Dark Star

Chapter 1: What Makes You Beautiful

Lola Solemen 

You are my inspiration.

I read yet another message sent from a Youtuber called DarkStar. He had been commenting, liking and watching my videos on Youtube since the very beginning. Whether I was singing Beyoncé or The Beatles, this guy was in love with my cover videos.

At first it was a bit frightening. A stranger, someone who didn't match a face in my mind, knew my face, my voice, and my name. But we'd grown to be friends. And here I was, replying to his message. Again.

"Lola, Kris is here!" I heard my mother's voice from downstairs.

"Come up!" I yelled back, hurriedly typing up my response.

Thanks, DarkStar. Means a lot, as always. When will you be posting up your own cover videos?

I clicked Send, and closed my laptop, right when Kris barged into my room.

"Hey, Lola!" Kris said in her usual chirpy self. "I got a present for you."

Kris was my best friend. Had been since my mother and I moved in next door five years ago. She came from Canada. When I first met her, we were both around 13 years old. Give or take a few months. She told me that she was on a mission to travel the world. I don't know why she said that when I first met her. But I loved her because of that very sentence. I was weird like that.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "A present?"

She smiled mischievously and nodded. "Yup. But only after we record this."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."

She laughed. "How's your secret admirer doing?"

I ignored her and turned instead to my digital camera. I attached it to my tripod and sat across from it.

"Just press record, Kris." I said, clearing my throat.

"You look like you're about to perform an autopsy." She said giggling, fumbling with something in her pocket.

I laughed because she was so sarcastic all the time. I wondered how it never tired her.

"And... on three!" She said, acting like a spokesperson on the news. "Ladies and gentlemen, our special performance tonight is by... Lola Solmen!"

I laughed again, trying desperately to stay serious. But the harder I tried, the more I laughed.

"Stop laughing, freak!" She said, smiling. "I'm hitting record."

"Don't!" I breathed in between laughs. "Wait."

She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Waiting."

"Okay..." I calmed myself down. "Go ahead."

She smiled and pressed record, nodding her head for me to begin.

"Hi!" I said into the camera. "It's Lola. Here's my cover of Taken by One Direction."

And I started to sing.

Zayn Malik

LolaSolemen1D

Funny how her username had the “1D” in it. This of course stood for One Direction: the very band I happened to be in. But she didn’t know that.

I clicked on the newest video she had, placing a single ear bud in my ear. It was Clocks by Coldplay.

And there she was, singing her heart out yet again. How incredible. Her voice… it gave me chills.