AllFreeNovel
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“You’re not gross,” Mom reminds me again. “You’re creative andtalented.Sotalented.”
I look at my hands, fingernails painted a sparkly purple. I want to believe her, but she’s my mom—a kind,amazingmom who will always try to lift me up, especially when others are kicking me down.
My phone suddenly pings.
I click into the Fanaticon notification and let out a gasp, springing upward in my seat. “Beneath a Strong Sentimentjust got renewed!”
Her mouth drops. “Whaa…no, it didn’t.” She starts smiling with me.
I grin at the article.Renewed.It’s really coming back next year for season two. “They already have plans to start filming. Now you have to finish the whole first season, Mom.”
“Oh, I will. Lo and I will binge it this weekend.” She hasn’t seen beyond episode one because she feared it’d get cancelled, and she didn’t want to fall too hard for something that wouldn’t last.
Maybe I’m more destructive that way. Falling for things that might have short expiration dates.
I’m about to text Donnelly to tell him the good news, but the car jerks.
“Sorry.” Her voice is caught in slight panic. Rain begins to pelt the windshield, and I see several windows rolled down in the cars surrounding us.
I sit more upright and peer out the rear window. “What happened to security?”
“They’re stuck behind two cars. It’s okay. This happens all the time.” She’s white-knuckling the wheel.
My phone buzzes several times in a row. I check the new texts.
TOM
You’re going to Putt Palace without us?
ELIOT
How dare you.
TOM
We’ll be there in thirty or you’ll be turned into a square
ELIOT
We can’t let that happen.
I know they’ll understand that I just want to hang out with my mom. Before I can reply, they send an article link.
HALE OUTING ALERT! Lily Calloway is taking her children to Putt Palace tonight!
That’s how they know where we’re headed? I thought their bodyguards might’ve told them…
I lower my phone to my lap. “How wouldCelebrity Crushknow we’re going to Putt Palace?”
“What?” Her eyes dart quickly to my phone, then the road. “They wouldn’t.”
I read fast. “The article names me, Xander, Kinney, and they speculate that Moffy might even be there.”
Her jaw unhinges slowly. “No, they didn’t.”
“Who?”
“That lying liar of an owner!” She lets out a tiny growl. “He asked who was in my party, and I just said my kids and told him if he could keep that to himself before we arrive, that would be great. He said not to worry. Maybe he told his employees, and they tweeted it.Uh, I’msosorry, Luna.”
