✫✫✫

All I could hear were the splashing of water on my feet and the raindrops falling down as I ran forward. There was nothing but darkness ahead, but for some reason I didn't care. I paced as fast as I could, tears streaming down my face but being washed out by the rain. There was a feeling of heaviness in my chest and an insurmountable pain wanting to be set free.

I looked up at the sky to see a bolt of light and hear thunder crackling. My instant reaction was to stop running. I stayed in the middle of the road, feeling the rain on my skin. When I looked ahead again, something bright flashed and nearly blinded my sight. I felt woozy.

By the time I recovered, I found myself looking at a lot of horizontal heads.

"What is going-"

"How was your sleep, Gigi?" A student beside me whispered to me slyly with a smile. Other students were also looking discreetly and trying not to get caught by Miss Curt, our math teacher who was busy teaching.

I sat up and stared into space for a moment before realizing that I was sleeping in class. I distinctly remembered trying not to doze off at Miss Curt's lesson on Calculus, which I really hated. When I looked up at the board in front, she was still busy teaching the said lesson.

Gee, she really loves her numbers.

"How long have I been out?" I asked the girl who whispered to me awhile ago. She was acting as if she was listening intently but from my view, I could clearly see her texting on her phone below her desk.

She immediately shut her phone and grinned at me with her pearly whites. "Only about twenty minutes since Miss Curt started."

"What?!" I hissed. Why didn't anybody bother waking me up? I could get an offense!

"Don't worry," she said. "We all know you've been sleeping. Even Miss Curt has. But it would be very rude to wake up an internet sensation, now would it?"

Is she being sarcastic?

I wanted to argue and say that I shouldn't be having any special treatment but before I could, a loud yell came from the back. "Stop!"

"What is the matter here?!" Miss Curt walked towards the center of attention, namely Hailie and a random jock.

Hailie was standing up with angry eyes while the jock looked paler than a cloud. "This guy has been taking pictures of Gigi Vloski sleeping! I even saw him nearly posting it online! How dare he try to ruin my bff's reputation!"

Bff. Psh. She wishes she was.

"I wasn't going to! I just wanted to send it to my friend!" He stammered.

Miss Curt checked the phone Hailie gave her and shook her head disapprovingly. "Mister Fisher, do you know that it is against the school rules to use phones inside the classroom? Principal's office now!"

"But what about Gigi? She was sleeping in your class!" He pointed to me.

"Miss Vloski is a different case, Mister Fisher! It is rude to disturb our famous star!" She said. "Now, into the office!"

After the poor jock was out, everyone went back to normal, as if me having special treatment wasn't a big deal.

What on earth are these people? Do they have no sense of justice?

I inwardly shook my head in disappointment. School lets me down every single time. I don't even know why I'm still here.

My heart almost leaped out when I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. I hurriedly took it out and checked the caller ID. It was Paul. The call must be important because Paul rarely calls me.

"Um.. Miss Curt?" I raised my hand shyly.

She looked at me right away and smiled widely. "Yes, Miss Vloski? Anything you need?"

"I'm just wondering if I could uh.. Take this important call?"

She clapped her hands together as if I was just inviting her for tea and not disrupting her intense lesson. "Of course! Take your time!"

Walking out quietly as I could with everyone's eyes on me, I closed the door and answered the call. "Hello? Paul? Why are you calling me? Don't you have school too?"

There were muffled noises from the other side. Like, a cafeteria noise. "I do. I just wanna tell you that you have an appointment with Brummagem Records today."

I groaned. "Today? I've been spending my time with that record company for the past week already and they want me to go there today too? Can't I have a break?"

"You can't. Your new manager wants to meet with you today for a recording session. I obviously can't go with you since I have school duties so have fun!"

My mouth gaped. "What?! When did you hire a new manager? How did you even hire a new manager? I thought you were my manager?"

"Relax, sis. She's only like a secondary manager. I'll still supervise a bit when school is off. She's cool too so don't be distressed. See you later!"

"Wait! I don't even know how to get there! You're the one who brings me there every time!" I said.

He laughed. "They'll pick you up from school, just wait."

"Wait where?"

"Stay in your place. They'll be there in a second. Bye!" He hung up before I could question further.

Hold on, in a second? They're coming now?

As if on cue, two guys in suits walked towards me and grabbed me from arm to arm. My feet were off the ground. Their hold on me was way too tight for me to wriggle out and get my things. "Wait a minute! I haven't gotten my stuff yet!"

"We already have them." They said and one of them lifted a hand to show me my bag. I still refused to be handled and struggled against their grip. "Stop moving so much or we'll be forced to bring you to the company knocked out."

I sighed and gave up.

Oh brother.

✫✫✫

After thirty minutes of agonizing torture in a super manly scented car, I was finally in the BR building. I prefer not to say the whole name because it's a waste of saliva.

"Good afternoon, Miss Vloski. How was your ride here?" The receptionist greeted leniently when I went to her desk. She was busy typing rapidly on her laptop.

I groaned and slumped in front of her. "Horrible. Very very horrible."

"I see." She continued typing without even looking at me.

My instincts tell me that she doesn't care. She's been doing that ever since I got here. People tell me that she'll warm up to me soon enough but I don't see any change! Why did they even hire her in the first place with her snobby attitude?

Well technically I have no room to talk since we have similar characteristics but still!

I stood in silence and watched her type boringly for at least five minutes. She didn't mind me or glance for even a bit. I bit my lip and tried to make a conversation. "So... What's your name?"

