We all wish, at some moment in our lives, to be rich and famous. When are teenagers, we want that even more and with reason. A lot of people seem to think that life is made out of looking great, being popular and having trendy clothes. That is why we seem to look at celebrities as people who have accomplished their dreams and are perfectly happy. We want to be like them: on stage, singing like crazy for a crowd that loves us and cheers on as the lights shine on our glimmering show dresses. We want to have those incredible muscles that all the good-looking actors and models have…

But, what if their life isn’t that great? What if, even for them, things aren’t all rainbows and butterflies? What if, actually, what they seem to have isn’t really worth all the trouble they’re going through? Well, I can assure you that those “what ifs” aren’t out of place. And right here, there is a list of all the things that explain why it’s NOT that good to be a star.

1- Celebrities tend to lose their real friends when they become famous and they can’t have any friends without wondering if they’re there for them or for their money and popularity. In their world, they are a way of making money for all those greedy producers and they often take advantage of their weaknesses to do whatever they please with them.

2- Stars are never really the way you see them. In pictures, experts photoshopped the heck out of them and arranged their hair and put their make up in a special way to make them look the way they seem to be. The ones you see in the pictures and on TV aren’t really them. It’s an illusion that talented people are able to create. So stop dreaming of looking like them; you’re probably better looking than them!

3- Famous people have an obsession on their physical appearance. They’re practically prisoners of that obsession, feeling forced to literally refrain from eating at all to be so skinny that you can see their bones. And seriously, who the heck would want to give a hug to a walking skeleton? Aren’t there enough people suffering from hunger in the world? In other words, it’s not good to be so obsessed with the way you look as they are.

4- Another thing: PRIVACY. Understand well that word, because it doesn’t exist for them. EVER. Don’t try to think about a way to have some when you’re famous, you’re NOT going to have any. Let make this clear: celebrities can’t do anything without the whole world knowing about it. It’s like “Hello pressure!”

5- Have you ever noticed that people spend a LOT of time saying how stars are so completely lame or do mean comparisons and stuff… Ok, I do it too, we all do it, but it’s actually kind of funny if you think about it. We spend time gossiping about the fact that some stranger from Hollywood or whatever slipped on the street. It’s like… “um, well normal people fall too…”

6- Famous people, geniuses and talented stars… they aren’t always happy. Why do you think they end up drug addicts? These people… they don’t live long. Just look at Michael Jackson. He’s one of the world’s greatest artists. Yet, he died at 50 years old. That’s young! Why did he die? The pressure, the lack of privacy, the judgements, the hard work. That’s what happens to most stars. They’re not really balanced in their life and often, quite depressed.

So, in conclusion… Stop wanting to be one of them! Believe me, it’s way better to be a normal person who can have their own life. By the way, to understand this better, listen to the song “Imperfect Is The New Perfect” by Caitlin Crosby. It can help to stop wanting to be someone so completely different from who you are, because whomever you are is always going to be a thousand times than some image that doesn’t really exist.

Valentine’s Day is almost here and people are starting to get ready for the big day! Well, at least the shops are… Didn’t you ever notice that shops always start displaying Valentine, Halloween or Christmas stuff like two months earlier? (Though for Christmas, it’s rather three months…) Anyway. I just want to wish everyone a great Valentine’s Day, have fun people, because technically, it’s a holiday and you can party.

 

 Now, Valentine’s is a great day for all those couples out there that can spend time being happy about not being single. Well, cheers to you! Don’t forget to give gifts to your valentine (flowers, chocolate, teddy bears, cute T-Shirts, sweet cards, something real romantic, etc.)!

 

But if you actually are single? I mean, a lot of people are single and stuff, but the thing is: don’t be depressed about it! Being single isn’t the end of the world. Well, if you’re a teenager, it might seem it is, but it really isn’t. After all people, you’ve all got friends! Friends are many times more important than a boyfriend or a girlfriend, so why not tell them that you care? Your Valentine doesn’t necessarily have to be a boyfriend or a girlfriend, it can be a normal friend. Anyway, whatever you do, don’t start depressing about Valentine’s Day. Besides, no matter what you do, you’re still allowed to go berserk on the chocolate… 

At last, after many days spent preparing for the concert and trying to convince Stephanie that it wasn’t the end of the world that Jessica’s ticket was green, the much awaited night came. They all had to meet each other at the subway station, from which they would all go to the Bell Center, in Downtown Montreal.

 

They all had their own means of getting to the subway, two of them being brought there by their parents, but the other two, Lucia and Stephanie, went by bus together.

 

As they froze waiting for the bus to come, Stephanie was telling her friend how excited she was, gleaming in her bright purple coat.

 

“Oh, can you believe this?” she exclaimed, but before Lucia could answer, she continued. “I can’t believe this! This is incredible!”

 

The other girl smiled and looked up at the stars as Stephanie continued talking. “This is the most wonderful night ever,” she thought. “If only it wasn’t so freaking cold!” She shivered for the hundredth time, but kept smiling.

 

Just then, the bus arrived, interrupting Stephanie’s blabbering as well as Lucia’s thoughts. They both got on and paid their ticket. Lucia looked back at the ice and snow covered street thoughtfully before the vehicle’s door closed. She had the strange feeling that something was going to go wrong.

 

“What’s wrong?” her friend called out, already having taken a seat.

 

Lucia stared at Stephanie with a look of deep incomprehension.

 

“Nothing,” she mumbled, rather to herself than to anyone else, before going to sit next to her friend.

 

***

 

At the subway, Jessica and Virginie were waiting for the others impatiently, frowning at their watch. When Lucia and Stephanie finally arrived, they all got on a subway and left the station, entering the dark tunnel without saying a word. Then, out of the blue, they started talking to each other about the concert and how great it will be.

