She's Got the Rhythm

Chapter Thirty-Three: Instant Fame

This is a bit of a quick chapter but I felt the need to add it in somewhere. As always, enjoy and I'd love to hear your feedback!           

It all started when I went to go buy groceries with John. We were making our regular run through the produce section and I could feel people staring at me. I glanced over my shoulder just to make sure. A few women were talking in hushed whispers, clearly oblivious that I was standing right in front of them.

            “Is that the girl that was on the news?” one with blonde hair tucked into a neat ponytail asked.

            “I think so,” a brunette who was putting bananas into her shopping cart casually answered.

            “You two are both idiots,” a redhead chimed in. “Talking about her when she’s standing right over there isn’t going to make it any better,” she shook her head and started walking towards me.

            “Hi there, you’re Mandy Hawthorne, right? I’m Clara. See, my two friends over there haven’t got the guts to talk to you so I figured I would. I just wanted to let you know that your story really inspired me and my girls,” she motioned two young girls with identical red hair to her side. I realized they were probably her daughters.

            “This is Alexa,” she introduced the taller, older girl. She had the prettiest green eyes. “And Cassandra,” she pointed to the shorter, younger girl who had the same eyes to match. From the looks of it, Alexa was about fourteen and Cassandra was maybe eleven.

            “It’s really nice to meet you,” I smiled at them.

            “It’s nice to meet you too,” they both chimed in politely.

            “They’re a bit shy,” Clara whispered and I couldn’t help but laugh.

            “So you guys saw my news story?” I asked.

            “Yes, we want to start drumming like you,” Cassandra said.

            Awww, was that not the cutest thing? “Really, that’s awesome! I’d be happy to teach you.”

            “You would?” Alexa’s eyes went wide.

            “Sure,” I dug inside my bag until I found a scrap paper and a pen. “My dad owns a drum/music store. Here’s the number for that place, you can set up a lesson.” I handed the paper to Clara.

            “Awesome, thanks,” she took it and smiled back at me. “Well, I better get going. It was nice meeting you,” she waved.

            “You too,” I called after her and the girls. Well, at least someone isn’t afraid to talk to me, I thought.

            “What was that all about?” John came up to me after putting some peppers in the cart.

            “Just my fans, you know,” I flipped my hair over my shoulder, pretending to be a Hollywood starlet.

            “Ha-very nice. So I’m guessing the public liked your news story?” he questioned.

            “Seems like it!” I exclaimed gleefully.

            “This is going to be great,” John put his arm around me. “My little sister is going to be a celebrity,” he patted my head.

            “Hey, don’t mess up my hair!” I complained.

            “And she’s already acting like one,” we erupted in laughter.

            “Alright, let’s go before we scare everyone in the store,” I decided.

            “Good plan,” he agreed.

*                *                      *

            The next few weeks of school passed by really quickly. They were the last weeks of school; the weeks I remembered getting pity faces from everyone. To be honest, I didn’t want people to feel sorry for me. That was stupid. The whole thing was over with and it only made me stronger as a person.

            Ryan was still in one of my classes. Nobody ever talked to him anymore; he was completely silent and never said anything at all. I’m sure he was thinking of ways to get me to forgive him but we both knew that was never going to happen. I could never forgive him. I could accept what happened, sure, but not him. Never.

            When I got home one day, my phone was ringing. It was an out of area number, but I answered it anyway.

            “Hello, is this Mandy Hawthorne?” the girl on the other end asked me.

            “Yes, this is she,” I answered, opening the fridge and inspecting the contents.

            “Hey Mandy, this is Amy from Alternative Press Magazine. We were interested in doing a feature on you in the new issue.”

            What?! I dropped the phone, my mouth was gaping open. AP was my all-time favorite magazine and they were calling me? What is life?

            “Hi, sorry about that,” I picked up the phone off the floor.

            “It’s alright, would you be interested though?” she asked.

            “Yes, of course!” I didn’t hesitate.

            “Great, can I get your email? We’ll send you some more information.”

            I gave it to her and took a sip of the Gatorade I’d found in the fridge.

            “Alright thanks. We’ll get back to you soon,” she said.

            “Awesome, thank you,” I hung up the phone and started dancing. I was going to be in my favorite magazine.

            “Okay, what the heck is going on?” I didn’t notice John walk into the kitchen with a group of his friends.

            “Alternative Press just called me and they want to do a feature on me!” I exclaimed.

            “Whoa, that’s awesome,” he high-fived me.

            “I know right!!” I jumped up and down. At the moment, I could care less about his friends staring at me. I ran back upstairs and immediately phoned Hannah to share the good news with her.

            I couldn’t believe all this was happening so fast. My world was completely changing.