43.
Chapter forty-three
Nalini
Ihadn’t been to yoga since the day I swore I’d been spied on.
And now? Well, it was clear as day I’d been right.
But New Year’s Day yoga was one of my yearly traditions, and I wasn’t about to let one mystery person stop me from doing what I loved.
I’d stretch my way into the New Year whether they wanted me to or not.
Plus, with how much my anxiety had spiraled this morning, I desperately needed it. And it was a great way to figure out who was the person behind he leak.
After telling Misty my plan, she immediately texted me an endless number of Charlie’s Angels GIFs, so I didn’t have to worry about whether she was on board.
It was a simple plan: I’d act like I needed to talk to her all of class, which was technically true, pull her into the supply closet immediately after, start telling lies about the aftermath, and then open the door in the middle of something juicy to figure out who was spying.
Kam also had some sort of a plan that involved him going to New York City, and while I was certain he had a piece of the puzzle, there felt like there was more I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
Kam was certain Jack’s ex was behind the leaks, but it wouldn’t make sense for her to have any of the pictures of what happened last night.
Not when it would've been in the news if she’d shown up herself.
I was antsy all of class, which ironically sold the idea I needed to talk to Misty more than I'd expected. I pretended not to notice the different conversations going on around me, the way my classmates seemed to side-eye me, the way I heard Kam and Jack’s names muttered even though we were supposed to be silent.
I’d hoped coming to a class I’d been a part of for years would’ve negated whatever rumors started popping up about me, but the way they made me feel isolated in a room was horrible.
I already had to sneak Cassidy and me out of Kam’s house so we wouldn’t get photographed, and with her sitting in the lobby, I was worried someone would talk to her before we got a chance to.
We’d agreed we needed to tell her today, as soon as Kam got back from the city.
I wasn’t sure if the person who leaked the video had seen my texts to Kam, encouraging him to revive RaineFall.
I was certain nobody expected me to say it.
I wasn’t the villain in the band’s story, despite how the media wanted to portray me; I'd made a mistake when I was younger.
It was the type of mistake plenty of teenagers made, but rarely were they still paying the price at the age of thirty-two.
I didn’t get the workout I wanted, but I did feel somewhat better by the end.
As soon as we ended with a “namaste,” I practically pulled Misty into the equipment room.
It was probably a little too dramatic, but I needed a second away from everyone’s whispers.
Even if I was about to start using them to my advantage.
I took a couple of calming breaths while Misty made a terrible spy pose, which almost ruined everything before we could start. My shoulders shook from trying to contain my laughter, as Misty gave me a little bow.
“Kam broke up with me,” I finally said, louder than I wanted, but if I was going to sell this story, I had to make sure everyone heard, “And he’s kicking me out of the house. Today.” If that didn’t get the spy’s attention, I didn’t know what would.
“What do you mean?” Misty asked, sounding much more realistic than I did — she was a much better actor than I’d expected.
“You know I’ve been concerned about RaineFall, and he took it as an ultimatum. And with the footage that leaked today, and all the press it’s getting, he chose the band,” I added a sniffle that was more allergies than crying, but it did its job, “Which is stupid; it’s not like he’s famous anymore.”
I grimaced as I said the words, knowing I’d played into the perception most RaineFall fans thought of me.
Knowing that was the soundbite they were hoping to get, and thankfully Misty took that as the moment to swing open the door and hit someone right in the face.
Her phone fell to the floor, and I wished I was surprised to see Maya Phillips.
“Wow,” Misty deadpanned, watching as blood gushed from Maya’s nose. “You’re really trying to tank your reputation in town, aren’t you? First being obnoxious, now being shady, I hope you enjoy getting shunned.”
“Please, she’s the one who’s shady!” Maya yelled, pointing at me, before attempting to cover her gushing nose again.
I was pretty sure it was broken, but if she hadn’t been standing literally by the door, she would’ve been fine.
“She’s made everyone walk on eggshells about RaineFall for years, even though Briar Hill is the birthplace of the band!
Then she seduced Kam the moment he came back, and ruined our chances of getting any new music.
Any real RaineFall fan knows Nalini is a terrible person, and Jack was right to expose her.
Kam will thank me for this someday, once he’s out of her clutches. ”
“Yikes,” Misty grimaced. “What planet are you living on, Maya?” The woman rolled her eyes, as if everything she’d said was the most obvious truth. “I thought it was clear after everything that happened with the Festival; this town is not the place to always talk about RaineFall.”
