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Gladys and the Big Deal
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Our series about a girl band 
Read by Natasha. Story by Bertie. Duration 11.47
It was Monday morning: the first after the chiX returned from Istanbul and the Eurovision Song Contest where they had taken second place. The girls were waiting for the bus to take them to school. An old lady who was sitting on the bench by the stop looked them up and down warily, as if she thought they were going to mug her. Then she commented:
“You look like them girls what was singing on the telly on Saturday evening.”
“Yeah, lots of people have said that,” replied Laura.
“I thought the boy what won it was nice, but our lot looked like they’d never seen a hair brush, “ continued the old lady. “It’s surprising anyone voted for them really. “
When the bus arrived, they went upstairs and sat at the front of the top deck. The bus followed the river on one side, and a row of suburban houses on the other. The girls sat silently, each of them wondering how Monday mornings would have changed if they had won.
They didn’t know that a reporter from Breakfast TV was waiting for them at the school gate. Various school girls were pulling faces and waving at the camera and saying “Film me, I’m Laura” or “I’m Gladys. Ask me a clever question,” or “Listen to me sing, Life is a Circus, Tra la la!”
When the real chiX walked past, the reporter asked if they would mind telling her what it felt like to be going back to school. Laura looked annoyed and said, “What do you think it feels like? Is this a wind up or what?” Fortunately the camera wasn’t filming. In the interview that went out live on TV, Gladys said that they were all looking forward to going back to school and that nothing would have been different if they had won.
“And what about those who are predicting a glittering future ahead of you?” asked the reporter.
“Yeah, that’s what our manager keeps on saying,” said Mandy. “But we’ll see.”
But they didn’t have to wait long to find out. Their manager, Arny, left six messages on Gladys’s mobile phone that day, each with an offer for the chiX to perform on TV or at a special concert or to go to a party. And for the rest of the week, Gladys’s phone kept on ringing. It seemed that the public and the music business loved the chiX, and didn’t care at all that they had come second.
On Saturday morning, Laura went into the convenience store for some biscuits and as she was waiting to pay, she cast her eye over the magazine rack. She noticed that a picture of the chiX was on the cover of weekly rag about celebrity gossip. The headline read:
“The Un-Glamour Girls.”
Laura felt annoyed that she had to pay £2 just to read about herself and her sisters. And she felt even more angry when she saw that the article was about how the chiX were the first chart-topping girl band not to care about how they looked in public. It had snap shots of the girls in jogging pants and old trainers as well as in school uniform with laddered tights.
The article concluded : “scruffy is the new smart.”
When she showed it to the other girls they were all seething with rage. “How they write that? ” Sam demanded …”Gladys, can’t you get Arny to stop them saying things like that about us?”
Gladys looked at the article and thought out aloud, “Well, I don’t know. It’s not trying to be nasty about us. It’s sort of saying that we are setting the trend.”
But the chiX spent all afternoon shopping and getting ready for the evening when they were invited out to a swish nightclub for the birthday party of Nigel Newcastle, the lead singer of the Joywheelers. Laura and Mandy went to the hair dressers. As they trooped down the stairs on their way out, Dad took a double-take:
“Who are those gorgeous ladies? Are they my daughters?”
“They’ve done themselves up,” said Gladys, who wasn’t going to the party because she was too young to spend all night in a club.
The following Saturday, Laura came back from the convenience store beside herself with rage. She was clutching a copy of “Hi There! “ magazine. On page 22 there was a picture of her walking out of the party on the arm of Nigel Newcastle:
“Nigel Picks a Chic” it said, adding that he was “romancing” the scruffy sixteen year old singer of the school-girl band sensation, the Chix.
“If there’s any romance, Nigel’s not told me about it,” claimed Laura, “They just make this stuff up. And why do they keep on calling me scruffy?”
Gladys told the girls to ignore what the media was saying, and just to make the best music that they could. She continued to write songs, and the chiX went to regular rehearsals, as well as dancing and singing classes. They were preforming on TV shows and giving interviews on radio about once a week now. Their songs were topping the download charts on the internet and they were getting used to seeing their pictures in the papers.
The next Saturday, Gladys went out to the convenience store with Laura because she wanted to buy a new notebook. As they were standing in the queue for the till, a girl who was about the same age as Gladys came up to them and said:
“I really like your songs. Can I take your photograph on my mobile phone please?”
Before Gladys could answer, Laura snapped: “No buzz off. Can’t you see we just got out of bed?”
