27. Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Four
Lila
W hen I finished, I felt the words through my soul. I didn’t know if any of it translated, and the audience clapped, but I knew they had to.
I wondered what my fans would say about this. For the first time in weeks, I was hit with the urge to see their reactions to all of this.
I loved singing with emotion. I loved putting my heart out there and processing my life through music. I also loved coming up with surprises. The show’s producers had nearly passed out when I told them my plan and they rushed to make sure the hosts knew.
Despite my misery, I was still excited. And that excitement carried over until everyone was clapping and I was exiting stage right.
Malia was waiting for me, applauding as well with a huge smile on her face.
“That was fantastic ,” she said. “Really.”
“Do you think everyone will like it?”
“I do,” she replied. “But we need to get you to the studio. I called Sasha and she’ll meet you there.”
I nodded and we left the building. My work would keep me busy, but it was rooted in what had happened with Barry. It was going to drain me and I could only hope that I was going to come out of it feeling better.
On the plane ride back, I fine-tuned the song, making notes on exactly what I wanted it to sound like. Having all of this prepared meant that Sasha and I would have an easier time getting it recorded.
“You’ve been busy again,” Sasha said the second I walked into the studio.
“Yeah.”
“I’m guessing you’re really feeling this one?”
“I am.”
“Come on, then. Let’s process it like we did last time. With singing.”
I was more than ready to get into the booth, and when I started recording, I felt every word just like I had on that stage. When I’d gotten most of it recorded, Sasha went to work making it sound perfect.
We worked all night, coming up with a stripped-back song to release.
I should have felt relieved, but my mind was swirling with all the unknowns.
I was swarmed when I left the studio, even though it was early in the morning, and I knew I’d be followed around every time. Being back felt like my world was a chaotic storm of dust and debris now that I’d sung that song. They asked if it was about Blaze, just like everything else had been.
I hadn’t thought about him for a while.
But they sure had.
They wanted to know why I’d broken it off and if we were getting back together. I didn’t know how to begin to answer a single one of their yelled questions and I didn’t get a second to breathe because they followed me back.
As I pulled up to my house, I knew the wig wasn’t coming off for anything. As I took a measured breath to center myself, Juno offered to lock up the garage.
Then I darted in.
I was used to my house being the way I left it. I wasn’t a messy person, so when I tripped over a pizza box, red flags raised in my mind.
“Ah, you’re back.”
Oh, God.
My eyes trailed up. Blaze was in my house, shirtless, with a beer can in hand.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
But it was a stupid question. I knew why.
“I live here.”
“When we were together . This is my house.”
“You never said I couldn’t stay.”
“It was implied!” I turned to call out to Juno, but his hand clamped around my wrist.
“Don’t call out to her. Come on. It’s just you and me right now.”
I could have gagged. “Don’t try to come onto me when you cheated on me.”
“Was it really cheating?”
“Yes!”
“Lila,” he groaned. “This has been torture.”
I eyed the mess that was my house. “Seems like you had fun to me.”
“It would have been better if you were here. I might even be able to deal with your boy toy.”
“Don’t call him that,” I said.
“I’m trying to meet you in the middle here. But I guess you’re still hung up on him.”
“Just like you’re hung up on Mia. Who you could live with. Get out.”
“I didn’t wanna play this card, but I will. I could clap back and tell everyone the truth.”
No, he can’t mean . . . “What truth?”
“See? I knew you’d be worried. How would everyone feel if they knew you cheated too?”
“I didn’t cheat.”
“But I can hint that you loved another. And I’ll do it in your favorite form. Song.”
Technically, this wasn’t the end of the world. At least he didn’t know who I really was. But it still wasn’t good .
“I-I don’t care. Write what you want.”
“But—?”
“Juno!” I called. “I need you!”
“Damn it,” Blaze muttered.
Juno came up the stairs, eyes searching for the reason I’d called her, and when she saw Blaze, she blinked as if she couldn’t believe he was here.
“What the—Blaze? You’re not authorized to be in here.”
“Ugh. You’re so serious for nothing. Both of you are.”
“Do I need to throw you out myself?” she asked.
He rolled his eyes. “Fine, but when the fans are even more upset, you’ll regret not making it work.”
He ambled out the door with no other word and I turned to Juno.
“More upset?” I asked.
“He was probably making stuff up as he always did. Don’t worry about it. We have a mess to clean up.”
I wanted to worry about it, but she was right. This place was disgusting and I refused to relax with Blaze’s litter surrounding me.
Juno and I made it through two trash bags of garbage before my phone rang. I would have ignored it except it was Dad.
I hadn’t heard from him in a while and I missed him. I told Juno I needed a break and took the call.
“Hey, Dad. What’s up?”
“Hey, kiddo. Both your mom and I are on the line.”
“Oh, a joint call? Is everything okay?”
“We’re just checking on you.”
I let out a breath of relief, glad there wasn’t any news that made them call together.
But then I remembered what Mom had done.
I wasn’t prepared to talk to her so soon after finding out everything, but knowing she was on the other line opened the door to questions.
And I needed some answers.
“Hey, honey,” Mom said, her voice wavering. “How are you? We’ve seen . . . a lot going on.”
“A lot has gone on,” I said. “Including my bodyguard being threatened.”
The line was silent.
But then Dad spoke up first. “By who?”
“Probably some deranged fan,” Mom rushed to say.
“No. By you, Mom. You told her you’d get her fired if she didn’t keep my secret from Barry.”
