The Club

CHAPTER 12

27th Birthday

April 20, 2016

To say the past six years of my life have been a whirlwind is quite the understatement. Not long after that video of me singing went viral on YouTube, I signed a record deal with Lost Souls Records. I had an album go out shortly after which went straight to the top of the Billboard charts. From there it was all about touring, public appearances, and even the Grammy's. My career blew up overnight and it hasn't stopped ever since. I just wrapped touring in Europe and now I'm in Malta to celebrate my twenty-seventh birthday. I can't believe I'm getting so much closer to thirty, yet I still feel like the same confused fifteen-year-old girl. It's crazy how life works like that.

I didn't know what I was signing up for when I chose this path in life and I'm not sure I would have continued down this path if I would have known what was in store for me. I'm a rocker through and through that's been turned into a pop star. The bubbly and cute Asian-American girl that sings about love and heartbreak. I'm grateful for everything that has happened in my life, but it didn't quite go down the way I would have hoped for. I guess you can't make your dreams come true in the exact way that you want them too. Settling for almost my dreams has to be good enough, at least for now.

Kyle and I are sitting in the VIP section of this very packed club as everyone dances along to the DJ. On occasion people will come by and snap a picture of us from the outside of the roped off area, but other than that they've pretty much left us alone. It's funny even with all the fame, Kyle has stuck by my side through everything. She's the best friend I could ever have and I love that I get to bring her along for the ride on all of my crazy adventures.

I place my empty glass, from my third vodka tonic, on the table in front of us and stand. She's still working on her drink so I lean down and to talk into her ear over the noise in here. "Hey, I'm going to find a bathroom in here."

She places her drink down and stands next to me. "Are you sure that's safe?"

I start to laugh but stop when I see the serious look on her face. "Please, Kyle, I may be famous but I think I'll be fine going to the bathroom by myself."

"Okay, just come back quickly," she says as she squeezes my hand.

"You got it, babe."

She sits back down and I walk through the ridiculous velvet ropes to head toward the back. I'm pushed through the crowd in hopefully the correct direction and fortunately nobody has noticed me so far. The DJ has some unfamiliar song blasting through the speakers and the heavy bass is pounding against me in waves. The song cuts out and suddenly I overwhelmed with "27," my latest single surrounding me. The crowd continues dancing and quite a few people start singing along to the catchy lyrics. I stop myself from joining in and giving myself away. If there's one thing that never gets old, it's unexpectedly hearing my music and seeing the people enjoying it.

I stand up on my tip toes and the bright golden sign in the corner calls my name. At least I know where it is but now the issue is getting there. I force my way through the gyrating bodies and my hand finally lands on my oasis. I clench my legs together to hold myself together before I can reach the porcelain throne. I push through the door and step in to the empty bathroom. As the door shuts behind me it all disappears into thin air. I spin around the dark street. Where did the bathroom go? I was just standing in a bathroom.

There's a building standing in front of me, a club to be more specific. I don't know how I got here or what's going on, but maybe I'm better off here than where I left off. It's eerily quiet all around me, except for the music filtering out into the streets. Nobody is waiting to get in and there's no one guarding the door, so I make my way inside.