up.

"Guys I've been getting a lot of orders lately" Taylor said as she scrolled through her phone.

"Yeah, what's up with that? Are we still doing it?" Ryker asked.

"Yeah, we should definitely get on with it" Taylor said.

"Alright then, tonight we will get back to work" I said and scrolled through my phone, "Does anyone know anything about shipping goods? Am getting some international customers."

"I do." Corinne said with her mouth full of raisins.

"Ok, then its settled" I concluded, dropping my phone on the table. Everyone continued with their food.

Parker got a text, "Uh—guys, I don't think am going to make it tonight." Parker said with his eyes glued to his phone screen.

"why not?" Corinne asked, having a hand-full of raisin about to be in her mouth.

"Uh—I've got this place..." Parker stuttered.

"what place?" I asked sharply.

"Someplace..." He paused, scratching the back of his head, "Don't worry about it, you guys won't know"

"Dude, just tell them you're going out with Symone" Walker blurted out.

Parker's face went numb, "why—why would you say that?" Parker asked and put a hand over his face.

Taylor chuckled, "Wait, you like Symone?"

Symone was a girl from our chemistry class that Parker has had a crush on since 5th grade.

"No...Maybe...Whatever. Mind your own business" Parker replied.

"Why are you getting all salty on us bro?" Ryker teased Parker.

"Its fine. Literally, you can go" I said

"Thank you, Emily," Parker said sarcastically and got up to leave.

"Have fun with Symone!" Walker shouted as parker was leaving.  Parker threw an apple at Walker's head in response.

******

We spent the entire afternoon shopping. I informed my friends about it but some of them were really busy, but that didn't stop us from going ahead.

We went from store to store, getting the items we needed.

It was finally time to start production again, but this time we took some equipment's from our science lab and brought it to my room.

"Before we start, I have some really cool DIYs I watched during the summer to show you guys" I said and walked over to my reading table to get my journal, where I jotted important things, but I couldn't find it. I searched everywhere for it but nothing.

"Hey, are you good?" Ryker asked.

"Have any of you guys seen my journal? I noted everything we need in there" I said still searching everywhere.

"No—" they all responded.

"Maybe calm down and try to remember when last you used it." Miranda said.

I paused for a while, stood still; trying to remember.

"I'm not getting anything" I said and carried on with my search.

"That's because you're tensed. Chill" Caden said

"Of course, am tensed, I wrote a lot of things in there" I said while searching, "I would be screwed if that book got in the wrong hands"

"Honestly though, I haven't seen that book since you resumed" Corinne said.

I paused on my search.

"Yeah, me neither" Taylor added.

I immediately grabbed my phone. "Hey Siri, facetime Leonardo"

I waited impatiently as the call connected.

"What's good" Leo greeted when the call connected.

Everyone else were still helping me with the search.

"Have you seen my journal? "I asked

"You mean that stuff you always carry with you everywhere?"

"I don't have time for jokes. Have you seen it or not?" I asked with a straight face.

"No, I haven't, but I'll look around and keep you updated." Leo said and cut the call.

I called my mom to ask her the same thing, but she hadn't seen it either.

"Now what?" I asked as I fell helplessly on my bed.

"Wait, I had seen king with a black book the other day" Heather said.

"No, she has hers—I know" I said

"Yeah, she does." Taylor said, "and—its more advanced than Emily's. Hers uses a finger print."

"Must be holding a lot of deep secrets" Zoey said.

"What are we going to do with all these stuffs now?" Alexis asked.

"We make perfume, that's what" Taylor said and started mixing.

"Yeah, we've come way too far to quit" Sofie said convincingly.

"And—we can combine the knowledge from the previous ones and new DIYs we'll watch right now." Ruby said, pulling out her phone.

"Sounds like a plan. Let's get to work" Ayden said and everyone started working.

I joined in, trying to distract myself. I needed my journal and fast.

Production took us hours, but we didn't really feel it cause we were having fun. They were, I was only trying to distract myself. 

I read like a book, I can't hide it when I dont feel ok, but this time I was trying my best to stay concealed and focused.

Later that night, Leo called me back.

"Find my book yet?" I asked.

"No, but I think I have a lead." Leo replied.

"What?" I asked curiously.

"Remember palm springs, you spent a lot of time writing and drawing and what not." He said.

