Fame is...Fun, I Guess?

Hi everyone! Book 4 of 'Surviving Sixth Grade' is here!

1. It’s A New Day

Hi! You all pretty much know the story from this point onward. We might have a lot of technical things, not to mention some pretty hardcore emotions and what paths of middle school life we’re dealing with.

Hop in, fasten your seatbelt, brace yourselves, and jet off to this tale!

2. What?

“Kids, I believe you might need to shift your schedule a bit,” said Mr. Bowers as we met him after the car ride to the studio. “You’ll have to be getting some pretty hard practice. We can’t have slow takes like we did for ‘Ocean Eyes’. I hope you understand.”

We all looked at each other. We might’ve been sad, but there was some twinkling in everyone’s eyes. Tana, who was right next to me, squeezed my hand. Elijah was doing a minuscule nae-nae movement, with his fingers and toes only doing the pressure. Wylie nodded, cheeks flashing with more colour than ever. Thomas was, well, smoothing his hair and probably imagining what it would be like to have haircuts every day. Tamira mouthed, Movie life, over and over again. I agreed. Everyday try-ons and video takes would be something. 

“Well, we’re pretty okay with it, Mr. B,” I said. “We’re anyway excited. We’ve been dreaming about this since forever.”

He chuckled. “Well, I like the optimism. Keep it popping, guys. Now, you’ve got a new song: ‘Heading Home’ by Alan Walker. You’ve heard it, right? If so, then off to practice with Ms. Tempi. Come on, get to it.”

We headed to our vocal room. As we were walking, Tamira said, “‘Heading Home’? I’ve heard it before. It’s a pretty emotional song. Why would Mr. Bowers take it?”

“Maybe it’s good,” Elijah said. “The other J-Pops sung songs like it. Remember ‘Mercy’?”

“We do,” I said. “We’ll tackle this one too. Don’t worry, guys. Maybe it’s not as bad as we think.”

Everyone nodded, but doubt hung in the air. Even I could feel it. Nevertheless, we reached and told Ms. Tempi about our new song.

“Alan Walker,” she said, sighing. “We haven’t done any of his songs. I hope this one’s special enough to start with.”

After warm-up, we were given our binders with our songs in them. I saw a new sheet covering our previous song. It was titled ‘Heading Home’. And I was given the first few lines as a solo.

“Okay, all right. Trevor, it’s your turn, go for it.” Ms. Tempi beckoned me to start.

I took a deep breath.

“I was so insatiable

’Til the lights came on and the stories got old

Now there's no one here I know

And the city outside's not the same anymore

And I,”

Then it was Tana’s turn.

“I remember when we were young

We'd write our names in the sand,”

Elijah was next. 

“So carelessly

Then the rain came and yours was gone

And now mine, it stands alone.”

Wylie:

“Nobody sees me

Now, I'm a one man show

I’ll do this on my own,”

All of us:

“We knew it all then

Now, this is all I know

Guess I'm heading home now.”

When we finished the last part, Ms. Tempi told us to stop. We didn’t feel anything too sad in this. She played the piano accompaniment and told us to sing that part four or five times, but I wished she hadn’t done that. 

In the middle somewhere, my eyes were misting over. Tana was also going to start crying, and she was wrapping her fingers around my hand. I saw Wylie and Elijah look at each other, full of sorrow. Tamira’s and Thomas’ voices started to crack too, only confirming that they were about to break into a massive emotional attack. I think even Ms. Tempi noticed it, because she dismissed class early, called Mr. Bowers, and told us to go for a break. 

We all had our favourite places to go to for our break, and Tana and I always stayed in the Viewing Room, talking about all sorts of things. But as we were going upstairs, I heard Mr. and Mrs. B, Ms. Tempi, and Ms. Gwen talking in hushed voices.

“I don’t think the kids can sing this song, Andy,” Ms. Gwen was saying. “If they can’t sing it, they obviously can’t dance to it. This song is something they find difficult.”

