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“I hope your dad can get you out of the charges. That bitch had it coming. In fact, do you ever think she might’ve done it just to cause some controversy in the house? Some chicks will do anything to get famous, even make themselves look bad on TV.”
I sigh once more. “I don’t know. I keep going over in my mind, and the more I think about it, the more I realize that she knew exactly what she was doing. And my idiot ex-boyfriend was dumb enough to fall for it.”
“He’s such a dick for throwing you away.” He sounds genuinely upset for me.
“Thanks for saying that.”
“And don’t worry, I’m not makin’ a pass at you. I like guys and girls, for the record, but I get that you’ve come here to regroup and probably find yourself.”
He turns away and starts to pull things out of a large refrigerator as I stand therewatching him.
Suddenly, I feel like I’ve known this guy for a lifetime. He’s easy to talk to, but I don’t want to be naive, as Tara always tells me I am.
“I got my heart broken too once. I was really into this dude, in fact, I think I was in love with him, and he threw me away like I didn’t matter. Like all the things he told me were just a complete lie to get what he wanted. It didn’t help that I come from a small town where being bi or gay isn’t accepted. God, even wearing leather pants and smudged eyeliner gets you half a dozen Hail Marys. I always imagined LA would be kind of open minded.”
“You’ve never been there?”
He shakes his head. “I’ve never really been anywhere. Someday, though. I don’t travel well.”
I smile softly. “LA is not all it’s cracked up to be. Yes, it’s open minded, to a degree. But when you’re in the public eye, it also comes with scrutiny that just isn’t normal. If I knew then what I know now, I never would have gone on Tail Spin. It was the worst decision of my life.”
“Then why did you? If you don’t mind me asking.”
Yes, part of it was to annoy my father and try to branch out and do something different. But now it just seems like I was attention seeking. Maybe I was in a way, but I didn’t know I was doing it, so does that really count?
“To piss off my father, mainly. He means well, but he’s overbearing. I’ve never been able to do anything on my own, ever. I wanted to do something reckless. But it all backfired on me in the end.”
“I wouldn’t say that. You’re here now. There’s nothing wrong in taking a break from your real life and trying something different.”
“I’m not exactly facing the music.”
“So you will, when things die down. Your safety is first, Laguna Beach. That’s my new nickname for you.”
I smile. I know he’s trying to make me feel better and it’s working.
He’s right. I know that I have to get back at some point and make a statement. My publicist was going on about it for ages. And we released a watery, very heavily lawyer-induced response to the charges. I still don’t know if I’m going to get out of it, but at least they let me leave the state temporarily, based on the grounds of the threats.
I’m not hiding out from the police.
“Yeah, well, the stalking isn’t something that I predicted,” I admit.
“I’m sorry about that. How awful for you.”
I watch as he starts to ladle something into a bowl. It smells pretty good. I know I just ate breakfast, but I have a high metabolism and I eat all day long.
“That’s pretty much the reason I’m here. Because my security was useless and my father trusts Cash. They’re investigating and that also means interrogating my friends. Another reason to leave LA. Maybe I am burying my head in the sand to avoid the confrontation, but I can’t deal with all of this.” I wave my hand around. “Maybe someday I will go back to my real life. Even if I don’t really know what that is right now.”
He looks up at me with sympathy, and I can’t meet his gaze. I don’t want anyone feeling sorry for me. That’s not what I meant. I just wanted someone to know the truth.
He pops the bowl in the microwave and turns back to me. “I’m sorry that things are so shitty at the moment. But if you want to hang out with me and the girls, I promise we won’t pry too much. Might take your mind off things.”
God, I’ve been here for five minutes, and he already knows my life story.
Am I just this sad little girl who has nobody to talk to? Other people have it so much worse than I do. I’ve nothing to complain about.
I’m also not completely alone. I have Tara.
Even if I have had visions of myself being an old cat lady who never leaves her house. “That sounds kind of fun. I’d like that.”