"OMG...Yes." I nearly shouted. "which means I must've forgotten it there." I said and put a hand over my mouth.

"And—we stayed in a hotel. Which means..." He started.

"Which means my book is gone" I completed with a sigh.

"Hey, chill—it's just a book." Leo said.

"That contains a lot of things!" I shot back. "The book really had a lot in there. Nearly all the photos I took in palm springs are attached to it, so many thoughts, dreams, designs, hopes—a lot of things. Literally years of work destroyed in seconds" I added in a very depressing tone.

"If it really has some thick content, let's just hope the room service threw it away, instead of it ending up with someone else." He said.

"Amen to that." I said softly.

"You'll be fine, I'm sure" Leo said, convincingly.

I nodded, "I got to go. Good night." I said.

"Yeah, me too." Leo added, before cutting the call.

I walked back into my room, no one was in it. The girls had joined the boys  at an arcade down the street.  I took one look at the bottles of Flawless Fragrance lines up in my shelf.

"At least that's one good thing that came out of today"  I said to myself,  before grabbing my towels and heading to my bathroom.

Corinne and Taylor walked back into the room later that night, but I was already fast asleep.

******

A couple of weeks had gone by.

Flawless Fragrance was doing really good because the word had gone out really fast. We were selling to people we didn't even know personally.

School was good. I did have a couple ups and downs, but there were very minor and I was able to deal with them. No pressure.

I was on my phone a Friday night; everyone had gone to a party but I didn't go. I didn't want to.

I stayed on my bed scrolling through IT GRAM when I got a call. At first, I let it ring; twice, because it was a private number, but the third time, I decided to find out who it was.

"Hey good evening, am I speaking to Emiliana Sanderson?" The caller asked nicely.

I could tell it was a female.

"It depends on whose asking" I replied boldly.

"I would love to meet you in person" The caller said.

I paused for a second, pulled the phone out of my ear and took a quick look at it.

"Are you going to tell me your name or—" I asked.

"Would you be down to come to Los Angeles, if I flew you out?" She asked.

I paused again, this time wondering what was going on.

"Hello?" The caller asked, when she didn't get a response from me.

I couldn't speak. Everything about this was weirding me out so bad.

Plus, she was talking Los Angeles, California—Hollywood. I've always wanted to go to Hollywood, but I still didn't know who she was.

"Can I at least know your name first?" I asked cautiously.

"Let me know what you decide, if I were you; I'd make the right choice." She said calmly.

"What does that mean?" I asked, a little confused.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about" she said nicely.

"No, I don't and you're actually weirding me out right now." I replied.

"Time waits for no one. You said so in your dairy." She said.

"Hey wait, you have my journal?!" I yelled.

"Let me know what you decide" she said and cut the call.

"Hey! —Hey!" I yelled at my screen.

I needed to tell someone what just happened, but no one was around. I tried to google the number, but it was a private number.

Who could she be—and what does she want from me' I thought. I decided to sleep on it and get answers the next day.

The next day, during lunch, I told my squad about it.

"That's a little sketch" Ryker said, after they had listened to my explanation.

"What could they possibly want from you?" Taylor asked.

"And what exactly is in that book?" Corinne asked.

"Nothing serious, it's just me doodling my outfits as usual, and fiddling with my pen on songs, random thoughts and sayings." I answered.

"Did they ask for money or anything?" Parker asked.

"No, she just said I should make up my mind and get back to her" I said precisely.

"How are you going to do that? It's a private number." Taylor said.

"Well, you tell me?" I sighed.

"You're second guessing, aren't you?" Ryker asked softly.

"kind of. Maybe—I don't know." I answered vaguely. I rubbed my hands over my face.

"Emily, don't even think about it. That's way too risky" Taylor said loud enough, it went straight to my head.

'she's not wrong' I thought.

"I agree with Taylor" Corinne added plainly.

"Yeah, you don't even know her name" Walker said.

"You guys, we're talking about Hollywood." Ryker pointed out clearly.

"That doesn't mean she's going there for pleasure" Walker argued.

"Emily, I suggest; you call her back and calmly figure out what she or they want from you." Corinne said.

"And how do you suggest she does that? Private number, remember?" Ryker argued.

They all started arguing amongst themselves. As they did, I was losing my mind, I couldn't even hear them anymore.

"Why don't we just set a bait?" Ryker said, and they all argued calmly.

