Music

Nora Hill-

Hi, my name is Nora Xan Hill. I am 16 going on 17 in 2 months. My mother is American and white, while my father is Irish and Black. I know a weird mix in 1983. I don’t need much more discrimination. I already get odd stares from everyone else. Instead of getting the pristine white skin color genes from my mother, I got my father's deep brown skin color. But who am I to judge. I think it’s beautiful. When I’m not in school I have a job at a small cafe called Gemini.

People could say I’m more of the quiet girl in school. I wouldn’t even celebrate the great ending of 1999. People had wanted to party New years eve because it was the end of the 1900s and the beginning of 2k. Winter break was amazing away from everybody from school, I got to hang out with family. But now I had no choice but to come back to school.

Erik Lopez-

I’m Erik Lopez, a famous singer. When I’m not singing I’m not doing anything really. I guess I’m doing whatever a 21-year-old guy would do. Hang out with friends, ride my motorcycle, and drink. I was born on June 17th, 1978. My parents are both wonderful white Americans, I got my wonderful strawberry blonde hair from my mother. And my deep sea blue eyes from my dad.

As I slowly make my way off of my bed I pull my fingers through my messy morning hair. It wasn’t a smooth pull. My fingers paused many times because of the tangles in my hair. I winced more and more as I picked through my hair. I probably looked like Einstein. Which wasn’t a compliment in any way?

I turned on the shower while I picked out the clothes I’d be wearing to my ‘Job’. I wouldn’t really count it as a Job. I mean I do get money for producing music. But I always feel really guilty for getting the money. I did music to make people happy. Not for money.

But then again I did have to pay the bills.

The problem would have to be..

Both of them-

Without music, my world would collapse. The flow of music is what I was born with. I learned to dance, sing, to read music. I survive on my music. I survive on the music others produce to satisfy our ears.

Even if the music I like may be different than others; The flow all, in the end, brings us together.

Nora Hill-

Gina Davis

This is Gina Davis. My best friend. Probably on earth but I’ve never traveled anywhere else than Louisiana and back to Mississippi. Many people including me call her GG instead. I don’t know why but Gina doesn’t really fit her. Soo we picked GG instead. Gina Davis and Cameron Ellis are my only two friends. And honestly, I don’t need any more than two. It’s already a struggle to deal with both of them.

Gina Davis is your typical Prom Queen, except she’s the nicest version of a prom queen you’d see in movies. She’s more like a princess. Her hair is all-natural. She’s never put dye in her hair, she’s never gotten a perm, It’s all-natural. She isn’t the most popular kid in school and that's probably because she has friends named Cameron Ellis and Nora Hill. It brings her popularity down a bit. I still can’t get over the fact that Cameron is less popular than Peter Wilson. Peter Wilson is a rude, disgusting, mess of a guy. But the problem here is that he is very handsome.

But also a player. A player that plays all players.

Cameron is goofy. Like you know Goofy from Mickey Mouse. Well sort of like goofy. Cameron when he was younger dyed his hair in every color he could find. Only recently he decided to stop and let his natural brown come out. Good thing he didn’t bleach it. Cameron is one year older than me and Gina. So he’s 17 going on 18. I still can’t get enough of

“I don’t want to be a senior~ I want to stay with my two wonderful girls~” His whining gets annoying. But I love him dearly.

Hopefully, when I get to school Gina won’t pester me about a prom rival. Gina so far has won 3 years as Prom Queen. But her rival Amber Duluth always finds a way to get under Gina’s skin.

Amber Duluth is currently Peter Wilson's Girlfriend. She’s also the most popular female in the entire school. Which is a hard label to get? When there are 4 entire grades of people you have to get through.

…

The warm air touched my scalp when I walked out of the small house. Gina’s flowy pink dress swayed with her every movement in the little distance. She was looking at her small glitter flip phone. The fake rhinestones glitter in the sunlight. Gina’s brown eyes found mine and she immediately started to do the little wobble jog girls do when they don’t want to mess up their shoes.

