Undercover Star

♪ One ♪

Churchwood.

The name said it all. The town was filled with trees and a huge church in the center of town. A few dozen houses were scattered about, and only a handful of stores lined the streets.

Compared to Hollywood, this place was like a brick. There was nothing exciting about it. There weren't any big buildings, lights, or groups of people. It was just a town. I couldn't even figure out what brought people here. Other than the fact that it was peaceful, there was really no reason to come.

I've never visited a small town like this in my life. When going on tours, I mainly stopped in big cities that would draw a big crowd, or at least smaller towns near larger ones. I would never put on a concert here. I'd probably get six people, if that. No one here probably even knew what pop music was. I imagined them sitting on their porches listening to blue grass and banjo features.

I sat back in the seat of the car and sighed. I hated blue grass.

"I bet you wish you didn't act up now, don't you?"

I looked at Rich who was driving the car and narrowed my eyes. Rich came along with me and was pretending to be my father. I thanked my lucky stars that this was not reality, because I didn't think I could handle him as my real father.

I decided not to reply, and focused my eyes back on the road in front of us. We were looking for the hotel we were staying in. The town had a single hotel; I didn't think it should be that hard to find.

"Here it is," Rich mumbled. I looked up at my home for who knows how long. The hotel looked like a large house, not holding more than two rooms. I sighed.

"This is your first time being seen in this town," Rich said as he turned off the ignition. "The airplane ride went well, and that was what I was most worried about. But here, you can't mess up. Let's practice."

I rolled my eyes at him. I don't think anyone here would care if I got up on a roof and shouted that I was Logan Myers. They probably wouldn't have a clue who I was or what I did.

"I'm Jesse Daniels," I said flatly, repeating what I learned to say the day before I left Hollywood. "I'm seventeen. You're my father," I had to suppress a sigh after that one, "Thomas Daniels. My mom died when I was young. I used to live in New York. I came here because we move a lot for your work." I took a deep breath. "Was that good enough?"

Rich nodded. "I think your ready. Just be nice. And smile."

He climbed out of the car and I reluctantly followed. I adjusted my plain T-shirt, something I was not used to wearing. I had adjusted my whole wardrobe for this trip, and I was not happy about it.

I began following Rich suddenly realizing that there was no sound other than our footsteps. It was completely silent. Nothing seemed to move, either. It was like time was frozen.

I followed Rich with an eerie feeling. Back home, there would be so much noise and movement that it could make someone sick. Here, I felt like someone freeze rayed the whole town. It was the strangest thing I've ever felt.

We entered the hotel, and I tried to act like I stayed in places like this all of the time when I really never had. The lobby was the size of my closet at home, and there was nothing but a desk, an ugly red couch, and a plant that looked half dead. I only silently prayed that the rooms looked better than this.

"Hello, how can I help you?"

I snapped my head up to the desk where a young blonde woman was smiling at us. I followed Rich to the desk and tried my best to smile casually.

"I'm Thomas Daniels, and this is Jesse." Rich introduced, using a voice I didn't recognize with him.

"Nice to meet ya'll!" She said, shaking Rich-Thomas'- hand violently. She reached for mind and shook it with just as much excitement. I tried to look unphased.