Mr. Bowers sighed. “Maybe this is a dead end. Let’s tell them to take a hiatus while we find another.”

Tana and I looked at each other. We backed away from the door, then spoke in hushed whispers.

“They can’t do that,” she said.

“What can we do, Tana,” I said, distressed. 

She took my hand. “You can do something, Trev. You are a peer counsellor. You know how to communicate to others in ways no one can.”

It was the first time Tana had called me by my nickname, and anyone who does that wants me to believe something. At this point, she wanted me to believe I can change things. But I didn’t want to do it without asking first.

I pulled out my phone. “I’m texting everyone first. I don’t want to mess up.”

She nodded.

I quickly typed: Everyone okay with us asking them to continue with ‘Heading Home’?

I waited. Then came everyone’s replies.

Elijah: A-OK!

Wylie: I’m up for it!

Thomas: We need to convince them. Go for it!

Tamira: Do it!

Tana smiled at me. I nodded. 

We quietly stepped inside again. Mr. Bowers and the other adults jumped. 

“You two? What are you doing here?”

I steeled myself. “Mr. B, we can do the song. If the other Jr. Pop Kids did such tunes, then why can’t we do ‘Heading Home’?”

Mr. Bowers paled. “H-how do you know?”

“We heard you guys talking about it,” Tana said. 

“Oh.” Mr. Bowers shook his head. “Does the rest of the team agree?”

I nodded. “We’ll accept this as a test, Mr. Bowers. Please, don’t cut this song out. We’re singing Alan Walker’s songs for the first time. Let this be the one.”

Mrs. Bowers, however, didn’t agree. “I don’t see the point. What if you all break into an emotional attack?”

Tana and I looked at each other. She squeezed my hand once, then twice. I got the message.

I took a deep breath. “We can do this, Mrs. Bowers. We’re brave. Or…let’s take it this way. If Tana could escape from her rabid relatives, and become famous, then can’t we sing ‘Heading Home’?”

“They are two different things, Trevor.” There was a lot of warmth in Mrs. Bowers’ voice, but some ice in it too. I couldn’t believe she was so angry.

“Mrs. Bowers, please.” Tana’s eyes were filled with plead, sorrow and a faint pinch of eagerness. But I don’t know, there was something about her voice that made Mrs. B’s heart melt and agree to having us to sing ‘Heading Home’. When we left, I told my friends the good news. They were all delighted and started to practice the song—behind Ms. Tempi’s back! But when she listened to it the next day, she was so ecstatic to hear that we got the song perfect. We even danced more energetically with Ms. Gwen, and we had much more fun than we expected. 

3. The Brits 

We produced the song’s new music video faster than we expected, and soon recorded a host of other songs. Rumours also confirmed our suspicion that there even might be a huge surprise waiting for us on a new Monday afternoon. Which did happen. 

When we were having on-set tutoring in algebra, Mr. Bowers came in. He whispered some urgent message to Mrs. Henson, then left for a while. Mrs. Henson told us to pack up our things, as today’s remaining two hours would be dismissed. But it was unusual for that to happen. 

Mr. Bowers reappeared again with four—no, five children behind him. I wondered what they were doing here. Maybe they were to join us? But we produced two music videos already—and I think that there can be no more than eight members in the band. 

“Sorry, sorry, kids!” Mr. Bowers was smiling under his bushy grey beard. “Did I forget to introduce you to them? And vice-versa? Oh, ho, forgive me.”

Sometimes, I wondered whether Mr. B was a modern, video-making version of Santa Claus. 

“These kids are the new Jr. Pop UK Kids, with whom you’ll be working with today. So, let them introduce themselves to you,” he said, gesturing to the five kids. 

The first kid, a blond boy, said, “Hi, I’m Max.”

Another kid with dark skin and curly black hair, somewhat similar to Elijah’s, said, “I’m Ashton.” 

