Rumor

Chapter Nine: Ellen

Danielle's POV

I wake up to a knock on my door. "Danielle." I hear Derek say through the door. I look at the clock to see it's only six o'clock. "Get up we have Ellen today." Oh my gosh I completely forgot that I was going to be on Ellen today announcing my single. "Okay let me shower first." I yell to Derek. "Just come down in a robe, my stylist will help you choose an outfit."

"Okay." I answer as I'm getting out of bed. I jump into the shower quickly and wash my hair. As I'm washing out my conditioner I hear someone enter the bathroom. Before I know it three figures are grabbing me from behind the curtain. I scream as they pull me out of the shower. "Got ya." Belle says. I look up to see Jane, Belle, and Maria all laughing at me as I stand there in front of them naked. "Not funny!" I say angrily as I cross my arms. "Ooo la la." Maria says as she smacks my butt. "Someone has a rocking body." The three of them start to laugh as I pull on a robe. "Let's go downstairs." I say annoyed with there humor. "Oh you're no fun." Jane says as I walk out of my guest room.

"There you are." Derek says as I appear on the stairs. "Sorry I was kind of held up." I reply giving a glare to the three girls behind me. "Hi, My name is Ryan." A handsome man who appears to be in his late 20's says to me. "Danielle." I say and shake his hand. "Ryan is my stylist and he'll help you choose an outfit for the interview. Maria is going to do your make up." Derek explains to me. "Well as long as she doesn't grab my ass while doing my make up then sure." I say and Maria , Jane, and Belle start laughing hysterically as Derek gives me a confused look. "Well lets find out what I'm going to wear." I say changing the topic. Ryan leads me over to five racks of clothes in Derek's living room. I scan through the racks looking for something that's cute but not too formal. "I like this one." I say to Ryan as I hold up a mid-thigh length purple dress with a dramatic purple bow around the waist. "I was really hoping you'd pick that, it would look great on you." He says as he takes it from me.

"Derek!" I hear a voice say from the front door. "Mom!" I missed you Derek says as a small, less than middle aged woman appears in the entry of the living room. Derek runs to give her a hug. Just then my parents, Jason, Derek's father, and Derek's little brother and sister appear. Derek gives his father, brother, and sister a hug. "So this must be the famous Danielle. I'm Sydney." Derek's mom says as she walks towards me and gives me a hug. "Not quite famous, but I'm on my way." I say after she pulls apart from me. She introduces herself to my sisters and gives Maria a hug. Derek's father, Jake, does the same. "So you guys have met?" I ask my parents pointing to Derek's parents. "Yeah we all went out for some breakfast." My dad answers me.

"Why don't you guys come meet the girls?" Derek says in a sweet voice to his brother and sister. He leads them over to us and they introduce themselves. "I'm Megan, I'm five!" The little girl says holding out her hand for each of us to shake. "And I'm Paul, you're pretty." The little boy says causing everyone to laugh. "You mean you're six?" Derek asks him jokingly. "No!" Paul screams to Derek. "Yeah you tell him Paul!" I encourage him. "Is this the dress you've picked?" My mom asks pointing to the dress that Ryan's holding. "Yes." Ryan answers for me. "And she should probably go put it on so Maria can get to work on her." He says holding out the dress for me to grab. I grab the dress and Maria and I make our way upstairs. "Can I go with them?" I hear Paul ask from the living room as Maria and I are walking up the stairs. We laugh at his cuteness.

Maria helps me into the dress then starts working on my hair and make up. "Aren't they adorable?" Maria asks me as she starts to curl my hair. "Very." I answer. "Are you nervous?" She asks me finishing another curl. "A little." I say truthfully. I always watched Ellen's show and the fact that I'm going to be on it is just overwhelming. "Just be yourself and trust me, everyone will love you." She says and gives me a comforting smile. "Thanks." I tell her gratefully. "What are you and Luke doing on your date tonight?" She asks giving me a playful nudge. "I don't know, he said it was a surprise." I say as Maria finishes my hair and moves onto applying make up. "Oh, you know what that means." She says with a smile. "What?" I ask her. "He wants some of that rocking bod!" Maria says then grabs my ass again. "Well he isn't getting any of that." I say to Maria as we both laugh. Maria finishes my make up really quickly and we both make our way downstairs.

