We were sitting in the music block at first break, Frazer and I tucked into a corner away from the windows to ensure no one saw us cuddled up together, all the while Caleb's speaker blared through the room.

"That was the next shortlisted candidate in this year's Unearthed High. Up next we have our second last shortlisted contestant. He's from all the way up in Townsville, North Queensland, playing next is a song called 'One More' by Apollo."

"Summer mornings... they were always the best time. Just you and I in the car, off to get the..."

"It's you!" I squealed at Frazer, all the while he grimaced. "What's wrong?"

"My song sounds shit compared to the others."

"It does not."

"It really doesn't," Kevin concurred.

"And we're going to film the 'Wanted to Say' music video this weekend, so soon they will be focussed on that next instead."

"I wish I submitted that song to the competition. It would have been better."

"We didn't have a recording with the band though. And it doesn't stand out without."

"We should have done a recording."

"Oh, stop your grumbling," Caleb said with a wave of his hand. "You were selected from over a thousand aspiring teenagers across Australia. You're good regardless and you're getting air time. So many of them can't say that."

"Also, not everyone has a poetic masterpiece as their first song. I mean, Kian said he thinks 'Waiting' is childish and it's one of his biggest hits," Kevin added.

"And Taylor Swift—" I started, glaring at the boys in the room as they pulled faces of disgust at the drop of her name, "Who is one of the most successful artists ever, thank you jealous wannabes in this room—most certainly didn't start writing lyrical gold... I mean, as much as I love her title album, 'He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar' doesn't hit the same way as 'I'd meet you where the spirit meets the bones in a faith forgotten land.' Some of her first concerts had like three people at a boat... or rubber duck race or something. Point is, you have to start somewhere and you can only go up from here."

"Exactly," Caleb seconded. "So stop your whining and celebrate, bro! You just got your first play on the radio!"

"I did," Frazer mumbled, the reality sinking in as his final chorus echoed through the room. Then he turned to look at me, belated pride finally consuming his gaze. "I'm being played on the radio, Em," he whispered.

"You are," I grinned. "I told you that you're a superstar."

"Thank you for being my first and biggest fan," he breathed, resting his head against mine.

"Always," I vowed.

He leaned in to kiss me, though our moment was brief.

"Guys, we've got visitors coming."

Frazer and I jumped apart just as other students steamrolled into the room, excited to talk to Frazer, the feature piece of today's school gossip.

◁ㅤ ❚❚ ㅤ▷

On Friday afternoon, we lingered at the school with access to a pair of keys to the auditorium. "I trust you to not let random people in here," Mrs Baird instructed as she flicked on the lights.

"Of course not," Frazer replied. "And thanks again for letting us film in here."

"Anything for our rising star!" she gushed, seeming a little starstruck herself now.

In the few days that had followed Frazer's first play, his Instagram had received over a thousand followers, and the whole school became aware of his shortlisting success.

"Oh, Miss?" I said before she turned to leave. "Are we allowed to play with the lights too?"

She glanced at our group and then nodded. "Some of these guys are in Media Arts, so they know what they're doing." But the delight quickly fled as she assessed me once more, pity replacing her gaze before her eyes flickered to Frazer as she spoke. "It's so lovely you two managed to stay friends." It seemed our breakup rumour was circulating well that even the teachers were in on it.

"Best of friends," I muttered, before turning to face the group. "Alright, are we ready?"

◁ㅤ ❚❚ ㅤ▷

By the end of the weekend, I managed to get Frazer's first music video and YouTube account up and running, and his new song was shared via his social media. Which was why I ended up catching the bus on Monday afternoon as Frazer had left early for an interview.

I had just tuned in via my phone in time to catch the end of the song and his first interview on air as I boarded the bus.

"A second song already from you, Frazer!" the presenter enthused. "Does that mean we have an album in the making?"

Frazer laughed. "I wouldn't say that. I've only written a couple of songs so far, but... I'm sure I will get there soon."

I found a seat in the middle, my bottom lip worrying over the slight tremble I could hear in his voice. I wished I was there, holding his hand through it all, but there was no way dad was going to let me leave school early for that.

"So tell us about this song! Is it about someone in particular?" the presenter then asked.

"It's..."

My cheeks flushed, my heart raced, and I wondered exactly what he'd say to explain this song. Will he sidestep the question? Surely he won't mess up and tell the truth...

"It was for someone, but... I'd rather not talk about it. It, um, didn't go well, to say the least. I wrote it as a confession to someone and, well... Yeah. But it's not just for me. I think a lot of people can relate to the song, and the general idea of wanting to confess to someone and messing it up big time or missing your opportunity."

"Ah, mate. I'm sorry to hear that. But with the way you're tracking, you probably won't have time for any relationships soon! 'Wanted to Say' already has over 10,000 views on YouTube in just twenty-four hours. How has that made you feel?"

"I'm stoked, to say the least. And super grateful for everyone who has checked out the song. It was a fun time filming it with my mates last Friday, and I just had to get it up quickly so that more could see it. Though I didn't expect so many to see it! I just hope people continue to love it and tune in to further songs coming soon."