A girl with straight dark brown hair waved. “I’m Lois.”

A boy who looked exactly like Lois said, “I’m Freddy.”

Another boy with deep black hair and jolly eyes said, “And I’m Shane.”

We nodded and introduced ourselves, too. Then, as we were going to the dance room, I talked with Freddy, Shane and Max. They were friendly and I liked them. 

All of them were from London. However, they were very far away from each other, but residing in famous areas. Max even claimed he lived somewhere near a huge bridge. I told them all about my neighbourhood, and how me and the other band kids are like practical neighbours. Freddy said that he got along pretty well with the new UK Kids. I heard it was a new division of Jr. Pop. They were going to go worldwide starting this year, and their first music video, ‘Tears’, was going to feature us. 

Then came our families. Max was an only child. Shane had a little brother, Ayden, who was about Angela’s age. Freddy said that he and Lois were twins, which explained the sheer resemblance between the two. But Lois was far more easygoing than he was, which was the only difference. 

We talked about our friends. I told the UK kids about EliTreLie and our collaboration with the 3Ts. Max pointed to the black-haired girl with bangs skipping ahead of us. “Is that Tana?”

I nodded. “She’s shy most of the time, but being in Jr. Pop has helped her open up.” And it was true. She was chatting with Lois, Tamira and Wylie about Britain, maybe. 

“Is she always with you?” Freddy didn’t make it sound like an insult; he was just trying to inquire.

“Yeah,” I said, blushing a little. “I mean, we’re just close friends. Nothing too special.” I told them about her past, and they nodded understandingly.

“My mum always feels sorry for orphans and refugees,” Max said. “She’s thinking of adopting one, so that they don’t feel alone and have a family to care for the child.” 

I nodded. “I feel sorry for her too. But her aunt and uncle are wild most of the time. They whipped her.”

The three boys gasped.

“But, Tana is staying in the studio. No worries! She’ll be alright.” I gave my friends a hopeful smile, which they returned back. When Mr. Bowers had to take them outside for refreshments, he told us to stay where we are. We went inside the dance room and stretched a bit. Tana and I started our handstands.

“I like Lois,” she said, rubbing her palms and redoing the stunt. “I told her about myself. It’s like everyone’s feeling sorry for me.”

I front-flipped in the air. “Well, that’s true. But people like Mr. and Mrs. Bowers are helping you. Never forget that.”

She nodded, giving me a small smile. “Thanks.” 

4. ’Tears’

The song we were going to produce was ‘Tears’, and, if you ask me, is also my personal favourite song. We were dancing in the background, but I was pretty much fine with it. I wanted to hear how well the UK guys did. 

When we were doing makeup, Ashton turned to me.

I hadn’t really gotten to know him well. Freddy, Max and Shane became my instant UK BFFs (which is what Angela said when I told her over the phone), and Lois was just a good friend, with whom I talked to sometimes. And I didn’t chat much with Ashton, so our contact wasn’t so…great. But today he wanted to talk.

“I didn’t know I’d get this far,” he said.

“Me neither,” I agreed.

He mussed his hair up, then turned to me. “I mean, it’s like, one minute you’re dreaming, the next—you’re in it! And you just sit there, not wanting to believe it but it’s true.”

“That happened with me.” I recalled my last day in school in my head.

“I didn’t know I was good. I mean, I’ve been practicing, but…y’know?”

“Not the same,” I said.

He smiled at me, and I smiled back.

Ashton got up and raised a hand for me to slap. I high-fived him and got up from my seat. Walking with him, though, made me realise something. You don’t have to be a picture-perfect friend. All you need is compassion and kindness.

And I saw that in him today. 

…

We reached our…you’d call it a huge set. I saw everyone else there, too. But strangely, we saw it being taken down, some props people tearing down paper and glitter and all sorts of stuff. I went to Mr. Bowers.

“Mr. B? Is something wrong?”

He shook his grey beard. “No! Nothin’, bud. We’re going to sell the official studio and go pro.”

