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Ty and Ares come in together and both look at me.
“What?” I look right back at them, not wanting to let them intimidate me.
“You look rested.” Ares goes to his keyboard, pulling the cover off it. “It’s just weird. And your hair needs tended to.”
Ty nods. “I’m gonna get a team to come in tomorrow to fix all you guys up. Hair and makeup. And I think I’ll get some fashion experts in here too, to come up with some rocking threads for you guys. Our small audiences will get the full show, even though the venues are smaller than our normal ones.”
“I was thinking about going back to my natural color.” I really want to look like the man I was before I was whisked away to become famous.
“No.” Ty pulls out his cell and begins scrolling through something.
“What do you mean, no?” I hate that I have no say over who I am or what I look like anymore.
“I said no.” Ty looks up at me as I come to stand in front of him. “You and the other members of this band signed contracts that stated management gets final say over the look of each individual. It also says that you have to do promotions. And you haven’t done any in the last couple of weeks. So, tonight, you’re going out with the rest of us.”
I can’t go out. It’ll end up on the news or some other media. “Um, the no-drinking thing is making it impossible for me to go out just yet. I’m not fully recovered from my addiction. I can’t be around alcohol or I might fall off the wagon.”
“So, fall off the wagon, Lo.” Ty has no idea how important this is to me. Or he just doesn’t care. “I told you that you don’t need to stop drinking. You had your pause already, so it’s about time you pick it up again. You don’t have to go crazy, but a few drinks won’t kill you.”
“That’s not what the doctor said. And I’m not ready to die yet, not so fast after I’ve been in the hospital where I almost died because of the booze.”
“You won’t die.” He rolls his eyes. “I won’t make you go out tonight. Frankly, your blonde roots showing doesn’t impress me at all. But after you get all fixed up tomorrow, you will go out with the rest of us.”
I’m not about to agree to do that.
Ty looks at his phone, tapping away. “Once you have a couple of drinks, you’ll be fine.”
“You’re not listening to me.” Slamming my fist on the table near me, I want him to take me seriously. “I’m not going to drink anymore. There is nothing in that fucking contract that says I have to drink alcohol, so I’m not doing it.”
Chen does a drumroll. “And the winner is…”
Ty smiles. “Ty Johnston.”
Pissed that no one seems to care about my health, I look at my brother who has been quiet this whole time. “What do you think, Ares?”
“I think you’re being uptight, and it’s affecting our music.”
“Yeah, beer won’t kill you.” Amari strums his guitar, looking at it like he’s in love with the thing.
“That’s not what I meant,” my brother says. “I just mean Lo needs to figure out a way to chill so we can get back to business.”
“I have an addiction,” I growl. “Some fucking compassion from my friends would be great.”
My cell rings, and I pull it from my pocket to see Lucy’s name on the screen. Walking out on the balcony, I take her call. “I’m glad you called. I need to hear something positive after all the negative I just heard.”
“You went out last night.” Her pissy tone does nothing to help me feel better.
“I did not. I have not gone out since you and I had our discussion, and you know that for a fact. I called you last night,” I remind her.
“At nine. You called early. And then you went out after. You think I’m stupid? You think I won’t find out? But you forget that the media loves you, Lo.”
“Don’t call me that. And I didn’t go out.” I’m not about to ruin everything by going out.
My phone buzzes in my ear, and I look at an incoming text. It’s a link. Clicking the link, I see pictures of me and the band partying as Lucy shouts, “See? That’s you, drunk, hanging on some tramp, doing everything you promised me you wouldn’t.”
I can’t recall when it was, but it wasn’t in the last couple of weeks or even months, for that matter. “Lucy, these are old pictures.”
“You would say that, wouldn’t you?”
