My feud with Jaida is petty and childish. Yes, she hurt me. Yes, I hate that she’s esteemed and loved because no one knows what an awful black heart she has. Yes, I wrote this song intending to poison the world against her.
Now, it’s eating me alive. Piranhas are nibbling at my conscience, reminding me of the reasons I got into the music business and what I meant to accomplish here. How hard I’ve worked to build a reputation for being a girl’s girl.
I can’t even think of Noah or Cat or Olive or Zoey right now. My siblings will all be so disappointed in me. My mom already approved the song—anything for an extra buck, I guess. My dad won’t care; he’s too busy planning his wedding with his teen bride.
Not literally, but she’s younger than me.Barf.
But the fans…the people like Nancy Rhodes or Benny. Oh,my gosh. I bury my face in my pillow and scream. I can’t believe I’ve let myself get this far with this dumb song.
I can never undo it.
I can never come back from this.
The doorbell rings. I freeze, wondering how loud my pillow-scream actually was. There’s no way the muffled sound reached outside, right?
Maybe if I don’t move a muscle, they’ll go away.
A minute goes by. My hopes rise.
Ding-dong.
Blergh. It can only be Benny. Or possibly his grandma coming to read me the riot act. Or maybe another neighbor has come by to let me know I’m a terrible person. Or it could be Amazon delivering to the wrong house.
Please be Amazon.
Ding-dong. Ding-dong. Ding-dong.
Okay, it’s definitely Benny.
I don’thaveto answer the door. What’s he going to do? Come hunt me down? I wrap the thick white duvet around my shoulders and sit up, looking through the half-open blinds at the faint shimmery ocean in the distance. The far window is cracked open to let fresh salty air into the room before it gets too warm. I’m in a loose tank and pajama shorts. This would be the ultimate vacation morning if I wasn’t so worried about everyone in the world hating me.
A brisk knock rattles the window, making me jump. There’s a face pressed to my window, pudgy squished cheeks and a pig-like nose, framed in a silver bob. I squeal, diving forward to hide from the intruder, but I misjudge the depth of my leap and go straight off the bed, rolling in the white duvet. My legs are tangled, so I caterpillar crawl around the side of the bed to hide from view.
“I see you, Bree Belacourt!” a shrill female voice cuts through the room. “She’s in there,” the woman continues, yelling to someone.
That’s it. They’ve found me—broken all boundaries and crashed into my life. Soon, photos of me wrapped in this duvet and crawling out of sight are going to be splashed all over the internet. I can see the headlines already:Bree Bela-brat is Found At Last!
They love finding ways to make fun of the spin-off show I did with my sisters:Bela-babes Take Manhattan.
Another knock makes me hunker lower. Who could have possibly told them? Benny never would. His grandma? Or maybe I didn’t fool everyone at the BBQ yesterday as well as I’d hoped.
“Away from the window, Grandma,” a man calls patiently.
No, not just a man. Benny. That’s definitely Benny.
“She’s in there!” Nancy says. “Sheneedsus.”
I sit up, lowering the blanket. Benny and Nancy are traipsing around outside, not paparazzi. They don’t sound angry…they sound…worried?
“I know Colby’s garage door code!” Nancy says triumphantly.
“No. No way,” Benny says firmly. “That’s an invasion?—”
“It’s my grandson’s house. If I feel the need to check the property, I can.”
There’s more low conversation, which I assume is Benny trying to coax Nancy into leaving, and I crouch lower, burying my face in the blanket again. When Jaida betrayed me, it felt like my world was crashing in. There’s nothing like putting trust inthe wrong person and finding out later they were only manipulating you. Those feelings of shock and hurt and frustration have nothing on how low I feel right now. Putting her down and creating a division between us was not the classy way to handle my pain.
I probably deserve whatever Nancy wants to hurl at me. My fans are justified in their disappointment. I might not say Jaida’s name in the song, but I pretty much spell it out.