He gestured to Tana, who was holding our old sleeping bags. “We’re going to use some of the profits to give to YouTube Studios to have all of our music videos produced there.”

“Nice! It’s nearer, too.” Angie and I always passed the huge building on our walk to school.

“Which means that you’ll get to stretch your legs when you get there.” Mr. Bowers got us into the car to get to the huge studio. When we reached, I stepped out of the car and gasped. Everyone else did, too. 

The studio was so huge. It was like, two times larger than our old studio. I took everything in. Colours: red, white and black. They had to be the main colours. I saw YouTube’s logo placed as neon lights on one side of the gate. I grinned.

“Cool,” Freddy said. 

“Yeah,” Max agreed.

Mr. Bowers took us inside and led us to our set. J-Pop’s logo was marked on a door, and we opened it and found our original set, but with more space to cover this time. Then, we got to work. 

…

“That’s a wrap, isn’t it?” Shane asked me once we finished shooting. 

I nodded. We had, like, twenty takes. The UK kids had more. I felt sorry, of course, but the fact that Mr. Bowers said to toughen up with the shift in our schedule had something to do with the number of takes. We’re getting famous, Trevor. That's what happening.

5. Egad! It’s…

We said goodbye to the British J-Pop Kids. They were travelling back to London, and I hugged them goodbye. I had their numbers to talk and text them, so there was a thread of connection between us. 

When they left, Mr. Bowers went to the office, Mrs. Bowers went to the wardrobe, Wylie and Elijah left to grab snacks, and Tom and Tam went to talk about the ‘money’ thing to Mr. B. 

I cocked my head towards the studio door, which Tana smiled and opened. But someone was standing there. Someone so familiar that it could have been an imposter. Both of us were on the verge of screaming. The other was, too. And then, I said it. 

“Egad! It’s…EganBRaps!”

…

We took Egan inside and to Mr. Bowers. He was as shocked as we were, and wanted to ask why would such a famous YouTuber want to meet us. 

But, for now, let me pause here. If you don’t know who EganBRaps is, no offence, but you are seriously not cut out to be a J-Pop Kid, in our opinion. Everyone knows who he is and who his sidekick band, the Corduroy Sisters, are. 

He’s like, this famous guy who started making YouTube music covers of many famous songs. Yep, no joke. 

Then he started making his own songs, like, oh, where do I start? There are so many, I can’t name all of them, but maybe a few, like, ‘Crush on You’, and, uh, ‘Right on Time’, and ‘Far Away’. There. 

He has these friends, a band of four sisters called the Corduroy Sisters. That’s right—they used to be in Jr. Pop, Mr. B said, many years ago, when the two youngest sisters, Twinkle and Ashlynn, were just little toddlers. Layla and Mia, the other two sisters, were there in the band. Now, they’re making their own songs with Egan. 

They were an instant favourite for famous vloggers and young music sensations. So, then, the biggest question was: What was EganB doing here?

Well, we would know soon. 

…

“Now, I probably expect you all to ask—what am I doing here, right?” 

I gathered the rest of the kids and sat down to listen in Mr. B’s office. Egan seemed a little overwhelmed with the company, but it was no doubt he knew who we were.

“The thing is, me and the CSis’ are gonna shoot our new music video. ‘Little Bit’. You heard?”

We all shook our heads. 

“Well, okay. But we actually need some nice backup. I thought—I know you guys—You,” he said, gesturing to me, Wylie and Elijah, “you’re EliTreLie. You,” then gestured to Tamira, Thomas and Tana, “you’re the 3Ts. And, uh, you’re also soloing, uh, Tana, right?”

Tana nodded. But I think she felt a little proud to be recognised, as she didn’t shy away and hide behind her chair. Everyone’s first, I always thought.

“Well, I thought, maybe you could dance? In the background?”