"The new manager is waiting in the studio at the third floor." She said, completely changing the subject and still not looking at me.

"Okay then..?" I raised an eyebrow and started walking away. As I did, I yelled sarcastically. "Just to let you know, your name is way too long, Miss the-new-manager-is-waiting-in-the-studio-at-the-third-floor. I think I'll just call you Pokey, short for poker-faced."

When I got to the studio, somebody was sitting on the swivel chair with her back facing me, talking on the phone with an inaudible voice. I attempted to eavesdrop but she was finished talking before I could move closer.

"Oh! You're here." The chair turned and revealed a quite elegant looking woman. Her outfit was strictly beige, no hint of any other color in sight except her gold brooch. Even her makeup was neutralized. It gave her a very sophisticated and serious demeanor that meant all business.

She scares me.

I put my hand up awkwardly. "You're the new manager, right?"

"Yes, yes I am. You must be Gigi Vloski?" She asked and offered her hand.

I shook it and smiled sheepishly. "Yes."

"Well then," she said and let go of my hand. She stood up and gave a nod. "I'm Meredith Austere, one of Brummagem Records's best managers. I've handled a lot of rising stars like you, Miss Vloski. And I'm determined to make you better."

Scary. Not like Tracy scary. More like Miss Humphrey scary times ten. Something about her eyes make you not want to mess with her.

"Who've you handled?" I asked.

She crossed her arms. "There are a lot of famous names I could mention but the most famous one I've handled would be Gloria Adeline, the renown superstar."

I gulped and tried not to show my surprise. "Oh. That's.. Nice."

"Yes, indeed it was a pleasure meeting her. It's a shame she didn't last for long." She said seriously. "But anyway, we are here to talk about you. Your genre, style, and the other tiny details, have you decided on it already?"

"Sort of." I said. "I'm still working on some of the details but I'm good. I hear we're going to have a recording session?"

She nodded. "You do know you'll be singing a cover for now, right? It's like a taste of your talent. Doing your own songs will be done when you're finished writing them."

"Right." I said. I haven't even began writing one. "So.. Let's get started?"

For almost four hours, we recorded my own version of If I Ain't Got You by Alicia Keys. It was a bit tricky singing it with a twist but I managed to add my own touch. A pianist was hired to play along with me and we had to redo the song a lot of times because I kept burping while I sang.

Can't help it if I drank too much sodas a few hours ago.

Another reason was that I laughed way too much at Meredith's face whenever she would glare at me while I made a little dance in the song.

But I'll admit, it felt good. I enjoyed recording and I started getting used to my new manager. She wasn't as demanding as Paul and she actually listens to what I have to say. The pianist wasn't that bad either. I think recording sessions are now my favorite part of being famous. Last week was all talking and planning and nonsense with the company so today is a breeze.

I was starting to think that maybe being famous isn't that bad.

By the end of recording, Paul came. I was just singing my last note when I noticed that he had a very worried face on. He was talking to Meredith and it seemed that they were having a heated argument.

"I didn't sing anything wrong, did I?" I asked after recording.

"No, you sang fine." Meredith said hastily and slung her bag over her shoulder. "Your brother wants to discuss something with you."

"Me? Why me? You're the new manager!" He said.

She gave him a stern look before leaving. "Just tell her."

Paul sat on the couch and scrolled through his phone. I, meanwhile, was sitting on the swivel chair with my arms crossed. "Mind telling me what the problem is? Does it concern me or something?"

"Everything concerns you." He said and sighed. "Gigi, do you know Hannibal?"

I thought for a moment before shaking my head. "Hannibal doesn't ring a bell."

"Really?" He asked. "You don't know the famous singer named Hannibal? His signature look is a lot of eyeliner?"

Then it clicked. Hannibal was the guy I met a week ago. The one who practically ruined my day trying to get my number. "On second thought, I think I do know him."

"Then you must be able to explain this." He held up his phone and showed an article with me in it.

The title read. Beneath that and a very long scoop were photographs taken of Hannibal and me together. While I knew that Hannibal and I weren't exactly civil to each other when we met, the pictures showed otherwise. There was a photo of Hannibal holding my hand (which was because he tried to stop me from leaving), holding my wrist as we walked (which was because he dragged me), and one photo of us smiling at each other (I don't even know why). It featured a completely different story from the truth and it looked believable!

"Talking intimately? Enjoying each other's presence? A perfect couple? What the heck?" I read. The writer obviously knows nothing. This is full of lies!

Paul hid the phone away from me. "Is it true?"

"Is what true?" I frowned, then I realized he believed what the article was saying. "No! Of course not! I would never date a guy like him!"

"Then why were you together?" He asked. "Are you secretly seeing him?"

I wanted to slap him and knock some sense into his brain. "I just accidentally met him in a store, okay? He said he thought I was a fan and dragged me to Lottie's to give me a meet-and-greet but when I found out his real motives I went out as fast as I could!"

"Uh huh. Sure." He said.

"I'm telling the truth!" I pushed. Why won't he believe me?

All of a sudden, my phone vibrated in my pocket again. This time, I didn't know who was calling. But the number looked strangely familiar. I answered it. "Hello?"

"Hello babe. Did you miss me?"

You know what, I take back what I said. Being famous is really bad.

✫✫✫

lol hi guys! I'm so sorry this story has been on hiatus for the past four months. I've been so focused on school and other personal stuff that I forgot about this.

Anyway, here it is! Hope this makes up for it!

xoxo

~Naf ♡