You Never Knew Me

c h a p t e r f o u r

November 13, 2008 at 5AM
beep* *beep* *beep* I wake up to my annoying alarm and Meredith hitting my face. "Ugh, stop it cat!!" I guess I have to say the opposite, so she can understand me. "Meredith, please don't stop." Now there she goes, running away like she never did anything. That's my Merebear for you. I take a sip of my glass of water, and get out of bed. My long locks are tangled and I look like I just came out of 12 months of work in a muddy old farm. How lovely I look. I cleanse my face with a cold, wet washcloth and spray detangler in my horrid looking hair. I brush it until it is perfectly straight, only to pick up my curling iron.

Once I'm ready, I head for the Today show where they are going to interview me about my new album. I have to drive all the way to New York. But I get to go on the toll roads and everything, and so it won't be too bad. Ok, yes it will be bad. Not completely horrible, but not amazingly enjoyable. In other words, boring. 13 hours (coincidence...) of driving in not exactly completely awesome conditions. But, it's not like driving from Hendersonville to Australia... (You can't do that) My mom says that I have to make the money to fly on a plane, and I don't have that. So here I am, a 19 year old with an extremely big world in front of her, driving for 13 hours. Of course I'll make stops along the way, so it's not too bad.

I take a deep breath and get into my car. If it doesn't sound silly, I'm taking my cat with me. She's like my best friend, apart from Abigail. Oh, I never did reply to her text! I will now.

"Thank you gurl! I've just released the album, what do u think about it? It has that song I asked your permission for... ;) You'll hear it if you watch the show at 1:30 PM. I love the album if I must say so myself. How was your date, bestie?"

I'm anxious to hear what happened between her and Keith! You know about last time, I told you. Anyways, I jump in my silver car, turn on the engine that rumbled like an earthquake, put on the drive setting and get my GPS ready. There we go, it's sending me to Times Square. I check the mirrors and my mileage and I head off. Roads, roads, roads and more roads... I take sips of my to go coffee every now and then. I yawn, and then take another sip of coffee.

Finally, after hours and hours of coffee drinking, yawning and roads, it tells me that I have reached my destination, and that I can definitely see! Bustling people are trying to find the right shop to buy their necessities. Angry drivers honk their horns and ask for the other people behind the wheel to stop being so rude, but really they are the mean ones. If you think about it, every person has a story behind what they are doing though, whether you are rushing to get home or if you are very frustrated because your girlfriend dumped you. It's all happening in New York City.

I park the car in a near-to alienated parking lot behind the Gap and CVS Pharmacy stores. I guess the population of the city is too busy to notice that they can park here! I step out of the car, grab my purse, my guitar, Meredith and my hat then walk to the Today show headquarters. They have a place where I can put my cat, and I looked it up. Yes, I am a person who does that sort of thing, please don't judge me.

I have no idea how to get in; it's like a fortress! I push through screaming crowds, everyone's eyes are on me, and they're asking to take selfies... I can't take it anymore. I yell, "Stop, I'm trying to find my way in!" A helpful old man who is here points me to where I need to go. I say my thanks and move on with the day. I press the intercom and Matt Lauer says, "Come in Taylor, we're waiting for you in our lobby." The silver metal gate opens; I check to make sure nobody comes in behind me and then come in the door that opens automatically.

I can spot Kathie Lee and Hoda so I know I'm in the right place. "Hi, it's Taylor!" I yell. I hear voices. "Here you are, sit down." Al Roker says enthusiastically. I smile. I put Meredith in the animal play area (they have other cats, so I get to put her with them.) and my guitar case in the room next to where I am going to be interviewed.

3.... 2.... 1.... ACTION! The lights come on and Matt says, "Hello, we're back with Taylor Allison Swift." I give a wave, like it says to on the screen. "Al Roker and Carson Daly are here to interview her now." The cameraman presses pause then turns the camera on us.

C: Carson Daly - A: Al Roker – T: Taylor Swift

**

A: Here we are with Taylor to talk about her latest album, Fearless.

C: Tell us, how was it to record this album? I've heard the whole thing and I think it's absolutely amazing.

T: Well, I went into the studio with an open mind; I knew exactly what I wanted for this album. I wanted it to have loud lean guitars and catchy choruses, to have a bit of fiddle and banjo too, thrown into the mix. I wanted it to sound country, but catchy as well as that. I got all of that.

A: Sounds like you know what to do when you're in the business! Were you expecting your fans to be this excited on Social Media? For example, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr?

T: No, not at all! It is quite tremendous to know that I have thousands and thousands of people to be there when I eventually fall, even if I don't even realize it! I love my Swifties too much to explain.

C: That's absolutely right! So, can you play us some songs?

T: Yes, for sure! Abigail, Mom, Dad, Austin I hope you're watching...

**

I see a big thumbs up on everyone's Skype camera that the Today show producers hooked up. I take my guitar from the floor and start with my first song... Fifteen. This is for my Abby.

G... C/9... Em7... C/9...

"You take a deep breath and you walk through the doors
It's the morning of your very first day
You say "Hi" to your friends you ain't seen in a while
Try and stay out of everybody's way
It's your freshman year and you're gonna be here
For the next four years in this town
Hoping one of those boys will wink at you and say,
"You know I haven't seen you around before."

'Cause when you're fifteen and somebody tells you they love you
You're gonna believe them
And when you're fifteen
Feeling like there's nothing to figure out
Well count to ten, take it in
This is life before you know who you're gonna be
Fifteen

You sit in class next to a redhead named Abigail
And soon enough you're best friends
Laughing at the other girls who think they're so cool
We'll be out of here as soon as we can
And then you're on your very first date and he's got a car
And you're feeling like
And you're momma's waiting up and you think he's the one
And you're dancing 'round your room when the night ends
When the night ends

'Cause when you're fifteen and somebody tells you they love you
You're gonna believe them
When you're fifteen and your first kiss
Makes your head spin round but
In your life you'll do things greater than the boy of the
But I didn't know it at fifteen

When all you wanted was to be wanted
Wish you could and tell yourself what you know now
Back then I swore I was gonna marry him someday
But I realized some bigger dreams of mine

And Abigail gave everything she had to a boy
Who changed his mind and we both cried

'Cause when you're fifteen and somebody tells you they love you
You're gonna believe them
And when you're fifteen, don't forget to look before you fall
I've found that time can heal most anything
And you just might find who you're supposed to be
I didn't know who I was supposed to be at fifteen

La la la la la la la
La la la la la la la
La la la la la la la

Your very first day
Take a deep breath, girl
Take a deep breath as you walk through the doors."

There we go... Fifteen. I see Abigail cheering me on; I'm looking at the Skype camera. "So sorry I couldn't make it, Taylor! I hope I can do something else to cheer you up. I love it, that song is amazing! AND... It has my name in it!" Abigail says with a smile and I smile back.

I play some of my other songs, The Way I Loved You, The Best Day, Forever And Always, and last but not least, Love Story. The crowd goes wild, I take pictures with them, give autographs... This is more than a beautiful dream. I love it. 'Thank you so much, this is just pure luck.' I think to myself. I smile, look around and say, "THANK YOU NEW YORK CITY!" More screams, how amazing is this... My message to you is... Stay true to whom you are. That gets you to unimaginable places.

1641 Words.