Above The Clouds

Idol Dreams By Tiffany Fulton http://twitter.com/#!/tiffanyfulton

SMASHWORDS EDITION

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PUBLISHED BY: Tiffany Fulton on SMASHWORDS.COM Idol Dream Copyright Š 2012 by Tiffany Fulton

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

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IDOL DREAM

***** Part 1: Idol Siren Chapter One April 1, 1980 “WAHH! WAAH! WAHHH!” “There she is,” cooed the muffled voice of Dr. Andrews as she held the bloody, crying newborn in her arms.

“Welcome to the world….”

Dr. Andrews looked towards the exhausted, but smiling blonde woman in the hospital bed and the stoic looking man next to her.

“We’re calling her Alicia,” the blonde woman said. She fell back into the white pillows and laid her hands on top of her stomach.

“You’ll be able to pick her up once you’ve had some rest,” the man told her. He gently wiped her sweating face with a rag and kissed the top of her head.

April 1st, 1985 “Time for bed, Alicia,” Alicia’s thick, raven hair bounced along with her petite frame when she jumped up and sang along with the blonde girl on Star Time’s stage. Her red and white Tinkerbelle pajamas hung loosely on her body—it was a pathetic sight, like dressing a skeleton. The doctors had done all they could at that time, and simply narrowed it down to a fast metabolism.

Alicia’s mother stood in the tiny walkway between the kitchen and family room. She walked over to her daughter and took her hand. ~~~~ “Are you sure this is how you want it to be?”

“Yes, I’m pretty sure. I don’t act according to my wishes, “Alicia’s father was dressed in a formal black tuxedo and held two black traveling suitcases in both arms. He and his wife stood in the front foyer of their home.

“At least think of Alicia,” That whisper came from a woman who tired of trying and failing.

He was nonexistent in both of their lives.

He shoved a suitcase into her arms. That jolted her awake again, and reality slowly set itself

in on her heart.

Alicia’s eyes popped open. She got out of her bed and pulled one of the plastic chairs from her study desk and stood up in it, looking out the window. Her parents stood next to their 2010 Ferrari 458 Italia, and then 5 minutes later, the car was gone. Her mother was left in the driveway.

KNOCK, KNOCK “Papa had to leave on a business trip,” was the first lie that had come out of her mouth.

Alicia sat in the chair now, and never took her eyes off of her mother, who sat on her daughter’s bed without looking at her.

“I know you had things you wanted to say to him, Li (a nickname that her mother picked out), but he was rushing and couldn’t stay,” The deceit poured out of her like waterfalls of the Amazon, and Alicia’s heart would bear a nagging feeling caused by that for the rest of her life.

Her mother’s lips quivered and hot tears fell from her eyes.

Alicia joined her on the bed and wiped the tears away with a tiny hand. “Why is Mommy crying?” She spoke for the first time since she was born.

Her mother began to sob and held her daughter in an awkward embrace. “Will you do a favor for me, Li?” She asked after a moment of silence.

“I’ll do anything for Mommy,” Alicia replied.

“When you get older, don’t let anyone or anything get in the way of doing what your heart tells you. I want you to be stronger than I ever was. Decide for yourself what’s right and wrong.”

Alicia was tucked in and soon asleep again. ~~~~ The next morning at seven-thirty, Alicia awoke to find a navy blue pleated skirt and a white collared short-sleeved shirt with a crest shaped like a daisy sewn on the pocket. On the back of the shirt was the name Avalon Private Academy for Girls, or A.P.A.G., as it was later known.

After breakfast, Alicia was greeted with another surprise. When she and her mother went out to the Ferrari, Alicia was astonished to see a woman who looked as young as her own mother in the driver’s seat. The woman had short, bouncy gray hair and frosty blue eyes that shined in the sunlight. She reminded Alicia of a queen or a grand duchess. Her smile was jovial and there was a barely noticeable gap between her two front teeth. She waved to Alicia, who shrunk back behind her mother.

“How are you, little Li? Why are you looking at me like that? If you tilt your head anymore to the side like that, it’ll fall off!” She asked.

The gray-haired woman got out of the car and stood in front of Alicia and her mother.

“Of course you don’t remember your Grandmother when you’re just meeting her for the first time! I haven’t seen you since you were born, Li!” Alicia looked up at her with her wide-eyed suspicion. “Adele,” her grandmother was now addressing her mother, “I can take her to school if you like. I understand since you’re still reeling from that hellish ordeal with that bastard of an ex-husband of yours,” Adele’s face and eyes were devoid of light. She picked her daughter up, kissed her on the forehead and then said quietly, “Have a good day, Li. Thank you, Mother, for taking her today,” That was the first time Alicia had heard her mother’s name. ~~~

Avalon Port Academy for Girls was in the eastern part of Avalon, Aria’s capital. The sweltering heat kept the children indoors. The building was reminiscent of a Victorian England castle, black, sturdy and refined. On the inside parlor room were hardened chairs decorated in rose and hunter green embroidery.

The headmistress was just like the building herself. On the outside, she was respectable (if only for her age)—inside she was hard and brittle like the furniture and her unkempt fingernails.

She walked slowly, but was quick to peck students on .their heads for things to disapprove of and reprimand them for like a rooster. Her black, threadlike hair was styled into a messy bed-hair bun and her eyes were yellow and gooey like the eggs Alicia ate for breakfast every morning.

The headmistress pointed a cracked fingernail at Alicia’s manicured nails. They were a sugar pink color and a rhinestone sparkled on each of her fingers.

“That flashy cosmetic will not be permitted at this institution. You are here to carve your future out in knowledge, not frivolity such as that,” Alicia and her grandmother watched the woman walk away, and they sat in the bonestiffening chairs near the entrance to the academy. Alicia distracted herself by looking around them. No girls were running around screaming like they would in her neighborhood. Were there even any students here? This place was deadly silent. Perhaps the students were ghosts.

“Alicia,” her grandmother began in a serious tone that shocked the girl into paying attention to her, “You may leave this place if you wish, but try it out for one semester, okay? Adele always jumps into things without thinking—she relies too much upon her heart instead of her head—and she didn’t even do that correctly—disregarding the state of her heart while dating that controlling Richard and forgetting her own daughter half the time…”

Alicia looked into her grandmother’s eyes. “Did Papa leave because of me?”

“You’ve thought terribly, Li! It takes people a while to get adjusted to new things, and your father hadn’t adjusted to the idea of you and your mother in his life. You barely remember Richard, right?”

That was also the first time she had heard her father’s name. ~~~ The scents of cigarette smoke, sex, and spilled alcoholic drinks decorated the white washed, rotten staircase that led to one of the most secluded places in the city: A night club.

But this wasn’t just any nightclub. Cloaked by a mere door that had a sign on it which said, “KEEP OUT,” Red Lily had quite a history behind it that could be summed up in two words: Destruction and revival. The club was originally built in the early 90s, and it was the place to be for dancers and clubbers alike. It was also the main source of income for the capital city of Avalon’s entertainment district. Red Lily was torn down within 2 years of its completion due a slumping economy or something else that hadn’t brought in decent revelers.

After some protest, the club was revived and money poured in again into the district like magic. Alicia was headed for the club, attracted to the sense of freedom and release emitting from behind the steel door. Two bars aside the dance floor and a private seating area with a third bar in the mezzanine…typical club at first glance, but what caught her attention were the neon electric rainbow strobe lights on the ceiling, the mix of techno and trip-hop music blaring from some hidden speakers, and the marquee letters that glittered with the names of different beverages and food items on the walls.

