The Girl In The Room

Chapter 2

First, I had to find a song. I couldn't find anything I liked that was safe and uncomplicated to sing as a first song. Since when have all the songs in the history of this universe contained impossible riffs and complicated chords! I ran my hands through my blonde, tangled hair, shutting my eyes and taking deep breaths; maybe I could ask Peyton_Harrystyles4eva for some help? This was her idea after all. I grabbed my laptop and opened up Twitter. It wasn't hard to find her, as she had been tagging me in several tweets recently. I decided to DM her, asking in the least panicked way possible if she had any suggestions. It took her approximately ten seconds to reply:

Peyton_Harrystyles4eva: Oh my god, I can't believe you are actually asking for my help, its such an honour! Ok so I did in fact have a few ideas, maybe you could try out Dancing On My Own, by Calum Scott or Begin Again, by Taylor Swift? Idk these are just what I think are best for a first try, I hope this helps! xxx

Avery.Harlow: Thank you so much, these are some great suggestions! I'll see what I can do :) xx

I practiced and rerecorded all throughout the day and night, still not satisfied with a run through. I had considered giving up many times, but every time that this feeling of helplessness enveloped me, I would text Peyton and she would always calm me with words of encouragement and urge me to keep going. I must have sent her hundreds of videos of failed attempts until she finally said that this was the one. So, finally after hours and hours of work, on Friday night and six pm, I uploaded a video of me singing whilst playing the guitar: I had decided on Isn't She Lovely by Stevie Wonder.

Unwilling to face the prospects of the world's reaction to my new video, I attempted to go to sleep. But worry and anxiety laced its way into every one of my thoughts, continuously reminding me that there was a possibility that Peyton had lulled me into a false sense of security, perhaps not wanting to crush my already wavering confidence, by offending me. No ... I trusted her. I was just making up stupid scenarios in my head to further doubt myself. I don't know why I was so stressed, it wasn't like my twenty or so subscribers were going to torment me with nasty comments and unjust criticism, most of them were pleasant and motivating. Eventually, my worries subsided and I managed to drift into a dreamless sleep.

I was woken by the sound of multiple alarms coming from my phone and laptop. Nervously, I checked the video that I had posted the night before, imagining the worst. What lay before me, presented on a crowded screen, shocked me so thoroughly, tingles ran down my arms like invisible dragonflies and my stomach tightened. My video had been reposted and reblogged, tagged and hash-tagged to. an overwhelming extent. Was this really happening? My video had thousands of likes and an endless stream of comments, the most views I had ever received. Too excited to eat the viscous porridge, left for me at my door, I immediately began reading each and every comment, not leaving a single one out. The good, the bad and some incomprehensible ones, until a particular comment struck me so deeply, I simply had to reply.