"What are you talking about?" Parker asked seriously.

"This lady, didn't ask for anything, she also didn't say come alone" Ryker asked with an eyebrow up, stating his facts.

"He has a point." I said, pointing at Ryker.

Ryker thought for some time then continued. "Try calling her back again or just wait for her to call you again. But this time; don't argue or yell, tell her you want in and all that and then let her speak. Maybe she'll finally tell you what's going on—in detail." Ryker said.

"Then again, what if its someone from the flawless fragrance?" Taylor said with a frown.

"No. I didn't put a phone number in the bio, there's a website and a link but no phone number, so if it is; they'll have to send a DM." I said.

"Tell her you're in, she did say; make the right decision, and thinking about it; this might actually be a big opportunity" Ryker added.

"It sounds a lot sus to be a good thing" Walker said.

"Let me try calling her again" I said, and tried the contact but didn't go through.

'Ryker might be right' I thought, but how am I supposed to know if I can't even reach her back.

I spent all day thinking about it. I needed an adult's advice but my mom didn't pick.

I was just about to shut off for the day and go to bed when my phone rang, it was the lady again.

I stared at the phone really hard, recalling everything I heard from my friends at luch. I was still zoned out when the phone stopped ringing.

I crawled into my bed, a lot relieved that I didn't have to go through this.

As soon as I pulled up my covers, my phone rang again, this time I picked up immediately, But didn't say a word,  I was taking Rykers  advice on letting her speak.

"Am sure by now you would have decided right?" she asked.

"Yes, I am in. Now what do I do?" I asked bravely.

"Thank God you made the right choice." She paused.

I listened closely.

"Go to the nearest airport at 8am on Monday" she was saying but I interrupted her;

"I have school on Monday" I said.

"It wouldn't take so long; you can ask a friend to cover for you." She said.

"What if I get in trouble?" I asked impatiently.

"I thought you said you were down for the task?" She asked a little serious.

I rubbed my eyes, without responding.  I needed to think about what I was getting into.

"Yeah, I am—but school." I complained.

"Just be at the airport at 8am, I'll send you the flight details. You wouldn't have to do anything else, someone will be waiting for you when you land, and he will bring you to me" she said, took a pause then continued, "Anymore questions?"

"Yes, I have a lot of quest..." I started, but before I could finish, she cut the call.

"Rude!" I yelled at my phone screen.

"God what do I do?" I asked myself. I stared at my phone screen, wishing I had just ignored the call.

I tried to think of what to do, but it was useless cause I wasn't even understanding what was currently going on.

I shook my head to get rid of the thought, before saying a short prayer and turning around to fall asleep.

The next day, after classes, I told my squad about it. This time the reaction was a little different.

"Pack your bags guys, we are going to Hollywood" Ryker said and pulled out his shades from his pockets, "Lights. Camera. Action—lets go" Ryker said in excitement.

"Are you really sure you want to do this?" Taylor asked.

"If Ryker is right, then am open for the best, but if not; am ready for whatever" I said.

"That's my motto" Ryker said.

"No, it's not." Corinne shot back.

"You don't know what my motto is." Ryker replied rashly and they started arguing.

Everyone stared at them, before turning around to check if anyone was paying attention. They were so loud that some kids could hear them, but only a few paid attention.

"You guys want to go to another location?" I asked.

"Please." Walker said and we all left the table, leaving Ryker and Corinne still arguing.

"Where are you guys going?" Ryker asked.

"Anywhere else" Parker said as he walked away.

******

We followed the instructions the mysterious lady gave, and everything she said happened.

When we landed in LA, a well-dressed man ushered us into his car and took us to a really big hotel. He showed us to a room. He walked in and we followed behind him.

"Madame will be with you shortly" he said and existed.

We all nodded with smiles as he left.

"Woah, this is huge" Ryker said as he surveyed the place.

"Not bad." I said and dropped my luggage's

"Not bad?!" Ryker shouted, "This place is awesome" he said and jumped on the bed.

"Ok bro, I don't think you should be doing that" Parker said and Ryker got down.

"Am getting a face time call" I said, and looked at my phone; it was Christine. I picked up.

"where are you guys?" Christine asked.

"Uh—I don't really know though, but what's going on at school?" I asked.

"We have a pop quiz today—Did you forget?" she asked.

We all paused for a second, while my eye balls travelled from side to side, catching everyone's facial expressions.

