September 1. That was the day that changed my life forever. My name is Jackyleen VanderHusen. I’m 12 years old. Read on to see how my life changed for the better or for the worst.

August 30. “Jackee, their here!” mom screamed. “I’m ready. Just wait.” I screamed back. As Alex honked the horn, I ran to the door. It was time for practice, and as always Alex picks us up. My Band, ROk-U, joined the ‘Band Off’. It’s a show on T.V. where you compete with other bands to win a huge contract with Energy Records, the biggest company of singers and artists EVER. ‘Band Off’ is not a good name for a show if you ask me, but that’s showbiz. Anyway, we got to the finals, which we never expected by the way, and now were practicing big time to win. Actually, we never wanted to win. We just wanted to be on T.V. Kind of weird huh?!? Wait, I forgot that I kept the record or something, don’t exactly know what it is, but hey it’s proof.

CONTESTANT NUMBER 12

Band Name: ROk-U

Members: 3

Jackyleen VanderHusen; Pianist Allyson Ames; Vocals

Alexander Penner; Drums Madison Keneddy; Vocals

Drew Austin; Bass Guitarist Miranda Rowling; Vocals

Zeke Elmo; Guitarist

Cool Huh??.. They are all my bestest friends ever. We went to Seven Eleven first before going to Zeke’s House and bought some snacks. It’s been like our ‘Ritual’ since we’ve started our band. We usually practice at Zeke’s ‘Mansion’. And on special Occasions, we practice at Madison’s ‘Mansion’. Oh, and just to be clear, only me and Drew are middle class. The rest of my friends are HUGELY RICH. So, I bought a bag of chips, and the rest bought tons of stuff. But we share that stuff so, it’s good to have friends. Then when we arrived at Zeke’s mansion, we were greeted by his personal butler. We got used to that. Then we rehearsed our new song, ‘In Time’. “Guys, let’s go over all our songs once. The let’s have lunch. I’m having Chuck cook us his specialties.” Zeke announced. We all answered at once “Yeah, sure”. We got over all the songs and had our lunch at Zeke’s private lunch room. ‘PRIVATE LUNCH ROOM’, I only imagined that in my dreams. So, there we went to his PRIVATE LUNCH ROOM and, of course, had our lunch. “So, you guys think we have a chance of winning?” Miranda asked, “Hey, we got this far right. I’m sure we will. Besides, who would miss the chance to be famous?” I answered confidently. Drew then said “True..”

Back at my house, I immediately turned the computer on and logged in in my E-Journal. I just installed it and I’m always excited to put my entries in. I hate writing and preferred to just type about my days in my Sky Blue laptop. I got just last month for my birthday, though my birthday was 3 Months ago. Still, it’s nice to know that your grandma still remembers you’re alive, Right?? Anyway, after I typed my entries in, I went online to It’s a website where you can chat with friends or with strangers. But I never chat with strangers. So, I go online and checked if any my friends were also online. Then I saw that Allyson was online. This was surprising because she rarely goes online...

JacKee: Hey.. :)

AllySon: Hey 2.. :)

JacKee: R u finish installing the E-Journal??

AllySon: is dis a private chat room??

JacKee: Yes, now pls answer my question!!

AllySon: BRB…

AllySon: poof

That’s what I hate about chatting with Allyson. Just when you’ve started chatting, she goes POOF. Then she returns a few minutes later. Simply annoying.

AllySon: Hey, I’m back!!

JacKee: Where have you been??

AllySon: Phone Call with Jake... :)

In case you’re wondering, Jake is Allyson’s Boy Friend.

JacKee: Typical Ally...

AllySon: Well, SOO-RRY... (Sarcastically)

JAcKee: Yeah, well did you hear about Kira’s Birthday Bash??

AllySon: When is it??

JacKee: This Sunday, just 3 days from now.

JacKee: And in case we win, Crosses Fingers,

JacKee: It’ll be like our celebration gig.

