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Chapter Twenty Three - Indianapolis, Indiana

Even though it was hard, breaking up with Trevor and Nate had been the right thing to do. I had gone with Nate to the airport. I had a feeling that even after everything, we could still probably remain friends.

Trevor was another story. I still had to see him every night. The crowd still wanted to hear us sing our duet.

And he was bitter.

I had four more stops until I got to fly home for Halloween. I was in the middle of my tutoring session when my phone vibrated. I slid my phone closer.

"No phones," my tutor said.

I nodded, but when she wasn't looking, I put my phone on my lap. As I pretended to be writing the most amazing report on literary vampire, I tapped into my text messages.

The message was from Kayleigh.

"Ned 2 tak 2 u now. ur gonna be an ant. ur dads gunna kil Noah."

I stopped writing. Tutor be damned, I held the phone up to my face. I was sure I had read the message wrong. Kayleigh had the worst text speak I had ever had to decipher.

"Brooklyn, I said no--"

"This is an emergency," I said. I stood up and headed to my bedroom. At least there was one good thing of having school on my bus. I could lock myself in my room. The second the door closed behind me, I called Kayleigh. She answered right away.

"You got my message," she said.

"I did. I just didn't understand it. Why's my dad going to kill Noah?"

Kay made a weird noise. "You're going to be an aunt."

"But that would mean you're..."

"I know."

I gasped. "Kay...no."

"If it makes you feel better, you're in the clear until you're at least twenty-one."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I said. It was sad, but I was hoping Kay was drunk and just imagining things.

"Marcie told me that one third of all girls get pregnant before the age of twenty. There's six of us in the Backstreet loop. Shelby and I pulled the short straws."

"Kay, what the hell? There's no straws! Oh my gawd, does Noah know?"

"Of course he knows!"

I slapped my head. My brother. My brother. What in the world was he thinking? Ugh, Carter men didn't think.

"Are you going to be okay?" I asked.

"As long as your dad doesn't kill Noah, I'll be fine."

"Mom and dad don't know?"

Kay sighed. "Things have been nuts. You're lucky you're out there on the road."

"What's going on?"

"Did I tell you Claudia was pregnant?"

"No!"

"Well, she was."

"Was?"

"She lost the baby. The thing is, Baylee doesn't think it was his."

"You're kidding."

"I'm not. I walked in on Baylee banging Marcie on her desk."

"What?!"

I had thought my life was hectic. Kay was putting me to shame.

"Yeah. Anyhow, if the baby turns out to be someone else's, Baylee's getting his marriage annulled. He's finally wised up and I can tell he's head over heels for Marcie."

"That's crazy."

"Exactly. With that craziness going on, I was just the icing on the cake."

I bit my lip. "So...how do you feel?"

"I feel fine. I don't feel different. I go to the doctor's tomorrow. I'm going to confirm this thing before mom and dad call your mom and dad."

"Are you coming for Halloween?" I asked. It was just ten days away.

"Of course," Kay said.

"You sound way too calm," I said. I had known Kay my entire life. She was always running on the wild, frantic side. I wondered if she was just in shock.

I knew I was.

"What good is freaking out going to do?" she said.

I didn't have a good answer. Behind me, my tutor banged on the door.

"Good point," I said. "Listen, I have to get back to my tutoring, but--"

"I'll see you soon," Kay said.

We hung up and I stared straight ahead. I managed to ignore the threats coming from my tutor.

I seriously couldn't pick my brother becoming a dad. He was only fifteen.

My vow of chastity was looking better and better.

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"NoNo, you are in so much trouble."

I had finally managed to get through to Noah on the phone right before my concert. I ground the heel of my boot into the old backstage flooring.

"It was a mistake. We were careful. Actually, I think I might sue the condom companies. They need a chlorine warning."

"Chlorine?" I said. I shook my head. "Wait. I don't want to know. What the hell are you going to do?"

"I'm going to do what Mason did for Shelby. I'm going to suck it up and be there. I did the crime, I'll pay the time."

"That's easy to say now, but your friggin' Georgia peach lives in Atlanta!"

"Actually, dad told me the other night that Brian was thinking about finally moving to Florida. He's getting tired of commuting."

"Okay, well even if that does happen what--"

"Brooke, seriously. I don't have answers to any questions." He lowered his voice. "Kay doesn't even know for sure yet. Just...chill."

"She's my best friend. You're my brother. I can't chill."

Noah sighed. "Well, you're going to have to. I'll let you know when I know more. Have a good show."

I had the rumblings of a headache. "Thanks."

"Talk to you soon."

"Okay. I love ya."

"Love ya too."

We hung up and I headed back to my dressing room to put my phone up. Just as I was about ready to walk out, Jasper walked in.

"Did you see it?" he asked. I looked at him in confusion.

"See what?"

He ran a hand through his hair. "Oh, boy."

Just then, my phone rang. It was dad.

"Hold on, I've got to take this. It's my dad," I explained. Jasper opened his mouth to say something, but I turned and answered my phone.

"Hello?"

"Brooke, do you know anything about that tape?"

"What tape?"

"Brooke?"

"Mom?"

I started to panic. Mom and dad on the same phone call was not good.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"We don't want you to freak out," mom said.

"I'm coming to your next stop and I'm killing that fuckin' punkass--"

"NICK!"

"What?"

"That's not helping."

I glanced at the clock. I had to be in position on stage in three minutes.

"My show starts soon," I said uncertainly. "What's going on?"

Mom made a little comforting noise that didn't make me feel comforted. "Honey, don't panic. Your dad and I are working with grandpa to get it off the Internet."

"Grandpa? Grandpa Mike?"

"Trevor posted a...a...tape of you two together," dad said. "In the gym. He sounded mortified. I racked my brain. A tape of us together in the gym? But that meant---

"WHAT?!"

"Calm down. It's not your fault," mom said. "We're working on getting it removed. Unfortunately, the press has caught wind of it, but just don't worry."

"That asshole's going to be locked up until he's fuckin' eighty," dad said. "It's child pornography."

I felt like I was on fire from the inside out. Older, slutty celebrities had sex tapes. Brooke Carter was not supposed to have a sex tape.

Anyhow, how did he tape it? He didn't have a camera? Oh my god.

"We just want to make sure you're okay," mom said. "Brooke? Brooke?"

"BooBoo," dad said. "Are you okay?"

I looked at Jasper. He backed up towards the door. The look on his face told me that he had been coming to warn me about the whole thing. He disappeared back into the hall.

"How can I go onstage?" I squeaked.

"If you need to cancel it, cancel it," dad said. "I'm meeting you guys in Louisville."

"I don't know..." I said. "Can I call you back?" I asked.

"Of course," mom said.

"I'll be on the plane, but talk to mom," dad assured me. "Or call my cellphone. But whatever you do BooBoo, don't try to look it up."

My dad knew me too well. "Okay," I said.

I hung up. Angel burst through the door looking frantic.

"Brooke, I--"

I began to walk the perimeter of the room. I was feeling numb. I had never cancelled a show before. I knew the clock was counting down.

I could run, or I could go out there, ignore the thought of the audience possibly having seen me naked, and just sing my heart out. I looked up at Angel.

"I've got to go on."

"But--"

I walked towards the door. She stepped aside.

"You don't have--"

"I want to."

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Author's Note: Check for an LJ exclusive in the next hour!