"For sure! Now, if you're just tuning in, we are speaking with Frazer Young from Apollo, who was shortlisted as a finalist for Unearthed High. Frazer, we've been asking everyone this so far, but tell us about the moment you found out that you were a finalist. Where were you? What were you doing? How did you feel?"

"I'm terrible at checking my emails, so I didn't see it when it came through at midnight. It was the next morning when I read it. I was actually in my car picking up a... mate, and while I was waiting for them I got the text saying that I had to check my email for an update on the competition. When my friend got in the car... well, I struggled to speak." He laughed.

My lips turned up at the recount of the day and the thought of me being a 'friend'. I wonder how many stories he will tell like this... Where our times together become transformed into ones of mateship instead of a relationship.

"Your friend must have been worried!"

"They were at first! But eventually I coughed out what had happened—and I know it's against the rules, but I was in a state of shock then."

"We understand! It's not like the embargo was really broken either considering no one else found out. And what did your friend say?"

"Yeah, they were really happy for me. Maybe happier because I was still in disbelief! I'm really grateful for this opportunity."

"Oh, Frazer. You sound like such a lovely and humble kid! We're glad you've been shortlisted and we're loving your songs. We can't wait to hear what you release next!"

"Stay tuned!"

"Up next is our final candidate for Unearthed High, it's..."

◁ㅤ ❚❚ ㅤ▷

Over the next week, Frazer's rise to stardom accelerated with such great speed, we could barely keep up. All of his already accrued fanbase from Battle of the Bands were quick to share his song with their circles. And they shared it with theirs. And those who were Triple J listeners also repeated the sharing cycle after 'Wanted to Say' was released.

Next we knew, as we hung out on Saturday in Frazer's living room, a text came through from Kevin telling us to tune into one of the local radio stations.

Lo and behold, his song was playing.

As Frazer sat in disbelief and his mum bounced up and down with excitement, I loaded his Instagram first. "Have you seen this?"

"I've been avoiding going on there... there's too many messages from randoms."

My eyes narrowed and I wanted to press him further about what they were saying... or sending. Nonetheless, I didn't question him in front of his mum. Instead, I said loudly, "You've got a verified tick."

"He what?" his mum bellowed, running over to check my screen. "I have to call your grandmother."

"Mum," Frazer whined. "She won't even know what it means to be verified."

I was already moving over to YouTube to check his video as the pair bickered.

And my jaw almost literally dropped off. "You're at five hundred thousand views."

"How?" he exclaimed, yanking the phone from my hand as he stared in disbelief.

I leaned over him, scrolling down the screen as he still gripped onto my phone, and together we scanned through the comments. "Because you've become a Tik Tok trend."

When his fingers loosened their clutch in the midst of his shock, I pried my device from his grips and searched 'Wanted to Say' Tik Tok trend. My brows shot up at the plethora of videos that had littered the platform in the past two days, starting with a few recognisable faces from our school.

Many of the videos followed a familiar format. The person recording would set up their phone somewhere in a school ground, then call out the name of their supposed love interest, and then Frazer's song would start playing at the chorus while they mimed it.

The outcome had mixed reactions. Some of the mediocre-performing ones saw them get their person—though whether that was real or staged, who knew. The better ones had a comedic angle, whereby the person backed away confused or the singer was outright rejected.

Some of my favourites were those who didn't show the subject of their affection until the end, and then revealed they were singing to a cat, or a slice of pizza.

Nevertheless, "I don't think it matters if you win anymore. I think someone will be signing you within a matter of weeks."

◁ㅤ ❚❚ ㅤ▷

A few days later, the call came. Unfortunately, I wasn't with him this time as they pre-prepared with his mother to set up a video call so that they could record his reaction to winning and share it via social media.

Though he came rushing over without any warning right afterwards, banging on my door and receiving a grumble from my father on the way in.

Nevertheless, my dad was quick to forgive him when Frazer bellowed through the house, "I won! I actually won, Em!"

I was sitting with Archie on the couch at the time, watching reruns of Naruto. Yet I abandoned the show and raced across the room after his proclamation, jumping into his awaiting arms before he twirled me around.

"You're going to be a superstar!" I whispered as I gazed down at him.

He shook his head, lowering me back to the ground. Both of us were oblivious to my family in the room, but thankfully dad didn't ruin our moment. "I can't believe this is actually happening..." He started to narrate the events of the phone call and then informed me, "I'll be heading down to Melbourne in the last week of school to professionally record some songs and shoot a music video... I think we were doing a photoshoot too?"

"Do you have more songs to record?" was all I could think to ask, because I was in just as much shock as he was.

"I have very rough drafts..."

"Well, I'm so excited to hear them!" What else could I say? His dreams had come true and he was just going to have to set bigger and brighter goals from hereon.

"I have, like, less than two weeks to polish them up. Will you help me?"

"Of course I will! Wait... did you say a photoshoot?"

"Yes?"

I grinned at him like the devil.

"What?" the humour started to fall from his face as his gaze narrowed at my clearly scheming expression.

"You're going to have merch... And I'm finally going to be able to have your face covering my walls."

"Please don't."

"It's my room and you can't stop me."

Read ahead on Patreon. Link also on profile