The Star Project

Chapter 2: The Beginning

The man is scary; he has short, messy black hair, a scar across his left eye, and dark, glinting eyes. His lackey is huge (as in fat), and I figure he's the muscle when this boss guy needs to 'teach someone a lesson'.

Gustavo looks scared, which completely shocks me; I didn't think the man had any other bone in his body besides angry. "Not yet," Gustavo says in an almost whiny voice, and again I think how out of character this is for him. This guy must be seriously mafia or something. "But—" He stops when he notices the man is staring at me, not even paying attention to him.

I'm so grossed out. He's practically undressing me with his eyes, smirking. "And who is this lovely flower?" A chill runs down my spine, he is so creepy. "Keagan Rocque." Wait—how does he no my name? No one knows I'm Gustavo's daughter! He is obviously keeping serious tabs on Gustavo's every move.

"She has nothing to do with this!" Gustavo says, his face red. Wow, actually sticking up for me. Another complete shock.

"You will get me my money." Now he's in Gustavo's face.

"I need more time, I don't even have a star right now—"

Creepy gang guy blatantly ignores him. "I'll be back in a few weeks. Brutus," he nods to his sidekick.

"Shall we take this inside?" the sidekick says, not really a question but a demand. I gulp. No way am I going in there if he does. Gustavo can fend for himself, I am out of here. Kelly's out here too, and I can tell she's with me on this.

Gustavo is thoroughly scared, and the man calls Brutus—such a typical name for a hulking gang sidekick—off. "Give them a few weeks. This is the only time I will show mercy," he says, and spits on the ground before walking off. Brutus follows close behind.

"Exactly what kind of trouble did you get yourself into?" I breathe.

Kelly speaks for him; he's probably still too scared. "You see why he has to hand Rocque Records over? They won't go after you if you take over, so both you and the company can stay safe. And on top of that, Griffin is getting on him for not having a new star yet."

"I need to think," I say. "But no way do I want to get tangled up in all this."

I walk away down the sidewalk, wondering what on earth my own father is dragging me into, then coming up with a plan. I don't have to go back home to Mom either. I can get a place here in L.A. and stay away from her and Gustavo and everybody.

As I'm walking I hear that same Smokey Robinson song, the most distinctive voice I've ever heard. I really don't want to deal with that guy's attitude but he really is talented and suddenly I make a snap decision. If Rocque Records was mine I could manage and produce whoever I wanted; if I came to Gustavo now begging him to give this guy a chance, I'd get an angry resounding no, I knew. And suddenly I don't care about the rest, I just act on an impulse.

I see them and I walk up to them. "You," I say, stopping right in front of the loud singer. "James Diamond. Why exactly were you at Rocque Records earlier?"

He looks confused, but only for a moment. "It's my dream to be a star. We heard Gustavo Rocque was going to come to Minnesota and hold auditions, but then didn't at the last minute. So I had to come to L.A., I knew if he heard me he'd—"

"Yeah, okay, I've heard enough." They're all over confident like him. He is one of the few that has good reason to be, but I don't tell him that.

"Because Gustavo Rocque has such big hits," the blonde one says, making fun of James. "'Girl, Girl, Girl'? A masterpiece." I force myself not to laugh. This guy has a great personality. The James guy has the talent, but his personality sucks. Maybe they're all a band.

"Hmmm... We'd have to change your name. 'Diamond' is sexy, but James? Pretty boring, don't you think?"

"Hey!" I've wounded his ego. I ignore him and whirl on my heel to face the other three.

"You three. You sing too?"

"Oh no," the short brunette says, "we're just moral support."

I turn to the blonde one with the amazing eyes and personality. I can't be letting things like that cloud my personal judgment at the moment, but I'm confident I know what to look for in a star, and he's got it. "You."

"Kendall," he corrects me, his green eyes laughing at me, which makes me mad but I choose to ignore it.

"Okay, Kendall. Sing."

"Excuse me?"

"Sing, go on."

He raises his thick eyebrows (very thick, but somehow they add a sexy quality), and his eyes are still mocking me. There's a bench behind us on the sidewalk, and he jumps up on it and sings, "Girl! Girl! Girl!" (one of Gustavo's more famous—but horrific lyrically, in my opinion—songs) in a purposely terrible voice.

"Very funny." He's not even worth any more time if he's just going to make fun of me. I turn to the cute Hispanic with the helmet and the other brunette. "You two?"

"I can beat box," the brunette offers. I sigh.

"All of you, sing a harmony," I order.

"Hey," James says, stepping in front of me. "This is my dream. What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing," I say. "You're great." His face lights up, and that seductive smile is back. "I just assumed you were a band. But all of you have the looks and makings of stars. Yeah, it'll take a lot of work, I mean, look at your clothes, but..." I can't think of what else to say. "So. That harmony."

Kendall jumps off the bench to join the other three and they all just look at each other.

"Unless you don't want to take me seriously," I continue. "Then, of course, you can kiss all dreams of a record label and becoming superstars goodbye."

James rolls his eyes, and I think bad move. "And who exactly are you to boss us around like this and give us all this crap?"

I smile widely at them all, knowing I'm about to show them up. "I'm Keagan Rocque, head of Rocque Records."