Alicia sat down at the bar and watched the revelers flood the club graciously. They were most definitely from a different world than she had left—high school outcasts--from the fan boy geeks and lady nerds dressed in baby doll style clothing called Gothic and Sweet Lolita as well as

Elegant Gothic Aristocrat for the guys, for example.

The bartender was a slender young man with floppy black hair and blue eyes…no way.

Arian people didn’t have blue eyes…

“I see my sight entrances you,” said the bartender. His voice was a bit higher, dare she say much more effeminate than most males, and his lips were formed into a thin, Joker-like smile.

He was wiping a champagne glass clean, but never took his glance from Alicia. “Don’t worry.

They’re contacts. I’ve got them in every color but black and dark brown. Even guys like to change it up sometimes.”

He placed the glass before her. So, what are you drinking tonight?”

Alicia’s stomach did back flips and she couldn’t help but smile. “As much as I’d love to have a drink and lose my mind, I can’t. I’m underage,” She replied.

The bartender’s false eyes widened. “Really? How old are you anyway?”

“I’m sixteen,” “You’re shitting me. You’ve got to be in your twenties. You look like a model,” Alicia chuckled and shook her head. “Don’t say that. I’m too short to be a model; I’m only 5’4,” “Shouldn’t you be in school, Miss Minor?”

“I would be, if it were more interesting. I dropped out a month ago after tenth grade,” “Why?” Alicia wrapped her tiny fingers around the cup’s neck and stroked it softly. She looked down at the counter.

“My mother died on the same day I left to attend that hellhole,” The bartender looked thoughtful as he kept staring at her, resting his chin in one hand. He then said, “Nice to meet you. I’m Derrick White,” Alicia returned his gaze and said, “Same here. I’m Alicia, but you can call me Li. My mom and grandmother gave me that nickname,” Derrick nodded in approval. “The school you went to,” He began, “Was that A.P.A.G?” She nodded. “How’d you know?”

Derrick seemed lost in thought again. “My girlfriend, Michelle, would complain about how strict that place was. She also dropped out not long after you did and has been working here at Red Lily with me ever since. She’s the one serving those drinks,” Alicia looked in the direction he had indicated to see a pale-skinned woman with breasts that were close to outgrowing her military style tank top and matching mini skirt. Her lips were round and ideally feminine, like the American celebrity named Angelina Jolie. Her eyes were black opals, shining and large like a Pekingese dog.

She placed the plate of four different drinks down before a table of four burly high school boys and returned to Derrick.

“Hmm,” She said, “Who’s this?”

Derrick’s laugh was surprisingly mature and masculine. “This is Li. We’ve only just met, but I like her a lot,” The Angelina Jolie look-alike also gave Alicia a studious gaze before speaking. “Well, if you survived Derrick, then you’re okay with me. I’m Michelle. Are you a model?”

Alicia felt her cheeks flush quickly. “No, I’m not. I’m only 16,” Michelle squinted at her this time. “You seem familiar to me somehow,” She said, “Did you attend A.P.A.G?” The teen nodded and repeated her dropout story.

“I don’t blame you,” Michelle said, “I dropped out recently myself. That headmistress wouldn’t let the girls be girls, even at a girls’ school. No boys, no makeup, no nail polish, etc. I met Derrick when I decided to skip class for a day, and we kept in contact through email and text messages. Then he told me about Red Lily’s rebirth and got me a job here.”

“Teardrop,” by Massive Attack began to play slowly like a song to cradle lovers into postcoital sleep…It was haunting and strangely peaceful.

Love, love is a verb Love is a doing word Fearless on my breath Gentle impulsion Shakes me makes me lighter Fearless on my breath “Oh, I love this song,” Michelle squealed like a fan girl, “Derrick, dance with me!”

Alicia watched the two of them grind rhythmically against each other, like the other couples were doing until she got bored again.

Teardrop on the fire Fearless on my breath nine night of matter Black flowers blossom Fearless on my breath Black flowers blossom Fearless on my breath ~~~ Her eyelids began to flutter in quick, but furious attempts to fight off sleepiness, but Michelle and Derrick’s excitedly shrill voices shook her out of her boredom induced trance.

The Red Lily employees’ grins were so wide and large that it almost looked like Alicia had stepped into a horror movie.

“Alright you two,” Alicia said, “What’s going on?”

“It’s Friday night,” said Derrick.

“So?” “…Karaoke night, obviously! We stopped playing “Teardrop” at midpoint for that. Every Friday, we pick out a random audience member to sing the rest of the song…” Michelle said…

The two of them pointed at the strobe lights on the ceiling. All three of them were now in one solid white color, and they were flashing on and off…reflecting her face. Alicia’s eyes dilated and her brown irises were amber drops against the white backdrops of her pupils.

“Well,” said Derrick, “I don’t know which is larger, your mouth or your eyes,” Alicia placed a hand over her mouth as she closed it and relaxed her eyes. She pointed to herself childishly and looked at Derrick and Michelle.

They nodded, and directed her attention towards the stage. ~~~ A karaoke machine was placed at Alicia’s far right. It was the first time she had seen one—it looked more like one of the video game system displays in stores like Wal-Mart had for those video game nerds who wanted to try out the latest in said technologies. To her, it looked like an ordinary medium sized television set with a built in slot for a DVD player across the bottom of it.

This was resting on top of the part of the actual machine itself, which had two microphones

plugged into one side of it. An exterior folder held lyric sheets on that same side that the microphones were on. It was wheeled in on a steel cart.

As soon as she looked out at the audience, everything was silenced. Sixteen hundred pairs of eyes fixated themselves upon her snow white skin and milk chocolate eyes, and everything was still, including the pounding of Alicia’s heartbeat. Keeping her gaze upon the crowd, she reached over for one of the microphones and tapped her foot as a cue for the piano and drum-laden instrumental of the song to play. Above them in the upper bar, the DJ played the rest of “Teardrop” by Massive Attack, and Alicia sang with a voice that was not her own…at least it seemed that way to her: Water is my eye Most faithful mirror Fearless on my breath Teardrop on the fire of a confession Fearless on my breath Most faithful mirror Fearless on my breath Teardrop on the fire Fearless on my breath Stumbling a little Stumbling a little The crowd burst into an applause that began quietly and rolled in louder and stronger on endless waves of thunderous gasps and cheers of approval. Michelle and Derrick made their way to the stage and gave her pats on the back.

“I hope they all leave with their eardrums intact,” Alicia said.

“I know they did. I’ve passed a few girls on my way here and they said your voice was angelic,” The trio turned in the direction of the mellow-sounding voice. Its owner donned designer Tom Ford aviator sunglasses and a white leather jacket with silver buttons. His build was almost too skinny for his clothes. He pulled out a business card: Alan Richardson Owner of Red Lily Club President of AAV *** “The founder and previous owner of this club was my father, Maxwell,” Alan said. They were all sitting at the bar now, sipping water.

“And he also owned the country’s largest music and media company?” Michelle asked, “You must be looking for new talent,” Alan raised his glass and an eyebrow. “Why else would I come here? The student body of this city has taste indeed, and so do I. I have managed to sneak in here and discover a few more talents for about three years now, but this next one has to truly blow me out of the water.” He eyed Alicia, who had grown unusually silent ever since he had arrived at Red Lily.