Mr. Bowers was taking it all in. Egan told him the other details—that the video was going to be filmed in New York itself, in a laundromat. That there was no need to drive to the north of NYC where he lived.

“I have heard, the...complications, sir,” he said, “And there is going to be no trouble. My dad is funding everything, all we need to do is have them agree.”

“Okay, Egan, I appreciate it,” Mr. Bowers said. He turned to Thomas and Tamira, and nodded. I didn’t know what was the silent message for, but I knew it had something to do with the so-called ‘bills’ of whatever they were doing. 

“Then, it’s set, Mr. Bowers.” Egan shook hands with him. 

In my head, the tiny little voice started screaming: We’re going to be in EganBRaps’ video! We’re going to be there! Woohoo!

6. Laundry Issues

We drove up to the nearby laundromat, closest to YouTube Studios. It was named ‘Blue-Wash’, and it was very spacious and big inside. But what grabbed my—or in this case, my nose’s—attention, was the smell. Oh, it was heaven. It smelled like a fabric freshener, mixed with the fragrance of hot and cold water. Boy, this isn’t going to be hard.

We met Egan’s dad, Mr. Boristeps. He, like Mr. Bowers, also insisted us to call him Mr. B. But I think it would’ve been confusing, ‘cause the J-Pop Mr. B also came with us, for the ride, he said, but also to see that nothing went awry for Tana, in secret. I only knew about it, and so did Tom and Tam, and we decided to keep it that way.

The Corduroy Sisters were also waiting for us. Layla, Mia, Twinkle and Ashlynn were wearing their casual clothes, like they’re costumes in the video. Tana whispered to me about how awesome they were, and I nodded along with her.

“So, what are we supposed to do?” Thomas asked, quite suavely for a twelve-year-old, I might add. Tamira rolled her eyes. Tana and I giggled, and Wylie and Elijah were also cracking smiles. 

Twinkle laughed. “Well, you’re supposed to ask, ‘you like me a little bit’ and strike something called a ‘contemplating pose’ when you do that.”

Elijah and I weren’t those boys who wanted to ask the girls if they liked us, so I put up another question. “Who are we supposed to ask?”

“Ummm…” Ashlynn was thinking for a while, like they weren’t sure. But a smirk was tugging her mouth. 

“Who are your dance partners?” Mia cut her off.

I pointed to Tana, Elijah pointed to Wylie, and Thomas pointed to Tamira.

“So ask them.” Egan was done talking and he joined us. “I’m doing it with the sisters.”

Thomas grinned at Tamira, who smiled softly at him. Elijah and Wylie shrugged, as if it was no big deal. But I think me and Tana got it bad. We both blushed and looked at anything but each other. I heard Ashlynn say, “Something’s going on.”

To break the silence, Egan said, “Okay, can we start shooting?” We all nodded.

We started with the very beginning take, where the old laundromat lady had to yell at us. I grabbed some clothes from a nearby basket and held them as we were preparing. The mean old lady in the video wasn’t actually mean. She was very kind, in fact. And a great actress, so being angry came out effortlessly. For once, I was scared. But I put on the face where I was trying not to laugh, probably because the old lady’s costume was very absurd and silly. Then, Egan’s dialogue came on. He asked, “How much are we gonna get paid?” And the old lady’s response was, “Just a little bit!”

Then, we were to work around in the second scene. My job was to load the dirty clothes in a basket and pass it to Tana, who’d pass it to Twinkle. But as I was doing it, Egan came up, and then we asked in perfect unison, “Hey girl, you like me a little bit?” Then, Tana and Twinkle looked disgusted, and said, “No, I don’t even like you a little bit!” That was the first part. The second part was Elijah’s turn, and the third was Tom’s. 

Then, the rest went smoothly. We danced and sang with the Corduroy Sisters and Egan, and enjoyed ourselves. We finished by evening, and we were talking with them by that time.

“Say, I wasn’t joking, Trevor,” Ashlynn said, when we bumped into each other cleaning the laundromat. “You and Tana have something.”