When they were outside the shop, Gladys said: “That wasn’t very nice. Now we’ve lost a fan.”
“Plenty more where she came from.”
“We’ve got to be nice to the public” insisted Gladys. “It’s part of the deal.”
“I don’t remember signing no deal like that,” said Laura.
“Well it’s an unwritten one. It’s like this: we owe everything to the fans, so we’ve got to give something back to them. Or the word will get round that we’re a bunch of spoilt brats.”
And sure enough, the following week, Hi There Magazine had a grainy picture of Laura snarling and pointing at the girl in the shop. Her mum had taken the photo and sent it to the magazine. This time Laura didn’t even bother to complain.
The bad publicity didn’t hurt the chiX’s popularity. The newspapers were never exactly polite about them, but they also admitted that the girls were the “Real Deal” and it was refreshing to see their youthful faces, unadorned by bright lipstick and false eyelashes. They were a new type of Girl Band, that didn’t seem to have been invented by the Music Industry, but who sung their own music straight from the heart while continuing to go to school, dress badly, and live normal lives.
But Gladys was no longer achieving straight “As” at school on a regular basis. At parents ‘ evening, her teacher told her Dad that Gladys had to choose between music and work. In a few years time the chiX fame might have faded, and Gladys would have lost her chance of going to University.
Dad told this to Gladys, and she felt really bad and decided to spend less time going with her sisters to performances and TV shows.
“After all,” she said to herself, “I’m not in the band, and I’m not old enough to have a boyfriend. The newspapers have nothing to gossip about me, anyway.”
Gladys spent more time on her homework, but she was often up late answering emails from Arny or their Public Relations manager, and most often of all from their fans. Quite often she was tired at school, and struggled to pay attention. Her report said:
“A disappointing term for Gladys.”
A week later after school broke up for the holidays, Gladys joined her sisters for a big night at the Music Industry’s annual awards ceremony. Their song “Life is a Circus” had been nominated for Best Debut Single.
“I don’t care if we win or not,” said Sam.
“I’m rooting for the The Throbinsons,” said Mandy. “That way I won’t be too disappointed whatever the result is.”
But in truth, all the girls were sitting with tensed up stomach muscles as Nigel Newcastle stood on stage and opened the envelope for their category.
“And this year’s winner for the Best Debut Single is “Life is a Circus by the chiX.” Their song started to play through the loud speakers and the three girls walked through the dining tables and up onto the stage to accept their trophy.
“Yay, For once we won something ! “ said Sam into the microphone.
“But where did Gladys get too?” asked Laura.
Gladys had stayed behind at the dining table, because she wasn’t in the band. She only wrote the songs and managed things behind the scenes.
“Come on Gladdy !” called Mandy. “We couldn’t have done it without you.”
And Gladys saw that her three sisters were beconning to her. She shook her head, but they kept on insisting, and Nigel Newcastle said into the microphone “Gladys come and get your award darling,” so she had no choice but to climb up the steps onto the stage. Nigel handed her the trophy and her sisters lifted her up onto their shoulders. The audience clapped, whooped and cheered.
In the taxi on the way back home, Gladys sat silently.
“Hey Gladdy, are you feeling sad or just tired?” asked Mandy.
“Both,” said Gladdy. “Because you see, I can’t go on like this. I mean, I don’t have time to do all the work for the chiX and revise for my exams at school. It’s just too much for me. It’s not just writing the songs, there’s the emails and the phone calls, the accounts and the contracts to keep an eye on. It all takes much more time than you seem to think. I mean, anyone can sing and go to parties, but if you want to succeed you’ve got to be smart and stay on top of everything. ”
And Mandy said:
“You’re right Gladdy. We never understood how important all that sort of stuff was. We don’t do enough to help you.”
“But we will…” said Laura. “From now on we’ll all share the boring work…. because Gladdy’s got brains, and it would be unfair if she didn’t do well at school because she spent all her time helping us make it big.”
“Promises, promises….” said Gladys.
But over the past year, the girls had learned far more than Gladys had realised. They did now understand that he boring stuff was as important as all the exciting part of being famous. Mandy started to take more of the phone calls and answer the emails. To begin with, she often lost things, and wasn’t quite as efficient as Gladys, but she soon started to learn. And Laura learned to appreciate the fans and be nice to them. And Sam worked harder at school, though not quite so hard as Gladys. And Gladys continued to write the songs and to read the important contracts, but she had time to do her homework and get a good night’s sleep.