Derrick gave the president a look. “You’ve found your next talent,”

~~~~ Chapter Two Alicia’s face quickly turned burning scarlet. “You want me to what?” She asked, surprising her company with the amped up volume in her voice.

Alan nodded.

“You have a good voice, but your control needs improvement,” He said, “I can send you to some vocal lessons-“ But Alicia escaped Red Lily and the club president’s offers like she had just been caught committing a crime.

Abandoned apartment buildings with broken-in windows and drunken prostitutes of both genders snuck around downtown Avalon like starved rats in sewage at night. It was the last place someone like Alan would probably go to find a new talented singer or anyone else of value to anyone else anywhere. Alicia, Derrick, and Michelle had been hanging around the buildings, particularly in one Greek fraternity house that had been bolted by a rotten blue steel door. In this house, several scantily clad teenagers and a few twenty-somethings with huge chests and hips slept around on the furniture. The floors were stained with wine bottles, urine, used condoms, and lacy underwear.

Alicia had been living like this for weeks since her mother died.

“You know, Li,” Michelle said, breaking the silence that had choked the three of them for about five minutes, “Maybe it was a dream. Maybe you were hallucinating,” Alicia, Michelle and Derrick were lying on an old frayed mattress in one of bedrooms.

Derrick closed Red Lily much earlier than normal for reasons that he would not disclose. Alicia hadn’t expected anyone to want to associate themselves with her since formal education was held to a high standard in her country. Dropping out was not a wise choice if she had wanted “a better quality of friends,” If money married money, then education befriended education.

“What do you mean by that?”

“For one thing,” Derrick began, “You’d have to crazy to have declined the president of Arian Audio Visual of giving you an opportunity like that,” “Well, not everyone wants to become a singer. I have experienced the entertainment world first hand when I was thirteen and I didn’t like it all,” Alicia said, “The other girls were showy and I was a late bloomer among them…physically. They’d throw themselves at the drunken directors for bigger parts in films and commercials. I just wasn’t into that,” Michelle was lying in Derrick’s arms with a mischievous grin on her face. “Okay then, what were you in the business for, Missy?”

She twirled her black hair around her pinky and looked up before answering her. “My mother told me…to find out what was right and wrong for me and not for the law’s sake,” Michelle looked up at Derrick. “I hope you have a good reason for closing the club early,” She said to him.

“I thought about the fact that you’ve been working so hard—you needed a night off,” “No shit, Sherlock,” Michelle muttered, “Now tell us the real reason. You’ve been mysterious about it,” It seemed that he could hide nothing from her—Alicia gave Michelle credit for that.

“Alan asked me to. He said not to open back up until Alicia accepts his offer,” The girls’ mouths were transformed into giant Os.

Alicia folded her arms across her chest. “Is this Candid Camera? Is someone from AAV stalking me?”

“You think other talented prospects haven’t had the same reaction as you?” Derrick asked seriously. “Alan must really believe in you—enough to shut down Red Lily after its recent reopening. At least contact him, see what the job entails. You aren’t really doing anything productive in your life right now anyway, right? What do you have to lose?”

Michelle laid her head on Derrick’s shoulder and gave Alicia a supportive smile. “We’ve only known each other for a few weeks now, but I can’t get your first performance out of my head, and it was a cover song for karaoke. If it’s any consolation, Derrick and I will back you up, but at least listen to what he has to say,” “If that doesn’t get through to you, then consider this: I love my job at Red Lily and I’d like it back,” ~~~~ Alicia remembered the moment she had heard the news. She was only five years old at the time, but the blood curling nausea-inducing back flips that her stomach and soul were doing stayed with her. Her grandmother had volunteered to take her to school. It came in mere seconds after she had left her granddaughter in that hard parlor room of the academy…

Her cell phone rang…

“Hello, Alicia. It’s Grandmother. Listen honey, I have something very important to tell you.

Are you sitting down?”

She was sitting in one of the hard chairs. Her small body looked as if it would have been swallowed up in it.

Alicia held the phone a bit closer to her ear.

“I’m sitting,” “Okay, Alicia. Grandmother has some bad news…”

That ten-second pause had given her away. Her grandmother was never one to waste a second in holding her tongue.

But she recalled waiting…

“Adele died this morning, honey. You’ll see your mother one last time after school,” ~~~~ She didn’t recall anything else after that…not the wake or funeral or even her Grandmother’s expressions. All she remembered was what Adele had told her before her father left them: To decide for her what was right and wrong. That was how she had continued to walk in this life, even though she wasn’t living it. Alicia had no expectations of herself or anyone else.

She stood in front of that white-washed marble headstone and reread the engraving. She felt like she had become one with the night and her mother’s spirit.

September 1 19XX-September 1 XXXX Adele R.I.P. “You’re not wearing the proper attire to visit a cemetery,” Alicia’s blank expression morphed into a scowl. She turned towards the black iron gated

entrance to the cemetery. The fog that had begun to swim in along the ground did nothing to hide her outfit: She wore a sea green and midnight blue sequined party dress with matching pumps. A wood nymph had decorated her alluring brown eyes with complementary hunter green eye shadow and lip gloss.

“Would your own mother allow you to dress like that, had she lived longer?” the voice belonged to none other than the head cheese of AAV himself—Alan. He stood next to her in his flashy black leather jacket and pants with the company’s insignia on it. Was all of his clothing marked like this?

“It’s been a few weeks since we ran into each other,” Alicia observed nonchalantly.

“That’s been plenty of time for you to think over my offer. It’s not like you have anything to do now, anyway,” Alan said. He placed his sunglasses on top of his hat and smiled. Alicia got a better look at his eyes. Thin, slanted, and gray….

“So I guess Derrick and Michelle divulged all of my secrets to you?”

“Did you tell them all of your secrets?”

“Then you know that this woman’s grave is that of my mother.”

He smiled at her. “Were you headed to the club?”

“I was considering it,” She answered, “But I’ve been thinking about something else now.”

Alicia took a deep breath and exhaled in a sigh and a shrug of surrender. “I’ll take you up on that offer. What do I have to do?”

Alan led her to back to the entrance gate of the cemetery and pointed at the parking lot. A white limousine stretched across a few of the parking spaces, and as usual, AAV was glorified on the front and back doors of the vehicle in golden splendor. ~~~ The driver had taken them to Red Lily. The club was its usual box of raving party-goers illuminated by the strobe light and disco balls above them. Michelle was dressed in a Playboy bunny outfit, complete with long, white rabbit ears on her head and a white cotton tail at the end of a skin-tight leotard. On her feet were black stilettos. She waved to Alicia and Alan and after serving more drinks, walked over to them with pep in her step.

“Haven’t seen you around here in a while, stranger!” She said after the two girls hugged briefly.

She eyed Alan. “So I’m guessing it’s all good, then?”

“Do we have any spare rooms upstairs?”

Michelle nodded. “You’re lucky. There’s just one left: 228. Is your stately mansion too quiet for you in comparison with the wild uproar of Red Lily?”

“Actually, Michelle,” He said, throwing a casual glance at Alicia, “It’s for her. She’ll be staying here for her voice lessons until I get confirmation from headquarters in AAV,” Michelle led them to a staircase at the back of the club. They walked up until they reached a corridor on a balcony that overlooked the clubbers below. **** Alicia walked a bit into the room. The tiled hunter green and white marble floor almost hid the white silk comforters and two pillows on the Queen sized bed from view. On the night table on the left side of the bed were club brochures and a blue lava lamp. Two armchairs were placed in the left and right corners of the room.

The heels of her shoes clicked rapidly with her steps on the floor as she opened the bathroom door. A Jacuzzi tub greeted her with classic ivy vines etched into the rim. Alicia twisted one of the faucets to the left and out poured hot, midnight blue tinted water. She saw the little built-in light bulbs in the tub’s floor that gave the water its mysterious color. After a minute, the tub was filled. On her right was a frosted-glass enclosed shower.

