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“Yeah,” he says through an exhale. “And we know you don’t have much time until you have to go back, so we’ll make this as efficient as possible.”
“Thank you. I’m listening.”
His chest rises and falls in a deep breath. “I, uh, got kicked off the tour.”
“What?!” I shriek, bolting up.
He shrinks with a sheepish smile. “Yeah, so, that’s why I haven’t been around.”
“Heck no! Absolutely not. Is this Jarvis’ doing? It is, isn’t it?”
I yank my phone from my pocket, but Val tugs me back to the couch.
“And that’s why we didn’t want to tell you until we could do it in person and talk through it,” Nash says, waving over me.
“Talk through it?! What’s there to talk through?” I snap.
“Hey, don’t kill the messenger,” Nash says. “This is your boyfriend’s show.”
“Thanks, dude,” Val mutters.
After way too many seconds, my boyfriend shifts in his seat to face me.
“I saw something I wasn’t supposed to see yesterday. We’ll explain it all in just a second, but the immediate issue is that yes, it’s Jarvis’ doing, but he has the full support of Rena and Lakebend Records. In fact, Rena is the one who kicked me off and threatened me in every way possible to keep me from communicating with you. If they find out we’ve been in contact, things will go very badly.”
My limbs don’t seem to know what to do as I absorb this information. They want to punch one person, hug another, climb something (anything), kick more things, run a marathon… well, half marathon. Or just watch a marathon. I don’t know, the point is, what?!
Val takes my hands and mercifully gives them something to do.
“What kinds of things? How did they threaten you?”
He shakes his head. “Lots of ways, but we don’t have time for that. What matters is that you know the truth about what’s going on, especially since it’s going to be a lot harder for us to help you now.”
“Wait, did they ban you as well?” I ask Nash.
“Oh yeah. They confiscated my all-access pass so hard.”
“Okay, but… hang on.”
Val tugs my hands to draw my attention back to him. “We’ll be fine. What we need to tell you is why we got kicked off. We were right about everything, Larinda. Jarvis has been plotting against you since the beginning. Actually, based on what we discovered yesterday, this goes back before the beginning.”
His expression is dark and tortured when it lands on me, and I brace myself for battle.
“At least we know what they’re up to,” I say. “Let’s hear it.”
Val and Nash exchange a look before his gaze settles on me. “Okay, well, remember that notebook I found in Jarvis’ dressing room?”
The next half hour involves a deluge of information. Most of it is painful and hard to stomach. It would be easy to get knocked down, so I call on the newly accepted version of myself to stay calm and practical. There will be plenty of time for grieving and freakouts later. For now, it helps to sort the information into two main categories: learn and confirm.
Learn: there’s been a breakup song about my engagement in existence longer than the engagement itself.
Confirm: Jarvis is a jerk-hole.
Learn: Lakebend Records is in on the betrayal and probably planning to drop me.
Confirm: Jarvis is obsessed with belts.
Learn: Val is willing to do anything (including wear a costume) for me.