At in the Summer exams Gladys got straight As in every subject. Her end of term report said:
“Gladys has worked hard and deserves her success”
Gladys has three sisters who are in a girl band called the chiX. But Gladys isn't in the band because she's too young, and she's "too Geeky". But it's Gladys who is the brains behind the band.
dear bertie will there be some more stories of THE chiX
BRETTONIO SAYS I LIKE THE STORY BECAUSE IT WAS FUNNY AND IT SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD STORY AND ITS LIKE A STORY I HAD HEARD BEFORE
nooooooooooooo its over how sad
it was good
ther is a tiepo in the name
noooooooooo its over :(
Dear Josie, I think we will do some more Gladys one day… not quite sure when.. but with more music this time round.
please do you think we could do another 1 i mean the story just seams so unfinished and i read about natasha and all but please sometimes a better story comes up and you forget about this 1 so please don’t
sincerly, Josie
short
that’s what i’ve been looking for.
bertie why does ashliegh have to give U credit when she s the one singing the songs not u ?
I want you to make more songs!!!!!!!
Dear Issy, I’m really pleased our stories help you sleep through the night. It is good to go to sleep with words in your head, I believe, especially if you like language.
Hi this website is amzing you see i have had trouble sleeping and i have tried everthing from reading, massages,but then my mum and dad said how about u see and surf the internet just in case u find a website so u can listen to a story and see if that helps you to get to sleep!!!! AND IT DID!!!!!! i am sleeping through the night now and thanks so much u have changed my life aroundxxxxxx
I love it lols
Thanks Tamina ! We like to have a series on the boil. I started both series thinking, I’m not sure about this, but as they move on I get really into them too.
I really did love the stories about Gladys and the chiX.
I was dissapointed when I realized that the series was coming to an end…
but then I started listening to the Awaking Beauty series and it’s amazing!
meep mop
Dear Rosemary, it’s an accident
The title says “Gladys and the big deal,” but the audio book says “Gladys and the great deal.”
Was that on purpose or and accident.
Cool;)
love this soo much but could you make a video
cool story!!
OMG i luv this story PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPLLLEEEAAAAASSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE write moreeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i am getting error when i click on vedio
Ya the Awaking Beauty is much better than the chiX
Dear Sue, Natasha is taking a full time education course out of London and it’s quite hard to catch her now, but I’m hoping to do so at half term which is quite soon. Did you hear the First Strawberries read by Natasha?
Bertie, I read Carly’s comment. What do you mean you need Natasha on board? I also noticed that all of the latest stories are read by Elizabeth. Please respond.
Hi Carly, I do want to do more chiX stories, but we really need to have Natasha on board for them, and I think that might not be until next summer. But we do have the Awaking Beauty series which seems to appeal to many of the same listeners who liked the chiX.
Bertie, when will there be another Chix story?
If the title is Gladys and the Real Deal then why does it say Gladys and the Big Deal??
Dear Nancy (replying on Behalf of Natasha, who may be along later to reply)… thanks ever so much for your nice comment about Gladys. Oddly enough, some of our older audience (mostly parents perhaps) thought it was vulgar, but the kids seemed to love it. Most of our stories don’t really have a moral or a lesson, but this one was firmly built on the idea that you have to work hard to succeed, and that the fifteen minutes of fame culture is an illusion.
Natasha, I loved this story. I’m fifty now but I grew up as a girl that was “too geeky”. It was really fun to follow the ups and downs of the Chix and their sibling relationships. Your voice brings each character to life. I’m recommending this website to my nieces. Keep going with these new stories. While they are grounded in contemporary culture, they have lessons just like classic fairytales.
Keet going as you are doing a GREAT job!
Your stories are cool
looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooovely story
Dear Angie, sorry I must have missed your earlier question. We really don’t mind if you and your friends set up a band called the chiX and use our songs if it’s just among your friends, school, and family. If you were to start selling our songs or doing anything on a bigger scale, we might not be so keen. …. but even if you hit the big-time, I’m sure we could do a deal…. So if you are being more public about this, say you have a video on YouTube, please make clear that it’s a Tribute to Storynory’s the chiX… thanks.
When I was writing the chiX the problem I found was that all the names I could think of were already used by a band with some sort of page on YouTube or MySpace. The only one that was absolutely not taken was the Throbinsons, but lots of names, some of them really silly, were already used.
Let’s try and think of a name for your girl band…. err… Miss Fits – I rather like that… play on misfits, … i wonder if it’s been done, better turn to google… probably has….
i know that your working on it but you still havent answered my question about using the songs. im pretty sure that we cant but it is worth a shot. so can we?
