h a n n a h * r o s e !
paper bags and plastic hearts,
all are belongings in shopping
carts, it's goodbye, but we got
one more night, let's get drunk
and ride around, and make peace
with an empty town

hannah stood in the music room, empty apart from her, and listened to herself singing on the recording. she had just finished singing, and now she was listening to her voice playing the the empty room, trying to decide if she liked it or not. she'd taken use of the empty recording studio and grabbed herself a mic and some headphones. she knew how to work it, and was listening to her first attempt. there was usually someone in, as you had to book time in it beforehand, and hannah often couldn't be bothered to do that. but since no one was here, she decided to steal it for a while.

she started the song again, and hummed along with the sound of her own voice. she was singing a song called vindicated, by dashboard confessional. a good band, and a good song. and hannah wasn't just a good singer, she was a great singer. even better than great, really. but then there was this recording.

not that great.

it wasn't hannah's singing, it was her recording skills. which were, apparently, none existant. no surprises there. you can't be good at everything, and hannah was not. still, at least she was trying. and she could try again, because she had checked the schedule and no one was supposed to be coming in for a recording session all day. good luck there, hannah deciding to come here now. of course, there was a chance someone else would come in, and want the recording studio, but hannah could share. or just tell the other person where to stick it.

stepping back into the studio, she put the headphones on again and stood in front of the mic, starting to sing her song again.

"hope dangles on a sting,
like slow spinning redemption,
winding in and winding out,
the shine of it has caught my eye,
and roped me in,
so, mesmerising,
and so, hypnotizing..."

h a n n a h * r o s e !
paper bags and plastic hearts,
All are belongings in shopping
carts, it's goodbye, but we got
one more night, let's get drunk
and ride around, and make peace
with an empty town

hannah stopped singing as she realised someone else was in the room. it was completely unprofessional and she mentally slapped herself. why on earth had she stopped singing? but then she heard someone else singing, a girl. a pretty voice, singing a song hannah recognised to be dear mr. president by pink. a good song, and a pretty good voice, if hannah did say so herself. and it wasn't often hannah threw out compliments like that, even in her own head. in a good mood, hannah decided to share her thoughts. but as she stepped out of the recording studio, she recognised the singing voice.

"hey kiddo! i didn't realise it was you for a minute there." it was kate, a girl who had chosen music, and who was a sophmore. an unlikely friendship had formed between the two after they bumped into each other over a year ago in the recording studio, kind of like they had bumped into each other right now. completely by accident, but they had become friends pretty quickly. hannah was still amazed by kate's voice, and it was certainly something to be amazed at. although she had no idea why kate liked her, she didn't bother thinking about it.

"nice song choice, by the way. you certainly sing it well." even kate didn't get a huge amouont of compliments from hannah. it wasn't that hannah wasn't a nice person, she just kept her thoughts to herself. that way, the horrible, bitchy side of hannah was kept under control. generally. "so how're you doing babe?"

h a n n a h * r o s e !
paper bags and plastic hearts,
All are belongings in shopping
carts, it's goodbye, but we got
one more night, let's get drunk
and ride around, and make peace
with an empty town

hannah smiled back as kate smiled at her. whereas kate only had a small smile on her face, hannah's smile was huge, showing of her cosmetically whitened teeth. of course, hannah was just like that. and obviously, kate was not. kate always struck hannah as being rather shy, she knew she was good, but she had a shy aura around her. or at least, that was the impression hannah got. compared to hannah, most people seemed shy, as hannah just oozed confidence.

hannah didn't know kate fantastically well; they weren't the best of friends. they were pretty close though, and hannah knew she could always go to kate if she had a problem, or something she wanted to talk about, and she hoped kate felt the same. hannah's smile grew as kate blushed furiously. it wasn't often hannah threw compliments at people, and hannah was well known for being brutally honest, so if you got a compliment, she wouldn't be lying. if you couldn't sing, hannah would be the first to tell you.

"i know, i know, i'm fabulous. the talent fairy was generous when she came to me." remember that confidence that hannah oozed? she didn't keep quiet about it. she wasn't big headed - no, she just knew what she was good at. give her a maths problem and she would be stuck. tell her to write an essay and she wouldn't. school work was not her strong point. so she simply made the best out of the things she was good at.

"i'm great actually, thanks babe. what've you been up to since i last saw you?"

h a n n a h * r o s e !
paper bags and plastic hearts,
All are belongings in shopping
carts, it's goodbye, but we got
one more night, let's get drunk
and ride around, and make peace
with an empty town

hannah resisted the urge to shake her head as kate looked down at her guitar; who hannah knew was called chuck. an odd name for a guitar, but then again, which guitar had a normal name? that was probably part of some guitarist in joke hannah just didn't understand. she was unable to play the guitar, though not from lack of trying. she just refused to cut off her long nails, which slowed her down learning, and she gave up, instead sticking to piano. she played piano; not fantastically well, but she could play a few songs and sing along.

kate just needed confidence. anyone who was going to make it needed a bit of confidence. surely anyone famous now had a bit of confidence; they must realise the fact that they were fantastically brilliant. not that every famous person was, but in general terms. obviously they must think they were good, otherwise they wouldn't be famous. "kate, sweetie. you know i wouldn't tell you if it weren't true. you need a bit of confidence babe. believe in yourself, 'cause no one else is gonna do that for you."

the first step was always to believe in yourself, because only then would other people do the same. if you looked down at your feet all the time, no one was going to pay any attention to you. the trick was to stand out from the crowd, and do it with pride and confidence. hannah had perfected that; now it was kate's turn.

"me? oh, the usual. singing, dancing, acting, hanging out. stuff you usually do. kind of missing the siblings, but i would much rather be here learning. well . . . not learning. you know." it wasn't learning as such, more like one huge practise. for what, hannah hadn't decided.

h a n n a h * r o s e !
paper bags and plastic hearts,
All are belongings in shopping
carts, it's goodbye, but we got
one more night, let's get drunk
and ride around, and make peace
with an empty town

hannah nodded her head at kate. "well sugar, you're just gonna need to get some confidence, aren't you? god knows you need it." hannah wasn't trying to be mean; she was just telling the truth. people deserved to hear the truth, right? hannah was only telling them what they deserved to hear. "i know music is your life. so get a bit of confidence, and babe, you could be famous." hannah certainly wasn't lying. kate could be huge, if only she believed that herself.

hannah couldn't imagine not having confidence. if you didn't jump up and say you were ready for the main part, you wouldn't get it. things in life aren't handed to you on a platter; you've got to jump up and take them yourself. hannah listened to kate as she played her guitar and sang quietly. "you know, i've never been able to play the guitar. i refuse to cut my nails. i can play a couple of songs on the piano, but that's about it." hannah was insanely jealous of anyone who had the dedication to sit down and learn to play an instrument, but to be fair, hannah just didn't have enough time.

"well, i'm not exactly a learning chick. i'm a bit stupid, actually. never mind," she said, grinning. it was simply the truth; hannah was not a clever person. she was talented when it came to performing arts, but that was the extent of her natural talent. things like maths and science was just impossible.