All I Ever Wanted

“I AM GOING TO KILL HIM!” I screamed. Emma, my best friend since birth, laughed hysterically as she replayed the video. “How could he do this?” I was so mad.

“Hey, at least your singing is pretty good. Why didn’t I know you could sing? You’d think after 21 years, I’d know that little detail about my best friend.” Emma scoffed. We watched me dance around in my towel, singing into my hairbrush. My little brother had posted this embarrassing video of me on Youtube.

“1,387 views, Emma! That means 1,400 people have heard me sing and have seen me dancing around my bathroom! How could I not have known that he was filming me?!” I exclaimed, desparately. I had never sang in front of anyone.

“Screw the video. It’s not like that many more people will see it, right? I’ll butter him up when he gets home and he’ll take it down.” I exited the video, causing Emma to protest, and logged into Tumblr. Emma and I shared a One Direction blog.

Yes we’re in college and are working on our future careers, but the boys of One Direction are all around our age so it’s not that bad, right? Whatever.

Emma and I shared an apartment near our university during the school year, but it was summer time and we were back in our hometown, visiting our families.

“Leah, let’s tell our followers about your video!” Emma looked a little too excited.

“Emma, if you tell anyone, so help me God - .”

“LEAH! COME HERE I NEED YOU!” we heard the front door close and I knew my mom was home.

“Ugh, I’ll be back.” I stood up from my desk and jogged downstairs.

“Ok, I’m going to start answering a few of our asks on here. Hurry back!” Emma yelled.

“Mom, your son totally posted a video of me singing in the shower on Youtube. Just thought you should know what he’s been up to.” I rolled my eyes as my mom chuckled.

“Thank God Youtube wasn’t around when your uncle and I were kids. Here, help me with these groceries.” She said, handing me a bag.

“I look like a freak in the video.” I whined, as I began to help her with the groceries. “I’m hoping I can persuade him to take it down though, before people I know see it.”

“You look like a freak? What’s new?” She smirked. “Put these apples in that dish on the counter.”

“And you wonder why the only time I ever come home to visit is in the summer!” I joked as I set the apples in the bowl, grabbed a bag of mini donuts out of the pantry and ran back upstairs. My mom and I had more of a best friend type relationship than that of a mother-daughter relationship. We were constantly joking with and on one another, plus sharing secrets.

“Thank God you’re back! You were gone for thirty minutes and I went back to the video. It’s shot up to 6,983 views!” Emma looked at me wide-eyed and shoved the laptop in my face. I gulped.

Oh my God. She was right.

“Just wait till Carson gets home. Everything will be fine.” I tried to calm myself. My little brother was at football camp. “Seriously Emma, he’s 16 and I thought we were finally starting to get along. Why would he do this to me?”

“Don’t know, girl. I don’t have any siblings, remember?” She said, a little too happy about it.

“Ugh, let’s just get back to the blog.” I grabbed a few donuts, and tossed the bag to Emma. A video of me acting like a complete idiot was circulating around the internet and there was nothing I could do about it for another 4 days until Carson came home. Until then, pictures of Harry Styles and mini chocolate donuts were the only things getting me through.

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“Leah!” Emma poked me in the cheek. I rolled over and pulled the covers over my head.

“Emma, I had the worst dream that a video of me singing was on Youtube and everyone kept watching it and laughing at me.”

“Honey, that wasn’t a dream. You’re up to 16,000 views. But hey at least there are only 2,752 thumbs down. Jealous bitches, probably. If I heard a girl singing with that kind of talent in the shower, I’d give her a thumbs down too, just cause I’d wish I was her.”

“16,000 VIEWS?! OH MY GOD!”

Surely this is a nightmare.

I got out of bed and trudged downstairs with Emma to make breakfast, well, lunch. It was 3pm, but we’d stayed up late the night before on Tumblr, obsessing over the latest pictures of the boys.

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(3 days later)

“Today’s the day that I get to kill the little brat.” I sighed, munching on another donut, still trying to figure out how Carson had gotten that video of me when I’d only been home for three days before he’d left for football camp.

“I don’t see the big deal. You have a beautiful voice and the world loves it! It’s like humor and talent all in one video!” My mom tried to make it better while we lounged around on the couch. Emma was at her house, and my mom didn’t work on Fridays. The video had reached 278,000 views. Half the world had seen my private concert. “But you do need to go get dressed. We have to be at the airport to get Carson in an hour.”

“Ugh okay” I shoved the rest of the donut into my mouth and rushed upstairs, just in time to hear Harry’s verse of “Magic” aka my ringtone. I flopped on my bed, grabbed my phone, and saw it was a number I didn’t know. “Hello?” I said, trying to swallow the donut and still sound like a proper human being.

“Hi, may I speak with Leah?” It was a guy. But he sounded middle aged.

Oh God, if Emma made me a profile on Match.com again…

“This is she.” I said.

“Hi Leah, my name is Spencer Trace and I’m with Starstruck Management. I’ve seen your video on Youtube and I was just wondering if you’d ever considered a career in the music industry?”

WHAAAAAAT? This is a prank. Carson set this entire thing up.

“No, no I haven’t” I managed to get out.

“Well, I’d like to offer you just that. You have amazing talent! I’ve never heard a voice quite like yours. And to post that kind of video, you must have a unique personality! Starstruck is looking for their Next Big Thing. We’ve had a few meetings to discuss you, and my dear, we believe you ARE our Next Big Thing! Can we set up a meeting? I can’t wait to meet you and get started!” He rambled on.

“Wait a second, Mr. Trace. How do I know any of this is even real?”

Dumb question, you idiot. Of course it's real. He sounds all official.

“I’m so sorry Miss Sadler, I know this is a lot. Have you ever heard of Starstruck Management? We’ve worked with many artists, such as KeSha, Carly Rae Jepsen, Justin Bieber. They’ve all moved on from us. We’re like a starting label. We help the unknown find stardom and then they sign with bigger labels. Can I get some information from you so we can move forward with the process?” Spencer Trace took my information and told me he would call me soon with more details.

I changed clothes and met my mom in the car. “So, um, what would you say if I told you that I wanted to sing professionally?”

“You? Well I’d be shocked but I’d support you. You know that. Why?”

“Starstruck Management called. They want to sign me ASAP. Spencer Trace is calling me back with details about meeting to look over and sign a contract.”

My mom’s eyes widened and she sat there, speechless, at a red light that had been green for about thirty seconds. “Mom, you might wanna go before this guy behind us has a stroke.” I said as I pointed to the green light and looked back at the red faced man who had been honking his horn and cursing at my mom.

Notes