Erik Lopez-

Outside was at least 60 degrees out. But that’s a typical day in LA. Typical in January that is. But at least it's not as cold as it was yesterday. The palm trees swayed slowly in the little wind. A taxi was already waiting for me outside.

…

Finally, the taxi stops in front of the music production center. Or whatever it's called. I’ve never really paid attention to the specifics. Canny Danny stood outside one hand in his leather black jacket and the other held a cigar to his mouth. He looks like he couldn’t get out of the 80’s scene. And honestly, I’m kind of digging it. Canny Danny is just his ‘Street Name’ I still don’t have any clue why he calls himself that though. But nowadays it’s just better to let ‘em be.

“Erik! My man.” Danny says once he catches my eye. A small groan escapes my throat before I slowly make my way towards him.

“Danny..” I say once I get close enough for him to hear me. Danny grabs my arm and pulls me in for a hug. Which was about to be the worst experience of my life. Danny’s hugs last for infinity. The good thing before I could get fully enveloped into his hug Jessica comes out of the building. Looking as stunning as ever, She smiles at me and Danny,

“Come on Danny let go of Erik. He’s had a rough weekend.” Her pale skin touched my hand and forcefully but gently also made Danny let go of me. The inside was a perfect color of white and brown. It looked like you could throw a royal ball in here. But that was just the entrance. It gets better and better as you move on. Jazz plays in the lobby while people check-in, or sign up for some talent show.

A day at work is almost always the same. Find new ways to make a song. Try the sound out. Grab lunch. Do the same exact thing again and then go home. The only difference is that I have a tour in a month. And my producer wants me to 1) find a female voice to sing a few lyrics for the background of the song. Which wasn't going to be easy in a matter of at least 2 weeks. And 2) Finish the song in time to sing it at the concert. Which will also be very difficult.

Nora Hill-

“So how was your Winter Break?” Gina asks while we walk towards Cameron’s house. Her dress occasionally brushed against my skin while we walked.

“It was alright. Same as always I guess.” I pause and look at Gina’s bright features. I noticed something different about her. “Did you get a nose piercing?! Without telling me?!” I shout, Gina jumps and immediately begins to explain herself. I begin to laugh, clearly catching her off guard. “I was kidding... Gee take a joke!” I continue to laugh while her face stays blank.

Finally, we get to Cameron's house. His Nana opens the door,

“Oh, girls! It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other! Come in, come in.” She exclaims. We walk into the nice house and sit down at the table where Cameron was leaning on. Cameron was slowly eating a granola bar when we walked in.

“Heya Cameron!” Gina shouts when she spots him. Cameron immediately shrinks back and grimaces. Which I can understand. It’s way too early for her high pitched, cheery voice. She gives him a noogie. Messing up his hair. Cameron begins to whine about how long it took him to do his hair. Nana gives me a small cookie while I watch them whine in perfect harmony.

“Nora, Instead of standing there you could I don’t know. Maybe remove this girl from my head.” Cameron pouts at me when I shrug and continue watching.

“We should get to school, I don’t feel like being late today,” I say my voice is feeling weaker than it had before we got here. I think Nana put something in these cookies. My whole brain set was ruined by the sweet batter melting in my mouth.

“Well then excuse me miss nerdy girl~” Gina exclaims sarcastically pushing her way towards me with a giant smile on her face.

“Bye Nana!” Cameron shouts and soon we are out of the door after what seemed like many kisses on our cheeks as we left.

…

The smell of perfume and Cologne flooded my senses as soon as we entered the school building. But Cologne and perfume were way better than the smell of Cigar ashes. It’s too bad that many of these people are deciding to ruin their lungs at such a young age. But it’s better to keep your thoughts to yourself nowadays. These people aren’t the most warm-hearted in the world. And won’t miss a blow in the stomach. Gina and Cameron chat about random topics while I sit and listen to them trying to tune out every other voice in the cafeteria.

“Wait... Nora, what class do you have first?” Cameron asks me. I turned my head to face him and my face was blank and felt empty.

“I think I have Chemistry with Mr. Wither.,” I mumbled loud enough for anyone to hear from a small distance.