Alicia left the bathroom and lay down on the bed, flat on her back. She looked up at the lofty ceiling and found herself staring back down…a full length mirror had been installed where the ceiling should’ve been!

It gave her an interesting angle to look at herself in. She could zoom in and focus on her face or move in a position to where the mirror captured her full body. In the entertainment world, specifically in Aria’s modeling industry, technological mirrors like this were a valuable investment and a useful tool for talent scouts. At 13 years old, she made an attempt to fit the mold and took short modeling classes at A.P.A.G. for an extracurricular activity and as a way to appease her boredom. But when the talent scouts for a prestigious modeling agency saw her, she was overlooked because of her height. Being five feet and four inches tall was a no-go. In that world, 5’8 was the minimum for females, and age was just a number.

Alicia looked up at the ceiling mirror and zoomed in on her face. When she was 15 years old, the talent scouts came back to A.P.A.G. She had definitely blossomed and curved just enough to distinguish her from the neighborhood tomboys…but she was still too short to model, and acting lessons had only landed her in small parts in low budget movies about motorcycle gangs and schoolyard violence. It was as if her body was slowly torturing her into dashed dreams. To the scouts, she must’ve appeared to look more like a nine year old who padded her chest and pants out with tissues!

At 16 years old, she still looked like that, but she was growing into her body. And biology said that she was still growing anyway…women were physically adulterated at 21 or 22 years of age…maybe she had hope for a future in modeling after all.

Alicia scoffed at the thought then.

Nothing was wrong with her at 13 and everything about her would get better at 16. She felt it!

Her mother had said so, “I want you to be stronger than I ever was. Decide for yourself what’s right and wrong,” Alicia’s short legs were slender and curvy. Unlike most Arian girls, this gave her an advantage: High heels were not necessary to accent her naturally graceful stems. She looked like a carbon copy of her mother in every way except for her hair. She had gotten her hair color from her absentee father, while her own mother had been known to dye her hair in colors unknown to Arians, who usually had either black or dark brown hair. Alicia’s skin was radiantly tanned. She didn’t understand why the modeling agencies were so strict about height. It wasn’t fair.

That was it. This made her decision final. Her thin lips adopted a sneaky smirk and her mocha eyes danced in the delight of her scheme. Where there was no way, she would make one, and she’d be damned if she let this window of opportunity pass her by!

Alicia sat up then stared her reflection: face to face.

“You are somebody,” She whispered, “You’re going to change this country…hell, maybe the world,” KNOCK-KNOCK! ****

Alan stood outside the door to her room, arms crossed, and a smirk on his face.

“What are you scheming?”

At the same time.

“I asked you first,” Alan said, beating her to the punch.

Alicia let out an exasperated sigh and threw her hands up in surrender.

“You really want me to do this?”

“Only if you really want to. Of course, I did plan on tormenting you until you said yes,” “Fine then, I agree.”

“Just like that? You don’t know what you’re getting into,” “I’d love to find out,” That’s what their conversations were like at the start: Short snips of sarcasm.

If it didn’t work out, Alicia figured that she’d just wither away knowing that she had made an effort to fill the void that was created in her own abandoned heart, as well as Adele’s. **** “Where are we headed now?”

The limousine seemed to blend in seamlessly within the bustling traffic on the car and pedestrian clogged streets of downtown Aria. Alicia took one last look at Greek frat houses and the prostitutes from the window of the backseat where she and Alan were seated then three days later.

Those three days went by like blur with special markers for her to remember. The first was the business of establishing several contracts and other legal things she didn’t want to know about, but had to know. The first contract was made between Alan and the mystery owner of their next destination. It was time for Alicia’s voice lessons. For one week, as stated in the agreement, she would be driven back and forth to this place until she sang like an angel….or even better, if that was even possible.

“To enforce your lessons, we’ll also be at karaoke at Red Lily every night after your formal training,” Alan added.

“But they loved me the first time,” Alicia said, “I was awesome…outside of myself,” Alan waved a no-no finger at her. “Your audience always changes, and so do their opinions.

Your voice is just okay. In this industry, you have to be more than okay. Your tone and delivery need overtime training. Your tone quality will make or break you in the business,” She nodded half-heartedly. “You still haven’t told me where you’re taking me,” “We’re already here. I believe you’ve been here before,” **** “What the f-“ “Language, Alicia,” They stepped out of the car and watched as the chauffeur drove off to find a parking spot.

Meanwhile, Alicia rubbed her eyes in disbelief as she gazed up at the black castle of her reawakened childhood nightmares. There it was again—Avalon Port Academy for Girls.

“I’m not going in there,” Alicia said.

Alan rolled his eyes. They were standing on the broad staircase to the school. “During the summer months, this school is borrowed by my father’s company to train aspiring talents. I’ve got one month before school begins again in the fall to train you and I intend on doing whatever

it takes to do so,” A flame-lit determination glowed in his gray eyes, and she knew not to cross it again. **** Alicia and Alan entered the familiar parlor room and sat down on the dull and hardened sofa. This school was barely holding itself together in both enrollment and construction. The shades of brown, black, and green reminded Alicia of an elderly person on shaky ground and one step towards eternal death. She had been waiting for this place (and possibly the headmistress) to keel over already, but only one of those things had apparently happened.

Alicia glanced up at the giant painting of whom she called Evil Personified. The former headmistress who had admonished her and other girls like herself for wanting to be extravagantly beautiful instead of proper Plain Janes on the inside and out. There was no livelihood in the academy to begin with, and that quest to shut it out summed up the school’s mission statement.

“The Lady Edina passed away about a year ago,” Alan stood up, and motioned for Alicia to do the same. A twenty-something year old with blue eyes and short, orange hair greeted them. He and Alan shook hands.

“Alicia,” Alan said, “This is the headmaster of the academy, and he will be your vocal guide. His name is Lord Radcliffe,” Alicia shook hands with the new headmaster and faked a smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Radcliffe nodded and folded his hands together. “I believe you filled me in on her situation, Mr. President. AAV will have a new shining star by the week’s end,” “Good,” Alan said. “Let me have a word with her before I go,” “Of course,” Radcliffe walked off in another direction, and Alicia again was left alone with Alan.

Chapter Three: The entire building had become dead silent after that. A moment of silence between Alicia and Alan had seemed an eternal agony until the president cleared his throat.

“So—“ Alicia’s shoulders quivered slowly and she buried her face in her hands. There were no sobs to muffle, but the spaces between her fingers were getting wet. She sniffed and sighed, looking back at him with reddened, puffy eyes that resembled a Chinese dessert she couldn’t recall the name of. Alan scooted over to her a bit more and wiped her remaining tears away with his hand.

He smiled lightly, as if to reassure her.

“You’re a nervous wreck,” He said, “If you don’t think failure, you won’t fail. You can’t— because just like your mother, I believe in you,” Alicia sniffed again. “You knew the entire time, didn’t you? You knew she died the day I left to come here…and you’re making me face it again...I get it,” “If you don’t do it now, Adele would be sad from where she’s watching over you. Derrick and Michelle told me about how shaken up you are about her passing. I think it’s time that you let your mother rest peacefully—by living the life she wanted for you. That’s what I’m giving you now. Give Radcliffe one week and I’ll do the rest,” She folded her hands together, closed her eyes, and silently prayed. When she opened her eyes again, Alicia’s eyes shined from her smile.

