Thing- Chapter 8

Hello Emma,
My name is Susan Black. I am aware that you sing, and that you sang at a local talent show, I am also aware that you won.
I had an agent at that talent show who told me how good you were. I work for Serial Records, a small record comapany based in Bristol, we are quite new so we don't have many acts signed to us yet but I believe if we had you on board that we could be huge, bigger than EMI or Polydor one day hopefully, with you as our biggest act.
If you need anymore information or to accept straight away dont hesitate to email me back. However, I do think you need to know that if you do accept then you and your family will have to relocate so nobody knows where you live, you will have to start new lives but it will all be worth it.
I hope you see how good this could be for everyone.
Yours,
Susan Black

I couldn't believe it, I'd always wanted to be signed and for a record company to come to me, it was huge. If I said yes, my whole life would be turned upside down. I'd have money for starts, I never had money, I always spent it on crap. For a few seconds after the email, I didn't breathe, I just couldn't, it was impossible. I couldn't think of anything wrong with the offer, I'd get tonnes of money, I'd become famous and my parents wouldn't ever have to work again, I'd make new famous friends and I'd be invited to all the best parties, I'd probably move to L.A and never had to worry about debts or owing people money.

But what if it didn't work? What if this company never got big and I moved for no reason. My parents would have to leave their jobs, which couldv'e left us with no money at all. I'd have to leave everyone behind, Stace and Gem and everyone else, the rest of my family, all my aunts and uncles and cousins and my nan.What if the email was a scam, just a joke from someone at school who watched the talent show at the town hall? Serial Records was never going to be bigger than EMI or Polydor, nobody was going to be, not even SiCo. I suddenly got scared, what if I went and made the biggest mistake ever? What if I forced my parents out of their jobs just for us to end up with no money, no house, no job and nobody around us to help.

I didn't know who to tell first, I didn't even know if I should've told anyone at all. Confusion filled my head, it was impossible to ignore it. I wasn't going to reply to Susan until I was completely certain about my choice. Did I even have a choice? My mum and dad surely wouldn't quit their jobs for what they called a 'phase' I was going through.

I thought about everyone I would have to leave behind. All the people I'd ever known. My best friends couldn't even know where I live. They couldn;t know why I was leaving, I'd just have to tell them I was going away and leave without a fuss. I started to cry, I couldn't cpe with the stress of my exams let alone the stress of leaving the whole of my life in Cheshire to leave for a bigger life. I couldn't decide between material possesions, fame, maybe even celebrity friends and my real friends, my family and a normal life.

"Gem what do I do?" I cried down the phone. I explained the whole situation and Gem was in as much shock as I was, I couldn't tell her where I was moving to if I did decide to go but I could trust her not to tell anyone what was going on. She understood why I was so upset and even began to get upset too, I didn't want my best friend getting as scared as me about leaving, she still had everything, all her friends, all her family, all she'd be missing was one person, well four if you counted my whole family.

At 15 I suddenly had to choose between my two biggest wants in my life, fame or the people who had made the first fifteen years of my life amazing. It could've been a sin, a tragedy even to move to Bristol, but it could've been the winning move.