“But we’re just best friends.” I shrugged.

“Hmm. Maybe when you’re older, you’ll get it.” Ashlynn waved goodbye and left the place. 

I replayed the conversation, then waved it off. That was when I’m older. Now is the now. And now is when I just finished shooting a video with the most famous YouTubers in the world.

7. Filling the Corduroy Shoes

Even though ‘Little Bit’ went as a blast yesterday, we didn’t really know if we could go back to our old work. Mr. Bowers said that we had to produce the song ‘Circles’, and then practice the dance for our next music video ‘End of Time’, but not one minute went by without a notification of a comment popping up on Egan’s channel, saying about how great the song was. We would sigh with the disturbance.

“Mr. B,” Tana said one day, “will they call for another job?” She sounded half-excited, and half-restless, the ‘restless’ part in a not-so-nice way. Like us, she was happy for a break, but she was itching to get back to our J-Pop life. 

As if her meaningful wheedle sent an SOS signal, the phone rang. Mr. Bowers picked it up. 

“Hello, this is Anderson Bowers, from YouTube studios. Yes. Okay. Okay. But—but we just finished…A request? Um, are you sure? Mm-hmm. Well, I’ll talk to them, and if they say yes, then it’s a deal. Bye.”

As he put down the phone, he turned to us. “That was a call from Layla. She wants to see if you all would like to help produce a second wave of music videos for the Cords. You’re featured in them, she says, maybe even become the main character of the videos.”

He shook his head. “That was Egan that we were talking about when the ‘Little Bit’ video was given as an offer. But…well, I trust Layla and Mia, so I was wondering…”

We were all silent for a moment, then suddenly Tamira shouted, “Guys, isn’t this like heaven? We are literally singing and dancing with the Corduroy Sisters! And…maybe we can manage work with that. Tana?”

Tana smiled and pulled a small planner, ones that I used to see in the stationery shops. 

“When we were shooting for the 3Ts, Tana planned everything: date, time, place, even camera position and lighting setup. She’s the one that helped us keep ourselves on our toes everywhere.” Thomas grinned.

Wow. Talk about hidden talents. Maybe Tana could be Mr. Bowers’ second-in-command, if she knew how to do these things. Mom says that my time-management skills aren’t poor, but they weren’t that great either. 

“Maybe, I can plan out the shooting timings. Then, we could balance the studio work, and finally have time for relaxing. Only, though, I need to talk to Layla.” She shrugged. “Then, maybe we can save ourselves from over-exhaustion.”

“That works, Tana.” Mr. bowers scratched his beard, then picked up the phone and re-dialled the number. 

“Layla? We’re in.”

…

Some time later, we had packed up our bags to road-trip the way to the upper area of New York City. I had one backpack, one duffel and one suitcase. But I knew the Corduroys will tell or lend us what to wear for the videos. 

We piled into the enormous tour bus of Jr. Pop. It was really spacious, with the logo painted on the outside. But the new addition to the very familiar vehicle was our pictures. We didn’t do any official photo shoot yet (Tana had to still plan that out) but we had our pictures from the YouTube channels. Somehow, the artists had cut it up to make it look like the shoot was done a few days ago. 

Mr. and Mrs. Bowers, along with our teachers, were in the front area of the bus, while we kids—well, we were in the back, cheering and hooting all the way. But I think the driver didn’t mind one bit; there was a noise-cancelling glass placed between the front and the back. 

There was a karaoke machine and a speaker in the back, but we brought our own fun too. Tana brought a lot of sketch pens and markers, including the calligraphy brush ones. I was wondering where did she get it. Maybe she had stashed it back at her house. 

Wylie brought some cards and was thinking of bringing her martial arts equipment, but we decided not to risk it. However, she did bring a yoga mat, and that was okay by us. 

Elijah brought his laptop to show his coding projects. Thomas brought his camera and taught us a little photography. Tamira had her special diary to write in, to document our adventure. 

