With a wide smile, I headed for the door.
I didn’t restart my story again, but God, it was so good, and Katie loved it. Now I was trapped. I had to finish it, whatever the cost. Maybe I just needed to lay off the coffee. That had to be it. Coffee and stress weren’t good combinations.
“Oh, Liv, I forgot to tell you,” Katie called as I reached the door. “We got into the shop on Fifth and Asher,” she beamed, her eyes alight with joy.
I felt the air leave my lungs, my jaw dropping. “We got intoVarien?” I breathed out.
She nodded. “We got intoVarien.”
The laughter that escaped me couldn’t be helped. We got into fuckingVarien!That book shop was one of the most exclusive shops in The Springs. No amount of money got you into that shop, it was by pure talent alone.
I got in!
“Enjoy the day,” Katie told me. “It’s one worth celebrating.”
I nodded, thanks leaving my lips in stumbled disbelief. I walked out of her room in a daze and headed down the hall, myhead spinning, my heart racing.
I got intoVarien. I did that. Me. All on my own. No paparazzi, no family name, just me.
I walked out into the cool morning air, the breeze pulling at the strands of hair that had come loose from under the beanie. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. It was a day for celebrating.
Laughter left my lips as I turned back to the street. I wanted to call someone. Anyone.
I headed down the sidewalk and pulled out my phone, finding Steven’s name only to hesitate with my thumb above the call button. He wouldn’t think anything of it. Nothing at all. But maybe mom would.
I found mom’s number and hit call. She picked up on the third ring. “Hello?”
“Mom, guess what?” I said, the joy thickening my voice. “I got intoVarien! My books are on their shelves!”
“That’s great, dear, have you thought about the next time you’ll come and visit?”
My smile faltered, my chest immediately tightening. “Um…” I shook my head. “I don’t…that bookstore is really hard to get into,” I explained, thinking she might not have understood what this meant. “You can’t just buy your way in, you have to have the talent to get into it.”
“Yes,” she said impatiently. “Congratulations, sweetie, have you made plans?”
My shoulders fell, my joy snuffing out like a candle in a windstorm. I rolled my eyes as they prickled painfully. “No.”
“Okay, call me when you do.” Click.
I swallowed and nodded, shoving my phone and my anger away. I didn’t have anyone else I could call. Steven was the first person I had met here. He swept me up in a whirlwind of romantic chaos and I got so caught up, I never thought about making any of my own friends. Not that he would let me spendtime with them anyway.
Steven was possessive and not in the hot, romantic kind of way. I thought it had been sweet at first, but I suppose when you offer a starving person a morsal, they’ll eat whatever they’re given, even if it’s poisonous.
Mom and dad had me to make their image look good. The house wasn’t exactly loving. We didn’t have family dinners or holidays unless we needed a picture for some new article. As soon as the cameras were off, I was handed off to someone else to take care of me and that’s where it ended.
Steven was the first one to show any real interest in Olivia Rose. Just a normal girl. New to the city, nothing to her name.
I was starving, and he gave me a morsal.
And now here I was three years later, still starving, just a little slower than before.
I released a breath and pulled my beanie off, shoving it into my bag. I shook my hair out and readjusted my sunglasses, fixing my shirt which I had half tucked into my skinny jeans. Now what?
My phone started ringing and I pulled it out, my shoulders falling as the air left my lungs. I really didn’t have the energy to deal with this, and yet, my finger hit answer anyway.
“Hello?”
“Where are you?” Steven asked, a bite to his tone already.
