Sarah Bradley knew she didn’t stand a chance in the Monroe High singing competition now that Lana Debrev was the new name added to the sign up list. Sarah really loved to sing more than anything in the world, but she for sure didn’t get her taste in music from her parents. Her mom was one of the top doctors at St. Joseph’s hospital and her dad was a very well known lawyer, one of the best in the state. Sarah didn’t know where she got her passion for singing from, but she knew from the second she entered her first singing class that she wanted to be a singer when she grew up. That’s why she signed up for her high school’s singing competition. The prize for the winner was a 10,000 scholarship and ever since the sign up was posted, she practiced for hours and hours, days and days, months and months. This is what it all came up to; tomorrow was when she would know if all her hard work would pay off after all. The only thing that was in her way was the one and only Lana Debrev. Lana beat Sarah at the States singing competition, only by one point, but since then, Lana was known as the best singer at her high school. Sarah wasn’t going to give up so fast yet though. Not after all the hard work she put into this. She went downstairs and sang for hours until her throat felt like cotton. The song she would be singing tomorrow was “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion. Sarah went to bed early so she would get enough sleep but only two things were in her mind that kept her awake: the singing competition the next day and her Sweet Sixteen.

The next day at school, the mystery judge was revealed. The Monroe High singing judge was a mystery judge and ever since, everyone was wondering who it was. Now they knew. It was Rocky Port. No one could stop talking about this. Sarah couldn’t believe that the Rocky Port was going to be the judge of the competition. Rocky won so many awards and her songs are always chart breaking. This made Sarah feel so nervous that she had a garden of butterflies growing in her stomach. The competition was in one hour so Sarah had to head backstage to get ready. She was the third performer. As she was getting ready, she couldn’t help but overhear that Lana was so confident that she didn’t even practice her song. Before she knew it, the competition started. First, Amy went and Jane went second. Before she knew it, she stood before her whole school and Rocky Port. Sarah took one deep breath before she cued the backstage crew to start her music. She was a little nervous at first but her hard work showed off through the whole song. “Near, far, wherever you are, I believe that the heart does go on, Once more you open the door, and you're here in my heart, and my heart will go on and on.” Once the song ended, everyone in the crowd stood up and clapped, even Rocky Port. Once the crowd sat back down, Rocky’s feedback to Sarah was, “That was so perfect. You started a little nervous in the beginning but you got rid of that very fast. The high notes were spot on, almost as good as mine. Great job, keep it up!” This surprised Sarah a lot. “Thank you so much, you don’t know how much that means to me.” Sarah replied as she could feel tears threatening to slop from her eyes. When she got backstage, she was so excited, but she knew it wasn’t over yet. Sarah was waiting for Lana’s performance. She was the last one and Sarah could feel her heart beat getting faster and faster. When Lana sang, it was obvious that she didn’t practice much since she even got some the lyrics of her song wrong. From there, things just went downhill for her. Sarah couldn’t help but feel relieved. 

Once the performers were all called up to the stage again, the winner was announced. “This is the moment you’ve all been waiting for. The winner of the competition and scholarship is… Sarah Bradley!” Sarah was so happy that all the hours finally paid off. The next week was a blur: cameras, shows, and her moments to shine. She remembered how even people who never talked to her started talking to her all of a sudden. She went from the shy girl to the most popular girl at her high school. She almost felt like she didn't even know who her real friends were anymore. Sarah knew who were her real friends and didn't ditch them. She's been so busy lately, having to go to so many events and school. Once, cameras even showed up to her school to interview her. This is how that week went for her. Next thing you know it was her sweet sixteen. She couldn’t believe the past week, it was so surreal. Sarah felt like she was living a dream and waiting for someone to pinch her and wake her up, but that just never happened. All her friends came to her sweet sixteen and it was perfect. In the middle of her birthday, her parents pulled Sarah over to tell her something very important. She was a little confused as she followed her parents into a private room, far away from where the party was. Once the door opened, she faced Rocky Port. “OMG! I can’t believe you’re here! What are you doing here?” Sarah said, all her thoughts spilling out a time. “We need to talk about something very important. I need you to understand that no matter what I will always love you. Can you please be considerate with what I’m about to tell you?” Rocky asked. “Okay?” Sarah replied, even more confused than before. “Okay, so I’m your real mom. I know this sounds crazy and that this might seem like a prank, but I assure you, it’s not. If I had a choice, I would’ve kept you, but I didn’t. After you were born, a group of people who attacked me once threatened to kill you if I didn’t meet with them in Switzerland. How crazy is that? I knew I couldn’t meet with them since my security found out that they were planning to kidnap and rob me. I didn’t want to put you in danger so I put you in safe hands with the Bradleys. All these years, this group was never found since they hid their tracks very well, until a few weeks ago. Once I found out that it was safe for me to come and get my daughter again, I knew I didn’t have a moment to waste. My manager told me about the competition you were in and I knew I had to see how good you were at singing. Sorry, that was a lot of talking I did there, what are your thoughts, hon?” “Wow, this is so much to take in. Is this true?” Sarah asked Mr. and Mrs. Bradley. “Yes, we wanted to tell you but we knew we couldn’t. We will always love you like our own.” “Do you want to move in into my house?” Sarah’s mom asked. “Of course, I’d love to.” Sarah replied.

            Sarah was overwhelmed, in a good way. She had to admit, it was pretty cool to be Rocky Port’s daughter. As it was time to cut the cake, Sarah noticed that some of the people from the other “party” were undercover paparazzi. Once Sarah found out about her real mom, the undercover paparazzi walked in. It felt really nice to have all the people who cared and loved for her on her birthday. Then, everyone started singing, including the paparazzis. “Happy birthday Sarah!”