Chapter 11
ELEVEN
KAYLEE
After that embarrassing interruption, we all left the studio. I had wanted to suggest we all stay and jam a bit, since it had been a while since we’d all just played around, but everyone already had their own plans.
I was only a little disappointed, because it meant Micah and I could have some time to ourselves, something we desperately needed. Time to talk, time to kiss, time to… maybe do other things, as well.
I tried not to let myself get carried away. Micah had only just worked through his feelings, after all. Still, now that we were officially together, the only thing I could think about was getting him alone, and all to myself.
“You really scared the shit out of me, you know,” Micah spoke up.
“What?” I looked at him, confused. “When?”
“When you teased about not forgiving me for my bland rhyming skills.” Micah grinned down at me and took my hand in his, swinging our linked limbs between us. It was such a youthful, childish action that I had to return his grin.
“Lyrics are like poetry,” I said. “There are no real rules. You just do whatever feels right.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said with a chuckle.
I started chattering away about creativity, self-expression, the importance of having an emotional outlet, and all the other factors that went into lyricism, with Micah nodding along, a soft smile on his face as he looked down at me.
Then I stopped short.
There was someone waiting outside the building. Someone I hadn’t seen in a long time. Someone I’d been purposefully avoiding.
“I thought I’d find you here,” she said.
A short woman with familiar red hair flowing down her back, unlike my bouncy curls, pushed herself off the shiny black sports car she’d been leaning on. Her face was marked with more lines than she should have had at her age but her green eyes were sharp.
“M-mom?” I stuttered. “What are you doing here?”
Micah immediately moved to stand in front of me, as if he could shield me from her gaze. His eyes narrowed as his hand tightened around mine. There was sick feeling rising in my stomach. In any other stressful situation Micah’s presence would have bolstered me. But not here. Not with her.
“I wouldn’t have had to show up like this if you just answered your phone,” my mom said, her mouth pinched in displeasure.
“I don’t tend to respond to accusations and threats,” I said, hating that my voice trembled.
“Threats?” My mom scoffed loudly. “When have I ever threatened you?”
“What exactly do you call it when someone says they’ll ruin your life if you don’t give them money?” I shot back.
Micah inhaled a sharp breath. His hand slipped out of mine to ball into a shaking fist, but he put his other arm around me and pulled me into his side.
I hadn’t told him about my mom texting. Too much had been going on between us. I didn’t want him to know. Truthfully, I’d planned on just ignoring the whole thing.
Until my mom showed up in person. I couldn’t ignore that, and she knew it.
“I paid off all your debts,” I said flatly. “You shouldn’t owe anyone anything. I don’t know what else you want from me.”
“Don’t you give me that backtalk,” my mom snapped, taking a step forward.
I flinched. A cringing ‘sorry’ bubbled up my throat, an instinct browbeaten into me. The word was halfway out of my lips when Micah spoke up.
“Kaylee doesn’t owe you anything,” he said. “You stopped having any say in her life the second you kicked her out.”
“Kicked her out?” My mom scowled. “You mean, when you took her away from me. You think I don’t know she moved in with you and those misfits?”
“Us misfits are the reason you’re no longer drowning in debt, Susan,” Micah shot back. “You should be grateful Kay did anything for you at all.”
I put a hand on Micah’s shoulder. I appreciated him supporting me, but I didn’t want to turn this into something bigger than it had to be. I couldn’t let it.
“I don’t want to have this conversation today,” I told her as firmly as I could.
“I don’t care what you do and don’t want.” Her mouth twisted in a sour expression. “All those songs you write, accusing me of awful things. If you’re going to write about me and make me look like a bad mother, then some of the money you made off of it belongs to me.”
My hands trembled and my gut churned.
“The only person who makes you look bad is yourself,” Micah said through gritted teeth.
“You’ve always been so dramatic,” my mom said, and something inside me split open, hurt gushing out like a tsunami.
She turned to me, ignoring Micah as if he weren’t even there.
“You have nothing to complain about. There are people out there who have real problems. You’ve been a selfish, ungrateful brat ever since you fell in with this crowd.
” Now she did pay attention to Micah, shooting him a dirty look. “You abandoned your family for them.”
They’re my real family, I wanted to yell, but I held back.
I held back because I knew the consequences of going against her. All she needed to do was make one phone call. Panic clawed at my throat at the thought. One phone call and I might lose everything. My real family might lose everything. I couldn’t take that risk.
Micah growled, balling his fists even harder, and I was beginning to really worry about the scene we might cause.
“Micah, let me talk to my mom for a second, okay?” I asked him.
He clenched his jaw. “No. I’m not leaving you alone with her.”
I put my hands on either side of his face and drew him down to me so I could whisper without my mom hearing.
“Just let me talk her down,” I told him. “She’s always mad about something. I can take care of it and make her go away, but she really hates you so I can’t do that with you here.”
Micah gave me a searching look with those dark eyes of his. I plastered on my usual bright smile to reassure him. He nodded reluctantly.
“I’m just going to be over here,” he said, then took exactly fifteen steps away, still staring down my mom. I supposed that was as much of a concession as I would get from him.
I turned to my mom, forcing myself to look her in the eyes. After years of trying to make myself as small as possible around her, it was hard. But I did my best.
“You can hate my band as much as you like, but Micah’s right,” I said. “They’re the reason you have a new house. New cars. And—” I gave her a pointed look, gesturing to her designer shoes, “—a new wardrobe, apparently. Is that why you’re bothering me again? Ran out of money?”
“Don’t take that tone with me,” she said sharply.
I felt compelled to apologize, like always, but I swallowed it down, summoning the courage to keep my head up and meet her gaze straight on.
“Just tell me how much,” I said.
“Not going to cry and whine this time?” she said snidely.
“I already know that if I do, you’ll just threaten me again,” I said.
“Ah, yes,” my mom sniffed. “That boy still doesn’t know what you did, does he?”
A sickening nausea rose up inside my stomach but I kept my mouth shut.
“Just deposit the same amount as last time,” she said. “You already know the account number.”
“Fine,” I said curtly. “If that’s all, you can go.”
She gave me another narrowed-eyed look and sniffed again as she got into her car. “After everything I sacrificed for you, this is the least you can do to repay me,” she threw out as her parting words.
I inhaled deeply after she finally drove off. It felt like the first real breath I’d taken since I’d first spotted her.
“Are you okay?” Warm arms wrapped around me. I leaned back against Micah’s chest and closed my eyes.
“I’ll be fine,” I told him.
“You’re shaking,” he said softly, ducking his head to rest the underside of his jaw against the top of my head. “Let me take you home.”
I peeled my eyes open.
“No,” I said, surprised at the steadiness of my voice. “No, I don’t want to go home. I want—”
Micah waited for me, then prompted. “What do you want? Whatever it is, we’ll do it.”
“I want to go shopping,” I declared.
He paused. Then chuckled. “Shopping?”
“I want to go to Everly’s music store,” I said.
“Are you sure?” Micah sounded doubtful.
“Yes,” I said. “There’s been something bothering me about the song we were working on before. Something off. I need inspiration.”
“I don’t know if we should be working right now,” he said slowly. “Maybe we should take a break. Do something else. Something fun to get your mind off everything.”
“Music is fun,” I insisted, turning around in his arms and giving him a beseeching look. “You said anything I wanted, and I want to go do some music.”
He looked into my eyes, searching for something just like he had before when I’d asked to speak to my mom alone. He looked worried, and I didn’t know why. I always worked on songs whenever I was feeling down, or upset, or angry. Or feeling anything, really.
“All right,” Micah said, cracking a smile. “Let’s go do some music.”