Status: Contest Entry! Let me know what you think!
Rose Garden
Another name goes up in lighs, like diamonds in the sky...
The lights of the studio were much too bright. Andrea squinted against them and turned in her seat to keep her baby blue’s from hurting. She could see Taylor standing off to the side with Michael. It was nice that they were still together, especially after everything that had happened between herself and… him.
“And we’re live in 5…4…3…,” the cameraman motioned the last two numbers with his fingers.
“If you’re just tuning in with us here on InTune, I’m here with the newest singing sensation, Andrea Darling. Now,” the smiley host turned to her. “before the break, we talked about your childhood and where your love of music came from. You said that your twin sister had a huge part in it and yet, almost no one knows you aren’t the only girl in the Darling family.”
Andrea sighs. She knew a question like this would come up. “Ash and I, we were twins.”
“Were?”
“Yeah, were,” now or never, right? “When we were about 13, she and I were diagnosed with rare forms of leukemia. Together, we fought the disease for over a year. At the 14 month mark, I was deemed ‘cancer free’. Ashley kept fighting for another half year before… before passing away.”
“I’m so sorry,” the host placed a hand lightly on her knee, as though that would help with the pain of watching your twin die to a disease that could have so easily claimed your own life. “She was musical?”
Andrea couldn't help but snort. “No, Ash could barely carry a tune. But she liked listening.”
“You were a YouTube sensation while in college over in Switzerland with your manager and best friend,” the obviously fake red-head continued. “You’ve got a fan-base you call the ‘darlings’. I think it’s safe to say that you’re quite famous.”
“I guess we could say that,” Andrea agrees, fidgeting in her seat. The studio in downtown Manhattan was much too warm for the spring day.
“You were known to do covers of popular songs, as well as your own music. One of the artists you’ve said you look up to is Taylor Swift, a female known for putting her real life experiences into her music. Did you follow suit for your first album?”
Did she want to go there? Andrea glanced to Taylor. Not only was the petite brunet her best friend, but she was also her manager. (It had taken Andrea quite a while to convince her agent of the benefits of keeping Taylor on. Michael had an arm around his girlfriend’s shoulders, who nodded fervently.
Well then. If Taylor said something was okay, then it certainly had to be. She was often the voice of reason in Andrea’s life.
“I was in love with an amazing guy,” Andrea blurted out before she could really stop herself. “And that’s really what Rosie is about. The album title describes how he made everything for me- happy and content-, rose colored, you could say. We met in a garden actually…,”
*~*~*~*~*~*
He had tried to miss the interview, he really had. In fact, he had willingly rearranged his game-day routines just to ensure that he was nowhere near a television when the interview would be playing.
His teammates, a few of whom had wives, girlfriends, daughters, or even themselves that were fans, had said in passing the time of the interview and the station it would be played on. In actuality, they wanted him to see it. They could remember how happy Andrea had made him and how broken up he had been- still was- over her. Sure, there break-up had been ‘mutual’, but neither was happy.
Hesitantly, he picked up the remote. Marchy was sound asleep in the bed across the room, completing another step in his game-day routine, so maybe he could keep the t.v. low and still manage to see the interview.
Pressing the power button, his finger paused over the first digit in the channel number. Did he really want to risk losing his shit over her again? Did he want to risk throwing his game off even more than it already would be thanks to his ‘new’ schedule?
He closed his eyes for a moment. Instead of a mind-clearing thought, he got a big eyeful of her.
Andrea was beautiful, he had always said. After cancer, losing her sister, and a bad relationship that had all but turned her off the idea of love, she’d struggled with an eating disorder, making her tall frame willowy. When he’d met her, she’d been without the twisted disease that had plagued her for so long for nearly 3 years, but was still almost too skinny, in his opinion.
But then there was her long hair. She kept it grown out for her sister, making the tips of the dark strands reach the small of her back. And her eyes were dark, liquid chocolate. Both stood out against her pale skin that always seemed cold.
And her voice. What could he say about her voice? She could go from singing a funny impersonation of an annoying professor from school to belting out Adele perfectly in seconds.
Without warning, he clicked the two numbers, only to see her face smiling at him through the screen. She was just as beautiful as he remembered.
“I was in love with an amazing guy,” Andrea said to the host, nearly making Tyler fall over. “And that’s really what Rosie is about. The album title describes how he made everything for me- happy and content-, rose colored, you could say. We met in a garden actually…,”
And with that, he turned off the television and flopped backwards onto the plush, hotel bed. She, Andrea Louise Darling, was talking about him, Tyler Paul Seguin on national television.
