Highs & Lows

1

"Scarlet! Scarlet! Scarlet! Scarlet!"

Scarlet can hear the chants from the fans that filled the stadium through the walls. Currently taking a five minute break before the encore, she jumped on the vanity table in her dressing room. She had her back against the mirror and her legs dangling. Thinking. Remembering. How she got here.

Born to a Mexican father and a Korean mother, she was a unique blend of cultures. Her upbringing had been a whirlwind of languages, traditions, and music from both sides of her heritage. Scarlet's presence had captivated the world, making her a global pop sensation, yet behind the cameras, she carried the weight of her own struggles.

She wrote a song when she was sixteen. Then one click later it was uploaded to soundcloud. She didn't know why she uploaded it. Like what all other singers say, "it was just a way to express my feelings." Maybe someone was feeling the same way as her. She didn't want to bother her mom with her problems. After what happened to dad she didn't want to stress her out with her own feelings. So Scarlet kept them to herself. Until her song went viral on social media. Then everyone knew how she felt.

An entertainment company contacted her and wanted to sign a contract. Her song was released as an official single, it went platinum then triple platinum. Her first album at seventeen went multi-platinum. It's been the same routine for years. Promotions, tours, writing songs, recording, and no privacy. What more is there?

She thought about the fans, chanting her name, singing the words to her songs, coming to her concerts, and having her face on their walls or phones. That was unimaginable to her. It encouraged her to keep going though, for them.

"Scarlet 30 seconds." Scarlet flinches at the sudden voice. It came from her manager, Sofia. Scarlet was unconsciously swinging her legs and tapping her fingers. She hopped off the table and turned around to look in the mirror. Her mismatched colored eyes staring back at her. One ocean blue and the other light brown. She thought they were pretty when she was little, but as she grew up that thought gradually disappeared. She then looked at her tattoos scattered on her arms and smiled. She brushed her black hair that stopped at the middle of her back with her fingers, and then went to Sofia, who was waiting for her at the door.

"Scarlet your shoes." She pointed down at her untied laces.

"It's fine. Come on I got 20 seconds."

"No it's not. What's going to happen when you trip and fall?"

"So I fall. I'm only singing one song for the encore. It's no big deal." She starts walking out the room only to have her wrist pulled back. Sofia gets down on her knee pulling Scarlet's foot towards her. Tying one shoe then switching to the other.

Sofia has been with her since she signed with Verse1 Entertainment. She's seen her at her worst and been with her at her lowest. Sofia was only four years older than her. Since Scarlet didn't have any siblings Sofia was like a sister to her. She's the one who sent Scarlet to a psychiatrist after an incident. It made her upset at first, but she knew Sofia was just doing what was best for her.

She walked under the stage passing the technical crew and the dancers. She felt a light touch on her hand. She knew it was from one of the dancers, so she ignored it and continued walking. Once she made it on the platform someone from the crew gave a countdown. When he got to five the platform slowly started rising and the song started. The cheers were deafening. She didn't see anyone just the lights. She assumed there was 80,000 people in front of her because that's what she was told.

She started singing a song from her recent album. A very pop rock song with a catchy guitar riff. She wrote it a year ago about her ex girlfriend, and the ex was pretty okay with it, Scarlet would say.