Oh my god.
I try to stumble off stage before retching, and I don’t make it.
Stupid stupid stupid stomach.
“You knew,” I gasp at her as the crowd makes horrified noises behind me and more production staff and security rushes around us. “When? How? What the ever-loving FUCK, Aunt Zinnia?”
Oh god. Oh god oh god oh god. My stomach isn’t done.
And it’s not the only thing upset.
“I just wanted to protect you,” she stammers. “I can’t protect you if I don’t know.”
I clutch my midsection. “You’re fired.”
“Waverly—”
The nausea is winning. The nausea is winning, and this life is completely and totally losing.
I want to be alone.
I want to be safe.
I want a hug.
I wantCooper.
And instead, I have people I don’t know finding out that other people know where I came from, and me puking all over will be front-page news in three seconds, and I can’t have Cooper, because he’s getting ready for the game of his life.
“Waverly—”
“When?” I demand. “How? Is this real?”
“You asked me to.”
“When?”
“After your laser eye surgery,” she whispers.
“Oh mygod, Zinnia,” Hiramys gasps as she shoves a bucket at me. “She was high as a kite.”
“Waverly—” Aunt Zinnia starts, all of the placating,you know I know what’s best for youbaloney hovering in her voice, and I can’t do it anymore.
“No.” Oh, god, here it comes again. I try to dart around her, clutching the bucket, which isn’t enough. I know the bathroom is close. Butwhere is it? “No. You arefired. And I—”
I’m alone.
That’s what I am. I have people who want to be my family. I have people who are paid to protect me. I have people I want to be with.
But I’m all alone.
36
Cooper
Holy.Fucking. Shit.
This is it.
