Leaving All I've Ever Known (Camren)

2. The Truth

"We wish only good things for all. Upwards and onwards. Ally, Dinah, Lauren and Normani..."

It's midnight. I finished reading the letter the Fifth Harmony account released in response to my own, out loud for the third time tonight.

The girls didn't write that.

They're good. They're really fucking good at manipulating our fans. 'Unfortunately, those efforts were not mutual'? I had been there, when I had to and when I didn't even want to discuss our future, our careers, and our fucking jobs.
Maybe they should share the real reason I wasn't so keen on speaking to them. Are they really trying to make out that I was some fame-hungry, 19 year old who just cared about her own success? Ally, Dinah, Lauren and Normani aren't just colleagues; they're people whose careers I've always kept in mind. And not because I had to, but because they're my friends.

The main focus of our 'meetings' were to discuss how we should interact through social media, to give us roles and even scripts on what to mention and when to mention it. Because that's all the fans will ever get, our fabricated, lie-filled social media accounts.

As I grew older, I started to understand just how sick the industry is. All the photos on my Instagram? Fake. All my tweets? Fake. Everything is fake.

I did find some 'loopholes'. What little input I got into captions and tweets were a blessing, even if I had to make it as vague as possible so fans wouldn't catch on and management wouldn't find out. And then, when the fans did catch on, I felt helpless. There were countless times I wanted to reply to fans with, 'Yes! You're right! That's what I was trying to say!' Or, 'You figured it out!' But I just couldn't.

Another negative side of being as powerless as I am was when fans pointed out things I had no control over. They would brate me and say, 'You never post pictures with *insert band mate* but you'll post pictures with *insert famous person*'. I had no choice; management wouldn't have held back from punishing me if I went against their script in any way.

And the worst part? My story line, from the start, had a different narrative from the rest of the girls. I always wondered why management rarely asked me to post pictures with the girls or promote their songs I wanted to on social media. They wanted me to stand out, so when I did eventually leave Fifth Harmony, people would look back and think it was always me vs. the rest of the girls.

Fans will never know us personally. They'll only have the plot line management has invented for us.

I shut my laptop screen and stiffly lay down on my bed. I'm currently back home in Miami, but I have no idea how I'll be getting any sleep tonight. Every muscle in my body and brain is exhausted from overworking but the adrenaline is still pumping away.

*ring ring ring*

I turn to my left and see a white flash emitting from my phone screen.

Who's calling me at 12PM? Have I already caused more drama?

'MANI IS CALLING'

Normani? I haven't spoken to her since Jingle Bell Ball...

*******

flashback

December 2016

*******

"This is it..."

"Mhh." I nod with water-filled eyes that I know will break into tears at any second now.

I'm backstage in a dressing room after performing with the girls for one last time. It's the last time Fifth Harmony will be seen as a five-piece.