Chapter six: "Get the hell up."

"Loren!" A voice yelled, and I groaned in my sleep. It was a Saturday—I think—and I was tired from the shift I had worked last night. After coming in late from catering to 'Princess Chloe', I wanted to sleep for years. But, it seemed like that wouldn't be happening. "Loren," the voice sang once more.

I groaned in my sleep. Why did I have to be annoyed? What time was it, five o'clock? It felt as if I had just closed my eyes a mere minute ago. I opened one eyelid, and looked at the glowing red numbers. The sunlight hit me first, and I knew it had to be later than five.

2:00pm was read and I looked at the clock in shock. Sitting up, I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and looked up at the visitor in front of me. No other than Mel was standing there, hands on her hips and smirking. I groaned, "I should seriously kill you right now, Mel. First, you put me on the radio, now you interrupt my sleep. It's like you want me to die."

She gasped dramatically, "What? Of course I wouldn't want my best friend since pre-k to suddenly diminish from this earth, never returning!" She sobbed, holding her heart. Standing straight again, she put a hand on her hips. "Okay, let's cut through the bull. You need to get the hell up so we can go."

I raised an eyebrow, looking at her like she had two heads. "What? Actually, I was planning on lying in bed all day and watching Grey's Anatomy reruns—"

She shook her head defiantly. "Nope, your plans have changed." She sat down on the edge of my bed and rested a hand on my leg, patting it awkwardly. "Lo, I haven't been entirely honest with you."

I groaned, "Oh my God, what did you do?" Whenever Mel said something between those lines, she'd pulled a stunt that she knew I wouldn't like. I was praying that it wasn't too dramatic, because I didn't have the energy to put up with drastic situations. I was already fighting to keep my eyes open, and her suspense was killing me.

She chuckled nervously, "Ha, it's a funny story, actually."

"Mel…"

"Wehaveaninterviewatpulsetto," She jumbled together.

I narrowed my eyes and gritted my teeth. "What did you say?" All I could hear clearly was 'Pulsetto' and I didn't know why she was bringing it up. What did she do? Get me a job there? Burn down the place? The last one wouldn't have shocked me, actually.

She took a deep breath, "We—well, you—have an interview at Pulsetto…" She mumbled lowly, smiling apologetically. Before I could speak, she started to babble again, "I promise it won't be that bad, Lo! I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but they called me this morning after your short interview on the radio show. They really wanna speak to the girl who swept Eddie Duran off of his feet!" She said the last one in a serious voice, wiggling her eyebrows up and down in a crazy pattern.

I sat up, my eyes widening and my heart pounding. She did what? "Oh my God, Mel," I yelled, hitting her on the stomach. "Why would you do that? I'm not ready for anything like that. I don't want to; the karaoke wasn't even that much of a big deal!"

"Do you know how big Eddie is?" She knew that I knew, so I don't even know why she asked. "He's crazy huge. He has fans all over the world, so him sparking it up at a karaoke club with a mysterious girl is big news."

I shook my head, "I'm not 'mysterious' and we weren't 'sparking it up'! All we did was perform a damn karaoke version to a Lady Antebellum song, end of story." I honestly didn't know that this would be so big. I picked up my remote agitated, flicking on the television.

"Hollywood heartthrob, Eddie Duran, is a guy that every girl wants. Unfortunately, we all know that he's taken. Engaged to Chloe Carter, they're the power couple of the year. But, seen at a recent karaoke bar that just opened up- Pulsetto- you wouldn't believe it! He was caught on footage by an amateur videographer hamming it up with a girl who has been identified as Loren Tate! She's said to be a high school student who works at a nearby coffee shop. Some of Eddie's fans are debating if they're cute together or not. What do you think? Should he make tiny Duran babies with the unknown singer, Loren Tate, or his beauty bombshell fiancé, Chloe Carter? Send your responses about the karaoke duo to our Twitter, and website—"

I turned it off quickly, sitting with my mouth practically hanging to the floor. After a few moments of silence, I stared at Mel in horror. "H-How do they know my name, or where I work? How do they know anything about me? Why is this a big deal?" I screeched.

She only shrugged, "I told you already: Eddie is worldwide, and seeing him with any girl but his fiancé is a field day for paparazzi." I shook my head, feeling sick.

"I-I can't go to the interview, Mel. It's gonna be on television, and you know how I feel about that. I almost threw up performing with Eddie! How can I be in the limelight about a karaoke performance? It's not that big, I mean, after this blows over I'm gonna go back to being regular Loren Tate anyways."

She scoffed, "I doubt that, Loren. You have an amazing singing voice; someone is bound to sign you after this." My stomach began churning, and my nausea grew worse. "Anyways, we have to be at Pulsetto by four o'clock, so you should get dressed." She grabbed my shoulders, "Look: if you can perform with Eddie in front of people, you're strong enough to do this interview. It's not gonna be that hard; probably five minutes at the least, Lo. You go in, and it'll be over before you know it."

"What are you girls talking about?" My mom walked in, leaning on the door frame with a cup of coffee in her hand. Taking a sip, she noticed my uptight behavior. "Loren, are you alright?"

Mel smiled, "She's on television for the karaoke thing, and she's freaking out. Pulsetto wants to interview her, but she won't go."

My mom widened her eyes, "Wow. Well, I don't know how I feel about that, either. I don't think Loren is ready to take on the spotlight. She's only eighteen—"

"She's practically an adult, Nora! This could be Loren's big break; you know how bad she wants to be a singer. If she does this interview, she'll get noticed more. Someone could even sign her! She's old enough now; she's almost out of high school."

My mom bit her lip, "Well, I guess it's not my decision to make. I just want my baby girl to be safe."

"Well mom, you have nothing to worry about because I won't be going." I decided, lying back on the bed again.

"Why is that?"

I shrugged, "I'm scared, mom. I can't go on live television; what if I make a fool of myself?"

She smiled. "Well, Loren, you have to try out new things. You can't keep running from your fears, or you won't reach your dreams. I hate to say this, but Mel is right, I think you should go."

"Well, I don't have anything to wear anyways."

Mel smirked, "Yeah you do."