Chapter 16
When I finish reading the letter, I stare at it for a minute longer, not knowing how to respond. I knew something was up, but expulsion?
“So, no more USC?”
“No more USC,” Gavin says, unable to meet my eye.
“What are you going to do?”
“I’ll think of something. I might take classes at the community college and transfer to another school,” he says. “Since Dad suggested taking online classes, it’ll be harder for him to track where I’m taking them from.”
My head whips up. “Wait, what? You’re not going to tell him?”
“By the time I graduate, I think he’ll be happy enough with the diploma. He won’t care where it’s from.”
“So is that why you’re not in a rush to go back to LA?”
He shrugs. “I figure the longer we’re here, the more time it buys me.”
“What are you going to tell him about your grades? He’ll know something’s up when you don’t have them by the time school starts in the fall.”
“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll tell him before then.” He sighs, rubbing his face. “Or maybe I’ll have ChatGPT write a report card for me.” He chuckles weakly.
“That’s not funny,” I say.
“It is, kind of.”
“Okay, you’re right.” My lips tug up into a weak smile.
“I’ll be fine,” he says, probably sensing my concern. “Dad will make sure of that.”
He’s right. Gavin will be fine. Because once he settles into his new role in It’s Ok!, Dad will ensure Gavin has a place there.
As I lay in bed that night, I’m still thinking about Gavin’s expulsion.
As big of a deal as it is, his enthusiasm for our extended stay makes sense now.
Blaire is offering him a way out of a bad situation.
And after observing the way Mom and Dad are in their element on the farm, I can see glimpses of why they like it here too.
But that doesn’t change the fact that while this lifestyle may suit them, it doesn’t suit me.
Which is why I have to take matters into my own hands.
Maybe there is a way to get back to LA before the bankruptcy case is resolved. If I can pay Kiki for a month, she’ll be able to book me enough events where I could retain her services on commission going forward. I just need the seed money to get me started.
—
I’ll be the first to admit that peddling honey and God knows what else this town produces in a booth isn’t how I prefer to spend my Saturdays.
But now that we’re here for longer than the expected two weeks, I have no excuse to get out of helping Callie at the farmer’s market.
Besides, I’ve come up with a way to use this to my advantage, which makes me much more motivated to go.
After getting ready, I leave the bathroom with my blow-dryer case in my hand.
Mom and Dad have already left to go to a secondhand store outside of town, and since the tractor can only take the two of them, Gavin is the only other person at home.
When I pass him in the kitchen, he scrambles to hide the magazine he’s reading.
Ever since he confessed his expulsion from USC, we’ve been more civil toward each other.
I don’t give him a hard time about his eagerness to please Mom and Dad anymore, and in return, he hasn’t given me a hard time for shirking my responsibilities.
So instead of making fun of him, I make a beeline for the door to leave him to read his porn in peace.
Blech. Words no sister ever wants to say about her brother.
Gavin surprises me by stopping me before I reach the door. “What are you doing with that?” He arches an eyebrow.
I look down at the blow-dryer case in my hand. “I’m going to try to sell it at the farmer’s market,” I say.
“At the farmer’s market?” He stifles a laugh. “Who’s going to want your secondhand department-store blow-dryer there?”
“It’s not just a blow-dryer, Gavin.” I roll my eyes. “The Dyson Airwrap is an Allure Best of Beauty award winner and one of Oprah’s Favorite Things from last year.”
He looks more confused than before. “Do you even know what a farmer’s market is?”
Realizing I won’t be able to get through to Gavin with logic and reason, I resort to something more convincing. I whine. “Gaaaaviiiin. If no one’s going to buy this, what else can I sell? It’s the most expensive thing I have that I’m willing to part with.”
Gavin rubs the back of his head. “Why do you need to sell anything at all? Aren’t you supposed to be helping Callie sell her stuff?”
I’d forgotten that Gavin doesn’t know about my plan, so I fill him in on it.
“You’re going to pay for Kiki Klineman’s services, and then what? Move back to LA?” His mouth hangs open.
“That’s the hope.” I sigh wistfully.
“Why? Not one of your friends has called you since you’ve been here.”
“Our phones don’t work, remember? Besides, it’s the summer. They’re obviously busy. I would have been, too, if things hadn’t turned out this way.”
“Sounds like solid friendships.”
“I’m not as naive as I seem.” I cock my head to the side.