"Oh, my guys!" Taylor shouted. She hated missing quizzes.

"I kind of did—yeah." I said.

"What are you guys going to do about it?" Christine asked.

"I knew this was a bad idea" Taylor said almost shouting, "we've been here a while—still nothing, no one's showing up".

"We just got here" Walker said to Taylor.

"Relax, another one is going to pop up; that's why they are called pop quizzes" Ryker said and we all turned to look at him.

"Smart." Corinne said sarcastically.

"The teachers coming" Christine said and hung up.

"I didn't study all night, just to not take this test." Walker said.

"I didn't even study at all, so its whatever" Ryker said bluntly.

Taylor was about to say something when a lady who was nicely dressed walked in.

"Emiliana Sanderson?" she asked.

I turned to my friends, but they all did and said nothing. I raised my hand slowly, indicating my presence.

"Come with me pls" she said and started walking away.

At first, I didn't move, but Ryker gave me a nudge and I started walking.

We stopped at the door of a room. She opened the door and signaled me to walk in, I did and she shut the door behind me and left.

The lady lead me to a room and signalled me to walk in, I complied and she walked away.

Inside the room was a woman in a really beautiful fitted gown facing the window, I couldn't see her face.

"Hello?" I said and walked a little closer.

She still didn't turn around.

"Welcome" she said without turning.

"You wanted to see me?" I asked, a little nervous.

"I wanted to see Emiliana Sanderson, but if you're not the one; you can leave." She said still facing the window.

I got very alert. "I'm Emiliana Sanderson" I said, walking backwards slowly to the door.

"Good". She said and turned.

I stopped moving.

She examined my movements, then continued; "I know we just met for the first time, but when I saw your diary; it felt like I knew exactly who you were."

"it's actually a journal" I corrected, holding the door knob. I was shaking a little.

She walked over to a drawer and brought out my journal but I didn't move. She stretched out her hand as to return my journal, but I still didn't move.

"Here." She said and smiled.

I walked forward to collect it.

"You're a talented kid, with a great imagination. I think you're the person I've been wanting for years now." She paused and started walking around.

I still didn't say anything.

She continued "The world needs people like you, people who are not afraid to dream. People who are strong and compassionate and above all have strong will power" she said and stopped to look at me.

I still didn't move or say anything.

"Am sorry if I scared you over the phone, but it was because I could not give out my identity" She stretched out her hands for a handshake.

I didn't take it.

"I'm Camila Vampelt. A fashion designer from France," we shook hands, before she continued; "I love your designs." She said and brought out a huge paper showing some designs that she herself had made. "Five years in the fashion industry and I have never seen designs like yours!"

"Thanks" I managed to say.

"Before I called you, I did some research on you, turns out you have everything it takes to be a star" she said.

Her words went straight to my head.

"You barely even know me." I muttered.

She heard me, but smiled and continued.

"You my dear, can be the next big thing. Fashion is all over the place these days, people want to know what's trending and not. Oh—," she paused and put both hands on my shoulders.

My eyes widened and I looked at her hands.

"I'm a huge fan of flawless fragrance" she said and let go of me.

"Excellent work" she said, and took a seat. "Everybody has a dream, whatever they maybe, but you might have already started achieving yours."

"I really wouldn't call the perfume a dream as such" I gestured with my hands and continued "it's more like a fun way to make money and kill time''

"Good job" Camilla nodded. Then got to her feet, "I have a proposal for you, a business deal."

"I'm listening." I said and crossed my arms.

"The whole world is looking for talent, it's all about what you've got to offer, and you my dear have secured yourself a spot in the fashion industry. Why don't we make your designs come to life?" she paused and glared at me, "Am talking actually creating them, things like that need to be seen;"

"But how?" I asked curiously.

"Here's the deal, you already have a lot of designs, my team of productions will help you. You will be getting really epic magazines cover, interview, am talking every tv screen..." I cut her before she could continue.

"Now you must think am really stupid? These kinds of things don't happen in the real world" I said.

She smiled and looked at me.

"They do. For those who dare to try..." she said, turned back and returned to her seat.

"Here's what we're going to do; why don't we start with the designs you already have. I'll take care of production for now, and when you feel comfortable and that you can trust me, you'll take over. But for now, all you have to do is draw, design, use your utopia and stuff like that. I can even help you expand the flawless fragrance" she concluded.

