*Tyler added you as a friend* *Tristan added you as a friend* *Bryan added you as a friend* *Chris added you as a friend* *Dayne added you as a friend* *Darius added you as a friend*
Are you kidding me. No way. The alerts from Snapchat pop up on my phone almost exactly at once. Just like they explained last night on the live, they would be revealing the winner of the Dream LA internship by adding the winner on Snapchat.
My hands are shaking as I unlock my phone to go onto Snapchat. I immediately add each boy back as quickly as my fingers will allow.
I have been watching the lives every night for 3 weeks now, waiting for the reveal of the internship winner. Not only that, but I have honestly found myself loving the entire group. I look forward to their lives each night, hoping that they will reveal the winner.
My phone buzzes as I get another alert from Snapchat. I open the notification and see that Chris has sent me a snapchat.
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I smile ear to ear as Chris has quickly become my favorite of the group. I find myself watching his lives most nights. I frantically try to fix my hair, as I send him a snapchat back. I thank him for the congrats message. The rest of the boys also send me congratulatory snapchats. I cannot believe this is happening.
All of a sudden my phone lights up with an incoming call. It's an unknown number but I am assuming it is from one of the boys or from Heidi. I quickly pick up the phone.
"Hello," I answer in a shaky voice.
"Hey! Is this Hanna Mitchel?"
"Yes!"
"Hey girl, this is Heidi. I'm sure you have realized by now but I just wanted to officially call and tell you that you have been chosen to be the Dream LA summer intern."
"Oh my goodness, thank you so much! I am so excited to be working with you all."
"We all loved your application and we can't wait to get to know you."
"Thank you so much!"
"I was wondering if you would be available to have a Zoom meeting with the whole team so we can all get to know each other and take care of some of the business sides of things."
"Of course, I would love to. When were you thinking?"
"Are you free tomorrow at 12?"
"Yes! I am."
"Awesome. We all look forward to meeting you."
"I feel the same! See you tomorrow."
"See ya, bye!"
"Bye Heidi!"
I honestly feel like I'm dreaming right now. I can't believe I'm the one who got the internship. I'm not trying to play a game of self pity but I've never really seen myself as someone who would stand out in a group of applicants.
My whole life I've just seen myself as average. I'm just an average girl, with average looks, getting average grades, living in an average town, with an average job. Wow that sounded unnecessarily angsty, but it's true.
I have lived in a small town in Missouri my whole life. Throughout school, I managed to stick together with the same small group of friends. If anything in my life isn't average, it is them. They, however, were able to get out of this town and go off to college. As for me, I've spent the last three years at our local community college while I work off my student loans.
I am majoring in Mass Media with a minor in Communications. In order to stay up to date with social media, I spend a lot of my free time keeping up with all things news related. That is honestly why I applied for the internship in the first place.
I thought it would look really good on a future job application. It has just been a coincidence that the boys have become some of my favorite influencers.
Right as Heidi and I get off of the phone, the boys continue to add me back on all of my social media platforms. Still in shock from winning the internship, I run downstairs to tell my Mom.
My mom is sitting at the dining room table painting. She has gotten really into painting lately since my Dad left. It has only been a few weeks now. She's decided to start up on painting as a hobby. It's nice, but I think it's just a distraction.
The house has been especially quiet without my Dad around. I woke up one morning and he had just left us. No explanation, no note, no warning, no call or text telling us where he was.
My parents have been fighting for a while now, but I never thought he would actually leave. I think he just didn't know how to express his feelings so he decided he would just leave instead of trying to fix things.
I feel bad for my Mom because she has just tried to make things normal for me. Finally we have good news to celebrate.
"Hey Mom, remember that internship I applied for?"
"Of course."
"I actually got the internship," I say with a laugh.
"Wait what!"
My Mom jumps up from the table and gives me a huge hug. I hug her back tightly. This has been the first time in a while that we have had something to be excited about.
"So what all does this internship entail," my Mom questions.
"Honestly I have no idea. I'm just really excited to have something to do that I am passionate about. Plus this will really help me get experience in my major field."
"Hanna, I am so excited for you. You deserve this."
I feel my phone buzz in my back pocket. I grab my phone and turn on the screen. The notification reads, *You have been added to a group chat called Dream LA*.