“What?” Dad asked, an edge to his voice I’d never heard before. I’d never heard him get angry. In fact, I didn’t even think it was possible.
“Wh—well, can you blame me? You’re slipping.”
“Linda, you overstepped.”
“If she let her bodyguard know, then imagine who else she could tell! When Juno mentioned that man she kept working on the album with—?”
“Barry,” I said. “His name is Barry.”
“I knew she would tell him eventually.”
She wasn’t wrong . I did tell him.
“He’s not going to let it slip.”
“He knows?” Mom gasped. “No. He can’t.”
“Why?” Dad asked. “Nothing traces back to you.”
“Have you seen what people are saying? They’re hungry for anything, and he could sell it—?”
“He won’t sell it,” I snapped. “And what are people saying? I’ve only been told they’re saying good things.”
“You don’t know?” Dad asked. “You usually keep up on that social media stuff.”
“Malia banned me from it.”
“Oh. That’s definitely a good thing.”
Or maybe it wasn’t. In just one day, three people had mentioned my fans. Something was off.
“We need to talk about this random man knowing about Rose’s secret identity.” And just like that, Mom reminded me of the problem at hand.
“Rosie, did he say he would keep it a secret?”
“Yes.”
“Then there’s nothing to worry about.”
“Yes!” Mom hissed. “There is!”
“It’s all worked out. What else could there be?”
“How about how I feel about it?”
“I mean this in the nicest way, but you’re not the most important person here, Linda.”
Silence on the line again. I closed my eyes, knowing where this was leading.
“Guys, don’t fight.”
But it was too late.
A sob erupted from Mom. “Archie, how could you say something like that?”
“Linda—?”
But she hung up.
“I’ll call to apologize,” Dad said, sighing. “Give me a minute.”
They were gone and I felt like the worst person in the world. My phone burned a hole in my pocket. In the silence, I was finally able to remember what Blaze and my parents had said. Biting my lip, I redownloaded a social media app. The curiosity was killing me.
Once I got back into my account, I was able to search my name and see what people were saying.
And my heart stopped at what I saw.
Lila Wilde’s Newest Single
By Perez Adder
“Goodbye, Good Riddance” came out with a bang. We’ve never heard Lila quite like this. She’s been a pop phenomenon with a hint of deeper lyrics until even that faded away. Now she is back and better than ever. This new style of pop rock is incredible. I only hope she does more of it. We are eagerly anticipating her newest album, Goodbye, Hello .
Unfortunately, her rabid fans do not agree with me. They do not like that she’s dumped Blaze Matthews, nor are they happy she’s got a new sound. They’re the same as all fans, always wanting the same old, same old.
At least I finally have a Lila song I like.
5189 Comments
BiggestLilaFan: The song is NOT her! There is no way she would do this to Blaze, and there is no way he would hurt her! This is all a PR stunt for this new album. I’m so disappointed in her.
BlazeandLilaforever: How could she do this to us? How could our parents be broken up?
BlazeStan: She’s manipulative, I bet. Just like Blaze said. I for one will NOT be listening Goodbye, Hello . #lilawildesucks
RealLilaFan247: This is . . . something ig
RealLilaFan247: I TAKE IT BACK I CAN’T STOP LISTENING
Barry
LA was different from Nashville. The warmer weather aside, the traffic alone was enough to give me a headache, but then I saw the houses. Nashville had its nicer neighborhoods, sure, but they were nothing compared to the sprawling mansions that LA boasted, especially as I got closer to Lila’s home.
The man who picked me up at the airport was a part of Lila’s security team. He seamlessly weaved through traffic as if it were nothing. Meanwhile, I wondered how we didn’t get into a wreck. Even in the back neighborhoods, people were not paying attention while driving.
Lila’s house was massive. Todd would have choked just at the sheer size of it. I knew I came from money, and I’d left it behind for the bar, but this was huge, even for me.
If Mom were here, she’d be telling me to marry this woman immediately. I grabbed my bag, refusing to be intimidated in the face of Lila’s well-deserved success, and thanked the driver.
Juno answered the door on the first knock as if she’d been waiting on me.
“Hi, Barry,” she said, gloves over her hands.
“Do I even want to know?”
“Blaze,” she said.
“Blaze? Here?”
She rolled her eyes. “He’s an idiot who doesn’t know when he should leave his ex’s house. Don’t worry, he’s gone now.”
“Good. I’d hate to add another punch to the face to the reasons my mom is disappointed in me. Where’s Lila?”
“In her room. She just took a break. And maybe fell asleep. She’s been back there for a while. I think her parents called her and if it was her mom . . .?” Juno shook her head.
“What did her mom do? Wait, wasn’t she the one who told you not to tell me?”
“That’s her. Rose’s mom is . . . stressed. More so than I’ve ever seen in a person.”
“So the double life is for her mom?”
“Kind of. I mean she does deserve some time to herself as Rose, but I think it started there. And I have a feeling her mom doesn’t exactly instill calmness in Lila.”
“So the conversation probably didn’t go well.”
“What do you know about her dad?”
“Not much. I know she has a rocky relationship with him.”
Juno raised her eyebrows.
“It was something Rose said.”
“Huh. Looks like you weren’t the only one who opened up.”
“Yeah. Let’s just hope we stay that way after this.”
“I think you two are good together, even if it took me a minute to see it.”
I laughed. “Thanks, Juno. That’s nice to hear.”
“Just be careful around her mom.”
“I’ll be fine. I’ve dealt with a lot of family confrontations. This is the one thing I’m an expert at.”