“OMG, you like Mr. Wither!!” Gina exclaims, causing me to jump up in surprise. “I didn’t know you were into older guys!” She continues. I could see Cameron holding back a laugh. Oh she's gonna be the death of me!

“NO GINA~” I shout, shaking her out of the topic. “I have chemistry with him! Like ‘ya know chemistry as in a class.” Gina covers her mouth immediately.

“Oh my gosh, I’m sorry Nora.” She giggles. I could feel my cheeks burning.

“Guys... Mr. Withers is literally right there,” Cameron says laughing. Me and Gina’s heads turn towards where he was pointing. Mr. Withers was chuckling slightly, from across from us. Gina begins to blush.

Okay, so Mr. Withers is very very handsome. Everyone thought so. Even I sort of did. But I sure as hell had zero feelings for that man.

“I think I’ll probably keep myself quiet for the rest of the day.” Gina chuckles once we finally look away from him.

“Great idea GG” I sigh.

Soon after I say my goodbyes to my wonderful friends I walk into Chemistry class. I try to keep my eyes to the floor. Making sure I don’t make any contact with the teacher. But the only contact I was expecting was eye contact. I didn’t expect to actually run into him.

I look up at his tall figure and laugh nervously. He smiles back at me, I thought he was going to say something to me about this morning but instead, he walks around me towards another student. My cheeks were red and it was killing me knowing it. I sit next to a boy named Ryan Lowry. I had mixed feelings about Ryans. Ryans were the shorter version of Bryan. And I liked the name, Bryan. During the entire class, I kept my head down making sure I made no eye contact with anybody. Especially Mr. Wither.

…

“Do you have to go to work today~ I wanted to go to the park with you!” Gina whines while we slowly walk towards the cafe.

“Yes, I have to go to work... Why are you even following me if you don’t want to be there?” I ask, rolling my eyes.

“Well because I don’t wanna leave you alone..” She says, almost sounding like she just told me she was guilty of some crime.

“Or do you just want to see Harold?” I snicker at her shocked expression. She stutters while she tries to answer my question. “Don’t even lie Gina. I’ve seen how you look at him.” I pause gagging a bit. “He’s like 7 years older than you girl!” Gina laughs nervously.

“Yeah but. Age shouldn’t matter, right?” She asks looking at me desperately.

“Race doesn’t matter right?” I say with a blank expression stuck on my face. I could barely hear Gina gasp then immediately quiet down.

“But your parents have sort of overcome that... I bet we could too.” She smiles at me. And I can’t help but smile back at her. I guess she’s right.

"So, do you or do you not like - like Harold?" I say chuckling.

"That's nunya bidness!" She says while she elbows my shoulder. Barely missing my head. It's too bad I was shorter than her.

We finally got to Cafe Gemini. It's always shocked me how GG can just walk in there as she works here. Or even runs the place. But I guess that's just how she is.

Harold walks out from the kitchen holding a glass cup filled with water. He saw GG and smiled. After he sets the water down and takes a man's order he walks over to me and Gina.

"Hey GG.." He smiles and air kisses both her cheeks. She does the same, but opposite in movements. Harold is more of an overly formal, or kind person. Before he could do the same to me I walked away. Thank goodness Jackie was leaning on a counter staring straight at me. His blue eyes sparked once I made my way towards him. I'm sure Harold wouldn't mind me leaving him for Jackie.

"Oh if it isn't the cutest waiter in the world, Nora my girl. How are you?" Jackie says once I'm close enough to hear him. His tie was loose, he didn't like it so close to his neck. But it was against the regulations. I stay silent and once close enough, I grab his tie bringing him closer to me. He chuckles knowing how mad I get if he resists anything I try to do.

I tighten his tie and then loop my hand around it bringing him down a bit.

Stubble lined his chin slightly, He looked like a hobo. His shaggy black hair was tossed around. Although he didn't look completely homeless. It was decent enough. He smiled wickedly at me. I puckered my lips, attempting to get a Don't fuck with me message to him. He put his finger to my lips,

"Not here.." He chuckles. I elbow him in the gut. What an idiot.