 

“Just imagine the date afterwards,” Jessica said happily. The other girls agreed, approving completely with what she had said, but none of them knew that when the moment that they have been waiting for so long would arrive, it wouldn’t be at all what they had expected.

 

When they got at the concert, they showed their tickets to the doorman, who smirked at them as he saw the V.I.P. letters written on the papers. Though, his smile seemed rather malicious than happy.

 

The girls frowned at each other when they passed the doorman, but didn’t say anything. What was there to say anyway?

 

At the Bell Center, there was excited screaming overlapped by the singers’ voices ringing through the darkness. They could barely see where they were going, for the only light came from a bunch of dim disco balls and the stage lights.

 

It was almost the Jonas Brother’s turn soon and Jessica couldn’t wait, while the rest of them were still for someone interesting to perform. The Jo Bros came on stage, provoking a bunch of screaming, Jess being one of the girls yelling their heads off.  

 

Then, when Jessica took a good look at them, she frown, confused. She stared at her friends, who weren’t paying any attention to the singers.

 

“Um, girls,” she told them. They shot her a questioning glance. “Those guys up there on stage… They aren’t the Jonas Brothers.”

 

Virginie grimaced and looked hastily at the performers. She peered up at them and watched them intently, trying to find out what was wrong. Then, it hit her: Jessica was right, it wasn’t the Jonas Brothers.

 

“Well, maybe it’s some kind of preview of them,” she said. “Maybe the actual stars come after.” Though, she didn’t seem sure as she glared at the fake singers.

 

Stephanie looked towards a group of stars sitting near the stage and noticed Taylor Lautner. “It’s not Taylor,” she yelled at her friends, trying to overlap the loud music. “He’s fake too!”

 

The girls started to be nervous. What was the meaning of this? Why wasn’t it the real stars? What was happening?

 

Just then, Green Day came on stage, followed by their singer, Billie Joe Armstrong. When Lucia and Virginie saw him, they nearly had a heart attack. It wasn’t the real Billie Joe either.

 

Part 4

 

The show was over and Stephanie, Jessica, Virginie and Lucia were all standing outside, staring at their ticket, trying to understand what wasn’t right. The, tired of glaring at a stupid piece of paper in the cold night, Stephanie went towards the doorman and exclaimed, completely outraged as she showed her V.I.P. ticket:

 

“WHAT is the meaning of this?! We have V.I.P. tickets to see REAL stars, not a bunch of people pretending to be gorgeous and being able to sing!”

 

The doorman, the one that let them in two hours ago, smiled at her, trying not to burst out laughing.

 

“Well, that’s your problem, because on the tickets, it’s clearly written that you’re going to meet the fake stars,” he replied, taking the ticket. He showed her a small almost impossible to read writing that said “fake”, just before Taylor Lautner’s name. “And by the looks of it, you’re going to have a date with those fake stars any minute now! I’ve got to go, so have fun!” The doorman grinned at her ironically and left, leaving her standing there, ticket in hand, gazing at it gloomily.

 

When Stephanie got back to her confused friends, she explained the situation in a sad tone, completely depressed. They had been waiting for this night for so long and now, they couldn’t do anything. It was all nothing but a stupid joke.

 

At that moment, the entrance door of the Bell Center smashed open as the fake Nick Jonas, Billie Joe Armstrong and Taylor Lautner got out of the building, all laughing and making an indescribable racket. They silenced when they got in front of the four sad-looking girls.

 

“Well, they don’t really look so happy, now do they, James?” the Nick Jonas impersonator said to one of them, shaking his head while the teenagers glared at them as if they were completely crazy.

 

“No, they don’t, Ben,” James (aka Billie Joe, but in a much younger version, about 20 years younger) replied with a strong, British accent. Then, turning towards the third one, the fake Taylor Lautner, said: “What shall we do, Peter? Aren’t they the girls we’re supposed to talk to, you know, the ones who won the contest? Shall we say anything to cheer them up?”

 

“Yes, we shall,” Peter answered, imitating James’ accent. 

 

They smiled foolishly at the contest winners, trying to find something to say. Virginie cut the silence saying:

 

“You know, you really don’t look like Billie Joe Armstrong.”

 

James burst out laughing.

 

“Of course I don’t. That’s not really the point.”

 

“Oh really, it’s not?”

 

James frowned and gave her question a thought. “No, actually, that is the point.” He looked away, confused, trying to understand why he got a job as a Billie Joe impersonator if he didn’t look anything like him.

 

“Well anyway,” Ben interrupted. “You’re supposed to have a “date” with us so…”

 

“Yeah, we know this great restaurant not far from here,” Peter continued. “We can walk until there. You girls want to come?”

 

Jessica, Stephanie and Virginie looked at each other, slightly surprised and seriously freaked out.

 

“Why not?” Lucia answered, as if there was nothing strange about going to eat at a restaurant with a bunch of Nick, Billie Joe and Taylor impersonators.

 

***

 

Surprisingly, the night went better than it would of have if James, Peter and Ben were actual stars. They were normal people, with the same kind of thoughts that the girls had and thanks to that, the whole thing didn’t seem awkward.

 

The three guys were actual musicians, but they weren’t even close of being famous. They were in the same band: Illusion Deadline. James was the singer, Peter was the drummer and Ben, the guitar player. They talked about their music, which was pretty much based on rock and punk, but Jessica discovered that Ben had a secret love for pop music. That kind of freaked out the rest of the band.

 

Still, the night was about music, even more than if it went as planned. But then again, maybe it did go as planned…