A Thousand Miles Away (Book 1 of the HOLLYWOOD HEARTS series)

Prologue

Prologue

If I could fall into the sky

Do you think time would pass me by, oh

‘Cause you know I’d walk a thousand miles if I could just see you…

If I could just hold you…

Tonight…

Calli Parker stepped away from the microphone and shot her sister a grin. Chyna Parker grinned back and gave her twin a thumbs up gesture as she pulled the headphones off her ears.  “Perfect, as usual, Calli!” She said, snapping her notebook shut and standing as Callie walked out of the recoding booth.   

“Yes, Calli; fantastic, darling.”  The girl’s manager, Sandra, breezed over and hugged her.  “Absolutely brilliant!”

“Yes, very nice.” echoed Miranda, Sandra’s assistant.  Sandra paid no attention to her, only on her young superstar.

“Well, Chyna wrote the song…” Calli said bashfully, and Chyna blushed as Sandra hugged her as well.

“You girls are on your way to the top!” She squealed, then tottered from the room.  Miranda hurried after her. 

“So, what are we doing for the rest of the day?” Chyna asked as she pushed open the door to their studio.  Callie slid out gracefully, then waited for her sister to close the door before walking away. 

“I don’t really care.” She turned, and grinned.  “We can invite Zayn and Liam over for a movie night.” Chyna rolled her eyes. 

“You just wanna see Liam.” Her sister shrugged, grinning.  “You like him.” She teased, and Calli blushed.

“No. We’re just friends.”

“You want to hug him, you want to love him, you want to kiss his face, you want to have him as you boyfriend—“

“Shut up, Chyna!” Callie hissed, punching her sister in the arm.  Chyna giggled as they walked into her car.  The paparazzi, who were over interviewing someone else who had just walked out, quickly swarmed the two. 

“Calli! Is it true that you're dating TV star Liam Payne?” “Are you two an official item yet?” “Calli, over here!” “Chyna, it true that your inspiration is the Beatles?” “Chyna, just one picture, please!” “Chyna, do you write your own songs, or does someone else write them and you just take the credit?” Chyna hunched over, trying to hide herself, but Calli grabbed her arm and gave a cheery smile. 

“Just smile, wave, and answer a few questions, and they’ll leave you alone!” She hissed between clenched teeth.  “No, Li and I are just friends.” She said to the paparazzi.

“But Pop Star magazine reported that you two were photographed going to dinner last night at the Ritz.  Care to explain?”

“Liam and I are friends.  Friends that occasionally go out to dinner together.”  She grinned for the flashing cameras, and Chyna smiled weakly and waved.

“Chyna! You were seen with Zayn Malik just a few days ago—anything to comment? Are you dating Liam’s best friend?”

“N-no…Zayn and I-I write together sometimes…that’s all.” Chyna fumbled for the car door handle. “E-excuse me.” She slammed the door shut, and rested her head back on the seat.  Callie quickly got in the other side, and looked at her sister.

“Now, see? That wasn’t so hard, now was it?” Chyna turned slowly and glared at her sister.

“Paps are twats.” Calli giggled.

“You should write a song about that.”

“Shut up, Calli.”  She quickly drove away from the throng of people, and sighed in relief.  Calli giggled at something on her phone.  “Texting Liam?”

“Maybe.” She blushed.  “Hey, hurry up, you can make the light.” Chyna sped up, knowing that she would be able to cruise through the intersection before the light turned red.  She glanced over to the right, then the left.  Nothing coming.  Suddenly, they heard a truck honking wildly.  Calli looked up to see a truck swerving violently around the road—the driver was slouched over the wheel.  “Chyna, look out!” Calli screamed.  Chyna jerked, trying to get out of the man’s way, but it was too late. She saw was the truck smashing head on into the front end of her car.  The last thing she heard was Calli shrieking, then everything went black.