"You look gorgeous." My mother says in awe as I walk into the living room. "You can thank Maria and Ryan for that." I say and give them each thankful looks. "Well you're ready just in time because we have to get going." Derek says and goes to give Ryan a bro hug and thanks him. "Let's go..." Jason says and leads all of us into a black Range Rover. "We're going to have to sit laps." He says and looks at Paul and Megan. "I want to sit on Danielle's Lap!" Paul demands. Jason lifts him into the car and sets him on my lap. We all manage to shove ourselves into the car.

It's about a twenty minute drive to Ellen's studio. As soon as we pull up to the building we all pile out. Jason leads us inside and into a huge dressing room that was prepared for me. "It'll be about an hour until someone comes to get you." Jason explains to me then leaves the dressing room. "Food!" Jane and Belle yell standing at a buffet table shoving as much food as possible into their mouths. "You two are pigs." My dad mumbles as he shoves three cookies into his mouth. We all laugh at him. Just then Jason appears back in the room with four people. "Hey!" Derek yells and gives them all a hug. When he's done the four people go to give Maria, Sydney, Jake, and Paul and Megan all hugs. Then Derek Introduces them to us. "Guys this is the..." "Jones family." My dad cuts him off and gives each of them a handshake. "It's nice to meet you guys." My mom says and also shakes their hands. Just then I recognize the boy who looks to be about my age. He must have noticed me looking at him. "Are you shocked because I'm black?" He jokingly asks me. "Oh.. I'm sorry..." I start. "Don't sweat it I'm....." "Wren" I cut him off. "I know who you are I'm a fan of your music, and movies." I explain to him. "Well then it's extra nice to meet you." Wren says and flashes me a smile. The rest of the family then introduces them selves. Will, Jackie and Tori. "I'm a fan of your music too." I tell Tori as I shake her hand. "But your not a fan of me?" Will asks pretending to be hurt. I just laugh at him. We all sit down and start a conversation.

"So what grade are you in Danielle?" Jackie asks being friendly. "Uh, 9th." I answer her simply. "Oh, so you and Wren are in the same grade. Tori's a year younger." She tells me. I look over to Wren and he gives me a wink. I just smile. "You're on in 15 minutes." A small guy says as he pokes his head through the door. "Okay lets debrief you quickly." Derek says. "If she asks you any personal questions you don't want to answer just do something to change the conversation, she won't push it." He explains. "Got it." I say as he leads me to the edge of the stage. Just then Ellen appears and the camera man is counting down. "5,4,3,2,1..." Then Ellen starts talking. I ignore what she says as I look into the audience. I study all of the faces. "Everyone, Danielle Fields." I hear Ellen say then Derek is pushing me towards the stage. I quickly put on a smile and walk out, waving at the audience. I give Ellen a hug and sit down. "It's nice to finally meet the girl that the whole world is obsessed with." Ellen says with a little laugh. "I know it's weird right?" I say not knowing what else to say. She starts asking me questions about Derek.

"So what's the story, how did Derek find you?"

"Uh, well basically he saw one of my videos on the internet, and he decided he wanted to sign me. So a few days after I uploaded the video my parents got a call from him and then he flew my family and I out here, and now I'm on Ellen." The audience and Ellen laugh at the last part.

"And you were a huge fan of Derek right?"

"Yeah, it's kind of weird to wake up in his house every morning." More laughs.

"So, I've heard a rumor that you have a date with Luke Bent." Ellen gives me a suspicious look.

"Who's that?" I say but nobody believes it.

"It's the boy you're going on a date with tonight." Ellen responds condescendingly.

"Sorry, I don't know what you're talking about." I say unable to conceal my smile.

"Sure." Ellen says expanding the word. She drops the topic and asks me about my single. "So tell us about your single!' The crowd cheers in anticipation.

"Well, It's called pictures, and it's coming out February 9th!" Once I say that the crowd goes crazy with screams coming from every direction.

"Wait." Ellen says calming the crowd. "There's more." She gestures to me.

"Maria Monte is going to feature on the song!" And with that the crowd is in hysterics.