The Bonus Prize

Capter One: Our Surprise Roommate

Stella-Mae PoV

Scarlett, my best friend since she first moved next door to me when I was seven, was sleeping on my shoulder with her iPod plugged on, and One Direction was blasting off of her headphones. Typical. Ever since she saw them once in X-Factor, she's been swooning over them. It got to the point where she was researching all of the members, memorizing their birthday, height, favorite color, songs, and everything to do with them. I asked her which member was her favorite and she would blurt out, "HARRY STYLES!"

Me?

I guess I'm okay with them. I know a couple of their lyrics and I agree that they are all pretty charming, but I'm not really that much obsessed with them as she is. Right now, we are in a plane ride to London, England because our new manager, Gwen Stones, told us too. 

Why do we have a new manager?

For the months of our summer vacation, Scarlett and I entered a competition called ROL (Rock Out Loud) where we had two months to write a whole album and film three music videos. I showed Scarlett the advertisement on the newspaper in my home back in Leeds, England. We didn't need a big discussion whether we wanted to be in or not because Scarlett can play the keyboards and sing and I can play the guitar and sing. 

After winning round after round after round, we had no idea how much we have worked our arses off to come to this point. 

It was a lazy Sunday morning and I did my usual thing; I ate breakfast, fed my dog, Jack, and walked to Scarlett's house. She was blasting off "What Makes You Beautiful" by One Direction as usual when I entered her room. I was about to turn on my laptop to see the ROL homepage when suddenly my phone rang. 

The number that was there in the callar ID was a number I've never seen before so I answered to find it was our new manager, Gwen.

"Hello?" I asked through the phone. I looked at Scarlett and gestured her to turn down the music. 

"Hi, this is Gwen Stones, the co-founder of Rock Out Loud and assistant director of the Syco Records. Am I speaking to either Scarlett Cain or Stella-Mae Pond?"

I could not breath. At all. Scarlett looked at me with a concerned look because we both knew that today was the day that ROL was going to call the winners and the losers. 

Did we win or lose?

"Y-yes, th-this is St-Stella-Mae," I stammered.

I heard Miss Stones chuckle a kind one. "Is Scarlett there with you, Stella-Mae?"

"Yes, she's h-here with m-me, yes."

"You should probably put this on speaker phone, then."

"O-Okay..." I clicked the speaker phone and I squeezed Scarlett's hand.

"Ahem," Gwen cleared her voice. "Stella-Mae Pond and Scarlett Cain. I am here to inform you something about the Rock Out Loud web competition that you two entered in the beginning of the summer."

"Just get on with it..." Scarlett groaned quietly so Gwen won't hear.

"... In behalf of all of Syco Records we say, 'Congratulations, Stella-Mae and Scarlett. You have won the ROL competition in Grand Place.'"

Scarlett and I stay quiet. At first, nothing else mattered. I pinched myself a couple of times to beg this wasn't a dream. Everything went white. All I heard in my head was 'Grand Prize.' We got Grand Prize...? Spilling Purple Ink (our band name) got Grand Prize in a competition that was all over England?

I felt a harsh tug and a screeching yell in my ear. It was Scarlett. Freaking the hell out. I finally came back to Earth and I started yelling and jumping around with her.