"I don't know, all these seem a little too over exaggerated. And—I have school'' I said putting my hands in my pocket.

"I know that, which is why I said; Now all you have to do is draw, my team will take care of creating your designs and marketing them, you will be getting a lot of more fame and you wouldn't have to touch anything'' she paused and continued "until your older''.

I stood still, pondering on what I had just heard. A part of me didn't know what I was still doing talking to this lady.

"You decide. You want to see your dreams come true? Or—are you just going to be one of those many people who only save their dreams for sleeping?'' she said and struck me a look.

I took a deep breath.

"Look kid" she stated "I know exactly how you feel, it sounds too much to handle, I felt the same way too, but this is a real opportunity of a life time" she said.

I took one more look at my journal.

"OK. I'm in" I said slowly "Now what?" I asked.

"Now..." She took her phone, collected my journal and took some pictures of my designs, "Now we get to work. I'll keep you updated on everything and in return you just keep coming up with new designs." She assured.

"Ok then, but do I have to be here... like live here?" I asked

"Oh, no you don't, unless you want to..." she said

"Nah—thanks, I have a life back home" I said.

"You're about to start a new chapter, you really won't have time for things back home" she said

"What do you mean?" I asked curiously

"I'm saying your life's about to change" she paused, then continued, "completely".

My eyes widened, but my mouth still stayed shut.

"Welcome to the first day of your new life." Camila added, "if you don't have any more questions, then you can leave now. My butler will make sure you arrive home safely—and with some treats." She said.

I smiled slowly and turned to leave but her voice paused me.

"Oh, and—you will make a really good singer. I'll talk to my contacts." She smiled genuinely. "good luck kid."

I nodded and walked out of the room. I walked through the hall way as fast as I could, slowly taking in everything I saw. The building was huge, I still couldn't clearly tell if it was a hotel or if it belonged to the lady, but it was beautiful and the biggest building Ive seen.

I finally returned to my friends. Before I got back to the room, Taylor was already getting worried.

"Why is she taking so long?" Taylor asked, seconds before I walked in. "Oh, there you are."

"What happened?" Parker asked curiously.

I sat down to explain in detail exactly what happened.

"Well, that's good news though." Corinne said.

"Yeah. It kind of is" I replied softly.

"What? You don't want it?" Ryker asked.

"It all seems way too much" I replied.

"Yeah, kinda." Walker said.

"You'll be fine. Besides, she said you wouldn't have to do work." Taylor said.

"Dude, we should go out to celebrate." Ryker said in excitement.

"But she said something that got me thinking." I said

"which was?" Walker asked.

"when I mentioned home and my friends, she said; and I quote, 'you won't really have time for things back home'. I said.

"Yeah, she's right. It's no big deal though. You will have a lot going on to worry about anything else." Walker said.

"Yeah, drawing, singing, maybe signing autographs and all that—but don't worry, we're here for you." Corinne said, smiling.

"Thanks guys." I said, putting on a faint smile.

"We're going to be famous!" Ryker shouted.

"Oh boy" Parker muttered.

Immediately after our discussion, the butler came in with bags.

"The Miss's treat." He said as he handed us the bags. "Pls come downstairs whenever you're ready and we'll get going." He said and left.

As I stood there, I promised myself not to ever let fame change me. We got our stuffs and followed him.

We left LA, and went back to Stan Ville.

******

For days, things seemed a lot chill. Raven wasn't causing so much trouble, King still never spoke a word, everything was the same.

Weeks later, some members of the TAMELESS dance team had heard about a music video audition, they needed dancers for a music video and we were the exact number that was required.

we had gotten a chance to speak with the director, who told us that they needed groups and not solos, meaning we could all participate. We were given a date, time and venue to show up.

Raven and her team didn't qualify because of team number. We spent every free time we had practicing what we would perform at the audition. We showed up at the appropriate time, but something seemed off.

"Why are there so many people here?" ruby asked, as we walked into the hall.

"We are here to audition for a music video" some girl replied.

"Wait, we have to audition?" Kendal asked

"I thought we had already been chosen?" Christine asked me in confusion.

Everyone was confused.

"I guess let's just wait and see what happens" I said and turned to look around.

As I looked amongst the crowd, I saw some familiar faces at separate positions. It was my old dance team. They weren't together, instead they came with new team members. The first person I saw was Lexi and we gathered the others.

