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Editor Note: The images used for this story were purchased and used under royalty-free license* from iStockphoto.com . ~Sephrena
Author Note: Please email me at AngelJediGirl (at) gmail (dot) com before posting this story to any other site. Posting to a pay site is prohibited.

Comments and suggestions are also welcome at the above email address.

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Sarah Carerra Book 2: Summer Medley

Chapter 2.32 - Surprise Interviews

The calm, serene silence of early morning was shattered by the alarm on my phone for the second time. I groaned loudly, but reached for the nightstand to turn it off. A glance at my clock told me that it was 5:00 in the morning. This was definitely not the time of day I preferred to wake up.

I sighed once again while climbing out of my bed and making my way toward the bathroom. The one thing I liked least about Sarah Carerra was her crazy schedule. I knew that I was up early so that I could be interviewed on a number of radio shows. It was already 8:00 on the East Coast, and the shows there would be ending soon.

After a quick shower to help wake me up, I walked down to the kitchen where I knew Dad would be waiting for me. I smiled when I saw that he had already set out a bowl of cereal for me.

"Thanks, Dad," I told him while sitting down.

"You're welcome, Princess," he replied and took another bite of his own cereal. "It's the least I could do when I drag you out of bed so early."

He pushed a folder toward me, and I took another spoonful before opening it. Inside was some information about each of the people who would be interviewing me today, and about the cities where those stations were located.

"You have three interviews this morning," he stated. "Each will be about 10 minutes long. If you want to go back to bed afterward, you can. We don't have to be at the magazine interview until this afternoon."

I nodded while reading through the information. Climbing back into bed sounded like a good idea right now! I continued to read the information he had given to me while we ate. Once finished, I picked up my bowl and his and took them over to the sink to clean before placing them in the dishwasher. I then joined him in his office where the calls would take place.

He was already sitting behind his desk, so I took the soft chair he had moved to the other side and sat down in front of his office phone. Dad had a headset that he would listen to the calls on while being muted and he left me the handset.

"What now?" I asked him.

"We wait for them to call," he said. "We are on their timetable this morning."

I nodded, but stood up and walked back to my room to get my book before rejoining him. I wasn't going to sit there doing nothing while I waited. Besides, I was starting to get to the best part of the book.

As I was sitting there reading, my stomach started to hurt. Dad immediately noticed my discomfort, but he didn't say anything until I grunted in pain.

"Are you okay?" he asked. The concern on his face was readily apparent.

"Yes," I replied. "My tummy is upset about something."

His concern turned to worry quickly. "I hope you aren't getting sick. That will make getting ready for the tour harder."

I hoped I wasn't either, but a moment later the pain stopped. I smiled at him as I stretched out a bit to relax. He didn't smile back.

It was another 10 minutes before we got the first call. This one was from a radio station in New York City. Dad answered the phone, and spoke with someone on the other end before passing me the handset.

I lifted it to my ear and said, "Hello?"

"Sarah?" someone asked me.

"Yes," I replied.

"Okay," came the response. "If you can hold for one moment, Steve is almost ready for you."

"Okay," I answered and leaned back into the chair. This first interview was supposed to be with Steve and Polly from '99.6, The City'.

It didn't take too long before the voice was back. "I'm going to transfer you over to the air now, Sarah. Have fun."

"Thank you," I replied before I heard a click.

"Sarah Carerra, are you there?" a deep masculine voice spoke immediately.

"Yes," I replied. I assumed this was Steve, but I didn't want to say his name in case I was wrong.

"Excellent, excellent," was his reply. "Welcome to 'The City'. You are on the air with Steve and Polly."

"Hi, Sarah," came a feminine voice that had to be Polly. Before I had a chance to respond, Steve was talking again.

"So, Sarah," he said. "I understand it has been an interesting summer for you. Did you ever expect to become this popular in such a short amount of time?"

"No," I replied with a soft laugh. "When I was signed, I figured I'd have a few songs that people would like to listen to. I never expected to certify a gold album a few days after it was released. This whole thing has been crazy!"

