Glitch

“Mommy once told me that sometimes, it's nice to feel pretty, it's nice to feel smart, and talented, and amazing. Other times, it's best to be humble, because someone else deserves a short moment in the sun, just as much as you do... I'm not quite sure what that means, but it sounds so pretty the way she says it.” - Mykynli Anastasia Elizabeth Adams, Age 8

“Kimi, how old do ya have to be to be in love?” my eight year old self asked, as I sat across from eight year old Kimi in my and my sister's bedroom. She had taken over my sister's bed after Pippa had moved into her new “big girl” bedroom with a new double bed.

“Old. Plenty old, like my mom! Probably around thirty-one, like mom! Wait, maybe a little younger, thirty-one is ancient, after all!” She said brightly, laughing out loud, “I'm kidding, I'm kidding, but let's be serious here, why do ya want to know about love? You're barely outta grade 2!”

I shrugged and hugged onto my teddy bear. “Well, there's this big boy in my dance class.” I mumbled, “And Kimi, he's amazing! I think I'm going to marry him!”

Kimi jumped back in shock, her black hair falling in her face. “Really Laney? Are you sure you're going to marry him so soon? How old is he?”

I giggled and fell backwards, nearly hitting my head on the wall on the way down. “Well... Let's just say I can't count his age on my fingers!” I squealed.

“What!” she cried, jumping from her bed to mine. “How old? Seventeen? Eighteen? Nineteen? Oh dear gosh, Laney don't tell me he's twenty! Twenty is like, a million more than eight!”

“That's a bit exaggerated. He's only twelve Kimi, that's not so old, right? I mean, he's still a big boy, but he's not a total growned up.” I explained.

“That's still plenty older than you Laney.” Kimi explained, laying down next to me.

“Am I pretty Kimi? Boys like pretty girls, if I'm pretty, maybe he likes me too.” I said quietly as I vacantly stared into the ceiling fan.

Kimi looked over at me, and said, “Of course Laney. You're beautiful! You've got pretty red hair, and pretty green eyes, and you're lovely, like a little princess, with everything you do.”

“No I'm not... Kimi, how do I make someone fall in love?” I asked weakly.

“You can't... That's what Mom always says. She said she didn't make Daddy fall in love with her, she simply charmed him with what she was good at. And with Mom, that was being smart and being independent, just like Daddy.” Kimi explained. She took my hand and squeezed it tight. “There's lots of things that you're good at that could make the big boy fall for you. You're good at dancing, and you play the guitar just as good like Taylor Swift!”

“You think? I really do like playin' the guitar with Dad... It's so much fun, and he says I'm good, he says I'm great!” I sat up, feeling a little more confident with myself.

Kimi smiled and sat up with me. “We're going to be famous one day Laney, I promise. We're going to be fabulous and rich, and everything he dreams of in a girl! And beautiful! We're going to be beautiful, inside and out, just like Ms. Mickie's Mom says we are. We're going to stay that way! I trust me Laney! Everything will turn out the way I said it will! Sooner or later.”

I smiled even brighter, and suggested that we go make some milkshakes to celebrate Kimi's promise, a promise tradition of ours. I regretted this, for one reason.

Pippa was almost twelve years old at the time. She gotten interested in boys very early, and was often allowed to have them over to visit, as long as they weren't home alone, a rule that had lasted until she moved out last year.

That particular day, Mom and Dad must have just slipped out of the living room for a few minutes, because Pippa and a boy were sitting by themselves, on the couch, watching a movie. His arm was awkwardly wrapped around her, a typical twelve year old thing. He was turned away, and sitting on the far side, so I couldn't make out who it was. I pulled Kimi behind the other couch, and we peaked out behind it, watching the two like a hawk.

And that's when it happened. Pippa turned to him, nuzzled against his chest and titled her head towards him. He turned back to her, and they kissed...

Once their eyes opened again, our cover was blown. “Laney Taylor! If you don't get your hiney out of here in the next few seconds I'll--”

Pippa was cut off by her “boyfriend,” “Leave her alone Pip, she's just a kid.”

Tears started to fill my eyes when I heard that voice. It was none other the love of my life, for three months before that day, and nine years after. Kevin McMurray.

I ran off and started crying harder once I reached the kitchen.

“Laney! Laney, come back! Please Laney, it's going to be okay, it's just Pippa being Pippa!” Kimi cried, chasing after me.

I shook my head and let my body drop to the floor. “It's him. That's him...” I choked out through tears.