"I feel like I haven't seen you guys in a really long minute" Vivi said

"No kidding" I chuckled.

"What are you all doing here though?" Belle asked.

"Auditioning for a music video." We all answered together.

There was awkward silence for a moment.

"Wait—what?" Olivia said with a frown.

"Yeah, I don't get it?" I said.

"Am auditioning for this music video with MY team." Belle said, pointing at some group of girls behind her.

"Well so am I..." Thersa said, in confusion.

"Wait, so now what?" Trish said, looking at us "we are now going up against each other?" Trish asked.

"Seems like it" Vivi said.

"I can't believe this." Olivia said in a disappointed tone.

"Well, whatever the case; I just hope I get in" I said and let out a yawn.

"Why would you get in? am also here with my team." Lexi said.

"Am just saying what I want for myself, I don't really care though." I said, with a frown.

"Of course, you don't." Trish said and rolled her eyes.

"Only one group is going to get chosen, and it's going to be mine." Thersa said.

"We'll see about that." I said sternly and left.

"Hmph." Everyone said and went back to their teams.

As we waited for our turns, our eyes kept meeting with each other.

Finally, my team got called on, we performed the choreography we spent the last week learning, and we did really good. The judges weren't giving scores yet. They seemed impressed with every team, so it was hard to know what group would get chosen.

Not long after we finished auditioning, the judges started calling the teams one-by-one. My team was the fourth to be called.

"Hey ladies," one of the judges named Eric, greeted.

"Excellent work girls, you girls were amazing" another of the three judges said.

We all nodded in agreement.

"You girls might just be the right fit, because we need some famous faces in this video, and you guys are well-known for your flawless fragrance." The last judge; Martin said.

"But here's the thing." Eric said. "we are looking for talent, faces and—" he paused a little, "a mixed team."

"God." Joey said and covered her face.

We were all disappointed.

"That doesn't mean you girls were not good" Martin said.

"But just stick around, you never know what will happen." Phillip said.

"Thank you." Alexis said, and we left the room.

There were only two mixed teams at the audition.

"I don't think they got in." Thersa said to her team members. She was talking about us. We heard it but, ignored.

"Now what?" I asked.

"They said we should stick around right." Amy said.

The suspense was in the air. I was getting sick and tired of dance drama.  Maybe it was time to leave the dancing thing and focus on something else, But Camila still hadn't gotten back to me, but still, she kept her word.

An agent had called me some days earlier to talk to me about my song and the chances of staring in a movie. I took the song offer, but referred him to Taylor and Corinne for acting. He still insisted that I show up, even if it would be as a background character. And after all that, here I was again, with the same old dance drama.

The judges came out, and I came back to reality.

"Alright, first of all I want say; great job everyone." Philip said. "we have come to a conclusion." He paused.

The pause created a massive suspense. I could hear people's heart beat faster.

"So, I know the rules said; only one team will be chosen." Martin said.

"But you all have worked so hard, and we think..." Philip took a pause to release a smirk.

Which made the crowd infuriated.

"Just tell us already!" someone yelled from the crowd.

"Yeah!" Everybody agreed.

"Ok, you want to hear it?" Eric asked. "Since you all worked so hard, we think it's only fair that everyone gets in."

A loud gasp came from every corner and filled the room. The crowd didn't seem so pleased with that.

"That's not fair!" A girl from the audience shouted.

"Yeah, what the heck?!" Another girl shouted.

By now, the crowd had gone crazy. Everyone was talking.

"We worked so hard, we deserve to be the ones chosen!" Vivi shouted, and the place got silent and everyone turned to look at her.

"What?" Vivi said as she folded her arms, trying to avoid eye contact with the angry crowd.

"Well, we have made our decisions, and that's final." Philip said.

"Anyone who's not ok with it can just leave." Martin said, pointing towards the door.

Everyone just looked at each other, but no one moved.

"Ok then, its settled. Meet back here tomorrow to get assigned your roles and start performing." Eric said.

"Without further ado, you all can leave now." Martin said and everyone walked away immediately.

"Do you think we made the right choice?" Martin asked as they turned to leave.

"Well, I thought it was a fair choice—but I guess not." Eric said.

"There's definitely going to be a crowd, so how about we cut people who can't get the choreography right." Philip suggested.