“I know what kind of friendships I have. The kind that rely on one another for our collective reputations to build our brands. And with our family situation, I understand why they’re distancing themselves from me.
I bring them down rather than up. If I were them, I’d do the same. ”
“Brutal. And you want to go back to that?” He grimaces.
“Look,” I say, setting the blow-dryer case down and taking a seat to face Gavin. “You may not want to go back to LA, but I do. Without USC and It’s Ok!, your life is starting over, but mine is still there. I just have to hire back my brand manager, who has a plan to get me back into the scene.”
“That’s what you call a life? Partying, boozing, saying What’s that?”
“Gavin, haven’t you been paying attention?
” I make a dramatic sweep of the place. “This whole time we’ve been able to live off the money I made off my paid appearances—my money!
And that’s just from the past year. Imagine what could happen if I didn’t have school to get in the way.
I’d be able to live on my own and do the things that make me happy for once.
And who knows? Maybe I could even support you while you figure out what it is you want to do, so you won’t have to tell Mom and Dad about USC.
” When I finish explaining my plan to Gavin, he still doesn’t seem to get it.
“But for how long? Till you’re thirty? Forty?” His pitch grows more incredulous as the numbers get higher. “You can’t party when you’re fifty.”
“Gavin, I think you relied on ChatGPT to do your thinking for so long that you can’t think outside the box.
” I shake my head pitifully. “Of course I’m not going to party forever.
My career would evolve into something more multipurpose.
I could host events or provide commentary at fashion shows.
Maybe I could sponsor multivitamins or be the spokesperson for AARP one day,” I say, half joking, half serious.
“My point is, I have a whole life waiting for me that is full of exciting unknowns. I just have to take the first step. So will you help me find something of worth to sell at this hippie farmer’s market? ” I look at him pleadingly. “Please?”
“I guess if that’s what you want,” he says, even though I can tell he’s not entirely convinced of my plan. Slowly he gets up to go to our room. I follow him. After rummaging through his bag, he holds out his hands.
“A Ferragamo leather belt and a Burberry tie?” I raise a skeptical brow. “If you don’t think people would want to buy the Dyson Airwrap at this farmer’s market, why would anyone want those luxury items?”
“It’s all I have.” He sighs. “Do you want it or not?”
I guess if the odds of selling any of our items are similarly low, I may as well take the ones that are easily stowable. I haven’t told Callie of this plan, and I don’t have any intention to, either, so I stuff the belt and tie in my bag as I head out to meet her at the convenience store.
“Glad you made it.” Callie beams when she sees me approaching her Jeep.
That makes one of us. Even though I managed to pivot and turn this situation to my advantage, I can still think of at least fourteen things I’d rather be doing instead of going to a farmer’s market. But I don’t want to seem rude, so I smile back at Callie.
“I hope you don’t mind, but we have a few pit stops along the way. We have to collect the inventory from the others.”
“Of course. No problem,” I say. I’m about to hop in the car when Callie motions for me to follow her.
“The first stop is in here,” she says, heading in to the convenience store.
The door closes behind her before I have a chance to refuse, so I have no choice but to follow her in. I didn’t leave the best impression the last time I was in here (or the time before that).
“Hey, Hal.” She waves at him sweetly.
He grunts at us with narrowed eyes before disappearing into the back room. Happy as ever, I see. Guess I shouldn’t take it personally, seeing as even Callie’s imitable charm doesn’t work on him.
“This store is interesting,” I muse, glancing around. “Wallpaper, live bait, canned ham, and…what are these?” I hold up an item that looks like half a mitten. “Looks like someone ran out of yarn before getting to the finger portion of this mitten.” Too bad, because it’s super cute in an ombre pink.
Callie stifles a laugh. “Those aren’t mittens. They’re mug cozies.”
“What the hell are mug cozies?”
“You wrap them around a mug, and they keep the contents warm and your fingers from getting scalded.” She demonstrates for me by putting the cozy on a mug that is conveniently for sale next to it. She raises it to show me. “Cute, huh?”
“Yeah,” I admit.
“Hal’s going to give us a box to sell at the farmer’s market today.”
I blanch. “Hal made these?” Just as I say it, he reappears in front of us, sporting a glare more menacing than before.
“Crocheting brings me joy,” he says in the most joyless tone. Guess I’ll have to take his word for it. Hal hands the shoebox of crocheted cozies over to Callie.