Alex's fried called the next morning and told me that he wanted to see if I was rock star material. I felt guilty as Alex's words ran through my head. "You will still be all alone." Was it possible to fall in love in one night? I already missed him and my heart ached at the thought of his twinkling eyes.

I sighed and decided to ignore my feelings. Being a rock star had been my biggest dream and I was not about to give that up for some guy I had just met. My reflection stared back at me and I ran my fingers through my electric blue hair. It just didn't seem like enough…

There was a knock on my door and I walked over expecting it to be the agent. A bouquet of all different blue flowers was thrust into my hands and I gasped in surprise. Alex stood outside in the hall with an embarrassed look on his face as he stared down at his hands.

"Uh, Hi Ember, I'm sorry for how I acted last night it's just that-" He looked up and gasped in surprise too. I had covered my face with white makeup and had black markings under my eyes. "Oh!" His eyes were dull again as he stared at my face. "I didn't realize you were in the middle of something." He turned to leave but I grabbed his shoulder with my free hand.

"Alex…" He pulled away from my hand and turned around.

"Don't you remember what I said last night? Why do you think I would say that? Just for fun? You would never guess that I actually had a reason would you?" His eyes looked wet and he blinked back tears.

"Why can't you just let me do what I want?" I said to him. My tone softened as he frantically tried again to keep tears from falling down his face. "I'm sorry."

"It's just that… I… ugh." He shook his head and then tried again. "Bad habits die hard Ember." Alex finally gave up and a tear trickled down his handsome face. "About two years ago I had met a girl who wanted to be a famous singer. I gave my heart to her and she returned a little bit of my love, but she always cared about her music more than me. We were engaged and were supposed to be married but she always put off the wedding. "A rock star has more fans when she's single." I tried to be supportive and I helped hear as much as I could. She made it to fame, but then…"

He looked down so that I couldn't see the tears streaming down his face. "She was murdered by a crazy psycho who she had dated in high school." Alex looked back up at me. "When I see you putting so much devotion towards your music it reminds me too much of her."

Alex glanced at my face again and walked away. I stood silently in shock and stared at the flowers he had given me. Then I walked back into my apartment and placed them on the table. A small note fell from them and I picked it up and read it.

Dear Ember,

I'm sorry for running out on you last night. You're a great friend and I hope that these flowers will help you believe that I am truly sorry. If you ever need someone to talk to you can call me. I hope that you will forgive me.

I read the phone number and sat down in a chair next to the table. Just as I sat down the doorbell rang again and I ran over half hoping it would be Alex. Instead I saw a bleach blond guy in a suit. He smiled and held out his hand. "Hello Ember. I'm Alex's friend and your new agent. You can call me Ben."

Ben walked into my apartment and stared at me. "I love the hair and makeup. Great for attracting fans- especially boys. I don't suppose you have a boyfriend? Not unless Alexander's tried to make a move on you, and guessing by the fact that he ran out of here looking redder than an apple and the flowers on the table I assume that he has, and that you've turned him down. Smart move. I prefer the singers who are single if you know what I mean."

I stared at him and tried to unscramble his words in my head. "Um…"

"But can you sing? I personally never bother going to bar concerts because there are usually only wanna-bes there. But I can tell that you've got a good voice just by looking at you. It's amazing how many willing singers there are out there but only a few are good enough to be rock stars. Poor Alex sure has picked himself a fine lady to love if you ask me. It's almost a shame that you turned him down, but as I've said before it's better that you're single."

Finally I tried to talk. "Alex isn't in love with me. Were just good friends and he was red faced because he had been crying because I reminded him of his dead girlfriend."

"Oh you must mean poor Molly. Shame when people die so early. Did he tell you that her head was blown clear off her body? You just can't go around singing songs about psychos and expect them to ignore it. I mean, they are crazy after all. My good chum Alex put his whole soul into that girl and she just plain ignored him. He was still so heart broken when he found out that she was murdered. In fact he spent most of the money he earned agenting on hiring a private eye to track down the killer. When the found him it turned out that he was a past boyfriend of Molly's."

"Alex was an agent?" I asked curiously. This guy could not hold a secret.

"Yup, we were the best in the business. Benjamin and Alexander agent co. was incredibly rich, but after Alex got involved with our client Molly he refused to see any other up and coming talent and eventually left the business. Now he's gotten himself infatuated with yet another singer and I can tell that it's killing him."

He finally stopped and stared at me. I shifted uncomfortably under his gaze and then he suddenly said, "Alex is my best friend in the world. I hope for both of your sakes that you don't suffer a tragic fate on the road to stardom."

I desperately wanted to change the subject. "When will my first performance be?"

Ben glared at me for a second and then said, "Next week you have a gig. Here are the details." He held out a piece of paper and then said, "Goodbye Ember. I hope you and Alex figure out your feelings." He walked out the door and I sat down with my head spinning.

I set the paper down on the table and looked again at Alex's number. Then I picked up the phone and dialed the number. The message machine answered.

"Hi Alex," I said into the phone. "It's me Ember. I'm sorry about your fiancée, but I promise that I don't have any crazy psycho boy friends. I would love it if you could come by later. Maybe we can go watch a movie or something. I promise that I won't wear my makeup." I hung up and sat down on the chair.

Why do all of the choices I make end up going wrong?