Here is the next chapter!
Enjoy!
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Liz's P.O.V
The following few days were busy with filming the video. We spent the next two working on Julie and Caitlin's parts and now the video is in editing. Or was... because we've just received a text message from Dylan, telling us that the video was edited and it was emailed to our emails. I was so excited to see our first music video, although the girls and I promised each other that we won't see the full music video until it's shown on Ellen- our first official talk show on TV. We were shooting it tomorrow and it'll air sometime afterwards, I believe. I'm not totally sure how it works; I wasn't listening when Dylan told us.
As of now, the girls and I were relaxing in our hotel room before we go to dinner with Dylan. I was lying across my bed, playing Angry Birds when I got a text from an unknown number. I tapped the notification, waiting for it to take me to the conversation. I didn't recognize the number and when I saw that a video was sent, I grew nervous.
"Girls, some unknown number just sent me a video." I spoke up in the quiet room. I heard movement before someone lied down next me. Julie's familiar aroma filled my senses and I watched as her black painted nails came into view. She grabbed my phone, pressing the play video. Caitlin laid down next to Julie and we all watched the video.
It took a second to load but when it did, an older man was showed on screen. He was dressed in a black suit, blond hair covered half his scalp and the hair that was missing on his head was on his chin. I looked closer at the screen, feeling like he was familiar in some sort of way.
"Hello Elizabeth, I just wanted to send a quick video to say that I love you. I know that you're in L.A. right now, so I hope you have fun. Hopefully I can visit and meet you at your hotel, maybe we can even go to the hotel you stayed at during the X Factor. I'll see you soon." He said, the video then ended.
"The fuck..." Julie trailed off, "Who is this creep?"
"Play it again." I said, trying to focus on the video. Something felt off about it.
"What?" Julie asked, looking at me.
"Play it again." I repeated, nodding my head towards the phone. Julie sighed and pressed play.
This time around, I didn't focus on what he was saying, I stared at the man on the screen, trying to look at his eyes. It wasn't until the very end, when he got closer to the screen that I realized who it was. I was confused as ever, but I knew who it was. I grabbed my phone, laughing a bit as I quickly responded to the message. Yeah sure! We can meet up and hang ;)
"Um, why did you send that?" Caitlin asked.
I laughed, shaking my head. "Because my boyfriend's an idiot and thinks I can't recognize his eyes." I answered her.
"That's Niall? No way, he looks like an old pedophile." Caitlin said.
"Well he told me that they were filming Best Song Ever. Which I cannot wait for. I'm guessing that he has to dress up for the music video?" I shrugged as my phone vibrated.
Unknown Number: What?
Liz: We can meet up and hang!
Unknown Number: You don't have a good looking and talented boyfriend?
Liz: Well I don't have to tell him
I laughed after sending the message, waiting for what I knew would be coming. Julie and Caitlin rolled their eyes as they got off the bed, going back to what they were doing before I got the video. I rolled my on back just as my phone vibrated, my ringtone filling the room. I looked down at the phone, laughing when I saw who was calling.
"Hello?" I pressed the phone to my ear.
"You don't have to tell him? You'd ruin our relationship to hook up with an old man?" Niall asked, his voice muffled through my phone, his accent coming out thicker than usually.
"Hi Niall." I said, laughing a little bit.
"Don't 'hi Niall' me. You just said that you and that guy can meet up and hang, with a winky face." He said.
"How would you know what I was texting that unknown number?" I asked, smiling widely as I tried not to laugh.
"...uh." Niall hesitated.
"Whose phone did you use?" I asked.
"Paul's. How'd you know?" Niall sighed.
"Your eyes. They give you away. Very convincing American accent though, you had Julie and Caitlin concerned." I finally laughed.
"Eh, I should've known you knew." He said.
"Yeah, you should've. You know that I'd never cheat, that's just wrong. So tell me, other than the fact that you're dressed as an old pedophile for your video, how is everything else going?"
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I laughed as Caitlin claimed that she loved her outfit for the third time and was also spinning in front of the mirror. Her outfit really was cute; for her. It wouldn't really be something that I would wear. She was dressed in a royal blue crop top with overalls, and then black leggings. It was cute for her sense of style but it's not something that I would typically wear.
My outfit was a bit more me. I was dressed in white Capri's and a light blue tank top with cut outs on the shoulders and back- Ben paired it with my black converse that I came here wearing. He thought they looked better than the sandals he originally had.
Julie's outfit was cute as well, but again, for her style. She was wearing a black crop top with a red flannel and then a pair of jeans with her ankle boots that she loves so much.
We were all dressed up, ready to go out on Ellen. I was incredibly nervous, being that this was live. Julie had informed that to me after my phone call with Niall last night, so I didn't get much sleep last night. I knew that it would be nerve wrecking but having it live seems so much worse. And yeah, I was on live television before; the X Factor obviously. But this was different. I'll be talking- something I'm not good at. I won't be singing until later. I was just... very nervous.
Julie seemed to notice my nerves because before we were brought to the spot we wait for Ellen to introduce us, she grabbed my hand and squeezed it tight. "Don't be so nervous Lizzie, it's going to go great. Like, seriously, it's going to be awesome." She said.
"I know, I know. It's just a little weird. I've never been on a talk show." I whispered.
"Oh I have, plenty of times." Julie deadpanned. I rolled my eyes at her mocking me and waited for Ellen to introduce us. Finally she did and we were told to walk onto the little stage thing. I took a deep breath and followed Julie out, trying to act as confident as she was.
The audience was cheering and seeing the small size, I grew less nervous. I looked at the crowd, smiling and waving towards the fans that were yelling our names. I walked up the two steps to the main platform, looking at the blonde haired women that was smiling at us.