"What have I told you about your tie Jackie?" I grunt. He rolls his eyes then answers,

"'If you keep this up the boss will have to fire you and then I'm gonna take the brunt of it.'" He says, seeming to pause. "Why should you care anyway, Nora? Will you miss little ol' me?" He smirks, winking. I push him away letting go of his tie.

"Of course I'd miss you... I need you to distract Harold from greeting me with such formality." I say smirking at him while I slowly make my way towards the kitchen.

"Ah, Harold." He pauses. "Harold's almost impossible to get away from sweetheart. I would know, I've worked with him for 4 years now." He shivers.

"That's only because you always have your guard down. Thinkin' about little Rosetta." I giggle. His cheeks turned red, but he stayed quiet. After I change into our formal dress attire I walk back into the kitchen. Where GG was mingling with other employees. Jackie was leaning against another counter, once again staring me down.

"What's with you and staring at me Jackie?" I say frowning.

"I tell no secrets sweetheart." He nudges me slightly.

I grab an order from the counter and make my way towards the table that had ordered the food plated neatly. Pancakes shaped like mickey mouse, bacon, and scrambled eggs on the side of the plate. An orange juice waited for me.

The table I brought it too had a little girl and probably her father sitting down. Looking as awkward as ever. I greet the girl and put the plate down on the table. She reached for the orange juice in my hand desperately. I give her the orange juice gently hoping she could grip it tightly so it wouldn't slip from her hands and break.

"Enjoy… and here a tic tac toe for you sweetheart." I smile at her and the father after I set the tic tac toe page near the edge of the table. The girl's face brightened.

"Thank you so much, miss!" She exclaims.

I had a feeling today was going to be a good day. After about an hour and a half of working, I would occasionally see and pass by Jackie and GG, acknowledge them, and keep going. This time when I pass Jackie he grabs my elbow and leads me back into the kitchen.

Customers smiled at me when I and Jackie passed them. It was odd, normally no one would even notice I'd passed them. Unless I was their waiter for the time being. Jackie's face was blank. It felt wrong. There was always a smirk or a smile on his face. Or even if there wasn't a smile he'd have some expression on his face.

The kitchen seemed deserted. Was it already break time? Where was everybody?

"Jackie.." I say, he immediately puts his hand to my mouth and leads us towards a corner. Fear and confusion flooded my thoughts.

What is he going to do to me?

What on earth is happening?

Where is everyone?

"You're going to hate me for this… but it wasn't my idea." He says and takes his hand away from my face. The lights flickered. And immediately after people came jumping up from random places shouting,

"We Care! And Missed You!" Everyone was there.

How'd they found out? What happened.

Erik Lopez-

I was so relieved to finally be back home after a long boring day.

My tie felt way too tight, so it was nice to come home and be able to loosen it. But the only terrible thing about coming home... Was that Caran would be there. Caran is my little cousin, he's a 16-year-old drug addict. Who lives with me now. Because of what happened this past weekend.

"Erik! Get the fuck out of my house. WOMEN DON'T LIKE YOU!~" Caran shouts from the living room. I hear high pitched feminine giggles, clearly, they don't know who I am. Or they'd have a different reaction. And this was MY house. I turn the corner towards the living room. And as soon as I see Caran I begin to fume,

"Okay, for 1. I live in this damn house Caran!" I shout. The girls and Caran's heads turn immediately. The girls gasp and he groans. Guess they didn't know it was me. "And 2. Women love me... Now I'm going to the kitchen to grab a snack. Then I'm heading to my room. And I don't want any of you'll to fuck with me when I'm up there. And Caran," I pause the girls whisper to each other two of them blow kisses at me. Disgust and hate flooded every part of my body. "I can't wait till you get out of MY house," I growl and begin to walk away.

I could hear the girls ask questions about me. "Is that your brother?" "I had no idea you were a relative of someone so famous."

Caran kept quiet. Probably fuming from embarrassment. I wasn't even sorry for the guy.