"Well," Holly spoke up. "It is well deserved. I don't think there has been such a good response to a debut album in a long time."

"I agree," Steve added. "These numbers are almost unheard of, even with established artists. You've captured the hearts of America in just less than two months."

"I don't know about that," I said. I knew that I had sold a lot of albums, but that was only a small number when compared to the population of the United States. I still only had a small fan base.

Polly and Steve both laughed for a moment. Eventually, Steve was the one that spoke again. "Sarah, Sarah, Sarah," he said in a fatherly tone. I could imagine him shaking his head as he spoke. "I don't think you realize just how popular you are."

I didn't know how to respond to that, and I unfortunately left a few seconds of dead air before Steve started chuckling again. Then he moved the interview on to another subject.

"Anyway," he said. "You are going to be in New York City in mid-August for a couple of concerts, correct?"

"Yes." I could answer this question. I reached for the calendar of events that Dad had helpfully provided me and scanned for the exact dates. "I'm performing in Central Park on the morning of August 17 as part of the Good Morning USA Summer Concert Series. That will be a free show for anyone who wants to come down. Then I'll be performing again on Saturday the 21st at Radio City Music Hall."

"Two very impressive venues," Polly told me. "Is the Central Park show a full concert?"

I wasn't sure of the answer, and looked to Dad briefly. His nod gave me the information I needed to continue. "Yes," I told her. "It will have the same set list as the rest of the stops on my tour." A second nod from Dad confirmed that I hadn't just lied to them with the second part of my answer.

"Have you ever been to New York before?" Steve asked me next.

"No," I replied, shifting in my seat to find a more comfortable position. "I've never been to the East Coast before. One of the things that excites me the most about this concert tour is the ability to see parts of the country that I've never been to before. I've always wanted to go to New York, and this will be my first trip."

"Do you have anything fun planned while you are here?" Polly queried. I smiled. There were so many things that I wanted to do in New York, I was sure that I wouldn't get a chance to do them all.

"Yes," I told her. "I'll be in New York for about a week, so I've got plenty of time to sightsee. I have a few other commitments while I'm there, but there are a ton of things that I'd like to see. A Broadway show, Times Square, a tour of Central Park, perhaps even a stop at the zoo. I'm sure there are plenty of things that I'll get to experience while I'm there."

"I'm glad to hear that you are taking time out of your busy schedule to sightsee," Steve commented. "Some celebrities fly in, perform, and then fly out and miss all of the culture that New York can provide."

"I really hope that doesn't happen to me, at least not during this tour," I told him. "I'm hoping that I'll get a chance to see a bit of each city I stop in. That will get harder after school starts, when I'm only going to be in town for the weekend, but I still hope they aren't ‘in and out’ stops." I looked over at Dad to get his reaction, and he smiled. That gave me hope that my desires would be honored.

"So you aren't taking time off from school?" Polly asked, surprised.

I was worried for a moment. This was one of the reasons that the secret was a good idea. But it was still a risky thing to mention. "No," I replied. I could see the concern in my dad's face as I skirted the area he didn't like me to get into. "I'm going to try to attend school like normal, at least. We'll see how that works out, though." It was likely to work just fine since nobody would know who I am, but the rest of America didn't need to know that.

"That's commendable," Polly replied. "Too many young artists have trouble keeping their schoolwork up while performing. I'd hate to see something like that happen to you."

"Knowing my dad, he'll make sure my manager starts cancelling concerts if my grades start slipping," I laughed as I spoke. Dad was laughing too, but he was nodding his head in confirmation at the same time. Steve and Polly were laughing along with us.

"Well," Steve spoke when we had calmed down a bit. "I'm glad that you were able to join us this morning, Sarah. I wish we had more time, but we're going to have to let you go."

"Thank you for having me on the show," I told him. "I don't like waking up this early, but at least you guys make it worthwhile."

They were laughing again at my words, but eventually they got around to ending the interview.

"Good bye, Sarah," Steve said, and his words were echoed by Polly.

