Chapter 30
Lisa opens the door when she sees me coming, and as soon as I climb the steps her arms are around me. “I’m so sorry, Penny girl. So sorry,” she murmurs, rubbing up and down my back. The tenderness of it—the motherly care I’ve gone so long without—hits me harder than expected. My throat tightens as stinging tears well up. After a moment, I pull away from her and we head into Josie’s living room.
When we enter, Josie doesn’t waste a second. She immediately starts ranting from where she’s sitting cross legged on the floor by her coffee table. Her phone is in her hand and her eyes are blazing.
“Okay, listen. I’ve been reading through these comments. I may or may not have slid into some DMs and cussed people out. I’ll apologize for nothing.” She huffs. “Damn trolls! It’s like they don’t give a shit that these are real life humans they’re talking about. But listen, once you get past the first ones, not all the comments are bad. Have you looked at them?”
Her fingers fly across her screen as she scrolls and points to her phone so I lower to the floor beside her to see what she’s pointing to.
Yes, there's plenty of hurtful comments with people taking jabs at everything from my weight to my reputation. But I see what Josie means. For every negative comment, there’s someone quick to respond with something positive. Scrolling further, the comments shift entirely, becoming more and more positive. Plenty of people are amazed that there’s a woman who owns a studio, and tons are just happy that Austin is alive and well. I’m surprised to see tons of people expressing happiness for him that he seems to be in a relationship. One makes me snort out laughter.
“You saw the one I saw, didn’t you?” Josie asks.
SHARTR205 : Yaaas queen. Get you some of that country boy D .
Lisa sits on the couch behind us, and I hand the phone to her, pointing at it, and she covers her mouth, shoulders shaking with silent laughter. Coming here was the right decision. I knew my girls could help me put this whole mess in perspective. Are people being shitty? Absolutely. Is there a chance this will negatively affect our little town? Quite possibly. But what’s done is done, so now I have to figure out how to move forward. And sitting here with them is the reminder I’ve needed that I don’t have to do things alone.
“Listen, I know this sucks,” Josie says. “I’m not trying to be flippant here. But you have to remember these are strangers. They don’t know you and their opinions don’t matter. Unless people start showing up and invading your real life, it's just a picture.”
“But that’s just it, Jo.” My voice trembles. “I’m afraid I’m gonna wake up tomorrow morning and a whole swarm of people will be here to invade my real life.”
Josie doesn’t miss a beat. “Well, they’ll have to get through me first.”
Lisa reaches down and squeezes my arm. “They’ll have to get through the whole town. You know that.”
A quiet settles between us full of uncertainty and lingering fear. I stare at the floor, my thoughts tangled up in what-ifs, until Josie’s voice cuts through.
“Do you love him?”
The question hits me so hard that I flinch.
Do I love him? I think over all the emotions I’ve felt about Austin, and above all, yes love is the main one I feel. I love that while his circle might be small, he loves his people fiercely. I love that despite the hand life has thrown at him, he’s kind to his core. There’s a deep tenderness in him that the world has failed to see. I love that he makes me feel seen and allows me to see him, too, without walls or pretense. I’d never have admitted it back then, when this all began. But looking back now, it feels like some part of me always knew. Like something deep inside whispered, this is who I’ve been waiting for.
Yes. Yes, I love him.
“Okay, I see it all over your face. Obviously you do.” Josie leans in, her voice softening. “Listen to me. Life with him isn’t gonna be all sunshine and rainbows. He’s famous. People will always have something to say about the two of you. But I have a feeling it’ll be worth it.”
Her reassurances make me feel a tiny bit better, but the knot in my stomach doesn’t want to unwind.
“I really don’t know who would have done this,” I say, wracking my brain, searching for anything that might explain this.
Suddenly Josie gasps. “Wait.” Her eyes go wide as she looks at me. “Remember there was that one woman at the River Fest. When you and Austin went to dance, Liam and I were making bets about you two, remember? Do you think it was her? These days it doesn’t take much to figure out a person’s whole life story.”
I’m turning this thought over in my head when Abby steps into the room. Her eyes are red and puffy, and it's obvious she’s been crying for a while. Her face is splotchy and a heavy cloud of despair seems to hang over her.
“What’s the matter, sweet girl?” Josie asks, cocking her head at the palpable misery swirling around Abby.
Fresh tears spill down Abby's cheeks as her words tumble out in a rush, making it difficult to understand her. “I—I overheard you guys talking,” she says between sobs. “It was me. I took a picture of them that day at the festival and used it in my Snapchat streaks the other day. I didn’t think it would be a big deal. But then all these people I didn’t even know started taking screenshots of it, and I knew I’d messed up. I didn’t know what to do.”
