A Good Year to Win a Contest

Chapter One

"Mom, where are we going?" I asked for the millionth time.

She smiled, but was still refusing to tell me anything. For the last thirty minutes she's been driving me to God-knows-where to do God-knows-what for God-knows-how-long. I love surprises usually, but I have a lot of homework piled up that needs to be done before the weekend is over.

I sighed, knowing she wasn't going to answer. I placed my headphones into my ears again and started up my favorite song. The lyrics to The Beginning (A Simple Seed) by The Classic Crime came on loudly, drowning out the sound of my mother's awful country music. I was instantly mellowed out, while still getting inspired and pumped at the same time. Placing my feet on the dashboard, I closed my eyes and waited for this crazy road trip to end.

Another half-hour later, my mom finally stopped the car in the parking lot of the Orpheum Theater. I recognized it instantly. The theater appreciation class I took last semester had a field trip of sorts. About five of the students, myself included, went for the extra credit. We watched a short play that actually wasn't half-bad.

"What are we doing here?" I asked, pulling out my headphones and turning off my iPod.

"I have a surprise for you!" she sang merrily. "Consider it an early Christmas/Birthday present. For the next year." My mom smiled as wide as she could before opening her door. I reluctantly grabbed my black Hogwarts hoodie off of the floor of the car and stepped out into the chilly December air.

My mom practically skipped into the building, turning around constantly to motion me to move faster. Rolling my eyes at her excitement, I picked up speed until I stood next to her underneath a bright chandelier hanging from a red-carpeted ceiling.

"Okay mom, explain please," I said.

She wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me in close. "I entered you into a contest, and you won. I didn't want to tell you in case you didn't win, I couldn't have lived with myself if I'd gotten your hopes up for nothing."

I stepped away from her hesitantly. "What kind of contest?" My mom had always been the type to jump the gun with her plans, so I was very familiar with them falling apart. This time was different. She'd kept it a secret. This meant one thing.

She desperately wanted this one to work out.

She grabbed my hands in front of her instead of letting me get away. "I looked through all the rules; I took care of all the loose ends. Honey, you will have the absolute best year of your life."

"What kind of contest?" I asked again.

Before she could answer, the large double doors leading to the stage burst open and a masculine voice exclaimed in a British accent, "You must be Annette! And that means the lucky winner has arrived!"

Simon Cowell strode up to us confidently, and I fainted.

"Did you hit her across the head Uncle Si?" a vaguely familiar accent questioned. But I'd only heard it through videos, on Youtube and television. Niall Horan.

I shivered when I felt movement over me. I sensed a lot of people hovering. Not wanting to open my eyes, but needing to know if I was dreaming or not, I rolled over. I groaned when my head practically split in two.

"Honey, are you okay? Oh my God, she's waking up!" my mom sounded breathless as she stroked the hair back from my face. "It's okay Baby, it's okay. Don't sit up yet, someone is going to get you something to drink."

I think I tried to nod. If the motion actually happened, I couldn't tell. I was slowly becoming numb. Instead of rolling again, I fluttered my eyelashes at the scene above me.