“Everyone needs to move on from it,” Maya groaned, “Like it was fifteen years ago, and yeah I guess it sucked, but if they embraced it…”
“Nobody’s going to,” I interrupted. “The band hasn’t made an album in years.
Nobody’s interested in turning this place into the RaineFall theme park you think it should be.
And most of all, Kam won’t thank you!” The blonde woman looked like I’d slapped her in the face with my last sentence, despite it being true.
“He values privacy, which you keep not giving him. You make him uncomfortable to the point he pulled Cassidy out of your class. The more you push, the less he’s going to want to be around you. ”
“You’re just saying that because he dumped you,” Maya scoffed, even though she didn’t sound like she fully believed it. “I moved here hoping one day he’d come back. What happened with Julia was sad, but he deserves to be with someone who actually cares about his art!”
“What happened to Julia was devastating! Not a chance for you to be with your celebrity crush!” Misty yelled, “That’s so messed up!”
“He also didn’t break up with me,” I admitted, “I’d figured out someone was spying on me in class, so I came today specifically to figure out who it was. Though, I should’ve guessed it was you the whole time.”
“You can’t prove it,” Maya insisted, even though if I mentioned it to anyone in town, they’d agree it fit how she’d been acting. “I’ll delete the voice note, and I’ve got a friend who will take care of me. She’ll make sure you see the truth.”
“Who, Stef Raine?” I asked, and scoffed as Maya immediately went pale. It looked like Kam’s theory had more weight than I’d expected. “Jack’s ex-wife who hates him?”
“She’s trying to get him back!” Maya exclaimed, “They’re perfect together. She planned to get the band back, show Jack she can…”
“You really can’t believe everything you read on the internet.
And honestly, Maya, you might want to get some help,” I said, honestly feeling sorry for her.
I never quite understood the way fans insisted they knew people they’d never met, but it was obvious Maya had been feeding into her imaginary relationship for so long, she’d created an alternate reality.
“Trust me, she…” Maya started.
“Are you really one of those people who thinks someone liking a social media post means you have a close, personal relationship with them?” Misty blurted out, “Because the more you talk, the more pathetic you sound.”
Maya grumbled something under her breath before storming out without grabbing her phone. I caught a glimpse of Cassidy giving her former teacher a weird look from the lobby, but from what I could tell, Maya at least was leaving her alone.
“I think at this point you could press charges,” Misty said, looking down at Maya’s phone on the floor.
I knew Misty was right — between the spying and the stalking, it'd probably be easy to. But… I honestly thought at this point Maya had messed everything up enough she’d learned her lesson.
Or, I at least hoped she had. Punishing her more felt more petty than I was willing to be.
“Just put the phone in the lost and found,” I said, shrugging, “I’m not saying she’s learned her lesson, but I don’t think she’s going to keep bothering me.
Not when Kam’s working on the Stef angle right now.
” I watched as Misty started to mop up the blood on the floor, leaning against the wall and enjoying the silence.
Today was terrible, but it’d at least been manageable.
And it’d get easier and easier — that’s what I had to keep telling myself.
I didn’t want everyone in my business; I didn’t want to be on the front page of gossip websites.
But… I did want to be with Kam. And if our first day had everything I didn’t want happen — then it could only go up from here.
“Okay, how are you really?” Misty asked as she finished cleaning up. “I know this is worst-case scenario time, and I want to know if I need to go fight someone.”
“Not great,” I admitted, “My social media has always been super locked down, so I don’t have any hate messages.
But it still took me two hours to convince myself to look.
Kam’s backing me up, and trying to figure out how to protect me in all of this.
It’s different, so it doesn’t feel like the end of the world, but it still sucks. ”
“Well, I guess it's a start,” Misty smiled at me. “I was planning on going over and chewing him out if I heard any different.”
“Peri would’ve beaten you to it,” I laughed. “I’m just relieved it’s not necessary this time.”
“But you’re happy?” Misty asked, and I paused for a moment, trying to figure out how to answer the question. Was I happy about the situation? Of course not. But was I happy with Kam? Even with this happening, I realized I was.
“Yeah, I am,” I finally smiled, “I don’t think I’ve ever felt like this before.” Misty squealed, dropping the mop long enough to hug me, and despite everything, I believed we could work it out.
I still wanted to puke, my anxiety was still spiraling, but my trust in Kam was constant. And it seemed like that was all I really needed after all.