The relationship between Pippa and Kevin hadn't lasted longer than two weeks, but she still took pride in saying that her first kiss was the most desired boy in all the school. I took pride in knowing the fact that he was also mine.

It was the day we started a band, to be exact. We were sitting out on the stage, when I was 12 years old. Though we hadn't officially become a band until we were 14, we had constantly considered the idea of starting one. At that time, we had just started practicing together.

"So, are you going to go anywhere with music?" Kevin asked, sitting dangerously close to me. Well, danger by my mom's standards.

"I'm not really sure. I'd like to!" I replied brightly.

"You should! I bet you'd be great. Amazing even." he said in his happy, voice. At that time, his voice had just dropped, and every word he said was more beautiful and mature than ever before. He could have called me an idiot and I still would have melted like a scoop of ice cream on the first of August. That being said, he didn't call me an idiot, he called me amazing, and there was nothing that made me more excited than that.

I nervously batted my eyes and squeezed my hands together tightly. “You really think so?”

“Of course I do. Laney, you're so much better at everything you do than you think you are. Pippa's right. You're too hard on yourself.”

In my head, I spat, Pippa's half the reason for that, but I kept it from escaping my lips. “Thanks.”

I don't know what came over me, but something about that moment made me want to leave forward, catch his cheek with my hand, and press just the faintest, most innocent kiss on his lips. Really, I'd probably missed, but still, in my twelve year old mind, sparks were flying and fireworks shot up in the air around us.

I pulled back even more quickly than I had moved in, my cheeks glowing bright red, only made brighter by my pale “ginger skin” and now blonde hair. “Kev-Kevin, I, um..”

“I- um,” he stammered, pushing himself away slightly.

My heart broke a little when he did, but I don't think I showed it. I didn't want to make the situation even more awkward than I already had. “I don't know what came over me right there. I'm sorry.”

He shook his head, causing his bangs to block his eyes. “It's okay Laina. I'd better go, before the guys get here to pick me up for basketball. I'll see you later though, kay?”

I nodded as he stood up to leave. “Alright, see ya Kevin.”

I swore to myself that I'd follow through on the dream he'd given me of becoming a guitarist. I don't know why, but I figured that if I became famous, and lived to up the expectations he had of me, then maybe, just maybe, he'd fall in love with me, and wouldn't try to awkwardly scurry away from me the next time that we kissed.

I kept this thought fresh in my mind when we entered the studio where we had been set to meet with Next Generation.

I have to admit, I was very, very tired. We'd been woken up at a quarter to six that morning, and had been shoved into two vehicles, since we all couldn't fit in one. The six girls had piled into the Chancey's minivan, blasted the music, and enjoyed ourselves as much as we could during the four hours we were trapped in the car on the way to Toronto.

Kei and Ethan, on the other hand, had taken Ethan's rented sports car and drove on their own. A smart choice, we were kind of hard to drive with.

“So, who's excited?” Angie, who was in the driver's seat, asked. She looked over at Margret, who sat in the passenger's seat.

“Who's not excited would be a better question.” Margret squealed. She bawled her hands into fist, shimmied her shoulders, and wiggled her feet as she curled into a ball, like a child who'd just found out they were going to Disney World. Actually, maybe even more excited than that child.

Everyone was silent.

“My thought's exactly!” Margret said with the joy of being right, “Kimi's probably having an aneurysm here with excitement. Going to meet her future husband and all.”

I laughed as Kimi smiled a nervous smile. “She's just a little excited. The girl was screaming her head off when she came to wake me up this morning. Remind me never to sleep over at Kimi's house on a day we're meeting the celebrity of her obsession.”

“He's not an obsession!” Kimi cried defensively, dropping her iPod in the process.

“Yeah,” Mickie cut in with her teasing voice, “he's her future husband!”

“Exactly!” Kimi cheered with a joyful enthusiasm.

Eric would probably not become Kimi's future husband, I decided not to say something to stomp her dreams. After all, she wouldn't do that with my dream of having Kevin love me, that being said, my dream about Kevin was far more realistic than her dream about Eric.

“Kimi, hun, you're crazy, you know that?” Mickie said laughing. That was far from the first time Mickie had told Kimi she was crazy, and it'd be even farther from the last time. Why? Well, because that last time has yet to come.

Kimi shrugged and giggled like a school girl as she hugged her Fan Girl's Guide to Next Generation. “If being in love makes me crazy, than heck! Throw me in an asylum!”