“Okay,” She said, “I’m ready now, Alan. Where’s Radcliffe’s office?”

**** One week later…

“Zzz….”

Knock-knock!!

“Alicia!”

“Zzz…” “Li! Wake up!”

Alicia’s hair hid most of the pillow that her head occupied. She sat up and stretched out her arms and hands before her.

Knock-knock!!

She was still groggy, but she looked towards the door to her hotel room in Red Lily.

“Come in,” The door was nearly jerked off its hinges as Derrick and Michelle knocked each other down as they both tried to get to Alicia first. The still-sleepy teen looked at them like they were crazy.

“Hey!” they said cheerfully.

“Um,” said Alicia, “Hi. What’s up?”

“We’ve missed you,” said Michelle. She and Derrick took seats on the armchairs.

“I’ve been busy with the voice lessons all week,” She cleared her throat and winced a little afterward.

“Something wrong?” Derrick asked her.

Alicia rubbed her neck and said, “My throat feels slashed—like I swallowed glass. It’ll calm down once I drink something,” “How are your voice lessons coming along anyway?” Michelle spoke next. “It only takes the blink of an eye to see you lately.”

That “blink” would have to be very fast, Alicia thought. The last seven days of her life went like this: She’d wait for Alan’s limousine to pull up in the parking lot of Red Lily and they’d be at A.P.A.G. by 9:30 in the morning. 30 minutes later, she’d be face to face with Headmaster Radcliffe until 2:00, going over basic music and vocal techniques. For her, the best part of the day was when he selected popular songs for her to sing. All that throat pain and exhaustion was worth it when she finally used her voice at the end of each day. At 4:00, her formal lessons ended. After an hour-long powernap, Alicia would be up again, because Alan expected her downstairs on the stage of the club for karaoke night…and just like the first time she had sung, her audience rated her extensively, and these performances were also included in her contracts.

All of that had been preparatory work for when she hit The Big Time.

After explaining all of this to them, Alicia grabbed a bottle of Vitamin Water and drank it greedily. It wasn’t cold, but she didn’t care. She noticed that Derrick and Michelle had become suspiciously silent after listening to her.

“What’s wrong?” Alicia put the empty bottle back on the night table. Her eyes darted from left to right. “Where’s Alan? He’s usually up here dragging me to karaoke by now,” Derrick rested his chin in his hands. “Do you know where Aria Audio Visual is located?”

Alicia nodded. “It’s a few blocks down from Avalon Prime Mall…the other building with the neon lights,” “That’s the one,” Michelle said, “Alan is there waiting for you. He asked us to explain everything to you on the way.”

**** The commons of Aria Audio Visual’s recording studio reminded Alicia of a video game arcade, minus the excited yells of overzealous teen and college fans. A navy blue pool table was aligned in the middle, with two black leather sofas facing each other to the left of it. Above each sofa was an oil painting of a river during a midnight scene. A wooden bookshelf was between two gray speakers at the far left corner of a back wall. On top of one speaker was a thin, glass vase with a single white rose in it. A modest LCD TV hung from the ceiling.

To the right were two doors separated by a column. An award with Alan’s picture hung on the wall, with three cue sticks on adhesive hooks below it. A milky white grand piano stood gracefully in an upper right corner of the room. A black leather couch rested in a corner as the fading purple and red colors of sunset shined on it from the window just slightly above it.

As Derrick and Michelle watched Alicia’s childlike curiosity take hold of her as she kept scuttling around the commons, they tried and failed to fight the tickle of smiles that their mouths wanted to take the form of. Her small body and bubbly nature were contagious and very adorable.

She was running around, pointing at various objects and asking, “What’s this?”

Derrick and Michelle sat on one of the leather sofas and shook their heads.

The door to the left of the wall column suddenly swung open.

“Eep!” Alicia quickly sat between her friends and peeked at the person who had opened the door.

Alan stood in the doorway, arms crossed, playful shine lighting up his face. “You’re just a child, as I thought,” He said, “I’m glad you got here in one piece.”

“We have to get back to Red Lily. Tonight, we’re opening the club later than usual,” said Michelle. She winked at Alicia.

“Make great music for us,” Derrick said, “We look forward to seeing everyone dance to something you sing,” Alicia followed Alan into the room, which she learned later was called the control room.

There was a large table covered in zillions of multicolored buttons, radio dials, and knobs. It made her head spin. The president sat in the chair that was pulled up to the panel of mystery. He pointed at another chair next to his and she sat in it and kept her eyes focused straight ahead of her.

A glass pane separated the control room from the vocal booth where vocalists and instrumentalists performed. A microphone was in the booth, as well as a black steel bench.

“So,” Alan began after her had her attention, “What do you think of AAV?” Alicia lowered her gaze for a minute and then looked back up at him. “It sounds like a pretty quiet place…for a media studio,” She said slowly.

He shook his head. “It’s Sunday. Everyone is off. You’ll meet the staff tomorrow, that is…if you are sure this is what you want to do,” “Yes,” said Alicia, “I’m very sure…But why are you doing all of this?”

“Doing all of what?”

“You just randomly showed up at Red Lily and after hearing me sing of all people…doesn’t it bother you to have been so hasty about me?”

“I never make mistakes in signing talents, Alicia,” Alan’s voice and eyes became bright and icy. “I’ve been in this business since I was a child, admiring my own father for it. He had ears, eyes, and a vision for talent and heart. I worked especially hard to convince a few of my

employees here to let me sign you on. Do you know that they tried to shoot you down before I could get a word in about what I thought of your vocal abilities? Based on a picture…how shallow could they get?”

He folded his hands together and Alicia could swear that her shocked expression pleased him.

“But to answer your question: Does it bother me to have been so hasty in deciding to have you become part of Aria’s most successful media conglomerate? No, it doesn’t. I’ve watched all of your B-movies…the ones in which you had small parts to match your body. It seemed like the directors were defeating themselves—to me, even five seconds of your smile made a difference.

Your eyes are larger than most adults’—almost childlike, and many people will assume that you don’t know anything because of this. Don’t let that happen in this business because you’ll get swallowed whole,” So that’s what the directors thought of me back then, Alicia thought.

“What would I have to do?”

He looked at her and held a hand up to his ear.

“What would I have to do to fit in with the company? I want someone to see that I’m not a pushover,” “It will be some of the most difficult work I’ve ever had to do promote anyone. The movies you starred in were not received well by the public three years ago, but things can change. Are you willing to put your entire self into this?”

Alicia nodded.

“I believe in you….that’s the real reason,” He said abruptly as he stood up.

She looked at him with a furrowed brow. She scratched her head as she followed him back into the commons. Alan turned to her. “I’ve believed in you ever since I heard you sing….Is there anything you need right now? As far as your sleeping arrangements are concerned…for now you’ll sleep in your room at Red Lily,” His eyes lost their bright energy they had when they had first met. He seemed lost in a foggy afterglow of exhaustion.

He was about to leave her when he stopped walking and reached into his pocket for some keys. He dropped them into her shaking hands. Alicia’s long fingers became enraptured by the feel warmed metal.

“Alicia…Before I forget…tomorrow, you need to come up with a pseudonym for your songs….and would you like to write your own lyrics or should I hire a lyricist?”

“I’ll write my own,” she replied, “and my pseudonym is…Li.” “Thinking of your mother?”

“I always do. After all, besides my Grandmother, she’s the only one who’s thought of me, and I want to do it this way to repay her,” She wanted to do this for Alan as well. All she needed was encouragement.

Chapter Four: “Where is she?”

“Didn’t you send her over with the chauffeur, Alan?”

Four male news reporters and three females sat at a rectangular table in what looked like the typical setup for an executive board meeting. A navy blue ceramic bowl of giant evergreen palm leaves was at the center of the table. After ten more minutes of silent stillness, a familiar clicking sound could be heard. The sound wasn’t far from where they were in the commons area of AAV.

