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“Well, lucky for you, the police scared them off before I ever even showed up,” I chuckled, trying to make light of the situation.
It didn’t work.
Lena didn’t say a single word as the Tahoe pulled away from the school, Frank and another security guard in the front seat. She focused her attention toward the window, never even bothering to look over at me.
Fuck. She’s mad.
Well, or something. I couldn’t read her in the moment, and I didn’t dare go poking her right now. I knew what it was like to have a crowd try to take over, and the first time it happens, it’s frightening.
“We need a better security team in place at the school,” Frank said to me, meeting my gaze in the rearview. “It’s not okay for her to deal with this all the time.”
“This is the first time it’s been this bad,” I reasoned, glancing over to Lena. She didn’t budge—or offer up anything to the conversation.
“Yeah, but you can’t expect it to just go away. It’s fucking ridiculous.”
“Why do they not do this to Maeve?” Lena’s voice came as a surprise, and it was a nice one, even if she was pissed off at me for whatever reason.
“Because Tyson isn’t the frontman. He doesn’t have the celebrity status that Jackson has.” Frank gave her a sympathetic smile. “He’s the face of the band. Tyson is a major player, but he’s not the face. It’s a big difference. Sure, people still swoon over him, but it’s not at the same rate.”
“That’s stupid,” Lena mumbled under her breath, glancing at me.
“Well, I happen to agree with you.”
She glared at me. “Why?”
“Because the rest of the band does a lot of the heavy lifting. I don’t think it’s fair they get less attention—even though I think they prefer it that way.”
“I don’t blame them.”
For a second, I suddenly felt jealous of the other guys. Maybe Lena wouldn’t be so mad at me if I didn’t have the status that I did. I used to revel in it…
But right now, it just felt like a fucking burden.
“The novelty will wear off,” Frank said, his focus still on Lena. “It might take some time, but it will.”
And then that’ll be it.
My stomach sank at the thought. Maybe we could still be friends once it was all said and done. Maybe we could even write music together. She didn’t have to just disappear from my life…
But she’ll probably want to.
I leaned back against the seat and stayed silent for the rest of the ride to my place, not even saying anything as Lena and I climbed out. I waved to the guys as they backed out, heading home for the evening to have some normalcy themselves. And yet again, I felt a pang of jealousy.
Maybe I should buy a cabin in the woods somewhere so we can escape.
My eyes flickered back to Lena, who was pulling open the front door. Her shoulders sagged and even in the fading light, I could see that her cheeks were tearstained.
Fuck me for that.
“Lena.” I trotted to catch up with her, grabbing the door before it shut me out entirely. I reached for her arm, stopping her before she was too far gone. She spun around to face me, her eyes bleary. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
“It’s not fine. You’re upset.”
“It happens.”
“It shouldn’t happen because of me. I don’t want to ever be the reason you cry. It fucking kills me to be.”