Kimi normally wasn't one for young childish obsessions like that. She normally thought it was stupid to obsess over someone you'd never be of the same social status as, and therefore would never meet. Normally though, she wasn't on her way to audition to be his opening act. Normally, she wouldn't be disguising with a holographic alter ego. Normally, she wouldn't be working on a record. There was nothing normal about our situation, why should she be expected to behave normal as well?

A wily smile crossed Margret's face. “If we threw Kimi in an asylum, we'd have to throw Laney right in there with her!”

I turned my attention from Kimi to Margret so quickly, it's a full out miracle that I didn't suffer from whiplash. “Wait, what? Why me?”

She pulled herself around and peered over the seat to look at the four of us in the back. “Should we tell her?”

Willow shrugged. “She's going to have to know sooner or later.”

Kimi nodded. “Yeah, before it happens again, it's best that we tell her.”

Mickie agreed. “Kimi's right! What if it happened when you know who was around?”

“Wait, hold on!” I cried, feeling totally lost, “Who, what? Guys! Just tell me!”

“Fine!” Margret said with an exasperated sigh, “we'll tell you! Jeez woman, don't lose it.”

I crossed my arms and rolled my eyes. I was no where near losing it.

“Sorry to tell you Laney, but you tend to talk a little bit in your sleep.” she mumbled, hiding behind her sleep almost as if I were going to hit her.

“I do not!” I snapped, “Do I?”

Nervously, Mickie mumbled. “Really badly.”

“Since when?” I asked, since no one had ever mentioned it to me before.”

“Since just lately I guess,” Kimi said. She lazily shrugged her shoulders and gave me a look that said “Well what can you do?”

“We've never noticed it before,” Angie added, “and we've been having sleepovers together since we were seven years old. Must have just started lately.”

Now it was time to ask the question that was burning on my tongue, even though I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer. “What was I saying?”

“Oh Kevin,” Kimi cooed in a fake dramatic lovey-dovey voice that made my stomach do a dozen back flips in the few seconds it took her to speak, “you dance just divinely!”

“Oh gosh... Seriously?” I asked. Inside my head, I prayed and prayed and prayed some more that they'd admit Kimi was only joking, and I only mumbled a few, unrecognizable words.

“Seriously. And that's not all you said, but I'm not going to tell what else,” Kimi said as she plugged in a headphone, “If we did, you wouldn't let us hook you two up.”

I shrugged and sat back in my seat, arms still crossed tightly across my chest. About five minutes had come and gone in silence before I had realized what Kimi had said. “Wait!”

“What?” they all replied back in giggles.

“What do you mean by 'you wouldn't let us hook you two up?'” I asked, probably almost to the point of shouting.

Their giggles got louder and turned into full out laughter.

“You're so lucky to have great friends like us Lane,” Margret cheered, “because we're going to get you the boy you've been dreaming of for years!”

I felt my jaw drop and my body go weak. When my friend's decided to do something, they went through with it one hundred perfect. “Again, please tell me your joking! Guys, he's got a girlfriend!”

This fact didn't seem to bother them any, since they laughed some more, and Mickie said, “You've spent ten years dreaming about this boy. Most childhood crushes are far done by now. Yours isn't, that means it's love, and if it's love, that we definitely need to do something about this, or you'll never be truly happy!”

I wanted to scream, but I'm not sure why. Partially, because of the frustration my pushy friends gave me, and maybe a larger part than the former, because I had people that actually wanted to see me so happy. “Mickie, we can't just break them up!”

She shrugged and snuggled back into her seat in the back. “We'll deal with this later Laney, I need a nap if I'm going to be performing in an hour. Night girls.”

It was twenty to eleven, so nobody replied with the phrase 'good night' or anything close. We all nodded, and everyone but Angie seemed to drift off into sleep.

I dreamed the most beautiful dream during that hour we had to sleep. Me on stage, at an award show with the girls. We were accepting an award of some sort, shaped like a treble clef and coated in the brightest gold I'd ever seen. Dad sat front row, and our eyes met for the longest time. They were still the bright green I remember them as, still full of life, as if he were truly standing in front of me.

The next thing I knew, I was standing in the middle of a huge party, which I'm only assuming was the after party for the award show. Kimi nudged me and pointed to Kevin standing on the far end of the huge room. She smiled and winked before pushing me in his direction. I ran up and gave him the biggest hug I could. “Thank you! Because of you, I made it all the way here!”

He stared down at me in confusion. “Daisy? Daisy Weldon from Glitch, right?” he asked, as if he'd never laid eyes on me before, “um, I think you've mixed me up with someone else. We've never met before.”