"Good bye," I replied and heard a click shortly thereafter. I was smiling when I put the handset down on the receiver. That had gone much better than I thought it would.

"That was great!" Dad echoed my thoughts. "I'm so proud of you, Princess."

"Thanks, Daddy," I replied.

*  *  *

I was right in the middle of the climactic scene in my book when the phone rang again. I grumbled at the bad timing, but put my bookmark in between the pages and set it down. Dad was already talking to someone on the other end, and I quickly scanned the information about this radio station once again while I waited for my turn to speak. It wasn't long before I was on the air once again.

"Good morning, Sarah," Ava, the show's host welcomed me. "You’re on CO-94 with Ava, Ripley, and the Munchkin."

I chuckled to myself at her words. I had thought that 'the Munchkin' was a typo, but apparently I was mistaken.

"Good morning," I replied. "I'm happy to be here." Ripley and the Munchkin also introduced themselves. I chuckled again when I heard the deep bass of the Munchkin’s voice.

"It's been what, a week since the release of your first album?" Ava asked.

"Yes," I replied. "I can't believe that we got it out the door as quickly as we did."

"That's right," Ava continued. "You only signed with Olympic Records at the beginning of the summer, correct?"

"Right," I confirmed. "It's only been about two months. I've been very fortunate to have a number of amazing people working to get my music out there. I'm still overwhelmed at how successful they have been."

"I think that a lot of that success has to be attributed to you," Ava said. "You've definitely started your career with a bang."

"Thank you," I told her. "But I wouldn't be where I am today without the wonderful people who support me."

"How did you get your start?" Ava asked me. "Did you send your demo into a lot of record companies?"

I shifted in my seat to lean back and relax a bit. Ava had a very calm and comforting tone to her voice, which helped me to feel more at ease. I'd been pretty tense after the first interview, and my back hurt from sitting so straight in the chair.

"To tell you the truth, I hadn't recorded a single thing before I was discovered," I explained. "My two best friends dragged me to a party one night where they had karaoke. I was discovered there after I ended up on stage, and I was signed within a week."

"Wow!" the Munchkin replied. "Most people have to fight to get their demos heard. You're quite lucky."

"Like I said, I've got amazing people around me."

"Tell us about your music," Ava kept the conversation going. "You write many of your own songs, correct?"

"I do," I answered excitedly. Writing music was something that I could talk about all day if given the chance. "Six of the songs on the CD were written by me. Some of them were co-written by my friends, but I also try to have a hand in each of the songs that I sing. My label has given me a number of songs, but I think they are willing to let me write my own music from this point forward."

Dad's eyebrows rose at my pronouncement, and he opened his day planner and started jotting down some notes. I had a feeling that he was going to bring up with Scott what I had just said. He had a quirky grin on his face, and I could feel the same thing curling my own lips.

"That's excellent!" Ava agreed. "Speaking of your music, I wanted to ask you about a couple of your songs. First, who can forget your heartfelt dedication to Chloe during the televised concert with Josh Holliday. Who is Chloe?"

I smiled. I knew Dad was recording these interviews. I was going to have to play this one back for Emily later.

"Chloe is my best friend." I told Ava happily. "We met when my family moved into her neighborhood when I was two. We've been inseparable ever since. She was also one of the two friends who dragged me to the party that got me discovered. Xander was the other."

"And Chloe helped you write 'Ever After'," Ripley stated. It wasn't exactly a question.

"Yes, she did," I told him. "We've written a few over the years, but only three of them have been included on the album. She also helped me to write 'Enchanted Forest' and 'Friends Forever'."

"That's awesome that you have a friend who can help inspire you like that," Ava interjected. "It's a beautiful song, but I also would like to ask you about another one before we have to let you go. I know you have a busy schedule this morning."

Busy? I was sitting around reading more than I was being interviewed.

Before I got a chance to respond she continued with her question. "'You Can't Hurt Me' has a powerful message to it. People are already screaming 'Grammy' about this one. Can you tell us a little about where it came from?"