We all sit there stunned, wearing matching shocked expressions. Never in a million years would I have guessed the photo came from Abby.
Josie is quiet beside me, but she finally speaks, her voice tinged with barely contained anger. “Abigail Nicole, you know we don’t do that here.” Her words are slow and deliberate. “What on earth possessed you to do something like this?”
Abby lets out a sigh, too weary for a girl her age. “Samantha and Kayley have been doing things without me. They’re constantly leaving me out lately. I told them I could introduce them to Austin. They didn’t believe me, so I snapped it.”
I glance over at Josie, still seething with anger, so I speak up before she can. “I remember doing some pretty stupid stuff when I was your age, too.”
Josie shoots me a glare, but I silently urge her to let me handle it. I pat the seat beside me on the floor and Abby plops down next to me. Smudge runs over from his dog bed and jumps up on her lap.
“Start from the beginning. Tell us what happened.” I focus my attention on Abby, deliberately ignoring Josie. The two of them have been like oil and water lately.
Abby takes a shaky breath before launching into her story. “It’s been going on all summer. They went to the beach together and didn’t invite me. Kayley said I couldn’t afford it.” She cuts her eyes at her mom, and I watch as Josie visibly shrinks in on herself. “So ever since they went to the beach, they’ve been doing everything together and they don’t include me. They post their pics on Snapchat all the time. They’re constantly together. I’ve asked them to hang out and they always have some stupid excuse.”
“Abby, honey, why didn’t you tell me this was going on?” Josie asks, scooting closer to where Abby is seated.
She gives a one-armed shrug. “So when I heard he was here, I told them if they’d come over I’d introduce them to Austin. They didn’t believe me. Once I saw the two of you together I took the picture.”
A fresh wave of tears spills over as she lifts the phone, holding it out for us to see. It’s definitely the one that the tabloid has. She must have taken the photo right after Austin bought me the necklace. He’s leaning down with his lips pressed to the side of my head.
We look happy.
I unlock my phone and scroll to Tyler’s contact. I need to let him know all of this so he and Kate can stay on top of things.
Hey Tyler, it's Penny. I know who took the photo. It’s a really long story, but you and Kate can end your investigation. Let’s just say it was an innocent teenager here trying to impress her frenemies.
Tyler
Kate had about tracked it back to someone in Singing River. She’s trying to get it taken down, but I doubt that’ll happen. Anyway, thanks for letting me know. You and Austin ok?
I think so. I’m at my friend’s house, but when I left he seemed ok. Just very pissed. I’m texting him next.
Tyler
Thanks. Take Care.
Next, I scroll to my text thread with Austin.
Hey, I just talked to Tyler, and I’ll tell you more when I get home. I’ll be here late. I think everything will be ok, though.
The three dots appear and disappear several times and then vanish altogether, so I slip my phone back in my pocket. I assume he’s probably busy talking to Kate.
“Ladies, why don’t we have a girls’ night,” Lisa says. “I’ll call Greg to see if he can come pick up Jay. They can swim and watch some baseball or something,”
All eyes turn to me.
“You up for it?” Josie asks.
I hesitate, thinking of Austin and the ticking clock that is our time together, but I nod my head anyway.
“Jay Jay!” Josie calls out.
Seconds later, he thunders down the hallway and appears in the doorway. “Yeah?”
Josie arches a single eyebrow.
“Ma’am?” he corrects. He can probably tell tonight's not the night to be crossing Josephine Thomas.
“Grab some PJ’s and your swim trunks. You’re going to stay with Greg tonight.”
Jay punches a fist into the air, thrilled at this news, and runs down the hallway.
Lisa looks up from her phone and informs us that Greg is on his way, and Josie orders pizzas. We decide that 13 Going on 30 is the perfect girls’ night movie. By the time the pizza arrives, we’ve made cozy pallets on the floor and sent Jay out the door with Greg.
I look at my phone to check for a text, but Austin still hasn’t responded. I try to push aside the dread curling in the pit of my stomach. Just to be sure, I send him another message, in case he saw the first one and thought he had replied but hadn’t. Maybe he’s just busy.
Hey, change of plans. I’m sorry about this, but I feel like I need to stay here tonight. Josie is wanting a slumber party to get Abby’s mind off some girl problems. I kinda need this night with them too.
We spread out the pizza boxes on the coffee table and Josie hits Play on the movie. Smudge curls down between us, his big eyes begging for our crust while we eat. As the movie starts, I look down at my phone for the hundredth time, willing a text to appear, but when it doesn’t the knot of dread tightens. I do my best to push the uncomfortable feeling down, but every instinct in me is saying that something is off.