“And if I make a mistake in public, the gossip pages and the tabloids pick it up, and then all of the positive attentionyoudeserve becomes negative attention on me instead, and I love your music, and I want to see you succeed.”
“If I’m going to survive this industry, then it won’t be about what everyone’s saying in the gossip pages. It’ll be about me writing and performing the music that people want to hear. Likeyourcareer is about you writing and performing the music that people want to hear. Not about you doing everything and being everywhere and using up everything you have to give at the expense of your physical, mental, and emotional health.”
I flinch.
I still have my doubts about how I got to the top.
But Aspen doesn’t stop the way that Hiramys or anyone else on my team would at the sight of me flinching.
Nope.
She keeps giving me what for.
And I hang on to every word.
“There willalwaysbe someone bigger than me getting more attention and publicity.Always. If it’s not you, it’ll be an actress or a social media influencer or another performer with a different scandal. There will always be roadblocks that have to be overcome, just like you’re on top and there are still roadblocks you have to overcome.”
“But—”
“Waverly, I love you. I adore you. I don’t know why you picked me, or why you still keep picking me, but every day I feel more and more like you’re the sister of my heart. And I can’t stand watching you put the rest of your life on hold to put me in the spotlight.You deserve to live. Not in a bubble, but the life youwantto live.”
“I…do.” Even to me, it sounds lame.
Aspen doesn’t roll her eyes though. She leans in closer instead, totally ignoring my weak protest. “Date. Travel forfun, not because some politician asked you to highlight something or because another actress told you that you have to be an activist too. Watch the movies you keep saying you want to watch and read the books you keep saying you want to read. Go to a freaking baseball game. Live.”
I gape at her.
Go to a baseball game.
She thrusts her hands into her hair, which is a horrible idea, because it’s sprayed within an inch of its life for her performance. “Stop, stop.” I reach to help her untangle her fingers.
“Dammit,” she mutters. “Now I’m spun up.”
“Channel it. You’ll do great.”
“Go to a fucking baseball game, Waverly.”
“That thing with Cooper isn’t serious. It’s not even a thing. It’s—”
“Hey, Siri, what is Waverly’s most used app on her phone?”
“Voice memos, and you know it.”
“Aftervoice memos and text messages. What’s that, Siri? It’s thebaseballapp? Because Waverlyis a secret baseball junkie? And asecret Fireballs baseball junkieat that? Gasp. No. Say it isn’t so.”
She gives me a one-eyed glare from under thick lash extensions that both make her look incredible and also shouldn’t be necessary at all.
We get her fingers untangled, and I sigh. “Why am I doing this to you? Why am I getting you all dolled up to go up on stage and do the one thing that’s making me a little crazy right now?”
“Because you say I have talent, and apparently some people with a lot of money and connections and control agree with you, and also,hello, this is fun.”
Her smile lights up her whole entire face, and I can’t argue.
Even on its worst days, this is the best job in the world.
She grips both of my hands. “Make a phone call to whoever on your team will make it happen fastest and go watch a baseball game.In person. You’ll love it. It’s great pre-press for launching your video with Levi, and even Zinnia can’t argue.”
I make a face.