"Sure," I replied, while balking at the idea of it receiving a Grammy. It wasn't THAT good. "'You Can't Hurt Me' is a mixture of the feelings and frustrations that I experienced after the press conference I had after collapsing on the 'Wake Up!' show."

"For those who haven't heard," Ripley interrupted. "Sarah was confronted by a rather persistent and obnoxious reporter at the press conference, right?"

"Right," I told him. "I didn't really want to share the personal details of my body with the world. He sort of forced that out of me. But later that evening my dad managed to cheer me up, and I started to have a feeling that I needed to write about it. 'You Can't Hurt Me' is what I came up with. It's my statement to the world to let them know that I'm my own person, and I'm not going to change because they want me to."

"I love the emotions that the song portrays," the Munchkin stated. "And that video was awesome. I haven't seen a video quite that entertaining in a while."

"Yes," Ripley agreed. "You really managed to capture the pain that you were feeling in the song. I can't imagine going through something like that, but I must commend you on how well you have handled the pressures that this industry can place on a young artist."

"Thank you," I told him, and I felt a smile widen across my face.

"CO-94 is one of the sponsors of your concert here in Cleveland," Ava told me. I didn't know that information, but it wasn't much of a surprise. "Can you tell us about what we can expect?"

"Uh huh," I replied. I grabbed the paper with my schedule on it once again and searched for the Cleveland show. "I'll be performing at the Nautica Pavilion on Friday, August 13," I told her. "We haven't defined a full set list yet, but the songs are likely to be a mix of what is available on the 'Intuition' album, as well as a few covers and some new songs that the band and I have been working on. It should be a lot of fun."

"Friday the 13th, huh?" the Munchkin said before laughing to himself. "That should make for an interesting show."

I hesitated for a moment. I hadn't made that connection before. I wasn't a very superstitious person, but that didn't mean that it didn't give me pause for a brief moment.

"I'm sure everything will be fine," Ava said wryly, filling the short silence before it turned into dead air. "Thanks for coming on the show, Sarah. It'll be nice to meet you when you are in town."

"It was my pleasure," I told all of them. Then I heard the click. I hoped that the lack of a goodbye did not mean that the interview had gone bad.

"Not everyone likes goodbyes on air," Dad explained at what must have been a confused look on my face. I shrugged my shoulders and picked up my book.

*  *  *

Fifteen minutes later I was trying to finish my book before the last call when I felt it. I bolted upright in my chair. I knew immediately what it was, and I felt excitement and trepidation at the same time.

"What's wrong?" Dad asked immediately. I wasn't going to discuss this with him, though.

"Nothing," I replied as I quickly stood up and headed for the door, and the bathroom beyond. I was prepared for this. I knew it would happen eventually.

"Megan!" Dad yelled in worry for a moment. Then he repeated his call in frustration when the phone started ringing. I grimaced at the bad timing, but he was just going to have to stall them for me for a moment.

It didn't take me very long before I was able to make my way out of the bathroom and back to Dad's office. He looked very unhappy when I tried to smile innocently at him. I sat down and immediately took the handset from him before he could ask me anything. I had to wait a few more minutes before I was on the air, but at least it kept him from yelling at me for running out, or worse yet, asking where I had gone.

"Sarah!" rang out in my ears a moment later. "You’re 'Seaside' with Shark, the Surfer, and Dave. Good morning!"

"Good morning," I replied. 'Seaside' was a local radio station that I had grown up listening to, though admittedly I didn't really listen to their morning show. It was nice to be featured on a station that most of my friends and schoolmates listened too.

"Congratulations on your new album," Shark continued. "It's already posting some impressive numbers."

"Thank you," I replied.

"You're from Los Angeles, are you not?" one of the others asked me. I think it was Dave, but I hadn't listened to the show enough to know for sure, and they hadn't introduced themselves.

"I grew up in Malibu," I told them. If they asked for more detail, I could only hope the time I had spent with Gran and Grandaddy while growing up was enough to make it seem like I knew what I was talking about. Malibu was where Sarah supposedly lived, but I had never lived anywhere other than the house I grew up in.

