Hate to Love You [Elvis]

Chapter 1 - An Unfortunate Announcement

Elvis Presley was spotted at Highlands Mall at 7pm yesterday evening, creating a large stir. Fans flooded said mall, all wanting an autograph and a handshake from their favorite star. He's here in this part of LA to create his new film, Jailhouse Rock, which is said to reach theaters later this year. Fans can't wait...

I shut the radio off as I drove my '45 seafoam green Chevrolet car to work. I let out a sigh in agitation. That Elvis Presley was making more commotion than any other famous person in the past few years. He was treated like some kind of god. Really, it was ridiculous.

My drive to work usually took about fifteen minutes, and I was only a few minutes in. I turned on my radio again and switched it so I wouldn't hear some man talking about Elvis. The next station was playing one of his songs, the next was talking about his appearance at that mall, and the next one was also playing one of his songs. I huffed and turned off the radio again.

"I really can't escape him. He's everywhere. I guess I'm keeping the radio off for the next..."

How long? Elvis started becoming popular recently after people heard his song on the radio two years back and saw him on the Ed Sullivan Show the year after. I used to like that show, but they had Elvis on there twice. I guess I wouldn't be watching it anymore. Who knew how long he would be famous? He could be for the rest of the century. That was irksome.

I made it to work and parked in the back of the hotel where the employees were supposed to park. I saw a few of my co-workers leave their cars and go in, one of them being my best friend Nay, short for Naydeen, a girl of twenty—my age—and with blonde hair that was tied back in a bun. My dark-brown hair went to my shoulders, so putting it in a bun wasn't an option. It was just tied back into a little ponytail. My bangs fell down to mid-forehead.

I parked, grabbed my lunch pail, left my car, and caught up with Nay. "Hey," I greeted her. We were in our casual clothes at the moment, not our maids' dresses. We would change into those inside.

"Good morning! Oh my goodness, you heard the radio, right?! I can't believe I wasn't there when he showed up at the mall!"

She squealed, and I rolled my eyes. She was a huge Elvis fan and had been since his first appearance on TV. I loved her like a sister since we had known each other since we were both three years old, but her obsession with that star was... well, disgusting. I didn't put it against her, though.

"Really, Nay, it's not a big deal. He's just a person."

She gave me a wild look. "He isn't just a person! He's a gorgeous hip-moving super star, and he's a polite gentleman from the South." She sighed dreamily. "He's incredible." She looked at me. "Sarah, I think you're the only girl in the country who doesn't like him."

"You mean I'm the only sane and normal girl in the country. He's just a guy who happens to have a decent voice—I'll give him that."

We came up to the back entrance and went on it and walked down a hallway that led to the employee area main lobby where we put in our timecards. Nay said, "I think you're just jealous of his fame."

"I'm not jealous, I just think the attention that all these stars receive, and the way people see them as a god on Earth, is utterly ridiculous."

"So, you're just against him being famous, not against him himself. What if you were to meet him?"

We came into the lobby area where our other co-workers were walking about, and a few of them were at the time clock. We came up to it as well and pulled out our cards. "I would tell him just what I think of him," I said and punched my card, and Nay did the same.

"No, don't do that. When you speak your mind, you really speak your mind. I don't want you getting arrested for slandering him to his face."

"It's nauseating to think that I could get arrested for talking negatively to a famous person. He's here in town, so hopefully I never run into him."