Eyes Wide Open

Chapter 1

Jackie shakes her head as she places her laptop into her backpack, she then picks the bag up and heads to the garage and gets in her "school car", thinking as she backs up how shocked everyone would be if she was to show up at school in the car she drives to work. The difference between the two are like night and day, the car she's driving now is a Kia Sorento, the other one is a Bugatti Veyron.
As Jackie parks in one of the available spaces in the student parking lot, she looks at the one place she hates the most. If she could she'd never step another foot in that place again, but she has no choice. It was part of the agreement she had to concede to in order for the judge to agree to allow her to "divorce" her parents and live on her own at the age of sixteen. She figured he finally realized she was responsible enough since she'd been supporting her entire family for years due to the royalties she was receiving from the songs she'd written. What tipped the scales in her favor is when she showed proof that her parents had quit their jobs, were taking her money, and spending it as  if it was their own, they'd even bought a house. But the reason she hates this place so much is because of the people, if you don't measure up to their standards, then your not worth their time. Or at least to most, some of them will tease you or even worse. And since her jackass of a manager thinks, for her safety, she's better off wearing her glasses to school instead of her contacts, just in case someone recognizes her, she's been branded the school super nerd, therefore teased constantly. She's tried explaining to Jason many times that there is no way in hell anyone here would realize that who she is, people don't pay attention to the people behind the scenes, they don't look to see who write the songs. They just care about the ones standing on stage, up front and center, singing the words.
With a sigh, Jackie gets out of her car, grabs her bag, hits the lock, then heads for the side entrance of the building. With her head down, but always aware of everyone around her, she makes her way as quickly as possible to her locker to collect the things needed for her first few classes. Jacqueline does it this way so she's not caught by one, or more, of her tormentors, she can just go from class to class without being cornered alone down this dark hallway. Once she's in her usual seat in her first class of the day, Jacqueline notices she has another twenty minutes before it starts. So she does as always, grabbing her laptop, she opens it, then with a series of clicks she's where she wants to be. Jacqueline has her music file hidden so if someone takes her computer they won't be able to see her work unless they know what they're doing. Her biggest fear is someone here finding out who she is before she's ready to tell the world, which could be closer than anyone thinks, if the songs she's working on sounds as good as she hopes.
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Harry wraps the towel he set on the counter around his waist before walking back into his room, he's gotten in this habit since the others don't seem to respect personal space. They just barge in whenever they want, without knocking, he's been caught getting dressed, drying off after a shower, even jerking off. Harry may be the youngest of the group, but he's still in the same grade as the others, having skipped second and fifth, but due to his height most people just assume he's the same age as everyone else.
A few years back, when he and the guys decided to have a go at forming their band, they started out as a normal teenage boyband would. They joined school talent shows, went to under twenty-one clubs playing their covers there. Much to their surprise they started gaining a pretty big local following, so with some of the money they'd been paid, Harry asks his sister Gemma to come to some of their shows, record them so he can later post them on their YouTube channel. Gemma, being the best sister in the world, agrees to do this for him but refuses the money, telling him to save it for a rainy day, or a demo.
Two months, just two months of his sister following them from gig to gig, recording the four guys singing, Harry and Louis editing and posting those videos, a record label rep approaches them about signing with them. They were all so shocked, excited, and eager, they were ready to sign right then and there. But, Gemma, being a law student, she steps up, tells the lady she'd be happy to read through any papers to make sure her "clients" get a fair deal. That quick, short episode taught Harry a huge lesson. Never get caught up in the moment, especially in this business, always taking a step back, weigh all your options, and never sign anything without reading it first.
He and the other guys will forever be grateful to Gemma for what she did for them that day, they wouldn't be where they're at now if she hadn't stepped in. Of course she has now graduated from law school and is now representing them in all new ventures, so she's making damn good money.
As Harry runs his fingers through his long hair, trying to get his curls under control, he gets a message from the band's manager. Seems as though the person who has written ninety percent of their hit songs has submitted several more, what the fuck, he thought their songs were written by several different people, not just one. He'd like to meet this talented guy.