CHAPTER TWO

Excitement bubbles through my system as my eyes catch the sight of my computer. In this moment, the possibilities are endless. I could have one view or one-thousand. It feels farfetched, but I spent the night dreaming about the bright lights of a stage and the crowd roaring my name as I begin singing.

There's a soft knock on the door, then my mother's head pokes into the room. I snuggle under the blanket and push my thoughts away.

"We're leaving in thirty minutes; will you be ready by then?" she questions.

"Um, yes." I nod. "Because I really don't have another choice, do I?"

"Don't forget to eat breakfast," she reminds me.

"Okay, I promise I won't."

She closes the door while I roll out of bed. Waking up is the easier part; it's fighting the desire to roll back into bed and ignore the world which is the hardest.

I stumble across the room and begin shuffling through the collection of books neatly piled towards the corner of my desk. As I flicker through, I withhold the ones I need. Once I've gathered everything I need, I toss them into my bag and hurry towards my wardrobe.

The first thing I grab is a pair of tight, ashy grey jeans and a long-sleeved top with a blue and white floral pattern. Then I find a pair of comfortable leather boots and a puffy black jacket to keep me warm.

I wander into the hallway and instantly groan with displeasure when I hear my sister's music blaring from the bathroom.

"Better luck next time," I mutter to myself.

You'd think sharing a bathroom with one person would be easy, but Hannah might as well be ten people with the amount of time she spends in there.

My feet drag along the ground as I return to the bedroom to change. I tug the outfit on and shower myself in a cloud of perfume.

Before leaving the room, I straighten the blanket and reposition my pillows to make the room look neater. Then I grab my bag and hurry downstairs. I wander into the kitchen and leave my bag by the doorway.

I scan over the pantry in search for something to eat. There's a lot of options, but I go for the best kind of breakfast food, the sugary kind.

Filling my bowl to the brim with fruit loops, I grab the milk from the fridge and pour it into the bowl. As I return the milk to the fridge, I grab a spoon from the drawer beside the fridge.

I carry the bowl into the loungeroom and plonk myself in front of the television. Just as I go to grab the television remove, my mother swoops in and takes it away.

"Hey, what are you doing?" I pout.

"No trashy cartoons today," she says, "there's a segment I want to watch on this morning show."

I know better than to fight with my mother, so I live with it. Hopefully, it's something interesting. I hate having to listen to fake people pretending to feel emotional as they read content they don't care about.

When two people appear on the screen, I internally groan. They are the perfect example of fake and very dramatic.

"Do we have to watch this?" I ask.

"Yes," she replies.

"Really? These two are the worst News readers in the world. She even has a Dorito chip spray tan which someone should tell her looks freaking awful. How they got their jobs; I'm baffled." I swirl my spoon through the bowl and take another mouthful of sugary goodness.

"I'm Sandra Veil-"

"- and I'm Anthony Molt," he says.

"- and this is your daily dose of weekly entertainment," they both say together.

"Last night, a video of a young girl singing has gone viral, thus shocking people around the world." Sandra laughs which sounds fake and awfully forced.

It's way too early in the morning to be watching this. I quickly finish my breakfast before removing myself from the room. I place the bowl in the sink, then grab my bag from the door. As I walk past, I yell out to my mother.

"I'm going to school now."

"Have a good day, Riley."

"Same for you," I reply.

I slip out the front door and lightly jog down the pathway and to the letterbox. Just like always, Lucy is resting against the letterbox glaring at her phone.

"Good morning and yes, I finished my assignment," I say.

"That's awesome, Rils!" Lucy links her elbow through mine and we begin walking down the footpath. As always, she begins talking about something or someone while I disappear into the bubble of thought plaguing my mind.

It's only when I hear someone screaming with laughter, that I realise we're walking into the school building. Our arms remain linked as we shuffle through the busy hallway.

Down the third hallway, we find our other friends gathered around Laylah who's resting on the lockers.

"Hey there." Laylah lights up with a friendly smile.

"Hi," I chirp in response.

Laylah is the prettiest; her long slender body and lilac coloured hair. She certainly knows it too because she takes advantage of her beauty when it comes to getting her own way. Despite the odd, jealous feelings towards her, deep down, I'm sure she's a nice person.

Mindy, Delilah and Saskia might as well be her cliché minions as they follow her everywhere. They wanted to be just like Laylah; they lived in her shadow.

I don't recall why we're friends with any of them, but it's nice to have people to chat with, even if it's just for a passing moment.

"Have you two heard about that new singer? She's amazing and I already love her after one song." She beams with excitement.

"New singer?" I frown.

"You have to check out her music! Just check your messages, I'll send you a link to her video," Laylah explains.

"Okay, thank you."

Before I have a chance to look, the bell rings and we're scattering in different directions except for Lucy and I, we have most of the same classes. With our arms still linked, we walk into our homeroom and find a desk towards the back of the room.

The room buzzes with noise until the teacher walks in. He silences everyone and begins marking people off before sitting down with his computer.

"I want to show you this video my daughter found," he says.

Mr. Bailey is one of those cooler teachers who often skips the conventional homeroom tasks and reverts to something interesting like funny cat videos on YouTube.

He brings up a YouTube video and clicks on the play button. Before I have a second to process what's happening, I hear my voice playing through the speakers. My palms start sweating and I feel light headed. This can't be my video.

I keep a straight face as I watch the confident version of myself sing. How can I be that confident there, but feel so weak and vulnerable right now?

Leaning back in my chair, I close my eyes and listen to the song.

"She let the pain consume her, like the ocean engulfing her body and the water filling her lungs."

When the video ends, everyone begins to chatter amongst themselves. I focus on the chair in front of me while I tune out their voices and the need to puke.

"Quiet down class," Mr. Bailey calls.

"She's amazing, and I think I've heard that voice before." Lucy innocently looks at me.

"Yeah, great song," I agree with her.

"I wonder where I heard that before," her voice has a ring of sarcasm. Lucy points her finger against her chin and then glares at me. "How could you?" she growls under her breath.

"Can we please talk about this after school?" I nervously look around me; worried someone might overhear us.

"Can you take the knife out of my back before that?" she questions.

"I'm really sorry; I was scared."

Mr. Bailey shows the view count which sends another round of nausea wafting through me. Lucy wraps her arm around my waist and rests her head on my shoulder.

"Deep breath, it's going to be okay."

For the remainder of homeroom; I block everything out.