Dressed in a long, black trench coat and carrying a simple silver purse, she caught their attention, mostly capturing looks of surprise after she sat down. Alan was sitting at the head of the table. He indicated a chair next to him and Alicia sat in it. Smiles were exchanged all around the room.

“We are the staff of Aria Diamonds magazine. Do you know about us, Lady Alicia?” The first reporter spoke formal Arian, using the term Lady in front of Alicia’s name since he did not know of her personally.

She had indeed heard of Aria Diamonds. It was a glossy publication specializing in stories and articles about the freshest faces in creative arts and other media-from music, to books, to art, and film. It was targeted towards teens and young adults. Had Alicia ever read an issue? Like many Arian girls, yes she had.

The man lightly pushed his silver spectacles up a little further on the bridge of his nose after seeing Alicia’s nod.

“You will be making your debut very soon. As the president of AAV, we respect and honor all of Alan’s decisions in choosing to represent you as a new talent in the music division of the company. You have played minor parts and even starred in a dozen low budget movies three years ago. Among many critics, you’ve created quite a stir.”

“But what we don’t understand and what the nation wants to know is this: Why did you become a singer? You haven’t even finished high school yet. Do you plan on doing that, even?”

Damn, Alicia thought. These people aren’t exactly the warm and fuzzy type, aren’t they?

She just smiled and said, “Becoming a singer wasn’t my choice. Stepping into the entertainment world was—it was just a bad choice,” Her interviewer laughed, and a few small chuckles from everyone else but Alan followed some moments later. “‘No choice,’ she says,” He murmured. “Now be serious and answer my questions,” Alicia’s hands were resting on the table before her. She folded them, looked the middle-aged man straight in his bespectacled eyes and said, “Like I said—it wasn’t my choice. I really had no other option if I wanted to leave a mark on this world. I’m not good with academia at all and I find it completely useless for my individual life,” He seemed more satisfied with this partial truth. The real reason, to do as her mother had asked, was none of his business. Alicia noticed a small smile creep into Alan’s eyes. “ Maybe I should ask you this instead,” the interviewer said, “ Do you think, once you’ve made yourself known, that you will be able to separate this persona from the musician—your stage name will be Li, right?”

She didn’t like the way he spoke just now, but she contained herself. “Li and Alicia will be the same person. But even if I don’t establish myself, I’ll be just as content knowing that both us will have done our best here,” The interview went on like that for another hour and a half that morning—cut and dry. **** At 1:00, after sharing lunch at an outdoor café, Alan and Alicia returned to AAV and met with the director of her first promotional video in the commons area. He also had mysteriously gray eyes that were aged with wisdom like Alan’s. These men, Alicia correctly surmised, were brothers. The director’s clothing style was much more relaxed than Alan’s, though. For their meeting today, he had chosen to wear a simple pair of khaki shorts and a rainbow-colored Tshirt.

“So this is your prospective talent…”

He and Alicia shook hands quickly.

“You’ve made quite a stir, Lady Alicia…no,” He corrected himself, “We need to start calling you by your professional moniker…excuse me, Lady Li. My brother has informed me of all your attempts to make a mark in the entertainment industry. Well done. My name is Walter and I’ll be directing your first few PVs until you can get an audience for your music. Alan tells me that you’ve already started working on some lyrics for a song, is this true?”

Alicia nodded and gave Walter a white binder. She and Alan waited for his approval as he thumbed through the pages of her work.

After only ten minutes, Walter closed her binder and said, “You’ve worked on lyrics for three entire albums, did you know that?” “ There is more than enough for a regular album…we could place 16 songs on 3 just like that, “Walter continued, “ I need you to do that after we shoot the PV. For now, pick one song that resonates with you and we’ll create a PV based on the message of whatever you’ve chosen.

I’ll guide you every step of the way. This is your first impression, and you know how that saying goes: The first impression is a lasting one, especially in this industry.”

Walter motioned for Alan to come to him so they could speak privately, and Alicia sat on one of the couches and looked over the lyrics to two of her songs: "The World," Everyone has fallen on hard times.

It's naturally very easy to place blame on other forces other than yourself, isn't it?

Yes, I am one of those people, too.

I wonder why we were born in overflowing happiness, blind to these current times that have always been before us Part of me wants to be more like someone who always smiles in these times, even when they are alone So that when they are hit with reality's light against their own purity All everyone else wants to see is that person's "joy" against their will The other part of me won't let this happen Because I alone know the truth A world of sorrow or a world of happiness…

Which would you choose?

I can't believe in either of those things

Mediums exist, though they may not be shining in ideal light Who foresaw the world as it was slowly being carried off by the current?

Why do you still continue to pray?

What do you hope for?

Why are you wishing so hard for something that's so far from you?

I want the world to have your strength, too.

Or maybe the world is too much with us‌ I wonder why we were born in blind happiness‌ Or will these thoughts become carried away in the waves of a broken world?

-"Monster," I don't want to feel it Even though it's inevitable I don't want to see it In the mirror reflected I don't want to be aware of it (I'd just smash myself to pieces) So I'll fall further and further away from this bothersome gravity It has no effect; it won't have a grip on me I won't miss this at all.

Before I'm swallowed up in blind rage Created by a powerful wind inside of me I'll keep moving forward until destroys everything I don't want to feel it

Even though it's inevitable I don't want to see it In the mirror reflected The truth of a monster looking back at me “She’s narrowed it down to those two,” Alan said when he and Alicia met with Walter that evening. Alicia and Alan sat in front of his desk while Walter scanned the two songs she had selected.

“I love both of them way too much,” Walter announced after a long pause.

Inhaled breaths were released from Alicia and Alan.

“The World” unites two totally different objectives in both songs,” The director said, Do you have any ideas on what kind of Promotional Video we should create for it?”

Walter was pressing some buttons on a fax machine very quickly and feeding Alicia’s lyrics into it…

“I’m faxing them all over the studio so everyone will know about them: We need to create a successful debut with your hair, clothes, and so forth. Everything must match and they’ll all need your lyrics to convey the proper feelings,” He said.

Eight beeps confirmed that the lyrics were received.

Walter and Alan turned to Alicia, who blushed a little as she scanned her mind for an idea.

“When I wrote” The World,” I was thinking about the recessions in the U.S. and Greece, and other financially crippled places. But we aren’t only damaged in those ways, aren’t we?” She said. “All over the Earth, people are suffering from heartache and loneliness, and it impacts the children and teenagers as well as adults, right? Well, I wrote the songs thinking of those things.

Children and teens in the world must have something they want to communicate in these times, too,” Alan’s chin rested in his right hand. “You are correct. Entrepreneurs are popping up like crazy ever since the market crashed two years ago, and 60% are young adults and teens. It’s great for them to find their niche, like you will soon find, Alicia.”

Walter shrugged his shoulders as if to say, “I don’t care,” with a smile. “Fine with me. It’s decided then. Alicia will carry this message and show us that she understands how her peers are feeling in the world. If you both would follow me to the filming area, we can get started then,” Chapter Five: Men were transporting ladders and cardboard panels all over the place. Other crew members were setting up the tripod lights and cameras. Alicia and Alan sat on a black bench in the midst of it all. Alan faked a few yawns and winked at Alicia, who was bug-eyed in amazement.

“Hey,” She said to him, “Are you sure this is going to work for my debut? What happens if no one likes my song, or the PV turns out badly?” “ Then we’ll keep knocking out singles until you hit the big time,” Alan replied, “ Many big stars in the entertainment world started out small, but the most important thing is that they never gave up on themselves. Do you remember Arielle Mars?”

