Tell Me A Lie

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"I cannot BELIEVE we're going to the premiere of Catching Fire. I feel like royalty," sighed Melissa, flipping through US Weekly. I shook my head. She still doesn't understand that now instead of reading the tabloids, I can just ask someone what really happens in Hollywood.

I still couldn't quite believe everything that had happened in the last year myself. After making it to the finals on The Voice, I had been signed onto Jam Productions to record my first studio album. Ever since my first single, Long Shot, was released and became a top ten song on iTunes, I had been invited to all kinds of these events. To me, it had been amazing to even get a callback after my first audition for The Voice, which I had originally tried out for at 17 years old solely for experience. Jam had moved me out to L.A., I had gotten my own apartment, and I'd been nothing but busy ever since.

Melissa, who I had been best friends with since second grade, had flown out here after she had gotten out of school for the summer. I had made good on my promise to her and was going to take her to a premiere that would be chop-full of her idols to kick off her visit. Although she always talked about how jealous she was of my new lifestyle, I was kind of jealous of her. The Voice and Jam signing me were once in a lifetime things, which is what I had told my parents in both circumstances, but I had been looking forward to going to college and all the experiences that came with it.

"Oh my goodness RACHEL. Why are we sitting here eating and not shopping for the freaking movie premiere tonight?!" Melissa exclaimed, throwing her empty coffee cup in the trash and marching towards the door. I groaned, dragging myself away from my kitchen counter and out the door after her while I fished for my car keys in my purse. In the elevator, Melissa's insistent chatter suggested that we were going to be shopping for a very long time. My stylist had already bought clothes for me for tonight, but Melissa insisted that she was in desperate need to look Hollywood, not Boston, where we both grew up.

As we walked into the parking lot and towards my small navy BMW, I located the keys inside of my purse and unlocked the doors, hopping into the drivers seat and pulling onto the palm tree-lined street. Melissa was flipping through the stations when she heard screamed and turned the volume up.

"Sweet lord, Melissa!"

"RACHEL! It's the song!"

And it was. One Direction's cover of Torn, which was released on their second album, blared through my car's stereo system. I smiled at the memories of Melissa and I watching videos of the five British boys until the early hours of the morning. Though I was no longer creepily obsessed with this band as I used to be back in high school, I still loved to hear their songs on the radio, reminding me of home and where I came from. It was comforting.

Melissa and I sang along until the song ended, the windows open and the warm California air whipping our hair around. She quickly switched the station as a song by The Wanted came on.

"I just, I'm sorry, I never got over my dislike for them," she huffed, settling on a new song by Adele. I rolled my eyes at Melissa's fostered hatred for the group who had openly despised One Direction, making all "directioners", in turn, despise the Wanted. I laughed.

"Oh, the memories."

"Shut up. One Direction is past, present, and future. Get used to it."

Needless to say, Melissa was still a little ticked off that I had gotten over my obsession while she remained addicted, though less so than she had been years ago. In a way, my career had started off the same way One Direction's had. They had been put together and made it to the finals on the UK's X-Factor, while I made it to the finals on the Voice. Neither of us won, but we managed to get signed by a major record label anyway. I still couldn't believe how lucky I had gotten. But, as Melissa liked to remind me, I would never have made it anywhere without talent. There really was no such thing as luck in this business.