AllySon: When did she invite us to play

AllySOn: at her party anyway??

JacKee: Can’t remember..

JacKee: All I remember was her mom called

JAcKee: then invited us to play

AllySon: Hey, Jackee, I’ll return your e-journal installer tomorrow..

AllySon: Kay??

JacKee: Sure as long as it isn’t broken..

JacKee: Bye

JacKee: poof

Well, after that I went again to my e-journal. Then I went online to It’s my favorite website EVER. You can do all kinds-o-things here, including making tones for your song. So I went to “Compose” and made notes for my song, “This is me”.

August 31. Okay, only one day more till the big ‘Band Off’. We normally go to Zeke’s house for rehearsals. But Madison says this day should be special. So we went to her house instead. So, we did our ritual and went off.

“Madam, your surprise is already an set,” Alfred, Madison’s personal butler greeted us with a mischievous smile.

“What surprise??” We all agreed to Miranda’s question. “It ain’t no longer a surprise if I tell you all, ain’t it?” was Madison’s reply. Madison loves surprises. So, then we followed her to a newly renovated part of her MANSION. “Okay, were here.” Madison announced with excitement. “Here where?” Alex asked. Then Madison opened the door which showed a lavish cozy room all carpeted in patterns. The room contained newly bought instruments and microphones. It also had a Snacks and Drinks Bar and some comfy Sofas. Then, when everyone was inside the room, Madison finally spoke. “Here to our new and official Band Room”. All of us couldn’t speak, all we could utter was ‘whoa!’.

“I had to go through a lot just to have this room built.” Madison told us. We couldn’t utter any word, just a ‘Whoa!’ So, I went to my best friend and hugged her so much that she couldn’t breathe anymore. Everyone else followed. In my thought, ‘It’s official, I have the bestest friends ever’. So, after all the hugging we went to check out our new BAND ROOM. It was simply beautiful. Then, I showed them my new song. They all liked it and decided that we would play it tomorrow at the BAND OFF. “Okay, that’s a rap,” exclaimed Zeke. “Yeah, I’m hungry. Let’s go to my dining room to eat,” announced Madison.

After we ate, Alex went to ready his car. “Who wants to go ride with me?” Alex asked everybody. “All of us do,” I said with a sarcastic smile, then Drew said “Not me, I got to buy and do something. I’ll just see you tomorrow at the BAND OFF.” “Okay, if you say so.”

When I got home, I immediately logged on in my E-Journal. I got home late because me, Miranda and Allyson went shopping. We even saw Drew at the Stationary Store buying some stationary. It seemed like he was in a hurry because when we said hi to him, he said hi back then went running off. We don’t know why. So, I went to my E-Journal and put m entry for the day in. Just when I finished putting my entry in, I remembered that mom gave me a letter that was dropped off a few minutes before I got home. When I read it I was shocked. Here’s what it said:

Dear Jackee,

I know I’m a coward for not saying this right to your face. But this letter will help me show you how I really feel. I have liked you since the first day we met, in 3rd grade. Then, you have liked a boy. I decided not to let you know how I feel because I was afraid that our friendship would be ruined. I have never liked a girl this much before, only you. When the right time comes, I will reveal myself to you. But for now, I will remain unknown. When I reveal myself to you, please don’t be alarmed of who I am. I won’t ask you to like me back. I only ask that you won’t be alarmed and mad when I reveal myself to you.

Yours Truly,

An Admiring Friend

I couldn’t identify who wrote it because it was typewritten. But the letter is really sweet. I never had an ‘Admiring Friend’ before. I hope he reveals himself soon.

September 1. “So, who do you think it is?” asked Allyson. I replied, “I really have no idea.” “You are so lucky,” said Miranda.

My girl friends and I were sitting at the ZONE CAFÉ. It’s owned my Alex. It has become our hang out place where we hang out and write songs. It’s owned by Alex so everything we order is free. It’s good to have friends. Then Alex came in suddenly, “So, what’s the news?”.