I stared vacantly at him, feeling a weak form of shock. “What do you mean? It's me! Laney Taylor? We grew up together, my mom teaches our dance class? Don't you remember?” I asked pleadingly.

“I'm sorry, I'm not sure who you're talking about. It was, um, nice meeting you Daisy.” he mumbled and turned to walk away. About twenty feet away from him stood Aria, batting her flirtatious brown eyes at him.

I just remember standing there for the longest time, wondering to myself if that could really happen. If Kevin could ever completely forget about me. Halfway through gathering my thoughts, I heard a voice in the distance call;

“Lane? Laney! Wake up! We're here!”

I groggily opened my eyes to see Angie hovering over me, gently poking my cheek until I woke up. With the strength and accuracy of a new born kitten, I swapped her hand away and turned over on my side. “What time is it?” I moaned.

She stood to my left, outside the van. I hadn't even heard her slide the door open. With one hand, she unbuckled my seat belt, and with the other, reached into her bag and produced a small blue object... And pressed it to my forehead.

“Oh jeez!” I shouted, jumping out of my seat, “Angie that's friggin' cold!”

She pulled it away and showed me the label. Ice pack. Who carries an ice pack in their purse?

“Sorry, but I've been trying for ten minutes to wake you up.” she said with a shrug so casual, it was almost as if she missed my freak out just seconds before. “You sure are a heavy sleeper Laney-bear.”

“I didn't talk again in my sleep, did I?” I asked nervously as I climbed out of the van.

“Not this time.” She said, and began rambling on about something else I was only half paying attention to.

While she spoke, I began to repeatedly slap and shakes my legs until they woke up.

“Girls!” I heard Ethan cry from the far end of the parking lot, “Over here!”

I slammed the door shut and Angie hit the auto lock. With her saucy smile pressed on her lips, she threw the keys at their rightful owner, Margret.

Margret had barely caught them, but at least they hadn't hit her face. “Was that necessary?”

“Yes! It amused me for for a whole five seconds,” she said with a laugh, “that's a long time when you've got an attention span like mine.”

Margret shook her head. “I let this woman drive me all the way to Toronto in my parent's van? Am I stupid or what?”

“You're stupid!” Angie said laughing, “Now let's go, Ethan and Kei won't wait forever.”

Once the grogginess caused by sleeping in a car for an hour wore off, which only took a few minutes with the excitement building up, we ran across the parking lot, cheering a bit too loudly for Ethan's liking.

“Girls! Shut up! This is a business, not a concert! Keep it down!” He snapped as we grew closer.

“Sorry uncle Ethan, but this is kind of a big deal for us!” Kimi squeaked with joy. She wrapped her arms in a tight hug around her uncle and said, “Thanks so much for all of this.”

He forced a smiled and hugged her back awkwardly, as if affection of that kind was completely foreign to him. Actually, it probably was. I always saw Ethan as a very business minded man, who's relationships were as short as his temper, and had little to no experience with anything that somewhat resembled love, of any kind. I know for a fact, his parents were the same way, and the rest of his family, his elder sister being the only exception.

“Might as well go in.” Ethan said as he pushed Kimi away. “Through the back exit though, we can't have six girls going in, and six different girls coming out.”

His voice was hushed, and he seemed to be keeping an eye out for other people that just might be spying on us. He lead us to the back of the sky scraping tower, and to a small door, which may have been almost unnoticeable to most. It was hidden among the large stone bricks that made up the rest of the tower. From his pocket, he pulled a little house key that hit into a small lock hidden behind a plague stating the year the tower was built.

We'd been instructed to keep quiet until we were told otherwise. Through the door, he lead us down a flight of stairs and into a large parking garage.

“When we, as in Rising Sun, built this building, we had full intentions to have two entire stories of recording studios, practice rooms, and workshop rooms. To keep people from merely signing up for workshops and renting out studios because a favourite star might be here, we build a series of secret passages, disguised loading docks, and even a private elevator for people who might just be swarmed. You're never going to see a celebrity here unless you're arranged to meet with them. It's within the best interest of our clients, really.” he explained. “That elevator there goes straight to the first recording studios on the tenth floor. You'll be in one room, while Glitch will be in the other, meeting Next Generation.”

I heard Kimi sigh dreamily as we walked towards the elevator. “Eric, my love, we'll be united soon.”

I don't think she really caught on to the problem here. “But Ethan, Kei, how are we going to know what to do when the band starts talking to us? What if they try to touch us and realize--”

I stopped until we entered the elevator.