It's sad because he's only been here for 3 days now… he's already brought drug dealers, Sluts, Strippers... He's even had a damn party over here. Who in hell has time for all of that? And that's not even the worst part. I don't even know what he does when I'm not home. God, at least he cleans up after himself. Hopefully...

"Erik! I want Mcdonalds!! Please! I love you my wonderful, kind cousin!" Caran calls from downstairs. Didn't I just say I didn't want to be messed with? I was trying to find a show to watch before his expensive ass called me.

"What! The fuck! Did I say to you 5 minutes ago?!" I yell. Caran didn't answer. Probably gave up. Interesting... I thought he'd pester me about it more. I click on a random show and immediately regret it. Boy Meets World. Eww. But I'm lazy... Oh dear, guess I'll have to survive through the terrible, almost funny puns and jokes.

Oh, wait The Golden Girls are on. I'll watch that.

Sorry, that was horrendously cringy.

A knock comes from my door. Oh my god. I hate everyone right now. Can a guy get some peace and quiet around here? The Golden Girls just started... And it was getting interesting. Although I've officially watched The Golden Girls at least 5 times now. All the way through.

"It's open," I growl. Again! Caran comes into the room with a smug look on his face. Oh great, he is gonna pester me about it.

"McDonald's," he says looking and sounding very annoyed.

"Fine... Just leave me alone." Great, I was giving in to whatever this 16-year-old brat was saying. I paused the show and got up from the bed. Might as well ride my bike. Not a bike- bike. Like one without an engine. A motorbike.

…

I started my bike, a grumble from the motor scared me a bit when I turned it on. I hadn't touched this thing, forever. The coldish air touched my cheek... This was gonna be a long ride.

I got to the Mcdonalds, fast food thingy... Which I'm normally never at. Unless I'm broken from a recent breakup. So the employees are gonna think I'm sad or something. Hey, I've been with many females since I was a tiny little 13 year old. And one employee has worked there for 17 years. She's a 35-year-old woman with 2 kids. She was like a good cousin or aunt of mine when I was down. I'm not even sure if she still works here. Since it's been two years since I've been here. No, I'm not in a relationship. I'm actually single. Been this way for a good two years. And I'm happy and proud.

Jessie Vernon

"Welcome!" Jessie calls from the counter. The place was basically deserted. She was just standing there alone... There was like one customer. What was it? I'm-not-in-a-fast-food-mood hour? Jessie finally recognizes me and says,

"Oh! What's wrong baby? N' other girl dump you?" She chuckles slightly. "I haven't seen you for y' ers! Must of, been a good relationship. Well till n' a" Jessie exclaims. Jessie doesn't talk very normal... Well like, English that many learn to understand. Some don't understand her. Some do. I ended up being able to understand her.

"Nah, Jess... Just here for my little cousin." I smile. She smiles back and adds,

"You? Takin' orders from someone?" She giggles and nudges my head with the tip of her fingers. "I don't believe it... You have a heart!" She begins to laugh. Normally I would be mad.. But she is like an aunt to me. The family is supposed to make fun of you. Right?

"Of course I have a heart auntie.." I didn't mean to say that out loud. I was just thinking about it... and then it came out.

She just begins to laugh and giggle more. Patting my head. "I um.. Didn't mean to say that."

"No, no... I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels like your family." She giggles. She was in a good mood. "Now what would you like? My shift is about to end, maybe we could walk in the park. I haven't seen you in so long." She smiles and pulls up the ordering thingy on the tablet… thingy.

"Sure... That'd be cool." And then I order the food. I didn't know what he wanted so I got fries and Chicken nuggets... After I drop off the food at home I go back to wait for her shift to end.

Nora Hill-

Tears ran down my face... I didn't know what to say. I thought no one would find out. I should have known word would get out. Jackie held on to my back while I shook from all the tears and sadness pouring out from me. I unconsciously held on tight to his shirt. They shouldn't have found out what happened to me… I couldn't bear the fact they knew.

"How. How'd you all find out?" I whimper.

