The Story Behind A Pretty Face

Chapter 7

Nelly's house was nice, very nice. It was only two stories, but it's huge size made up for it. She parked her car and jumped out, completely at ease about skipping school. I was still seated in the car. She whipped her head and looked back at me, "Mika! Come on! I need to show you something."

I rolled my eyes and followed her. The inside of the house definitely matched the outside. It was beautiful. Whoever decorated it had a thing for gold because it seemed to drip from every surface. But it wasn't too much.

Nelly led me through the kitchen and then opened a door tht led to stairs.

I raised my eyebrow, "Your bedroom is in the basement?"

"No, just come on. "

I was slightly worried now. What could she be showing me?

We walked down the stairs and what I saw made me gasp.

No, it wasn't a bedroom, it was a studio. All types of equipment decked the walls. Lights, knobs, graphics, and buttons just took over the space. I turned my head to see an actual recording booth, complete with mics and headphones.

I just stared in amazement.

Nelly smirked, "Yeah, crazy huh? You know, I hardly ever bring anybody here. This is my zone."

I shook my head," You sing? "

She smiled. "Take a seat. I'll explain everything."

"Okay, my mom and my Dad both come from musical backgrounds. My Dad is a producer and my Mom was in the group LGD. My mom stopped singing to take care of me, but my dad still produces.",she began to explain.

"What's his name? Have I heard of him?"

Nelly shook her head. "His name is Terrance Parker and probably not. He's big in Atlanta, but he's one of those undercover producers as I like to call them. He does a lot of the work but mainly gets paid to stay on the hush about it so " mainstream" producers get the credit. He has helped produce some hits though. He's worked with Ciara, Meek Mill, Tamar Braxton, Nicki, Chris Brown, etc."

I nodded my head, "So, you also had an obvious love for music at a young age?"

"Yeah. My mom's group was very big in Atlanta. They were working with my dad on a few tracks, and boom, my mom got pregnant. She continued to sing, but it didn't work out. The group disbanded, my mom got married, then had me. She didn't lose her passion for music though. She taught me to appreciate music at a very young age. I was singing, playing drums, playing guitar, and could control studio equipment by the age of 7. How could I not fall in love with it?"

"Okay, and I'm not trying to be funny, but then where's you're big hit? Atlanta could make you a star. There are so many opportunities here. You should be huge by now."

Nelly pursed her lips, "I feel shade, but yes I agree. This is where I'm about to spill some tea. Remember when I told you Alayna had major pipes? Well, I know first hand. I never really liked Alayna, even in the kid days, but during a talent show in Junior High, I heard her and realized we could make each other stars. It worked for a while. We formed a group, CAP. It was our initials; the P came from some girl named Princess. I have no idea what happened to her."

"So,why didn't the group last?"

"Like I said, Alayna and I were never best friends. We never could be. There were too many differences. It just would never work. We all knew things were coming to an end, but what really sped the process up was when she got pregnant."

I nearly fell out of my damn chair. Did she just say Alayna had a kid? I tried to picture her as a mother, but couldn't envison it.

Nelly smirked at my expression. "Hard to swallow huh? It was for me too. We weren't even officially in high school yet and she was pregnant."