"OK, let's give it another go,".

I sat in my rented car outside Nick's house and plucked up the courage to knock. I'd tried several times with Daisy since the our first failure but we hadn't had any luck. Either there was no answer or it was the nasty housekeeper woman.

I walked up Nick's path nervously, alone. Daisy was at work that day so I had to go alone. I had been sitting in Daisy's living room that morning watching TV, totally bored, and thought another trip to Nick's house might be worthwhile.

I heard the pugs barking as I knocked. There was no answer so I was about to leave, when suddenly, the door swung open.

I managed to stop myself from gasping. It was Nick himself!

"I was just leaving... did you want something?" he asked me in that voice I had wanted to hear for years.

I held up my album with a shaking hand. "I wanted you to listen to this," I said, trembling.

He took it from me. "This is your CD?" he quizzed.

"Yeah," I blushed, feeling kinda embarrassed. I looked around at his house. It was so beautiful!

"OK, I'll give it a listen. I've had so many girls send me their tapes!".

I could imagine him having a huge box full of tapes, and mine being throw in with them. I wouldn't have that. He'd never listen to it! "Please listen to it now," I asked, trying not to sound too pushy. "Let me know now if it's any good. If not, I won't bother you again,".

Nick sighed. "I was just going out... OK, very quickly,".

He let me in the house and we sat in the living room. Nick put the CD on and sat down.

I couldn't help wondering if Nick was OK. He looked tired and stressed, yet he was on his break from touring, He should have looked more refreshed. He had dark shadows under his eyes and his hair was a mess, his clothes like he'd just thrown on the first thing he'd seen. Maybe he was just lazy... I hoped he wasn't sick.

The first track on the album was one of my favorites, titled This is Me. I had written it with my personality in mind, telling the world that I wasn't some brainless puppet, I was real and didn't want to be changed. It was a fast track with a good beat.

Nick managed a smile, the first smiled I'd seen since arriving. "You have a wonderful voice," he told me.

My heart fluttered. "Thanks," I whispered.

"What style of music are you then...?" he asked. "...Melody," he read my name from the front of the CD case.

"Everything," I told him. "Some of my stuff is quite heavy, like alternative, while some of my songs are romantic ballads. There's some R&B type songs on here and one of the tracks is quite country,".

"So how long have you been singing?" he quizzed.

"All my life! I've always wanted to be a singer but it wasn't until recently that I started to work on my dream. I wrote the whole album in a month and recorded it at college,".

Nick looked impressed. "You did all this yourself?".

I nodded, going red. "Yeah... I wrote the songs then some friends at college back in Kentucky helped me record it. My friend Daisy helped with the artwork,".

As I mentioned Daisy, I looked down at my clothes. I was wearing one of my new outfits that Daisy had helped me chose. I hoped it wouldn't put off Nick! My pants were sparkly silver and I had on a little tank top in baby blue with the words 'Don't worry, I won't bite' written across the middle. Daisy had put my hair into a messy-but-cool style where some of it was pulled back and some strands were down and crimped. She's helped me with my make up too; this time the look was more natural, with a hint of glitter on my eyelids.

"This is good," Nick said after a couple more songs. "I mean, a lot of the tapes I've been sent are from Britney wannabes that do the typical bubblegum pop stuff, but your songs are more creative and different,".

"Thanks,".

"I'll talk to my staff about this. I'll call you if they think it's any good,".

I gave Nick the address and number of Daisy's house and walked to the door.

"Thankyou for listening to it," I said, bending down to stroke one of the pugs that was jumping up at me,".

"No problem, this is probably the best I've been sent so far. It's great,".

I said goodbye and walked back to my car, still shaking. I turned and waved to Nick. I couldn't help notice that he looked sad. He'd hardly smiled the whole time I was there. I mean, if I was a famous singer always on tour and I had a few months off, I'd be over the moon! I'd be happy. Something was up... but what?

"This is something to celebrate!".

I shrugged. "Fine, I feel like celebrating," I told Daisy with a big smile across my face.

"We'll go to a club if you like," Daisy said. She'd just got back from work and I'd told her the good news.

"Um, I'm not really one for clubs," I told her. "How about going out to a restaurant?".

"Fine," she agreed. "There's this cool place in town that you'll love. I'll book us a table,".

I sat in front of the TV while Daisy phoned the restaurant. She was being great. I'd been e pals with her for about a year but I hadn't met her until I'd arrived the previous week. I hadn't known what to expect, from her e mails she's sounded real nice, a little crazy but nice. But I had discovered that she was as nice as she seemed from her mails, and she didn't mind me staying in her house at all which I was grateful for. I guessed she enjoyed the company, as she lived alone.