"We heard you were in the hospital… and we wanted to visit you. But you weren't stationed at any of the hospitals... We realized your father meant-" GG says... But then cuts off. She sounded like she was on the verge of crying.

"We realized you were sent to a mental hospital. We didn't know exactly why. But it didn't matter. Because we love and care about you." A random girl speaks up. Tears still rolled down my cheeks. I didn't want people to know. They'd think I'm sick. And clearly not able to help it. They'd think I did something.

"Does Cameron know?" I ask GG. She nodded slowly, wincing a bit. Everyone knew. But I didn't want to hurt them. "T-thank you all... For this. I needed this!" I smile. But it was fake. I've had years of practice, I practiced my smile. And it's the only smile anyone knows. It was too easy. Everyone's face lit up. Except for Jackies. He knew. I could tell. It was written all over his face.

After my shift was over I wanted more than anything to go home. Jackie. Jackie was leaning against a counter. Staring at me. I could see evidence of a recent sneeze he attacked.

"Nora. Why do you fake your happiness." He says immediately. He didn't ease into the question, he just said it like it was important and needed to be answered. Immediately.

"Why would I fake MY happiness?" I chuckle nervously trying to pass him by. He grabs my waist and slightly pulls me in front of him.

"Don't lie to me, Princess." I would have thought he would have smirked or chuckled when he made that comment. His face stayed blank and serious. God, I just want to go home.

"Because no one else needs to worry about my happiness but me.." I look down at my shoes.

"Why?" He kept his hand on my waist so I wouldn't run away. It was working.

"I don't know yet. I guess I'm afraid. But I don't know what I'm afraid of. I don't know." My voice was quiet. Some would have thought I was whispering. I only hoped no one was listening in.

"Princess... You don't have to be alone." He whispers.

"It's better for everyone around me Jackie." I push his hand away and walk away slowly looking down. He didn't stop me but I could feel his poor eyes staring at me while I walked. I felt them burning their way through my back.

I finally got home. Thank god. I could hear the static radio from the kitchen. Odd, dad never leaves the radio on. I slip off my converses, looking around the house. Most of the lights were off. Except for the bathroom. Dad always leaves that one on. They were accidents of course, but it's kinda a habit. Maybe he was in a rush today? And he forgot to turn off the Radio.

"Nora? Sweetheart?" My dad's voice says calmly from the kitchen. Odd he was home, early.

"Yeah, it's me, dad."

"Oh, my lovely niece is home! Come say hi!" Uncle Dennise calls, also sounding like he was in the kitchen. Odd. He should be at work by now. This makes me almost believe there are more people here than just Uncle Dennise and Dad.

I walk into the kitchen. Uncle Dennise was rubbing Dad's back. They had been laughing at something before I entered the area. "Hey Uncle.." I say slowly. Confused and overjoyed that no one else was here. Uncle Dennise still looked like a little teenage boy... Even though he was almost 33 years old. I know, pretty young. Only about 17ish years apart from my age. I didn't use any math in that guess. My dad is 43, he just looks older now than he did 5 years ago.

5 years ago, my mother passed away. Jade Hill... Before she married my father her last name was Martindale, And I got my middle name from her. She passed away from an Airplane crash. She went to go visit her mother. But she never made it there. And honestly, I'm not exactly sure if he's fully recovered from it yet.

"Nora! My princess." He pats Dad affectionately before he moves towards me for a hug. "How've you been?" He asks and holds me closer to his body. I had almost forgotten how comfortable he made hugs. I smile a bit.

"I'm alright. How about you? How's Sheran and Daffy?"

"Sheran is doing alright, the baby has been messing her brain this past month. She's gotten a bit moody." He chuckles, "And Daffy is well. She misses you though" I could feel his body shift. But a smile still shone. I couldn't tell if he was uncomfortable or not.

"I miss her too." I let go and slowly pull away. Dad was watching us. A small smile on his face, he looked tired. I wonder how his day went. "Hey Dad" I smile and cross over to the fridge. He smiles and then answers,

"Hey, Nora. How was your day?"

Author Notes: k um bye

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