Before I could hear the beginnings of Priyanka’s rebuttal that I needed to keep my public appearance as clean as possible, I sauntered out of the door after thanking Blue again and wishing them well.
Van slid into step behind me until we managed to make it out onto the street. Just seeing the perpetual Halloween decorations lining the sidewalk outside warmed my heart, making me feel like I really was home.
Phoebe hadn’t felt like home to me in a long time. And for the first time in recent memory, I was allowing myself to let it into my heart and soul again without fear that my mother was going to ruin it.
“I assume you wanting to get out of the studio wasn’t just to annoy Priyanka.” Van chuckled, slipping his hands into the pockets of his slacks. “Do you have any specific places to visit?”
“Sort of.” I said evenly, looking around at the practically empty sidewalk, and enjoying the moment of peace. “But I’d like to walk to get there, if that’s okay with you.”
Van scoffed. “No complaints from me.” He gestured lightly behind me. “Lead the way.”
Chapter 24
Walkingthrough my hometown with Van by my side was sort of a surreal experience. Feelings of belonging were swarming through me, a feeling I hadn’t felt being in Phoebe for many, many years. Hell, I’d only been back over the years for Thanksgiving and Christmas with Kit’s family. But now I was back, without the fear of running into my mother, and it just feltgood.
Part of me had the urge to grab Van’s hand while we turned down one of the main streets of Phoebe’s hustle and bustle. I knew that the movie theater was at the very end of this very long block, and I’d kinda been wanting to see it again. It’d been so long since I’d seen the place and their affinity for playing a different Tim Burton movie every week.
“How long do you think we have before Priyanka calls the local authorities to find out our whereabouts?” Van chuckled, unable to finish his sentence without slipping in his self-imposed humor.
“An hour, and that’s being generous.” I said back, shaking my head.
“She’s been really…protective since the incident with the fan on stage.”
Van was right. And I couldn’t blame Priyanka for being a little overly worried about me because it had been scary. Even though we’d decided not to press charges and the fan had apologized profusely about the entire encounter, it had rocked Priyanka more than it had me. I think because she was more than just my publicist, my assistant, and my manager all rolled into one. She was my friend, and I could see how she felt like her job hadn’t been done correctly if there’d been a fan allowed to storm the stage.
No matter how many times I told her it wasn’t her fault or that we couldn’t predict every fans move, I could see the look of guilt in her eyes. She felt horrible about it having happened ‘on her watch’. Even Van had stepped in and said that it was more his responsibility than her’s to protect my safety, but she hadn’t been taken any of that in. She felt responsible for what had happened. Period.
Which meant shehadbeen a little…inquisitive about where I was going and what I was doing. Hell, I hadn’t been able to go to the bathroom without announcing it first. But at least then, I’d been going to and from the shows and back to whichever hotel I was designated for the duration of the shows. Now, I was roaming around a town on my own.
Well, not quite on my own. But it said something of Van and I’s relationship that I felt more free by his side than I did alone.
“That’s putting it nicely.” I finally said, appeasing my brain by crunching a leaf underneath my foot. “But I can’t really blame her, it was a wild moment for sure.” I looked around the street. People were starting to line the sidewalks, both the one we were on and the one on the other side of the street from us. And no one was gawking at us or screaming my name or running up to ask for a picture. “But as you can see, Phoebe is different.”
“That it is.” Van agreed, but I still managed to see some shock color his face as a pair of stellymn walked out of a shop, holdinghands, and mixing into the human crowds on the sidewalk like it was the most normal thing in the world. Because in Phoebe, it was. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to everyone being so…” He searched for the word, grasping at it invisibly in the air.
“Accepting?” I offered with a slight smirk.
“Yes.” Van managed to slide his hands back into the comfort of his slacks. “It’s wonderful, of course, but just so not what I’m used to seeing. Nashville is a big city and there’s nowhere near this amount of mingling amongst humans and Orbs.”
I breathed out an exhausted sigh. “Yeah, Nashville isn’t as open of a city as people might think it is. At least not in regards to Orbs. That’s why I think it’s so important to include Orbs in my world of music. They exist, so why aren’t we celebrating that?”
“Well said.” Van beamed, and now that I knew he was also an Orb, I could tell that it meant a lot to him on a whole different level than it had before I knew. “It’s nice to see that you being here isn’t similar to like it was that night at the club.”
I had to agree. That had been the first instance that Van had been able to witness firsthand why Priyanka had thought it was a needed notion to have a bodyguard by my side. I appreciated the fact that people cared about me and my music, but I just needed to protect myself, just in case. As the incident on stage in Pittsburgh had proven.
Shrugging with a small smile, I titled my head toward him. “Some people here remember me as just the kid I was before I started music. Phoebe’s, like, one of the most chill places ever.”
“I could see that.” Van agreed, his breath visible in the chilly air surrounding us. “Despite that incident here last fall.”
“Ugh.” That was a rough subject. I hated that Phoebe had gained press by being the setting of another Orb hate attack. I was just glad that it had sort of died down since. “That’s why I really don’t want to be associated with the those two we had tomeet after the show.” Van nodded at my mention of Lafayette and Veronica, memory making his eyes sparkle. “Lafayette’s brother is the one who attacked that tree creature here.”
“Tythwig.” Van said warmly, locking eyes with me as we passed the sweetest little old lady that beamed at us as we slid beyond her, breaking through us like we were some sort of separate flesh gate. “The creatures that seem to have tree bark for skin are called tythwig.”
“Right, tythwig.” I nodded. “I just want to distance myself from that family, no matter the cost.”
“I can’t blame you. Maybe that’s yet another reason why Phoebe might be the place for you. Doesn’t Veronica’s show film in Nashville?”
I groaned. “Unfortunately. The Gab isn’t as big as other talk shows, but it’s huge in Nashville. I’m really not looking forward to doing it.” I sighed, because there wasn’t anything I could do about having to do the show. Publicity was a hard thing to shirk, and I definitely didn’t want to make Priyanka’s job harder, with how worried she was about me. I was scheduled to do the show pretty soon, actually. My off week was right after the Charlotte shows, and I’d have to fly back to Nashville to film The Gab. “But I agree with you. Phoebe is definitely better than Nashville right now.”