And me? I had myself, a.k.a my tips of the art of peer-counselling. The girls collapsed into giggles when I said that, and Elijah and Tom elbowed me in glee. 

After two hours of having fun, we all decided to take a nap. We settled into a few mattresses, and pulled the sheets over ourselves. 

Tana yawned. “I’m so tired…”

I nodded back sleepily. “Me too…”

And then we hit the hay.

8. They Do It Like a Girl

When we reached the Corduroys’ home, we were greeted by Mr. and Mrs. Corduroy, and the sisters. 

Tana and Layla talked to each other, and Tana scribbled a schedule for the whole few weeks. We could use their recording instruments to do the singing for our Jr. Pop 35 album, as Mr. Bowers said that we needed to release it by the end of this week. We finished the release of the music videos. Only ‘End of Time’ was left, and that could be taken care of when we were back at home. 

Now, we were supposed to shoot ‘Like a Girl’ with the Corduroy Sisters. We all got parts—even us, boys. The whole music video, Twinkle said, was supposed to be a ‘boys vs. girls’ competition. That means we needed to battle against Tamira, Tana and Wylie.

“I don’t know how to do this!” I said to Matt and Grant, who were famously known for their features in the Cords’ videos. 

“We’ll tell you how to do it,” Matt said. “That’s what the Corduroy Sisters are gonna do. First, you all have to make fun of the girls—“

My stomach felt queasy.

“Then, they give you a girls vs. boys challenge—“

Elijah turned pale.

“Then we go through all of the tough challenges—“

Thomas looked like he was about to faint. 

“And lastly we finish saying that the girls are better than us! Simple, eh?”

We quietly shook our heads. Matt turned to Grant and whispered, “Dude, I don’t think I explained it right, did I?” 

Grant shook his head. “Not one bit.” 

Matt looked like he was about to blow up, for a fifteen-year-old. I had only seen toddlers look like him. 

“Twinkle! Ashlynn!”

…

This time, the girls explained everything, and we felt a bit better. They elaborated everything what Matt told us, and my stomach felt a little less queasy, Elijah turned less pale, and Thomas looked less like he was about to faint. So, in other words, they covered everything up for us.

The day of the shoot, we had dressed up in our normal clothes, then we set out to a green field behind the Corduroys’ home. It was very open, and there was a huge oak tree somewhere in the corner. I liked it.

We started the shooting, and we saw Tana and Wylie do a little jig I once saw Angie and her friends do. 

“Anything I want, I can jump, jump, to it

’Cause I do it, do it, like a, girl!

I can make it happen like nada-nothin’ do it

’Cause I do it, do it, like a, girl!”
As they continued the jig, I said to Elijah and Tom, “What are they doing?”

Elijah snickered. “Guess they’re doing girl stuff.”

Thomas fake-pouted. “Man, that’s lame.”

We laughed. But inside, I was smiling at something else. We nailed the first scene in one take! Maybe the rest of the parts weren’t gonna be so hard.

Then, the rest went smooth as a snake crawling on polished marble. And that was how the first video, ‘Like a Girl’, became the start of the second wave.

9. Whip That Ponytail!

Narrative Continued by Tana

Oh. My. God. Just like Tam says it. We are filming with the Corduroy Sisters!

During school, Tamira and Thomas used to show me the band’s videos. I never really thought I would shoot with them! 

‘Like A Girl’ went so well and so smoothly I didn’t even realise that we were actually doing shooting for a waiting audience on YouTube. 

But that didn’t matter. Mrs. Bowers wasn’t going to let me not have some fun. So did Mr. Bowers. But, I always thought they sometimes acted too…’parent-y’—as Elijah put it. What’s worse? They asked me to call them Mom and Dad. But I didn’t. I wondered whether Mr. and Mrs. B had children. Or maybe they were just trying to be kind. Trevor said that would happen, especially because I had gone through—well, a lot.