She nodded. “She was one of Playboy’s biggest swimsuit models who became a gravure idol after moving to Japan to relocate. On her blog, she says even foreigners who don’t know the

Arian or Japanese languages love her. The Internet boosted her popularity. I wonder if I’ll get to meet her,” “Alicia, it’s time for your first scene,” said one of the cameramen. Alicia stood up immediately and looked to her left and right. A haunting melody softly ebbed throughout the entire studio like an infectious wave. It reminded her of an American band she liked called Evanescence…it was the introduction to the first song, “The World,” Alicia wore the midnight blue and green sequined dress that she had donned the night she had visited Adele’s grave. Behind her on the chroma key was a video shoot of a sandy shore on a breezy night. Four members of the camera crew turned to watch her intently, as were Alan and Walter.

“Camera ready!”

“Action!”

The words poured out of her mouth seamlessly, one following one after the other. Alan and Walter stood frozen in their seated positions-the former on the bench and the latter in the Director’s chair, but Alicia did not see or hear them. She heard the waves crashing behind her and then they seemed to invite her in the scene entirely as she continued singing. All the while behind her, images of the world’s most impoverished areas filled with teens and children joined in with her…at first they were merely lip-synching…

Their lip-synching became whispers…

Which would you choose?

I can't believe in either of those things Mediums exist, though they may not be shining in ideal light Who foresaw the world as it was slowly being carried off by the current?

Why do you still continue to pray?

What do you hope for?

Those chilling whispers could be heard as one single poetic choir throughout the entire studio…and towards the final part of the shooting, one by one, the youth of the world began to disappear with smiles on their faces….

Until she remained in the final shot on the beach, with the wind blowing in her hair from the fans on her left and right…more CGIs were added to create the illusion of her tattered clothes as she been strategically placed in the midst of children and prisoners of wars past and present.

Blood was splattered on her face and hands at scattered intervals. She even wiped some of it on her arms and special dyed eye drops were added to show her crying tears of blood. But the one thing that was even more eye-catching at the end of the shoot was a surprise. Alicia’s voice was the only thing that was left in the universe, carrying with it, echoes of the world’s choir.

A single blood red tear fell down her left eye, and her right eye color was transformed and

zoomed in as an image of the Earth from space.

Through it all, she was smiling and still singing.

“She’s so solemn and small,” said Alan. His eyes morphed into glass fish bowls of tears, as well as his brother’s.

Walter concurred with a nod and an, “I know…Don’t you see her going places?”

Some of the camera and film crew commented as well.

“Did you see that? She looked like a professional!”

“Her tears were just something else!”

“I like her already! Her pose was flawless! She knows what she’s doing!” **** Two weeks of video shooting for her debut PV which would be thirteen minutes long flew by before she knew it, and there was more promotional work to be done. On the afternoon following those two weeks of shooting, Alicia learned about editing her own work.

The hairstylists, camera crew, and makeup artists gathered around her as she looked at the digital images of herself flickering on the computer screens and camera monitors. Dressed in an electric crimson saddle tank top and white denim pixie-skinny jeans with matching ballet flats, her eyes and lips dusted in shimmering desert color, Alicia could’ve easily been mistaken for a sexy faerie with sass.

In the background, in fact throughout the entire studio, her first two singles, “The World,” and “Monster,” played in an awesome mash-up mix that seemed weirdly ethereal and edgy at the same time. The shoot was for the CD sleeves of her first album in the making, Wonderland.

Alicia’s eyes were widened and her energy, for all it was worth, could not pass through to her staff. They rubbed their eyes and yawned extravagantly. “Okay,” She announced in monotone, “I like the first three shots. Select from any of those, please,” Her voice was scratchy from the singing she had done earlier in past week, from warm-ups for her first live performance of both “The World,” and “Monster,” for 5 different MTV-like music programs and a variety show in between.

The others applauded as Alicia then called out, “Great work from all of you as usual,” *** “I don't want to feel it Even though it's inevitable I don't want to see it In the mirror reflected The truth of a monster looking back at me,”

Alicia held out a 19 inch LCD monitor a few inches away from her face as she stretched

herself out on one of the leather couches in the communal area of Aria Audio Visual Recording.

Her black tresses were bone-straight, her skin was cleared of makeup, and she wore ripped denim jeans that were laced with thin white lace ropes and sprinkled with white and golden rhinestones and a Liz Claiborne roll cuff plaid shirt.

She was watching another recording of her first live performance of “Monster,” on MTV Aria. It was her last one of the week. **** During the interview segment of the show, the TV host joked about the fact that she was putting in so much effort to remain unknown in the entertainment business. Already, Alicia had appeared on three late night radio programs twice a week, her first “official” TV appearance had sky-rocketed MTV Aria’s ratings, and now she was about to perform her first live show in front of millions of “fans”.

“And yet,” said the host, wiping a fake tear from his hysteria, “No one knows who the hell you are…you’re a lucky little thing, that’s who you are! And without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, we give you Aria’s next diamond, please give a warm round of applause for Li!” The audience’s wild cheering and fierce clapping turned her ears inside out. Alicia’s heart thudded along with the crowd’s own as she walked out onto the glittering black stage….

Heat from the limelight above her squeezed the sweat from her pores like a lemon, but she didn’t even notice it.

As soon as she put the microphone to her lips, the words to “Monster,” followed suit. Her own voice in her personal void blocked out the screaming fans who were yelling out with hoarseness, “Li!! Li!! We love you!!”

And once again, she was that solitary vision for an even bigger world to behold…with the voices of many that began with her own…

Part 2: Idol Scene Chapter One: NO 1. My Crappy, but short intro Hi everyone!

How are you all? This is Amaranta, but it seems I’ve earned two nicknames on the set now.

My TV boyfriend and co-star Sabino Costello calls me Amarantine—he says it’s the name of a flower that means everlasting.

And my fellow cast members from Soldier Evolution Revolutionary Girl call me Amara for short.

Isn’t that sweet? Well, my name means the same thing in Spanish, or so I’m told.

I’m 17 years old and my personality, if summed up in 3 words would be: cheerful, determined, and a bit melodramatic at times when I’m stressed!

I just turned 17 a few days ago.

My hobbies are cooking and online shopping.

I’m gonna try to experiment with pictures in this blog. I’m not very good with social networking, so please bear with me.

Until we meet again,

Amaranta NO.2 our date has memories!

Sabino and I went out on a “character date,” It’s been three years since we both acted in Soldier Evolution, but it was a lot of fun.

Sabino played three characters, actually. He was Alexander Kinomoto, whose alter-ego is a separate presence and personality from him altogether, Shadow Knight, and he also played the villainous part of Lord Vinsfeld, leader of the Forbidden Darkness.

Ack! I don’t know how he maintained so much strength and energy to play those three men, but he did it to a T. Naturally, his scenes were filmed separately as he changed characters.

On our date, we revisited three film locations, like Avalon Prime Mall and even Avalon Port Academy for Girls.

Nostalgia…ain’t love grand?

But the unfortunate thing for the romantics out there is that Alexander and Bunny (my character in Soldier Evolution) had a short-lived romance in the first draft that the author originally wrote.

It got cut in the final production and editing of the drama.

(T_T) Oh well.

Until we meet again, Amaranta NO 3. About Soldier Evolution It’s been 3 years since my acting debut with the drama of the same name. I was cast as the lead character. (O_O).

