All Chapters of The Fake Empire: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Raeleigh CampbellPOVPouring myself a glass of wine, I walk back to the sofa. I thought the worst was over and done with. When I logged back into my Instagram, something I didn’t do often. I hated being online, seeing what everyone’s hot takes are when it came to me.I curl on the sofa pulling the blanket to my chest. Taking a sip of my white wine. my feed is flooded. God this was out of control, I’m surprised I haven’t gotten a call from Whittney yet.{Jenna and Western Michaelson unfollowed him?? Omg is it true??}{Not Maya too… what happened??}{Girl, blink twice if you’re single 👀💔}{Guys her sister and brother also unfollowed him… Should we be worried? God what did Carson do? They’ve been together forever, I remember seeing pictures of them walking hand in hand into their hotel after her show…}{He must have cheated, if they just went their separate ways they would not have unfollowed him after having dinner with Rae. I’m telling you. He did something…}{Just another guy to ad

Raeleigh CampbellPOVThe applause still rang in my ears as I stepped into my dressing room, but the second the door closed behind my dad, it was like a switch inside me was switched off. I was a completely different person. I sat down and let out a sigh. All the happiness I felt just seconds away was gone. All that was left was numb and nothingness.“The show was great Leigh, I’m so proud of you. We all are…” My father says taking a seat next to me.“Thanks dad…” I was truly grateful to my parents.“Miss Rae, we have a problem one of the dances twisted their ankle we sent her to the hospital it’s not looking good. We’ll need to find a replacement for Millie.” My stagehand walks into my dressing room saying.My eyes widening.“Get out of your costume I’ll deal with this…” My father says before I could even say anything. He gets up and follows my stagehand out.The dressing room door shut with a heavy thud. Suddenly I was alone. So many things can go wrong when you a huge crew like I d

Raeleigh CampbellPOVMy head resting against the bathtub, my eyes closed trying to soak my aching body. Being onstage for two hours takes years off your life, my body feels worse than when I’m working out. Which is another thing I hate doing. Working out is a form of torture created to punish us because Adam and Eve ate the forbidden apple. Just like how women are punished monthly for that very apple. But that’s a complaint for another day.I open my eyes to watch how the steam filled the bathroom. The marble tiled walls almost looked blurred in the steam. The suite was quiet after the noise of tonight I welcomed the silence, Ella was asleep on the bed already. Ella was my five year old tabby. She was my baby. Carson wasn’t the biggest fan of my Ella, she didn’t bother with him either. So I never tried to make her like him either.I straightened my legs stretching my feet and nearly screaming out when I feel a cramp coming at the bottom of my soles. Heels weren’t my friends anymore.

Raeleigh CampbellPOVSunlight spilled through the hotel curtains, sharp and blinding, I place my hand over my eyes to prevent the sum from burning my retinas… I sit up and look at the mess. My half-open suitcase clothes spilling out. It took me way too long to get oriented. Not that you can clean up much when I’m in the hotel for three days at most. I was a mess. I was in yet another hotel room, in another city, all the hotels were blending into one.I looked at the time on the television. It was after eleven in the morning. I was running late.I had another show tonight. I needed to sort out the surprise songs for tonight, sort out which outfits I’d wear tonight.My head felt heavy, not from sleep but from the absence of it. I was running on fumes. I knew I was over doing it. The lack of sleep, the late nights, and early mornings. I was pushing myself past my limits. I looked out the window at the sun shining through the window, wondering what I was going to eat for breakfast.Over

Raeleigh CampbellPOVThe stage was set, the details people were waiting for. The silence was deafening. My every move was watched.Because I was about to be watched I’ve made sure I’d blocked Carson, not only for my sake but because I didn’t want him to seem like the clingy ex who wouldn’t let go. He’d phoned me all at least seven more times yesterday before I couldn’t take it anymore and blocked him.The cameras followed my every move as I flipped through the day’s schedule, the crew silently capturing every move. One camera was positioned behind me to get a view of my laptop and the other in front of me.Today they were supposed to be about the “real me” the behind the scenes, the quiet moments between performances but all the lights, lenses, and microphones felt like another kind of stage. The me without the make up and the thousand dollar outfits. Me without the performance.It was supposed to capture what the hours leading up to stepping out onstage was like to me. But I wonder