I was orphaned, then I was about to figuratively crumble under the so-called wrath of my super-strict aunt and uncle, the Monites. Then, I joined Jr. Pop after auditioning for months with Tom and Tam in the 3Ts, and then solo on YouTube. That happened when they bailed on me.

Then, Tamira, Thomas and I got back on good terms, especially with help from the supposed ‘rival’ band, EliTreLie. Elijah, Trevor and Wylie ran it, and they told me that my old friends were good kids, so I became tied with them again! And, well, I had to thank my other best friend, Trevor Sanders. He and I didn’t meet until Tom and Tam told me that there was a new band in town, and when we were introducing ourselves. He got me through all of the trouble.

So, here we are. In the part where we were shooting for ‘Ponytail’.

…

I think ‘Ponytail’ had to be my favourite song so far. What grabbed my attention was the lyrics. Brave and strong. Just the way I like it. That’s why I loved the Cords. They were always into soul music. Girl music, Wylie called it. She was actually tough for a normal kid, let alone an eleven-year-old girl. I liked her a lot, too.

‘Ponytail’ was taken on different terms, actually. It was going to be a normal music video, different from what the Corduroy Sisters produce. Like, lots of singing and dancing. The girls, a.k.a me, Wylie and Tam—we’re going to dance with them. 

The set was quite majestic, in my opinion. Pink, red, orange and yellow were the main colours. Since I was quite into art, I liked to note the accented colours in any area. They reminded me of fire, but figuratively, they added the pink to show that—The girls are here. Don’t mess with us. Guess they really meant it.

There were four similar rooms, the fourth being the largest, maybe because all of us were gonna dance in the same room. 

Us girls were supposed to dance solo in the smaller rooms. Then we’d join one or two of the Corduroys. The final shot was with all of the Corduroys. Me and Wylie were with Twinkle Corduroy. She was actually my favourite. Then, I was with Tam, and we’d dance alongside Layla. Thirdly, I’d do my solo. Lastly, I’d dance with everyone at the end. There. That’s our plan.

…

My turn for the solo finally came. Mr. Corduroy said that I nailed the first two parts of my shoot. Everyone was there, including Elijah, Tom and Trevor. I bumped fists with each of them. When I took Trevor’s ‘good luck’, I just hugged him tight. I dunno why, but I just felt like I was closer to him than anyone else. 

“You’re gonna do great,” he said when I released. I nodded. Then, I stepped onto the set, and the music started.

I put everything I got into my dance. The main aim was: Power, power, power. My freestyle had to go the way it should. 

If I had to do my typical freestyle, it always ended with this: March, march; twirl twice; swing your arms; and end it with a pose. That’s me. When I ended it that way, everyone said it looked like I was breaking free. 

But I wished I could. Even though I already had.

10. Goodbye, Goodbye

Narrative Resumed by Trevor

We had produced 5 new music videos for the second wave for the Cords, and then, we had to leave. I was sad to do so, for we had so much fun with them. 

When I hugged Egan, he said, “You know, if you guys need anything, or you just wanna talk, you can call me.” He gave me his private cell phone number. I smiled, then gave him a last fist-bump. 
We set out for the same road trip, which was now spent most of time by napping for a tad too long, and headed back to YouTube Studios.

…

It had been a week since we left the Corduroys’ place, and after a needed five-day break, we were back to preparing for the ‘End of Time’ music video. 

During studio school, I whispered to Tana, “Hey, maybe we can ask Mr. B if the Cords and Egan can dance with us. It’s our turn now, isn’t it?”

She nodded. “How right you are. But I’ll handle the talking this time, if that’s okay.”

“Go for it,” I said.

Minutes before dance class, Tana headed to Mr. B’s office and told him about our plan. And the best part? He agreed! 

After class, we smiled as we saw Egan and his friends pile out of their car. Maybe we gave back to them as they gave to us. But then, we had fun. 

And, well, maybe that was the most important part.