“What if they realize we aren't, ya know, real? Well, I mean they, as in Glitch, as in--”

“Laney!” Kei cut in, covering my mouth with his hand, “Cut it, we get it. Don't worry. You six will actually be in the studio, behind the glass performing. If they do want to see you again, you'll be up on stage with special effects, we can claim it to be too complicated for the band to come up on the stage with you.”

I nodded and crossed my arms. It was so surreal, yet, at the same time, it was so real, so natural, something that we all deep down almost knew was going to happen for almost a decade.

Ethan's assistant, Jennifer, according to her name tag, was waiting for us at the top of the elevator.

Like Abbey, she was a very pretty young woman, dressed in a black high waisted skirt and a button up blouse that still had two buttons near the top left open. Nothing provocative or unprofessional, but still enough to catch one's eyes. I was starting to get an idea of Ethan's personal life simply based on the woman he chose to surround himself with.

“Hello Mr. Cove. How has your vacation been going?” she asked in her sweet, high voice, “I do hope it's been well.”

Ethan nodded and smiled like the playboy I assumed he was. “It's been great Jennifer. It's nice to be back in Ontario for a few weeks, out of that California heat.”

I knew he was only being social when he said this. On more than one occasion had I heard Ethan complain about the cool mornings, despite our weather in the mornings and late evenings being very similar, almost the same really. I'd been to LA a few Junes before, and really, I found that only the scenery was different.

“Oh wonderfully sir! I do hope once this is all over you'll have some more time to enjoy it.” Jennifer said brightly.

He nodded and tried to push the conversation along. “Ms. Anders, I assume you've read the emails regarding the situation with my niece and her friends?”

Jennifer smiled and tapped her clipboard. “Printed them all off myself and deleted them immediately afterwords, to ensure that they won't be read by the wrong person. I do hope this was as you wished.”

“Perfect! Has the bang arrived yet?” Ethan asked, possibly taking note that the two nearest recording studios were vacant.

“Not yet,” Jennifer admitted, “I was speaking to their manager though, he said the band was late leaving, and were caught in a traffic jam just outside the city for a few hours. They should be here by one o'clock.”

“Great, that'll give us some time to set up. Is there anywhere the girls can change?” Ethan asked as Jennifer hadn't him the clipboard filled with notes on... something or other. I couldn't read them from where I was standing, the font was too small and the printer was probably running low on toner, because it was a faded gray instead of black.

Again, Jennifer nodded. “Yes, right this way. I've also arranged for long dress coats to be brought up to cover the body suits while walking from the changing room, to prevent any suspicion from anyone who do not need to be involved.”

“Thank you Jen, I mean, Miss Anders. Do you think you could show the girls where to go? I'll help Kei here set up his equipment.” Ethan suggested.

Jennifer nodded, her cheeks glowing a bright fuchsia colour. “Of course Mr. Cove. I'll get right on that! Come along ladies!”

Once Ethan was out of earshot, Margret and Angie began to interrogate the young woman just like they would if she were one of us.

“So, Miss Anders, or do you prefer Jen, can I call you Jen? Unless of course that's the nickname Mr. Ethan reserved for you.” Angie asked coyly.

Again, the blood rushed to Jennifer's cheeks. “If you must, Jennifer please,” she gingerly ran a hand across her flushed cheeks to see if they were as warm as she though, “and I must say, there is nothing between Mr. Cove and I. I am merely his personal assistant, and he is merely my employer, nothing more.”

“That's not what it looked like!” Margret added. I noticed she was now skipping backwards in front of Jennifer instead of walking forward like a normal person.

“Looks can be deceiving.” Jennifer said, her voice trailing off until the last syllable was barely loud enough to almost hear. There was a sort of sadness in her face, and it even made my spirits fade slightly. “This is the dressing room here,” she said, pointing to a brown door next to us, “I'll wait out here, and please do be quick, just in case the band arrives earlier than we expect them.”

I quickly ran in and slipped into the tight fitted black bodysuit. It was ugly and highlighted my lack of curves, and I hated the way I looked with a passion, but I guess that's what one has to suffer through to become famous. I quickly left the room after pulling the long coat over me and buttoning it up to the top.

Once we were all ready, Jennifer lead us back to one of the sound booths, where she had us stand.

She was serious when she went to talk to us again, after locking the door to the soundproof room. “Kei will be in in just a moment, ladies. Please be professional about this, you're entire career may be relying on this one interview and performance.”