Walk by Faith

"I can't do this Kar. This doesn't feel right." Paisley had spent the last hour psyching herself out, this wasn't right. Someone else should be performing, not her.

In her mind Paisley wasn't worthy of playing the Ellen, only bigger stars like Paramore, Taylor Swift, Selena, and One Direction . "Pais, you need to calm down and just breathe. You have paid your dues; Ellen wouldn't have asked you to play her show if she didn't think you were worthy enough. Calm your tits."

Paisley furrowed her eyebrows Karmyn's way and shook her head. She was too nervous to scold her for her choice of words. A knock on the door echoed through the dressing room, "come in". The door opened without hesitation. "Miss. Morgan you have fifteen, we need you dressed in 5 so we can get you warmed up and a quick run through."

Paisley smiled and nodded her head. The door closed and she turned to Karmyn with wide eyes. "Well you heard the guy, get dressed. I have you outfit laid out in the bathroom." Paisley nodded and chuckled, "What would I do without you?"

A grin played on Karmyn's lips and what came next didn't help her out very much. "Spiral down into a deep dark hole of unknown and abyss." She really knew how to pep talk.

Paisley slipped into the bathroom to find a teal tunic, skinny jeans, and a black pair of gold buckle shoes. Scattered on the counter were rings upon rings for Paisley to choose from. That had become Paisley’s thing; she just absolutely adored rings and the different shapes and sizes they came in.

Quickly getting dressed she gave her self a double over in the long lengthen mirror before she walked out. “Perfect, they need you now.” The same guy who had knocked on the door took a hold of her hand and pulled her out the door, Karmyn in tow.

Walking down the long corridor Paisley did the best to clear her mind; she removed the chatter of her Aunt/Manager and publicist Shelley going back and forth between each other. The little beeps of Karmyn’s phone as she texted her boyfriend back and forth. Then there was everyone else that raced past them doing the best that they could to keep the show in tiptop shape.

What had pulled her out of her own little world was not what she expected. Paisley stopped in her tracks as her eyes shot to the screen to the curly headed boy sitting with Ellen.

“There’s not much to think about it. I think everyone over looks my choices. Sure there are some things that I could bring down a little bit but in the end of the day my choices are my own choices and they shouldn’t be compared to a pop princess. She’s only been around for a little over a year or two. I give it another year and she won’t be the innocent little girl everyone is making her out to be. For example Taylor Swift.”

Her heart raced. Never in her life had she felt so humiliated. Paisley was no pop princess, he wanted a pop princess then T-Swift is your girl, but no not Paisley Anne Morgan. She truly couldn’t believe her ears but then she couldn’t believe herself.

As he said those words she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pain for the young man who had just, in some ways, used honest words to put her down. As he spoke his eyes were glazed and you could tell how tired he was… of the media, of the drama, of being compared to her.

“Pais, sweetheart we really need to get a move on.” She had been pulled out of her trance as Karmyn grabbed her hand and her Aunt led her along to get the show on the road.

There was still so much going on for the rest of the day. She had this performance, a pit stop at a local radio station, and then the Little Mix release party for their new album. Then once again she would be back on the road, a flight to Europe where the remainder of her tour would be.



”Alright everyone! It’s the performance that you have all been waiting for, boys if you would do the honors introducing our guest performer.” One Direction and Ellen were now all huddled over by the performance stage.

“Hey, we’re One Direction!” The boys all voiced, “And we’re excited introduce to you country star Paisley Morgan and her cover of Ferras Hollywood’s not America .” Niall finished.

Paisley’s heart pounded in her chest, she could feel the rush and the adrenaline pulsing through her body. The background music kicked in and she strummed on her guitar. Out of all the songs she could have sung she chose this one for many reasons.

”Born Helena Jane, with a restless soul. She moved west to California became a centerfold. But once you change your name well the pieces fall. Now she hardly recognizes herself at all. And there's never any rain, when you want it, a hollow little game, and you've won it. Looking for a thrill, but you’ve done it all.”

Once the chorused kicked in Paisley lost her self to the music. It was the claps and the screams that brought her out of her trance and at the moment she had successfully fulfilled her duty as the guest performer. She had been oblivious to the green eyed boy who by chance might have had a change of heart for the ’pop princess’.

”Paisley, Paisley, Paisley. Where do you go when you sing girl, man what a voice; what do y’all think?” When she looked out to Ellen who was now walking her way she noticed One Direction was gone.

Her cheeks flushed, “Thank you. My own world really.” She smiled light-heartedly as Ellen spoke once more. “So you have been a busy little bee this past year yeah?” Pais nodded her head and held the microphone to her lips.

“Yes ma’am, I released my first album about six months back and now I am finishing up my second half of tour. I was on break for about a week and just got in last night.” Ellen shook her head, “Busy you are. Well we wish you luck on the rest of your tour and today everyone in the audience will receive a copy of Paisley’s album ’Matrimony’ . Thank you for preforming for us.”

Paisley smiled once more, “Thank you for having me.”