My voice came out strong and steady as I formed a plan in my mind.
“We’re going live in an hour, whether you like it or not,” I told her. “Enough people already have the link. Either you let US perform, or we’ll fill the stream with something else.” I took a deep breath, ready to deliver the final blow. “We’ll have thecamera on me, telling everyone the whole story of what you did.Live.”
Marie’s jaw muscles tightened and her lips thinned out flat. She studied me like a bird of prey, but I refused to back down.
“I’ll do it,” I told her. “I’m someone you don’t get to control.”
“Me either,” Jake said, stepping up to stand beside me. “I may not be able to talk, but I’ll be there to support Lucy.”
“So will I,” Phillip said, stepping up too, followed by Aspen and Leon, who nodded in agreement.
Frustrated, Marie took in our obstinate faces before shaking her head in frustration.
“Fine,” she said shortly. “Fine. You can perform on the livestream. But you four are still flying back this evening. And if this hurts the band, it’s all because ofLucy.”
On that encouraging note, she hung up.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Phillip, Aspen, and Leon are all pumped up before their first concert, but Jake Moody’s distracted. He keeps peeking through the curtain and out at the audience, eyes on the crowd gathered at the barricade. “Looking for someone?” I ask—he seems too intense not to be. “Old flame, maybe?” Jake searches the crowd one last time, sadness crossing his face. “No,” he says, that enigmatic mask slipping back into place. “It’s pointless to stay in the past.” Well, that’s certainly one take on things. Perhaps I’d misread him, and Jake Moody’s merely feeling pensive before his big debut.
—“Behind the Scenes with Bianca Friese”
After Marie hung up, I went out back for a moment, trying to process the flurry of emotions and truth bombs our conversation brought.
I had four whole years of my life to rethink. I’d been living with the idea that Jake ghosted me, buthe never did.
It was like listening to a song you’d heard a thousand times only to discover there was one more line.
A line that changed its meaningentirely.
The door behind me creaked, and I turned to see Jake, looking dazed.
“Hey,” he said softly.
“Hey,” I echoed, just as quiet.
Jake waited a beat, then came over next to me, so we stood parallel to each other under the summer sun.
“I didn’t know,” he whispered. “I had no clue. When I texted you I got in the band and you didn’t reply, I thought you were mad at me for leaving. Or I’d made things awkward between us after the kiss and you hated me.” He sunk his teeth into his bottom lip. “I even wondered if you just didn’t care about me anymore if I couldn’t be there with you in person.”
An ache spread through my chest at how untrue all of it was. But I could easily see how Jake thought that. He’d texted me the most exciting news of his entire life, and from his perspective, I didn’t even care enough to say congratulations. I just vanished.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I felt the same. I thought...” I took a deep breath, then blew it out, all the emotions I felt four years ago flooding back to me twice as strong. “When you didn’t answer my texts, I figured you had new friends and were on your way to becoming famous. It made me feel like I wasn’t anything more to you than a pit stop on the way to your dream.”
“Never,” Jake vowed. “I thought you were giving me the silent treatment and I felt so bad you were upset with me. I was so overwhelmed those first couple months. All I did was rehearse. I lost track of how many days I let go by because there was no time to think or breathe and I-I—” He stuttered, his voice cracking. “Ilostyou. When I worked up the nerve to reach out to you again, it said your number was disconnected.”
I ran my hands over my face. “Mom added me to The Tiny Tiger’s business bundle for a discount, and I changed my number.” A sob threatened to spill out of me. “I never bothered texting you the new one because it seemed clear you didn’twantto hear from me.”
“No,” he said empathetically. “I’d never think that.Ever. I even tried sending you tickets to my first concert.”
“You did?”
Jake nodded. “Along with a note that said I was trying one more time to fix things between us. I wrote that if you didn’t come to the concert, then I’d know you didn’t want to have anything to do with me anymore, and I’d stop trying to contact you.”
So that’s what he meant when he mentioned tickets. I hadn’t understood then.
“Jake.” I reached out for him instinctively, my hands catching his. “I never got those tickets or your letter, I swear.”
