AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You’re such a fake bitch!”
“Fucking Hollywood sellout!”
“Sluts don’t deserve number ones! I hope your fucking album flops all the way to hell!”
“Just go this way, princess,” Van murmurs somewhere at my side. “We’re almost there—”
I don’t hear the rest of Van’s sentence, not before something flies right into my face. I let out a terrified scream as dark-colored liquid pours down my skin, my brain convinced that someone in the crowd just threw lighter fluid all over me and they’re seconds away from lighting a match.
I’m just another rabbit for another fox.
The thought comes right back to me in the moment, the same terror I felt when Harrison had his palm on my waist—nearly palpable as it radiated all around me. I instinctively lean away from the crowd, hoping that there’ll be enough space between me and an open flame, when I feel Cameron leaning down toward my ear, his hand pressing at the small of my back.
“It’s awful but it’s just Coke, Alyssa.” Cameron tries to calm me down. “That’s all. Some asshole just threw their drink at you.”
I try my best to internalize the reality of the situation, trying to accept that I’m dripping with soda and not a flammable gas, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that I’m so close to the crowd turning on me, so close to them tearing at my clothes and hair. Just then, it feels like my heart is hammering behind my chest, my vision going blurry, even as the guys keep me moving step by step, practically pushing me forward through the crowd.
By the time we get to the black SUV, it feels like I’m already gone, my vision going from blurry to dark, my body doubling over as the hammering in my chest turns into a sharp pain.
Am I dying?
Maybe Cameron was wrong about what’s been thrown at me. Maybe I was wrong, too.
Maybe it was a goddamn cup of poison, and I am succumbing to its every effect, all at once.
“Alyssa?” Rhys’s voice is the last thing I hear as I begin to slip into the darkness, letting it close itself around every corner of my brain. “Alyssa!”
* * *
“…Alyssa?”Rhys’s voice is the first thing I hear as I come to, my eyes slowly opening as I stare up at the ceiling in my apartment. “Darling? Are you okay?”
“…What happened?” I whisper, sitting up on the living room couch. My head is still spinning, my throat dry and hoarse like I haven’t spoken in a million years. “I don’t…Fuck. Did I pass out?”
“Yeah, you did.” Rhys nods. “Fuck, darling. I thought something was seriously wrong with you. But then we called your emergency contact—”
“Welcome back to the land of the living, babe,” Marina says as she takes a few steps closer to me. “Thank God you still had me in your phone as your number one. I was worried you might have changed it to one of these guys by now.”
“You probably should change it to one of us,” Van muses. “Just for the future. It’ll probably be a lot safer.”
“Right. Because you guys are the ones who knew that she was just having a panic attack.” Marina scoffs. “That’s the kind of info you learn after being besties with someone for practically a full decade.”
“That was a panic attack?” I repeat, the words currently sounding foreign to my ears. “It was so intense.”
“Yeah, you haven’t had one of these since likeninth grade.” Marina frowns over at me. “Remember? It was so bad you thought you were dying.”
“Honestly, I probably blocked it out of my mind.” I frown right back at her. “Shit. I feel like I just got run over by a truck.”
“Yeah, well, Geesha Riley putting a target on your back can feel like that,” Rhys murmurs. “I’m going to find a way to fix all of this, by the way. I’m not just going to let her do this to you, do this to us—”
“You don’t need to worry about Geesha Riley.” I interrupt Rhys’s response with my own.
“What makes you say that?” Van asks. “Are you already working on a plan of your own, princess?”
“Actually, I am.” I offer him a wide smile, relief flooding through my system. “I think…it’s time for me to head back home.”
“…Wait. What?” Marina’s eyes go wide with surprise. “Alyssa, what the hell are you talking about?”
“I just don’t think this is what I want anymore,” I admit with a slight shrug. “Between the creeps waiting around the corner and people throwing shit at me because I slept with the wrong guy…all I wanted was to make music, Marina. You know that. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. Everything else is just…shitty window dressing.”
