On the Flip Side Read Free

Sunday’s music! Don’t y’all?”
    Gia nods. “I do. You are a great singer.”
    â€œThank you,” I reply. “But for the record there was never a Truth-Sunday-Drama love triangle. Truth and I were never an item. That was a straight fabrication.”
    Piper and Meagan exchange skeptical glances. Whatever! I don’t have anything to prove to these girls. Gia is busy chowing down, so I’m not exactly sure what her thoughts are on the subject.
    â€œAre you going to put out an entire album soon?” Piper asks.
    â€œSoon. We’re releasing another single first, and then I’ll go into the studio to record the album.”
    â€œHow are you going to do all of that and go to school too?” Gia asks.
    â€œIt’s gonna be hard, but I’ll have to juggle it. I think I can do it.”
    I take a bite of my fried chicken and chew it for a long time before I can swallow. The truth is I’m nervous about trying to have a recording career and go to college full time. I have no idea whether I can do it or not. I’ve convinced everyone: my mom, Mystique, Big D, and Epsilon Records that I’m going to be a success at being a free-thinking Spelman woman and a pop star.
    But deep down, I’m a little scared. What if I fail?
    I guess now, it’s time for me to believe my own hype.

2
    â€œS o, since the album is already gold and heading toward platinum, I think your next single should be a big ballad,” Mystique says as she, Big D, and I chill in her fiancé Zac’s studio.
    â€œI agree,” I reply. “I think it should be ‘The Highlight . ’”
    â€œHmm ... let me hear you sing a piece of it so I can think of a concept for the video,” Mystique says.
    I open up my mouth and belt it out a cappella. “I don’t know a lot of things/ And I haven’t been around a long time/But I don’t have to know it all/To tell you what’s been on my mind/You are ... so amazing/And if it weren’t for you, and everything you do/I wouldn’t be this happy/Loving you is the highlight of my life!
    â€œOn that little bridge part you can do a run like this.”
    Mystique does some vocal acrobatics on the word amazing that are ... well ... amazing! I laugh out loud, because my voice is good, but Mystique’s is incredible. I won’t even attempt to copy that.
    â€œSo you like it?” I ask.
    â€œOh, yes! I love it. You and Sam are so gifted when it comes to songwriting. I knew that from the jump.”
    Big D says, “Every song on this record is hot. This album is gonna remind people of when Lauryn Hill first came out and dominated the charts.”
    â€œDon’t go there, Big D,” I say. “I don’t even like to hear you say that out loud. I can’t even touch Lauryn as an artist or songwriter.”
    Mystique says, “Sunday, you have the potential to surpass that. You don’t understand how gifted you are. D, when is she gonna get it?”
    He shrugs. “I don’t know, but I wish she’d hurry up so we can get this paper.”
    I hear what they’re saying and I want to believe it, but it almost feels like I’m being disrespectful to those who came before me. I don’t ever want to do that. What I do want is to make my own history, for real, for real.
    â€œSo we’re going to do a video for this song,” Mystique says. “But since you’re in school, it won’t be a fabulous island thing. We can do it here!”
    â€œThat’s hot!”
    Mystique’s fiancé, Zac, is none other than platinum-selling rapper Zillionaire. My cousin, Dreya, is gonna trip when she hears that my video is being shot in his mansion. She’s gonna trip when she hears my song, because it’s not her song. She pretty much stays in trip-out mode, so you know, it’ll be pretty normal for her.
    â€œAre you going to have time to put in any work on