:(
it was a great story, i love it, i love natasha too
Dear Angine, we would love to do one more chiX story and one more song, but we are working on other things at the moment.
Angie, Comments are moderated means that we check the comments before putting them on the site. We have to make sure that nobody posts anything too offensive because we have so many young people visiting us.
by the way what does ‘comments are moderated’ mean? sorry but i talk a lot……
i think this is a GREAT story and PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE write more of the chiX stories now if you will PLEASE answer to my other question
hi bertie and natasha! you guys are really awesome… love the chiX stories too! i got a question- me and my friends want to start a band just like the chiX and i was wondering if we could use some of the songs and maybe even the name. sorry if its too pushy or if its copyright but im still hopeful! please reply!
-angie
Meisha, we will some day do an extra one or two gladys stories and perhaps a new song. Thanks for asking about them.
You totally should write some more i LOVE Gladys and the chiX
That’s the END!!!!!!!!m!M!!,!,!!!!!!!!,!!!!!,!!!am,a,a,a,a,aa,am,!!!!!a,!am,,a,a,a,a!,!!!!!!,!! WOW
We can do the Jungle Book – and our story Ricki Ticki Tavi is actually from it.
http://storynory.com/2007/01/22/rikki-tikki-tavi-part-one/
I’m so glad you like our stories anyway ! Thanks.
never mind i have the lightning thief and all the harry potters!
p.s.we love your stories anyway!!!!!
my dad wrote that.
How about the Jungle Book?
I have just replied below. Better news about Snow White
http://storynory.com/2006/07/31/snow-white/
please reply soon.
ps. my sister wants snow white!
Dear kana&lila
I am really story but we don’t have the rights to put Harry Potter and Percy Jackson on here, as much as we love them too. Please ask a parent or a teacher about copyright and they will explain. I’ll try a bit – the author and the publisher would charge us Zillions of $$$ to read their texts or probably would just say no anyway.
harry potter and percy jackson please!
please put harry potter and percy jackson on here.
me and my sister lila like your stories but please put more on like harry potter and the lightning theif.
MAKE MORE STORIES AND MORE SONGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great work Natasha :)
LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dear Bob, Storynory started in November 2005 and we have published a story every week since then.
pls reply soon
great stories, BTW, BERTIE when did storynory start?
hey, Arif. my idea to this(i mean i do it) is to read what shes saying. dont just listen. while shes talking read what shes talking. tat will help u. thats why i dont have difficulties like u.
thanks,
Red aju
Its really a very nice website its relly helpful to improve my english spoken skills
This web site cud be much helpfull and much impressesi if Natasha told the story in clear and a bit slow . While telling a story Natasha chew half of the words so its getting difficult to understand the sentence .
How nice it will be if Natasha tell the story with out any over acting .
hope you will consider my suggestion i am sure its really help to make this web site more helpful and it will atract more people.
Thanks
I like it very much
Hi Tonia a Katie story is coming up – check tomorrow .
great story !!!
( to Bertie) could you please write some more Katie storys they are so great
(Kayla) Wow, what a cool story that came to an end! I hope more stories come up Bertie! Kendra did not want to read this now but she might later.
I Thought It Was A Great Story !!
Hi Fatima, thank you. I’m glad you liked Gladys. We’ll do our best to give you more stories like this one.
i like the story not only one but all of them. thank u bertie for writting a good story and its song,can u please write more stories like this which we can learn lessons from and has drama a little bit or more inside.and by the way natasha thank u for making audio books for free i really had fun listening to berties story.and from all the story in storynory i like gladys and the chix there were cool and very nice girls it seemed to me like.please make more stories like this one.
yours,fatima
Very nice story with lessons to learn. I liked this one and hope there is more Gladys stories to come.
good story
Dear Michelle, I’m glad you like Gladys. We are sad that her stories have come to an end too because we’ve loved doing them, but the tale seems to have come to a conclusion. I suppose we might follow her again at some time in the future, but we are calling it a day for now.
I simply LOVE gladys and the chix. so sad this is the last. I’ve always wanted to be a singer and I hope I’ll get as lucky as the chiX(though it seems impossible someone could get famous in just a few months!) can there be more storys not about gladys, but more about songs, drama, everything!!!!!!!!
Yours, Michelle
It was a nice storynory. Natasha you are a good reader but you missed some words and spelled things wrong!!