A Good Year to Win a Contest

Chapter Five

A/N I am absolute crap. I've been meaning to upload this chapter for a million years, but I kept pushing it off. Sorry guys, but here you go now!

Everyone stared at me like I was speaking a foreign language they couldn’t understand. They could not show that video, not to anyone, ever! Especially on live television! I mean wasn’t it bad enough that my mom had apparently installed a camera in my car without my knowledge so that she could show my idols what an idiot I am? Now I have to sit back and let an entire country find out?

“Um, Maka?” the young interviewer said slowly.

“Please don’t show that video!”

“Why not?” he asked.

I ran my hands through my hair unsuccessfully; Lou’s Grecian Braid was firmly held in place. “Because I’m positive that it will be embarrassing since I didn’t even know I was being filmed!”

Liam patted my arm and said quietly so only I would hear, “Maka, it’s okay. We’ve all had embarrassing things being spread around. It sort of comes with the job.”

I bit my lip to stop myself from saying that I wasn’t supposed to even be here. They might kick me out; and I didn’t want to mess up this opportunity already.

Niall reached over Louis’ and Harry’s laps to grab my hand. “Come on Maka, it’ll be fine. The video was sick.”

“Maka,” Louis said, making my heart stop, “If we didn’t like the video, we wouldn’t have picked you. No one’s going to tear the mickey out of you.”

It had to be Louis who got the final say. Of course it had to be.

“Fine, just play it,” I told the interviewers while looking into his gorgeous blue eyes. He smiled at me and I melted on the spot.

“Alright, and here we are!” the blonde woman said, gesturing to a large screen behind our heads. I gulped, trying not to freak out.

The first frame was one of my mom. She was sitting in a chair in our living room, looking nervous and shy. Actually, she looked like me. In reality she was the fun, bubbly person I could never even pretend to be.

“Hi,” she said unsurely, “My name is Annette Howard, and I’m entering my daughter in the contest to spend a year with you. Makayla is nineteen years old and hasn’t done much travelling in her life. This kind of opportunity for her would be more than I could ever provide her with.”

I felt tears build as I watched my mom’s face light up when she talked about me. I missed her so much. In the video she smiled widely. “I know I could spend all day talking about my baby, but I don’t think that would be a very interesting video. Instead I asked for some help installing a hidden camera in her car. It might seem strange, but to be honest it’s the only way you’ll get to see her the way I do; amazingly cheerful, funny, and outgoing.”

Her frame ended and one of Auggie from the Pizzeria popped up. “So I was the one lucky enough to sift through all the footage and I felt that the best way to give you the full image of my good friend Makayla Howard was to separate the clips into different categories. So without further ado, I give you Maka.”

The screen went blank before white words faded in saying “Happy Maka.” And there I was, my face smiling brightly with the sun all around me. I was laughing at something while driving on the freeway. I could faintly see Morg’s red hair in the passenger seat beside me, and I made constant looks at her while we laughed.

The clip changed to one of me talking with the music off. “So in my dream I was basically this vampire fighting off a bank robber named Djhang,” I said, and Morg – always my passenger – laughed loudly with me.