It was a secret.
A secret that I had vowed almost four years ago never to tell anyone. That is, until I moved schools and came to have some really cool friends who just adored me…that is, except they didn't know it was me me.
And that was how my secret started to cave in.
My name is Jennifer Oaks but my friends just call me Jen. At first appearance, I look and maybe even act a little "out-of-the-ordinary" as in I'm not the totally "hip" teen who wears hoops in her ears and mascara. Nor do I really care about looking gorgeous and attracting guys either. I don't really care – I like being unique.
But me – ordinary Jen – has a deep, dark secret that no one except my family knows. A secret that I've told myself that I would not share to anyone in fear that this life that I have – being loved by some and totally looked down upon by others – would be taken away with a click of the fingers to be replaced by something that is too overwhelming for a normal seventeen year olds body.
What is this secret, you may ask.
Well…my name is not only Jennifer Oakes with the straight, brown hair, black framed glasses and unique personality.
My name is also Holly Williams, most popular teen singer/actress in the whole of Australia. But Holly isn't like Jen. Holly has the most beautiful wavy blonde hair, no glasses, wears make up and is loved by everyone and looked down upon by none. She has her own perfume line and clothes line as well as two platinum records and five feature films where she had the leading roll opposite the hottest actors of today.
Nobody would ever equate Holly Williams with Jennifer Oaks – and that's how I've been able to run away from the press for so, so long. Even moving cities from Melbourne to Sydney – from being home-schooled to going to a normal school – was so simple.
That is, at least I thought it was. Because just two months after going to East Valley High and meeting Tiffany, Lara and Tom, my strong resolve to stay hidden was suddenly crumbling away.
And I was scared.
It all started that Tuesday morning when Tiffany came rushing down towards the group of us, holding something in her hands and having a look of almost pure ecstasy. I had been in the school for almost two weeks now and had come to really like being treated so normal.
The group that adopted me consisted of Tiffany– a stout, blonde-haired girl with a talent for poetry and comebacks. Lara was the epitome of optimists and a person would be hard pressed to find anyone who actually didn't like her.
Lara was a Chinese girl with straight black hair to her shoulders and, like me, wore glasses. She was on the thinner side due to the most enviable metabolic rate imaginable and was a music genius.
Then there was Tom. Being a guy, he didn't hang around us 24/7 but did come around a lot due to the fact that he had grown up with Tiffany and wasn't ashamed of hanging around girls for a change. Tom was a typical jock except for the fact that he was not all that obsessive about his masculinity, not minding to reveal his more feminine side once in awhile. Tom was just over six foot tall, had dirty blonde hair which was cut cleanly and was starting to grow some stubble. His build was also like that of a typical jock and his sense of humour ranked to the extreme.
But even then, there was some things that I was yet to discover about them.
Tiffany had finally come to us and now skidded to a stop, bending over and holding her stomach as she caught her breath, still holding strongly to whatever was in her hand.
Tom curiously walked over to Tiff and grabbed her hand, about to pry whatever it was out of it when Tiff miraculously caught her breath in that short span of seconds and moved her hand quickly away from Tom.
"No, Tom. This is rightfully mine and it is my turn to show you all what I have scored."
A great grin was pasted on her face, eyes sparkling with pure joy. "Oooo, I told you guys next time I'd be the one to get them!" she squealed.
Lara and Tom exchanged looks before looking at me with "yeah-she's-crazy" expressions.
We spent another moment of watching her look at what was in her hand a squeal before Tom tapped her on the shoulders, making her look up at him with widened eyes.
"Hello, are you gonna tell us any time soon?" He asked in an irritated voice.
We could see very clearly how much Tiff was enjoying it because she just grinned and looked back down at them, squealing for a third time.
Tom evidently had had enough of this and held Tiff's arm with his muscular Rugby-playing hands, pried her fingers off what she was holding while ignoring her fervent protests and then, triumphantly, picked the objects out of her hand and held it up in the air as if they were trophies.
"Tom, what is it?" Lara asked excitedly, jumping up to try to see what it was.
Tom brought it down and examined them, avoiding the punches that Tiff was throwing at him.
And then he screamed.
Like a girl.
He was in such shock that they dropped out of his hands and, in a hurry to see what made him go so ecstatic, Lara bent down, picked them up and looked at them and then did the most insane thing.
She fainted.
Like literally fainted.
And fell…on the concrete floor.
If it were the normal case, Tom – being the strong, macho man that he was – would have caught her as she dropped but he was, at the moment, far too busy screaming so he did not even realise as his friend fell.
Watching their reactions, Tiff had a smug look on her face as she stooped down and plucked them from the ground where Lara was slowly getting up, saying, "See, I told you guys."
Lara was suddenly revived again as she stared at Tiff and gasped, "I thought they were all sold out!"
"Exactly."
"But you got them…four!"
"Exactly."
"Four what?"
That was when all three of them finally realised that I was there. I couldn't blame them. I hadn't been there for very long so they must have still had to take some time trying to get used to the fact that there was now a foursome and not the usual threesome.
Realising that I had been watching them the whole time, Tom let out a laugh. "You weren't at all curious, Jen?"
To be honest, I'm not really the curious time. I like watching people go psycho and then civilly find out what was all the commotion. That way, I wouldn't get heart problems before twenty.
I simply shrugged as a reply to Tom and then walked over to Tiff to see what she was holding.
My back stiffened and my jaw fell right open. I licked my lips and then took them from Tiff's hand to examine them better.
Holly Williams live in Concert
Adult Pass
Row A Seat 45
Backstage Pass
From row seats…in the middle where they would be in the best view of the stage and the performer.
And…
And…
Backstage passes…to see…me…
I did not know what was more shocking. The fact that my new friends had backstage passes and front row seats to my next live concert or the fact that they literally screamed and fainted over the fact that they has these.
I had never known that I had made friends with my fans. And not just mere "fans" but the actually fanatic fans.
As I stared at the tickets, still in shock and mind going through different waves of thoughts, a finger prodded me continually in my shoulder.
"Isn't it so awesome, Jen?!" Tiff yelled. "You are a fan of Holly Williams, aren't you?"
I looked at her and gave my best actress, sincere smile. "Oh yeah, she's pretty good." I said.
"Pretty good?!?!" Tom exclaimed. "Not only is she such a good singer and actress, she's totally, completely, hot!!!!"
Lara was smiling as she watched Tom and whispered to me comically, "He's in love with her."
Great, now Tom's in love with me…I mean, not me me but Holly me too?!
"Jen, what's wrong? Looks like you're gonna puke."
I looked at Lara, Tiffany and Tom as they watched me in concern. Good thing that I had gone to acting school since the age of four because I put on my "why-are-you-concerned-when-there's-nothing-wrong?" expression and simply smiled.
"I'm sorry, guys, but I think you'll have to give that other ticket to someone else because I'll be at a family reunion in Canberra on that day."
They all moaned.
Oh why, oh why did my friends have to be Holly fans?
Why??