Taylor Says: "For years, I was never sure if we were friends or not. She would come up to me at awards shows and say something and walk away, and I would think, 'Are we friends, or did she just give me the harshest insult of my life?'"
"She did something so horrible. "I was like, 'Oh, we're just straight-up enemies.' And it wasn't even about a guy! It had to do with business. She basically tried to sabotage an entire arena tour. She tried to hire a bunch of people out from under me. And I'm surprisingly non-confrontational – you would not believe how much I hate conflict. So now I have to avoid her. It's awkward, and I don't like it."
"But I don't think there would be any personal problem if she weren't competitive."
Message: She made friends and enemies.
"Battle of the song." Mr. Keller speaks aloud as the tardy-bell rings.
"Think of this as a test. There will be two of you against each other. If you win, you get the chance to win a trip to a recording studio to see how the music is made. The recording studio is a few hours away from here so a hotel will be provided; as will two tickets. You are allowed to bring a family member or anyone else of your choosing. The trip will take place next weekend. The winner will be chosen Monday morning. Are we clear?"
As overwhelming as that sounds, I'm thrilled.
"I feel sorry for the guy who's paired up with you, Taylor." Stella whispers to me. I shake my head. "Have you heard yourself? You should be selling out concerts by now." I whisper back.
Stella winks at me before we go back to paying attention to Mr. Keller.
"Now, half of your names are in this hat, and the other in this hat." Mr. Keller shows us two baseball caps.
I gulp.
He sets the hats down on the podium and clears his throat.
"There are rules. There will be no explicit words-" "Does that include the word hella?" Katy raises her hand.
"Well you wouldn't want a child screaming that around the house would you?" A guy behind her grumbles.
Our class starts laughing before Mr. Keller silences us.
"Yes that includes such words, Katy. Now if we're done with the interruptions." He smooths down his tie.
"Explicit words, profanity, or... what do you kids call it now days?" He snaps his fingers a few times.
"Ah yes, slut shaming. None of those will be allowed. Your songs violate said rules, you will be disqualified. You will not only lose the contest, but that will be a zero put in for your assignment. Are we clear?"
"Yes sir." I mumble along with the rest of the class.
The thrill has lessened and anxiety takes it's place. My last song would be disqualified from the competition due to the language. I wouldn't qualify Shake It Off as slut shaming. I was jealous; don't we all get jealous?
YOU ARE READING
In Your Eyes: 1989
FanfictionTaylor said herself that "These songs were once about my life. They are now about yours." She wrote this album for us seeing as we've never related to Taylor more than now. She wanted to write songs documenting our life between the time of birth and...