Hugs were passed around before we all took a seat on the white couches. Ellen smiled brightly at us before looking towards the audience. She laughed as they finally quieted down; a typical reaction to when the girls and I walked into the room and I loved every second of it.
"Wow... you girls are quite popular. And for someone that hasn't put out a single- yet. Which reminds me, everyone, these girls have a surprise for you. Their very first single is debuting here and I'm excited. After the break, so get the word out fact." Ellen said, looking towards the camera. The crowd screamed and I laughed, biting my lip as I looked around. I felt weird sitting up here but I liked it.
"So girls, welcome to my show. I'm really glad to have you here. I must say, I didn't watch you three of the X Factor but I did see videos of you girls on tour. Can you tell me what that's like, going from something like the X Factor to touring in places like Europe, all in a span of months?" Ellen asked.
I looked at girls, waiting for someone to answer the question. Julie sat up a bit, making me relax so I didn't have to answer. "It's kind of... it's weird. I'm not going to lie. I've loved every single second of it but it's weird. Like, we were literally on the X Factor as contestants not even a year ago, and now we are touring with One Direction and Five Seconds Of Summer. It's insane to think about, especially when we play arenas in Denmark or Sweden and there are people that know us and support us- like, we were just from the X Factor USA, which isn't even that big of a show. It's insane, it really is but the girls and I love it more than anything else in the world." Julie answered.
Ellen nodded her head. "You mentioned touring with One Direction and Five Seconds Of Summer, so now I have to ask. Your touring with the biggest boy band in the world right now, no offense to the fans of five sauce, but let's be honest, they aren't a boy band. So what's it like touring with One Direction?" She asked.
"It's great," Caitlin said, "They are all great. Granted we really only see each other before concerts being that our schedules are different. We are both working hard on albums so we rarely get to see each other, aside from the nights of concerts. But they've been so kind to us and they've honestly taught us a lot about touring." She laughed.
"Liz, you're actually dating a member of the band, right?" Ellen asked.
"Yeah, yeah I am." I spoke.
"I won't pry into that, though I'm sure that the fans are dying to know." Ellen laughed. I smiled, laughing a bit too. "Okay so we are going to go to break, but we'll be back in just a few minutes to see the very first music video from Jay Cee El, as well as answering some questions that the fans want to know." She said.
The live sign clicked off and Ellen turned to us. "It really is great to have you girls. I'm glad you could make it. But if you'll excuse me, I really have to pee." She said.
I nodded, trying not to laugh. Caitlin wasn't so discreet and she laughed, watching as Ellen walked away. I turned to look at the girls, listening to the audience as they tried to get our attention. "I'm going to sign some stuff and take pictures during the break. Anyone want to come?"
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"And we're back. I've got Jay Cee El here with me and they are excited for everyone to see their new video. And as I was told to say, it's available for to buy on iTunes as soon as the shows is over, so get your mom's credit card ready. Girls, before we show the video, would you like to tell us a bit about your song?" Ellen welcomed the show back, and then asked us.
"Uh.." I spoke, "Well as our fans now, the song is called Brave. The girls and I had so much trouble trying to come up with a first single for all of you, so when we finally got down to working, this was the product of it. I really like this song and the... and like, the message it sends out."
"Can you tell us a little about the genre of it?" Ellen asked.
"Well Ellen, I think it would be better if we just played the video." Caitlin said, the sassy girl she typically is.
Ellen laughed, "I've heard you were sassy, didn't know if I should be scared or not. Now I am. Let's watch the video then."
We turned our attention towards the screen behind us and the video soon started. I found myself biting my lip and then blushing as I came on screen. It was definitely weird to be watching the video. I hadn't yet seen it, so this was a first for me as well.
After Julie started singing, the scene cut to my wonderful dancing seen. My blush got deeper and I hide my face, hearing people laughing at me. I looked back up at the screen through my fingers, laughing when Julie was seen, dancing in the middle of a mall.
The video progressed and watching in front of people was both embarrassing and hilarious. By the time that the video ended, I was a laughing mess on the couch, leaning on Julie for help. Ellen was laughing hard as well, her face red as she looked back and forth between us and the screen.
"Alright... alright..." She laughed, "You've got to tell us the inspiration for that. I haven't seen a music video like that in a long, long time." She said.
"Actually, the idea of it was by together by our managers and our director, Annabelle. Who I give complete credit to, that woman is amazing." Caitlin said, "But we wanted to show people to not be afraid of who they are, or how they look, or what people think of them because at the end of the day, the only person who'll be there is you and the way you think of yourself is more important than anyone else." She explained.
"That's a very deep meaning, and I'm sure that you all pushed that message. Now I've got to ask, were all those people actors?" Ellen asked.
"No," I laughed, answering her question. "The only actors in it were us, and then the few people that were dancing in front of the camera. All the bystanders were actual bystanders." I laughed.
Ellen laughed, leaning back against her chair. "I've got to admit, I'm not sure if I could've done that. That looks insanely embarrassing." She said.
"It was," Julie nodded, "But honestly it was so worth it. It was nice to let loose and like Caitlin said, not care what people thought of you."
"Well, you girls were amazing. Now we've only got a few more minutes before your girls time is up, but we've got enough time to answer a few questions from the fans."
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There's the chapter. Hope you liked it :)
Please VOTE and COMMENT my lil' Gummy Worms, ilyssm
~ Amanda xx
--Gif above is of Liz
--Video on the side is of Brave (again, all credit goes to the makers/producers of that music video)
--External link is their outfits for the interview