"Malibu," the third guy said. "Good surfing up that way. I could spend all day there."

"Shut up, Surfer," Shark badgered with his co-host. "You probably haven't even been up there before."

"Whatever, Dude," the guy I now knew for sure was Surfer said. "You're just jealous of my moves."

There was an audible sigh over the air before Shark continued the interview.

"Anyway, Sarah," he said. "We're glad that you are talking with us this morning. We wanted to spend most of the time taking calls from our listeners, and we are already running late. Is that okay with you?"

"Yes," I told him. I hoped I sounded calm, because I didn't feel that way. I knew that we were taking call-ins during this interview, and that just brought back bad memories of taking questions from the press at the press conference. There was no way to limit what the people asked on air, and I didn't want to be placed in a scenario like I had been in when Brady Townsend confronted me.

I looked up at Dad, and he gave me a smile. It was obvious that he was still upset with me for running off like I had, but I knew that he would be there to help me through this.

"Alright," Shark said and I heard a small click on the line. "First caller, what is your name and question?"

"Hi Sarah, I'm your biggest fan!" came a feminine voice that was really excited. "My name is Callie and I was wondering. Do you have any pets?"

"Hi, Callie," I replied with a bit of humor at her excitement. I was happy that we were starting with a nice, easy question. "I don't have any pets right now. My family had a really great dog named Ginger while growing up. She passed away a few years ago, though. I'd love to get a little puppy. It's been too long without one scampering around the house."

"Thank you," Callie said forlornly before I heard another click. That was even quicker than most of the interactions I'd had with fans at the CD signing.

"Next caller," Shark said. "Name and question, please."

This seemed very clinical, but I was glad that I had the chance to answer some questions for my fans, even if it scared me to death that they were going to ask something I didn't want to answer.

"My name is Rob," came the voice of a young man. "I was wondering. Is it true that you and Josh broke up?"

"I..." I said, but wasn't sure how to continue. Josh and I had never really been together, so there wasn't any way we could have broken up. "Josh and I were never really together," I told him. "We're just good friends."

"So you're single?" Rob asked hopefully.

"Yes," I replied cautiously. "At the moment I am."

I heard him cheer before he hung up again. That was one of the questions I would have preferred not to answer, but at least it seemed to go okay.

"How are we doing, Sarah?" Shark asked me. "Still okay?"

"Yeah!" I tried to sound enthusiastic, but those kinds of questions would make continuing this interview hard.

I heard another click before Shark once again put another caller on the air.

"Hi, Sarah," I heard another feminine voice. This one sounded like she was one of my older fans, or perhaps a mother of one of my fans. "I just wanted to know if you planned to go to college."

"Oh, okay," I caught myself saying, surprised. I hadn't even really started thinking about where I wanted to go to college yet. "I'm only sixteen, but I do hope to go to college someday. I hope that it will be in my near future, but even if I have to take a few years off because of my career, I would still like to go as soon as possible."

"So you would put college off to sing?" she said in an accusing tone. This question had just turned ugly. I looked over at Dad. He had a small grimace on his face, but I could also see his curiosity at how I was going to answer this question.

"I think that trying to learn and improve my knowledge is a very important thing to do," I told her cautiously. "I want to be a well-rounded person. College is definitely a way to do that. But I think that a lot of what I've done this summer has helped me to grow as a person too. I'm not planning to put off college right now, but if I have to choose between college and singing in a few years, I probably will push college back for a bit. I think that there is as much value in what I am doing now as there is in attending college. College will come when the time is right."

I looked over at Dad. He had a mixed expression on his face. It looked like he admired the way I answered the question, but I wasn’t certain if he liked my answer. This next school year would tell us a lot about whether college was feasible while continuing to work on my music. I sincerely hoped that it was. Emily and I had been talking about going to college together for years. I'd hate to see that ruined by my career.

