Chapter Two

"Come on, Archer, dance with me!" my little sister, Juliet, shouts as she grabs my arm and tries to pull me up from my computer.

"In a second, Jules," I answer. "I need to finish this really quick."

"Noooo, you can finish that later. Come dance with me. This is my favorite song!" she whines, tugging harder on me.

I turn to face her. "We can listen to it again in a second. I'm almost done with this song. I want to get the video posted today."

She rolls her eyes at me. It's quite possibly the most exaggerated eye roll I've ever seen.

I start clapping my hands. She pauses mid dance move and looks at me confused.

"What's that for?" she asks, crossing her arms over her chest.

"For your performance. Ten out of ten for the most dramatic eye roll. I don't think I've ever seen one quite like it before. You really deserve an award for that one," I say, trying to keep the serious tone in my voice while simultaneously holding back the laughter threatening to spill out.

She sticks her tongue out at me and then continues dancing. Her hands go up in the air and she starts spinning in circles. Her curly red hair flies everywhere whipping her in the face as she moves, but she keeps twirling.

"She's herself, with no remorse. She shows up and walks the course. She has no fear behind those eyes. At least, that's what they think as she tells those lies," Juliet screams at the top of her lungs along to the music.

I quickly hit upload on my video, then jump out of the chair, grab Juliet's hands and start dancing with her.

"You know, with that voice, I should really feature you in my next song." I laugh.

"I know you're making fun of me, but I don't care. I think that's a great idea!" she shouts in my ear.

I flinch and pull my head away from her. "Inside voice, dude," I say as I continue to dance. "I don't think my fans could handle that much . . . um . . . amazingness in one song."

"That's fine. Mock me now, but just wait. One day, I'll be as good as Alison Quick, and I'll have my own fans. . . and I'll make sure to tell them not to listen to your music!"

The grin on her face could give the Cheshire Cat a run for his money. I twirl her around, then lift her up into the air. She kicks her feet out to the side and poses for a second before I spin around and gently lower her to the floor.

"Get up! Get up! Get up!" I hear a small voice shouting accompanied with a weight on my chest.

I move my arms up to whatever is resting on me, confused. I start to open my eyes but quickly slam them shut when the bright light hits them.

"What time is it?" I ask, trying to roll to my side, but I'm held down by whatever is sitting on me.

"I have no idea! But you need to get up!" the voice shouts again. My brain finally registers that the voice belongs to Juliet.

"You need to calm down," I say, covering my ears with my hands. "You're being too loud." I try pushing her off of me. "More importantly, if you don't know what time it is, how do you know I need to get up?" I ask groggily.

I try opening my eyes again, but quickly throw my hands over them to shield them from the light.

"Because something exciting happened!" she shouts, closer to my ear this time.

My hands fly up and wrap around her shoulders as I slowly push her away. "First off, ouch. You don't have to shout. You're literally on top of me. Second off, you are eight years old now, not three. You can't sit on me like that. You're heavy," I say as I lift her off and set her on the bed next to me.

"Well that's rude," she responds as she crosses her arms over her chest. Her purple glittery nails catch the light as she thumps her hand on her arm, clearly irritated.

"It's not rude. It's just facts. You aren't a little kid anymore. Sorry you're growing," I say as I sit up and run my hands through my hair.

"Maybe you're just weaker than you used to be." Juliet puffs out her chest and raises her eyebrows, daring me to challenge her.

"Fair enough. So, why did you insist on waking me up?" I check the time on my phone sitting on the nightstand next to the bed. My jaw drops. "At six in the morning! You know, I was doing you and Dad a favor by watching you while he works. I see you have a very unique way of thanking me."

"Did anyone ever tell you that you're really whiny in the morning?" A smirk starts to spread across Juliet's face.

"Wow." I tackle her down to the bed and start tickling her.

"Stop!" she shouts as she tries karate chopping my hands. I finally release her and lean back on the headboard.

"I can't believe you said that," I say as I throw my hand over my heart, faking pain. "That hurts me." I point to my chest. "Right here."

"Good," she says matter of fact. Man, eight year olds can be aggressive. "Now, do you want to know why I woke you up or not? I'm perfectly fine with leaving here and never ever telling you."

I stare her down. I honestly could do with a little more sleep, but I also wouldn't put it past her to never speak of the reason she woke me up. She got her attitude and stubbornness from our mom.

"Fine, yes, tell me."

"How about I just show you?" she answers as she wiggles her fingers around like a magician.

"Ugh," I say as I lay back down and cover my face with my pillow.

"See, whiny," she points out as she jumps off the bed and grabs my computer off the desk. She quickly tosses it on the bed causing me to flinch when it lands. "Log in."

I sit up, pick up my computer, and start to boot it up. The second I'm done entering in my password, she grabs the computer from my lap and starts typing away.

"Look." She turns the screen towards me, a massive smile on her face.

I squint at the screen. It's my video that I posted online yesterday. The one of me singing the song that I wrote. I look at her confused.

"Look harder!" she demands as she aggressively points towards the screen. I take another glance at it.

"What!" I shout. "Am I seeing that right?" I jump up off the bed as I bring the computer closer to my face.

"Yup!" Juliet smiles up at me. "One million views."

"But…but….how?" I stare at her, my mouth hanging open.

"I'm not sure. Apparently my big brother is talented or something." Juliet's eyes glitter with mischief, but her excitement is sparkling through.

I set my computer down on my bed and scoop Juliet into my arms spinning us both in circles.

"One million views! One million views!" I start chanting.

Juliet doesn't hesitate to join me. "One million views! One million views!" She wraps her arms around my neck and squeezes. "I knew you could do it."