"That'll be tough, did you see those amazing performers." Eric said.

"Yeah, but we have to." Philip said, folding up the papers.

"Okay then." Martin nodded.

******

We got back to school, nothing seemed to have happened while we were away. We all walked up to my room. Taylor, Corinne, Walker and some others were present.

"Did you guys get in?" Walker asked as we walked in.

"Yeah. And so did everybody else." I said as I walked over to get a bottle of water.

"What do you mean?" Taylor asked. Confused.

"Well, turns out we weren't the only team auditioning." Paesha answered.

"And?" Corinne asked.

"Well, long story short, everyone got a role in the music video" Kendal said.

"Ok, that's good news" Ryker said.

"Kind of—not exactly" I said.

"The other groups didn't like it either." Christine said, letting out a yawn.

"why not?" Taylor asked.

"Well, there were over five groups with 14 members." Amy said.

"And—if they had picked just one, then the focus would've been on that team that got chosen" Sofie said.

"I think they just didn't want to hurt you guys feelings." Corinne said and picked her phone.

"Whose music video is it anyway?" Ryker asked.

"We don't know yet." Zoey said.

Taylor's phone beeped, "I got a text" she said, looking at her phone.

"Who's it from?" Parker asked calmly.

"Hey Emily, remember that agent that reached out to us some days back?" Taylor said, looking at her screen.

"Yeah, what about him?" I asked.

"Well, he just texted me. He says; there's an opening for a movie and he thinks we should check it out." Taylor read aloud.

"Cool." Corinne said, without taking her eyes off her phone.

"Also, he said he read your lyrics and he think it will make a killer song." Taylor said and dropped her phone.

"There's no way he said that last part" I said with a straight face.

"There's a lady from Italy who needs 500 bottles of flawless fragrance." Corinne said, still on her phone.

"Unavailable." Taylor said.

"What are we going to do about Roland; the agent guy?" Corinne asked and set her phone to sleep mode.

"Just do exactly what he said." I said. I got interrupted by a text message. "it's from Camilla." I said and picked up my phone. Everyone gathered around me.

"What does it say?" Ryker asked.

"It's a video message" I said and hit play.

"Hey Emily, sorry it took so long to get back to you, I didn't want to tell you anything until we had finished." Camilla said. In the video message, she stands up and walks into a room.

Taylor gasped, "It's beautiful"

"Shh!" Corinne shushed her and we went on with the video.

"like what you see?" Camilla asked, gesturing towards the clothing line behind her.

"Uh—huh!" Taylor nodded.

We all turned to look at her.

"Taylor it's a video message" Ryker said, and we all got back to the video.

"Behind me are your wonderful designs. Nothing was added, nothing was removed. This is all you baby girl. Now, tell me what you think." The video ended.

"I love it!" Taylor screamed. Again, we turned to her. Her face went straight, "Video message, right."

"I feel like am dreaming." I said, still staring at my phone which had gone blank by now.

I was brought back to reality by a slap from Joey.

"Aww." I said, holding my cheeks, "why'd you do that?" I asked.

"To wake you up." Joey said and leaned closer to me, "are you still dreaming?"

"what—no, get away from me." I said and moved away from her.

"You have to respond to that" Heather said.

"I know, but what do I say?" I asked.

"Simple. Just tell her you love it and she's amazing." Alexis said.

"Or just say thank you" Miranda suggested.

"Ok, before anyone else gives a different suggestion, I'll just say thank you—while she's still online." I said and began typing. "sent." I said.

"Oh my gosh, she's typing." Amy said.

"See you in Italy then." Camilla replied and went offline.

"Italy?" Ryker asked, confused.

"Seems so." I said and threw my phone, it landed on the bed.

"Did she say when?" Sofie asked.

Just then my phone beeped. I picked it.

Text message from Camilla:

In two weeks. Everything has been handled for you already, just show up to the airport, like the last time.

"Yes—yes she did." I replied.

"I guess we will have to wait for next two weeks then." Joey said.

"It's not that far." Ryker said.

"I can't believe you're actually going to be famous." Corinne said joyfully.

"That has been her dream for like forever—and now it's finally coming true." Taylor said.

"Dreams only come true in fairytales, you know that." I said, and covered my face with my hands.

Corinne, Taylor, the boys and TAMELESS crew fell backwards on the beds simultaneously.