"Thank you, caller," Shark said and I heard the click indicating the caller was no longer on the line. That was when I realized that she had never given her name.

The show continued along that vein for a while. This was the longest interview of the morning, and I was happy to interact with the local fans again. Eventually, it started to wind down.

"Last question," Shark told me and the audience. "Caller, you're on the air with Sarah Carerra. Please give us your name and question."

"Hi, Sarah! It's so nice to talk to you again! My name is Brittany, and I got to meet you at the CD signing."

She paused after introducing herself, so I greeted her. "Hi, Brittany, it's nice to talk to you again."

"Thank you," she replied, and her voice sounded even happier. "I was hoping you could give me some advice. I love to sing, but I'm scared to death to sing in front of anybody. I've never been able to get up on stage or anything. What would you suggest I do?"

"That's an easy one," I told her and felt my smile grow. I had personal experience with this one, and knew exactly what to tell her. "If you would have tried to get me up on stage three months ago, I would have felt the same way. I was scared to death to sing in front of people. My friend Chloe would be the first to tell you how stupid I was being. She dragged me to a party and forced me onto the stage to sing karaoke. I was signed within a week.

"What you need to do is just get up on that stage and sing. It's hard at first, but it gets easier and easier every time you do. If you don't have a stage, sing for your family. Sing for your friends. Have fun with it. And if you get the rush like I do, it will make it all worth it."

"The rush?" Dave asked, confused.

"What's the rush?" Brittany asked next.

"The rush," I smiled. I wasn't entirely sure how to describe it to them. But I knew I had to try now. "Is when I get up on stage, or start performing somewhere, I always feel this fire start to build within me. It grows and grows, and it is one of the most wonderful feelings I have ever felt before. I'm totally addicted to it now, and I know I won't be able to give up performing for a long time, if ever."

"That sounds a lot like an adrenaline rush," Surfer said. "I get that from surfing."

"Maybe," I replied. "All I know is that it has helped me to overcome my fears. When I first took the stage at my concert in Salt Lake City, I was scared to death. But the rush wiped that all away before I got to the first chorus of the first song. Now, I'm excited to get on stage every single time."

"That sounds awesome!" Brittany almost yelled. "I totally want to see if I can feel that! Thank you, Sarah!"

"You're welcome," I replied with some humor in my voice at her new excitement. "Performing is fun. Think about it that way instead of being scared, and it will be easier."

I looked at Dad, and he was smiling again. This answer he liked. I smiled back while Shark closed the interview.

"Thank you for taking the time to speak with us, Sarah," Shark said. "We'll have to do it again."

"I'd like that," I replied.

"Good bye, Sarah," Shark said, and the sentiment was repeated by his co-hosts.

"Good bye," I told them and heard the click that indicated that I was no longer connected with them. I hung up the phone and leaned back into the chair. That had been fun.

When I looked over at Dad, he had a grim look on his face again. I knew immediately that I was about to get a lecture. I sighed while he started to speak.

"We need to talk about your professionalism," he said to me.

"Dad, it isn't what you think," I told him, but he didn't buy it.

"They were very upset to have to wait for you," he lectured. "If you do that too often, people won't want you on their show, and we need that publicity."

"I'm sorry," I told him. "But something very important came up."

"What?" he asked. "What could be so important to make them wait?"

"I..." I started. I really didn't want to talk to him about this. "Girl stuff," I finally said.

His eyes shot up at my explanation. It hadn't entered his mind! The only other period I'd had was while I was in the hospital, so this was new to both of us. But he'd been living with Mom long enough to know what that meant.

"Why didn't you just tell me that?" he asked. "I've been upset with you for the last half an hour for no reason.

"I didn't want to talk to you about it," I said, feeling my cheeks flush. He nodded his head to indicate he understood.

"I'm sorry for lecturing you," he said. "I should have asked first. Next time it happens, please let me know, so I know how to stall. Meanwhile, if you want to go back to bed for a while, you can. We don't have to be at the magazine interview until after lunch."

"Okay," I replied. "I'd like that.

*  *  *