Yeah, I’m getting old with a capital O. That drama, in case you’ve forgotten it, started out as a popular superhero novella back in 2000. I tried out for the part as a “dare,” spurred on by my 14-year old stubbornness.

I didn’t think I’d get the part. I was really good at being persuasive.

I hated the fake world of celebrities, especially those my age. The media plays them up in sparkles and happiness to make it more appealing so they can exploit you.

At least that’s what my naïve self thought of the entertainment world then.

Three weeks later, the director and the author of Soldier Evolution called me up and said I got the part—even after they had carefully listened to one thousand other applicants!

Totally freaking out isn’t even enough to sum up what I felt.

I mean, there are other girls who wanted to play this role. Probably would’ve died for it, as Soldier Evolution is like the sister to Sailor Moon in Japan…

It’s just more violent.

Our last days of filming were filled with tears. Everyone was bawling their eyes and hearts out.

I hope the message of Soldier Evolution reaches Arian girls everywhere: “No one can do everything alone,”

Until we meet again, Amaranta NO 3. Books I’m reading lately Soldier Evolution Revolutionary Girl is a scar on my heart that I’m happy to have. Of course, it’s going on my recommendation list, so check it out when you have time!

I’m also into manga, recently—it’s the Japanese word for comic book.

Vampire Knight, Sailor Moon, Miss Rain, and Yu-Gi-Oh have all caught my attention in the past three days.

I had some lemon sherbet last night. It was so good that it gave me fish lips.

Until we meet again, Amaranta NO.4 Food Time

Surprisingly, I woke up with a craving for something healthy, so I went to the flea market and bought some ingredients for a fruit salad. (Market fresh produce rules!)

I cooked grilled chicken with asparagus for dinner.

I didn’t know a dessert like this existed. Vanilla shaved ice with raspberries and mint leaves inside lemon peels.

Until we meet again, Amaranta NO.5 Happy New Year Happy New Year, everyone! I don’t like the word resolution, I make goals, but this year, I’m keeping them to myself. I’ve been watching this speaker for an overseas program—I think the speaker’s name is Ted-and he says that speaking about our goals to others tends to cause us to lose our focus on them…the more you mention a dream or goal to others, the less likely it is to happen, so to speak.

This year, I’ll do another introduction.

Name: Amaranta 17 years old Date of birth: December 25th Chinese Zodiac Sign: The Water Dragon Hobbies: Cooking, Online Shopping, and more recently I’ve become an avid reader Favorite Colors: Green and Black Favorite Musicians: Fiona Apple, Whitney Houston, and Aaliyah Favorite Movies: Commando, Columbiana, & SALT Favorite Foods: Ice cream and Fruit I hope you all have a blessed New Year!

Amaranta

NO 6. Snow New Year How did you spend New Year’s Day? We had snow here in Avalon...My mother said it was the first time the country of Aria had snow anywhere since I was born in 1988.

Guess that makes me a lucky one, since I am a winter baby.

Mother and I went shopping and we hung some charms for good luck this year, and at school, she watched our team win the first soccer game of the year.

After that, we went to grandmother’s house and ate a ton‌well, I did. We had crab and vegetable dumplings with miso soup and cheese fondue with French bread.

Food warms people with happiness this year.

Everyone, be careful not to catch a cold!

Amaranta NO.7 Spa Hot Spring!

This is the first weekend in February. January went by in the blink of an eye because I was promoting the first film I starred in since Soldier Evolution ended. (Ever since then, I got scouted by another agent and we’ve been filming for a new project that I can’t discuss in this diary for some reason.)

We stopped in many different indoor and outdoor hot springs in Everclear, a city about three hours from Avalon. I didn’t have to make a guest appearance during the speaking engagements this time—I won’t make any formal appearances until the film’s premiere.

This reminds me of the trips we’d take to hot springs after filming in cold places for Soldier Evolution. (^_^) Amaranta NO.8 Tour Days Report Long time no see! Our hot springs tour for the new film is due for a rewind. This tour was actually kind of fun.

Day 1: We arrived at our hotel in Everclear and chilled out until the eight o’clock stage greeting. I was allowed to read from some magazine reviews that liked our film. Both directors and two of the film producers joined me on the stage, but I was still nervous. I can now reveal the film’s title: It’s a short film called Surrender unto Night. Deeply sensual and not the kind of thing I’m used to filming.

It’s an edgy romance film for teens and adults in their twenties.

Day 2: Bowling alley in Everclear….didn’t know they had those! So much fun!

The best part of both days was meeting so many of my fans. If I didn’t get to meet you this

time, pray for next time!

Amaranta NO 9. Final Year of High School Club activities, soccer games, and schoolwork will end for me very soon. High school life was filled with a moderate job when I was scouted after Soldier Evolution ended. My life was full of working and studying. I’ll do everything at my own pace, but if there’s an emergency, I’ll just work faster and harder. LOL Thanks to my classmates for making high school so awesome.

Amaranta NO 10. Surrender Unto Night Press Conference I signed books for people after I told them about some of my experiences in Guam. We filmed on the beaches and in a nightclub. A few fans asked to take pictures with me.

Amaranta NO. 11 Q & A #1 This weekend, I went to the movies with friends and played a few arcade games.

I received a few questions in my fan mail box today, so I thought I should take the time to answer a few of them.

What countries would you like to visit next?

Japan and France, definitely Your first drink of the morning is…?

Water or orange juice, but 9/10 it will be water What kind of music have you been listening to lately?

I’m into Adele and Natasha Bedingfield. I love British music.

Please send me more questions.

Amaranta NO.12 Q & A #2 Which of your jobs have been the most difficult so far?

Probably the first major one, Soldier Evolution….I don’t say that because I was chosen to play the main heroine. It’s because up until that point, I only had minor roles in films that taught me a lot. Those seemingly small appearances that I had in those films could only be five minutes long, but we’d spend all week shooting and re-filming that scene if my voice was off (Like if I was recovering from a laughing fit or crying) or anything like that. Little things like that are huge deals with my work.

What was your dream job when you were in elementary school?

I was involved with club activities like tutoring other students, but I was really animated in sports clubs, specifically soccer and track meets. If I wasn’t an idol, I’d be coaching a sports team or probably on a professional soccer team. I am on the soccer team at Avalon Port Academy for Girls.

What are your plans after high school graduation?

I’ve only thought of acting and modeling ever since I was scouted. I’ll stick with this and keep going higher.

What three things do you want right now?

Food, more time to see my Mother, and an adopted baby sister would be nice. But right now, I wouldn’t trade what I’m doing for the world.

Amaranta NO 13. Curry Rice I’ve been cooking this particular dish since I was a child—even more so since I started acting. I never thought about making my own sweets, though. But this particular meal is something special to me.

That dish I speak of is the majestically classic curry rice!

I used Jasmine rice when I made this for dinner today, and sprinkled some crushed red pepper in the roux as well. Tasty!

Amaranta NO. 14 Recent interests Hey! It’s the middle of March already, isn’t it? That was fast.

I went to the new international World Market store that was built across from the mall a few days ago. It has bits of ingredients from every part of the world. I visited the Asian section and picked up a few bottles of Ramune (Japanese soda). They have Hello Kitty on them!

And they had Hello Panda chocolate and strawberry biscuits as well.

The Ramune soda has a marble inside, which is used as a clever stopper that you push down with the plastic plunger-like tool. Odd, but cute and the soda is very good!

Amaranta Note from the Author: Thanks so much for reading my book. I’d really appreciate and will acknowledge you if you left me a comment or a review about it somewhere online. Please tell your friends about this book if you liked it. Visit any of the links below to find out more about me and my books. **** Smashwords Page: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/natashareyna88 OpenDiary: (My sorta official blog): http://www.opendiary.com/entrylist.asp?authorcode=D914741 Twitter:

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