“And we’re live in 5…4…3…,” the cameraman motioned the last two numbers with his fingers.
“If you’re just tuning in with us here on InTune, I’m here with the newest singing sensation, Andrea Darling. Now,” the smiley host turned to her. “before the break, we talked about your childhood and where your love of music came from. You said that your twin sister had a huge part in it and yet, almost no one knows you aren’t the only girl in the Darling family.”
Andrea sighs. She knew a question like this would come up. “Ash and I, we were twins.”
“Were?”
“Yeah, were,” now or never, right? “When we were about 13, she and I were diagnosed with rare forms of leukemia. Together, we fought the disease for over a year. At the 14 month mark, I was deemed ‘cancer free’. Ashley kept fighting for another half year before… before passing away.”
“I’m so sorry,” the host placed a hand lightly on her knee, as though that would help with the pain of watching your twin die to a disease that could have so easily claimed your own life. “She was musical?”
Andrea couldn't help but snort. “No, Ash could barely carry a tune. But she liked listening.”
“You were a YouTube sensation while in college over in Switzerland with your manager and best friend,” the obviously fake red-head continued. “You’ve got a fan-base you call the ‘darlings’. I think it’s safe to say that you’re quite famous.”
“I guess we could say that,” Andrea agrees, fidgeting in her seat. The studio in downtown Manhattan was much too warm for the spring day.
“You were known to do covers of popular songs, as well as your own music. One of the artists you’ve said you look up to is Taylor Swift, a female known for putting her real life experiences into her music. Did you follow suit for your first album?”
Did she want to go there? Andrea glanced to Taylor. Not only was the petite brunet her best friend, but she was also her manager. (It had taken Andrea quite a while to convince her agent of the benefits of keeping Taylor on. Michael had an arm around his girlfriend’s shoulders, who nodded fervently.
Well then. If Taylor said something was okay, then it certainly had to be. She was often the voice of reason in Andrea’s life.
“I was in love with an amazing guy,” Andrea blurted out before she could really stop herself. “And that’s really what Rosie is about. The album title describes how he made everything for me- happy and content-, rose colored, you could say. We met in a garden actually…,”
*~*~*~*~*~*
He had tried to miss the interview, he really had. In fact, he had willingly rearranged his game-day routines just to ensure that he was nowhere near a television when the interview would be playing.
His teammates, a few of whom had wives, girlfriends, daughters, or even themselves that were fans, had said in passing the time of the interview and the station it would be played on. In actuality, they wanted him to see it. They could remember how happy Andrea had made him and how broken up he had been- still was- over her. Sure, there break-up had been ‘mutual’, but neither was happy.
Hesitantly, he picked up the remote. Marchy was sound asleep in the bed across the room, completing another step in his game-day routine, so maybe he could keep the t.v. low and still manage to see the interview.
Pressing the power button, his finger paused over the first digit in the channel number. Did he really want to risk losing his shit over her again? Did he want to risk throwing his game off even more than it already would be thanks to his ‘new’ schedule?
He closed his eyes for a moment. Instead of a mind-clearing thought, he got a big eyeful of her.
Andrea was beautiful, he had always said. After cancer, losing her sister, and a bad relationship that had all but turned her off the idea of love, she’d struggled with an eating disorder, making her tall frame willowy. When he’d met her, she’d been without the twisted disease that had plagued her for so long for nearly 3 years, but was still almost too skinny, in his opinion.
But then there was her long hair. She kept it grown out for her sister, making the tips of the dark strands reach the small of her back. And her eyes were dark, liquid chocolate. Both stood out against her pale skin that always seemed cold.
And her voice. What could he say about her voice? She could go from singing a funny impersonation of an annoying professor from school to belting out Adele perfectly in seconds.
Without warning, he clicked the two numbers, only to see her face smiling at him through the screen. She was just as beautiful as he remembered.
“I was in love with an amazing guy,” Andrea said to the host, nearly making Tyler fall over. “And that’s really what Rosie is about. The album title describes how he made everything for me- happy and content-, rose colored, you could say. We met in a garden actually…,”
And with that, he turned off the television and flopped backwards onto the plush, hotel bed. She, Andrea Louise Darling, was talking about him, Tyler Paul Seguin on national television.
♠ ♠ ♠
So this is a contest entry that I really want to hear your thoughts on! I have a ton of it written; I got the bug tonight and only have a chapter or two left to write out. I think it shoud be about 7 or 8 updates long. I'm going to space them out over a few weeks, I think. Let me know what's on your minds, lovelies!