"I've booked us for seven," she informed me. "So Nick liked it?".

"He said he did," I smiled, thinking of my encounter. "I just hope he's not leading me on. I mean, Nick's a nice guy. He doesn't like letting people down. Maybe he didn't want to come out and say it was crap cuz he didn't want to upset me. Maybe he didn't intend to show his staff, he might have chucked it in the trash by now,".

"Don't say that!" Daisy protested. "He must have meant it. I mean, you're a wonderful singer. You're just too modest and underestimate yourself!".

"Thanks," I said. "Well I'll know pretty soon if he meant it or not. He's gonna call here when his staff have heard it,".

"Nick's gonna call my house?" Daisy cried. "Gosh!". She looked kinda starstruck. "I'd better make sure I use my best voice each time I answer the phone,".

I laughed. "Anyways, he said he liked my style...".

"I betcha he took a fancy to you," Daisy butted in.

"Yeah right," I muttered as I turned pink. "I'm hardly as pretty as Jade...".

"Did you see her?" Daisy asked.

"No, I don't think she was in. Well, if she was I didn't see her,".

"There's something about that girl I don't like," Daisy said.

"How do you mean?" I asked curiously.

"Well... I don't know. I just get bad vibes from her. I know all the fans like her but she's just too perfect,".

"She seems nice enough," I shrugged.

"I wonder why Nick's with her anyways," Daisy carried on. "I mean, he's an Aquarius and she's a Sagittarius. Aquarians like companionship and need a close partner but Sagittarians are independent and like their freedom. Plus Air and Fire signs don't match well,".

I laughed. "I forgot you were a horoscope expert. So how good is a Virgo Aquarius match?". I had to know if I was suited to him!

"I was almost a Virgo too," she told me. "But I was born a few days before, so I'm a Leo. Anyways, you're an Earth sign and he's an Air, which isn't a perfect match but it's supposed to be quite good, except that Virgo's have an analytical approach to life which cause arguments with Aquarians,".

I laughed. "Oh no!".

I went up to my room and picked out something to wear for the night out. I decided on a pair of glittery jeans and a tight, long-sleeved pale pink sporty top with number 16 on the front and back. My hair was getting messy so I took it out and brushed it smooth so it sat perfectly on my shoulders. I looked in the mirror and admired the color; the new gingery-blond color was way better than my old mousy brown!

"Melody! Phone call!".

I threw down my hair brush and ran down the stairs. I took the receiver from Daisy. "Hello?".

"Hi, it's your mom,".

"Hi mom," I said, settling myself in the armchair. I was disappointed it wasn't Nick!

"How are you getting on?" she asked.

"Fine, I gave Nick my album today!" I said happily. "He's gonna get back to me on it,".

"That's nice," she replied. "Harmony wants a word,".

"Hi!" I heard my little sis say.

"Hey Harmony! What's up?".

"Nothing. It's so boring without you here...".

I felt sorry for her and wished I could see her. "Have you done anything cool?".

"No,".

"Oh,".

"Mel, I miss you,".

My sister sounded so sad. I wanted to hug her but I couldn't. "I miss you too," I told her. "But I'm sure to see you again soon. If I don't come home yet, you, mom and dad can come and see me here,".

We talked for a little while then Daisy came in tapping her watch. "We have to leave," she whispered.

"Sorry Harm, but I gotta go. We have a table booked,".

"OK, talk to you soon," she said. "Good luck with Nick,".

"Thanks,".

We climbed into the car and set off toward the restaurant. I could help laugh at Daisy's outfit. She was wearing a yellow plastic skirt and a bright red tank top, topped off with an orange cowboy hat.

"You're crazy," I told her.

Our night out was cool. I was happy over the meeting with Nick so I enjoyed myself. The restaurant was a modern, trendy place and the waiters were young. Several of them were extremely cute and I could help eye them up.

After dinner we went to take in a movie. It was gone eleven by the time we arrived back at the house.

"I'd better go to bed, I have to be at work for nine tomorrow," Daisy yawned, taking off her hat.

"I'm tired too," I admitted. "And I'll be getting up early to sit by the phone waiting for Nick!".

Ten minutes later I was lying in bed wide awake. I couldn't sleep!

In the moonlight I could see Nick on a poster that hung by my bed. "Please sign me!" I said to the poster. "Make my dreams come true!".

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