give a little get a little (a hosie music au)

Part 2 "There's our little viral sensation!"

***

She had been singing for as long as she could remember. Never in front of anyone though, God no, that would be embarrassing. She only sang when her sister wasn't in their shared room, or when their parents weren't home, or when she went on walks— but never, ever, in front of anyone.

Josie Saltzman had been a shy kid, choosing to step into the shadow of her twin sister, letting her take the lead and attention. She hardly minded, in fact most days she preferred it. Standing out put pressure on you to succeed and be perfect, so remaining average in every aspect of your life was the safest. Josie liked to play it safe.

So when she found herself sitting on her bed with a camera in front of her it seemed very out of character. She didn't know why she felt the need to pull her ukulele out from under her bed, and record herself singing. It gave her a rush, it was a secret for only her to enjoy. Her eyes only being the key phrase, hiding it all even from her twin.

And yet, that wasn't the case in the end. The twins shared everything with each other, or at least that's what Lizzie thought. She didn't know that when she had opened that secret folder on their shared laptop she would find a secret world her sister had hidden from her. She thought it was going to be something along the lines of blackmail material. Instead she found video upon video of Josie pouring out her heart through music, and it wasn't even embarrassing because she was really good.

She was really good.

Lizzie had been hurt, affronted when she realized her sister had kept this from her. It didn't matter how small it would seem to other people, because Lizzie and Josie always told each other everything. It was part of their twin pact. Maybe that's what prompted her to lash out in the way she did.

Maybe that's why she posted the videos to Youtube without a second thought, without telling Josie.

An eye for an eye, a secret for a secret.

They were in their last month of high school when it happened. Lizzie had stopped checking the account long ago, but she hadn't stopped pestering Josie about music. She would make snide remarks in the car when the radio was on, suggesting that Josie could sing better than whatever pop factory singer was playing. When auditions for the school's next musical were being held, Lizzie made more passive aggressive comments about it. How Josie could blow away the competition.

At first, Josie thought her sister was insulting her. Had she accidentally been singing near Lizzie and hadn't been paying attention? Did her sister know how bad of a singer she was? But then one night as she was laying in bed, desperately trying to fall asleep, a theory started to creep into her mind.

Had she seen those stupid covers Josie did? Had she seen those videos? She decided to test this.

The next day, Josie tried to act as conspicuous as possible when they got home from school, setting up a narrative for the next day. She asked her parents a couple different times if they'd be home tomorrow, encouraging them to go on a date, or reminding them that they were out of bread. She made sure that Lizzie was within earshot each time, and later on asked her how she would be spending her Saturday. Lizzie took the hint, feigning indifference when she thought aloud about going shopping. Both twins fell asleep with mischievous smiles on their faces.

So Josie recorded another video, finding it odd that she didn't feel nervous at all, even though she thought her sister might see this. She left the laptop on her bed after, going to take a shower just as her twin arrived back home.

Lizzie watched the video. Grinning wickedly as she remembered that silly channel she had put most of Josie's videos on. Without even thinking much about it, she uploaded the video, a triumphant look on her face as she crossed her arms.