The New Mendes

Chapter 2

Shawn and I were both new to the academy and very young. He was only fifteen and at the time I was fourteen about to be fifteen. Shawn and I are only three months apart in age.

He had just left Magcon, a tour he and several other boys started after they all got famous on an app called Vine, to attend Stars On The Rise. And I had just been on the X-Factor where I came in third, which was extremely impressive for a fourteen year old. 

We immediately became friends and stuck together since we were the newbees in the program with a bunch of people who were much older than us.

Quickly our friendship flourished into something amazing. I had never experienced anything like it before. I was bullied growing up for being a "chorus geek" and I was known as the weird girl who posted covers on Youtube. So I never had many friends and for me to meet this sweet, kind, handsome kid and for us to get along so well, it was almost too good to believe.

We were inseparable, always together singing or just goofing off together. We brought out the silliest parts of each other and he brought out the best in me.

He was the kindest soul I had ever met. In the ten months we were in the program together I never saw him show a single bad bone in his whole body. He would always put others before himself and he never said no to anyone. I think his sweetheart image on top of his talent is what lead to him becoming so famous as quickly as he did.

The program was supposed to be a twelve month process, but ten months in he got taken from me. Ten months of building an amazing friendship just ripped from below our feet.

After Shawn released his album Handwritten he just skyrocketed. His journey began, without me.

Of course we attempted to keep our friendship alive and it worked for a few months, but once he went on tour that's when he slowly outgrew me.

I graduated from Stars On The Rise after my twelve months was up. I became known, but I'm not as Americas sweetheart like Shawn is. I have released a few singles and an E.P. but nothing has really taken off for me.

If you were to ask someone "Have you heard of Elle Lively?" They would most likely say "Oh she's that one Youtuber right? She sings that one song Ain't No Crying in the Club."

That isn't even the name of my song. It's Crying in the Club. It was my one big hit that was on the radio for a short couple of months. But yes, I am a Youtuber now two years later with just under a million subscribers.

I always wonder how Shawn is doing and if he has changed? I really hope not. I hope fame hasn't polluted his pure heart. And most of all I wonder if he ever misses our friendship because I know I do.