How My World Changed Forever...Again

What's Beneath the Surface

Annie's POV
I wake up at 9:45 AM with just 15 minutes to be ready for Colleen and Rachel. Mom and Dad are both yelling, "Hurry up girls!"
They're very stressed this morning and I have no idea why. I scarf down breakfast Daddy got for me and get dressed. I fix my hair quickly into a ponytail, just as Hayley rolls out of bed. She just barely eats and gets dressed when there's a knock on the door. Dad opens it when he sees it's Colleen and Rachel. Mom and Dad are both rushing out the door, kissing both of us on our heads and thanking Rachel and Colleen. Suddenly, Hayley and I are left alone with people we just met yesterday. I get really quiet and shy. Mommy picked up or room this morning so it's completely orderly and even set up a tripod.
Hayley is back under the covers of the bed she and I slept in. I'm sitting on the edge of that bed. Rachel and Colleen are standing next to us. Colleen says, "Hey girls!"
I don't get it. It's 10 in the morning. She has makeup on, her hair is done, and she looks put together. I am a hot mess. I stand up from the bed and greet them both with hugs. They smile. Colleen says, "Ready to film? Hayley, I can braid your hair real quick or something if you want, Annie, I'd do yours too but it looks great already."
That makes me blush and smile awkwardly. "Thanks," I say.
With the words, "Braid your hair." Hayley is up and ready to go.

Colleen's POV
I'm standing behind Hayley braiding her hair into two Dutch braids. Not gonna lie, it's giving me major baby fever. Braiding a ten year olds hair is a little different than holding a baby, but something about running my fingers through a little girls hair, braiding it, makes me want a little girl's hair to do. Is that weird? I think it's weird. I finish Hayley's hair as we all talk and laugh together. I'm glad the girls are warming up to us because I was a little worried when we walked in.
When I'm finished, we decide to film blindfolded makeup first, while everyone is still happy to film. We pull two chairs, one for Hayley and one for Rachel. Annie and I are going to stand beside our respective sister to do the makeup. Annie moves her tripod and camera to our setup alone with a ring light. She starts by herself in front of the camera, then introduces Hayley, then Rachel and me. I wave like a dork and smile like "Colleen".
Once we get into the video, I start to have a lot of fun. We aren't so much talking to the camera but laughing with each other. The results are rough, but they're freaking hilarious. For the outro, Annie says, "Thanks guys for watching! Make sure to thumbs up the video and subscribe. Comment down below what else you want to see. Subscribe to Colleen, Rachel, and Hayley, and my family. Colleen and Rachel both have their own channels and vlogs. We filmed a video on each of their channels that'll be up sometime. It'll all be linked in the description. Byeeeee!"
Once she turns the camera off, she runs to get makeup wipes for Rachel and Hayley. Annie doesn't give the wipe to Hayley though, she wipes the makeup off Hayley's face herself. It almost makes me cry to see sisters together.
I say, "So what are we going to film next?"
"I don't know," Annie says, "I will sing with you if you want to do that. Rachel is your video all thought out?"
"Absolutely not," she says laughing, "What do you think I am? Good at my job?"
I interrupt, "So how about Annie and film a singing video while Hayley helps Rachel come up with annoying things Annie and I do?"
Hayley is very excited about the sound of that. Annie says, "That's good."
Rachel interrupts, "See Hayley? Yet again, the older sisters dictating what we do for us."
She laughs again at that.
Annie and I sit on the end of one of the beds (the one that Hayley wasn't still asleep in when we got here). She looks at me and says, "What are we singing..."
I say, "Well, we can sing whatever you want, or you can teach me one of your songs if you want. I did that with Grace Vadnderwaal about a year ago."
Annie's face lights up. She says, bashfully, "That sounds good."
I sit with Annie and listen to three songs of hers; "Ordinary Girl," "Photograph," and "Little Things."
Of course, I tell her they're great and she sounds amazing, which she does, her voice is really incredible for being so young. However, what I obviously don't tell her, is some of my real thoughts about the lyrics. It's very clear that they've been written for her and she really had no control over the songs. It's also very clear that they are extremely heavily tied to her company and agency. Honestly, the lyrics make her sound like a basic, privileged, white girl. Which, girl, no shade, because same. It's just, something doesn't sit quite right with what they're saying. And then there's this mysterious element of who they're about. In photograph, who is her "other half?" Is it a boy, is it her sister, her friend, like, what's happening? And then there are other things I hear that make me believe that under that smile and seemingly perfect life, she has felt it all in her short life. I just don't know what it is yet. "Taking it day by day"? What child ever has to say those words?
Annie tells me that she would prefer to do Little Things or Photograph so I choose Little Things. I sit down next to Annie, my finger on the record button of the camera. I'm already anticipating the amount of hate and shade that is going to come with this video.