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Chapter Twenty Four - Louisville, Kentucky

"I'm so sorry, dad. I never thought this would happen."

"What's done, is done BooBoo. I just want to figure out who leaked it."

Performing the night before had been hard. A group of guys had yelled sexual things between numbers that totally shook me up. The backlash was already building.

According to the media, I was no longer a good role model. I guess good role models don't have sex on a weight bench.

Go figure.

Dad and I were sitting in my hotel room with breakfast spread out on my table. I had already hard Angel and dad arguing in her room.

"This isn't Aunt Angel's fault," I said as I speared a piece of cantaloupe on my fork. Dad's jaw tensed.

"This wouldn't have happened on my watch," he pointed out.

"Your aunt," dad said icily. "is too busy trying to rehabilitate your grandmother to keep a watch over you."

I looked at him in surprise. "You know she's out of jail?"

Dad looked at me. "I know every move she makes BooBoo."

I studied my scrambled eggs. Dad was good. Really good.

"After we go home for Halloween, your grandma and grandpa are going to come out on the road with you."

The fork fell out of my hands. I looked up at dad in horror.

"Dad, you can't be serious. I--"

"Some old school supervision will do you good," dad said.

I didn't argue. We continue to dig through our food in relative silence. I studied dad's face. I wondered if he already knew about Kay and Noah...

I decided it was best to let that shoe drop from someone else's hand.

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Dad received the call from mom right before the show. He had been pacing backstage while Grenadine went on. I was worried there was going to be a confrontation. Trevor had managed to avoid me like the plague the entire day.

I was still hopeful he wasn't responsible for the tape. If he was, I would never forgive him.

"She's what? Is he sure? Leigh talked to you. How far along?"

Dad's questions were like rapid fire. I watched him begin to pace my dressing room.

"Brooke's fine. Still no new information. Put Noah on the phone."

Dad rolled his eyes. "I can't kill him over the phone, Olivia."

I bit my lip. Dad never called mom Olivia. There was a pause in which only the sound of dad's angry breathing filled the room.

Then there was the explosion.

"NOAH GENE CARTER!"

I was sure the entire venue could hear him. I looked around, but there really wasn't a good place to hide. I felt sorry for my little brother.

After the name bomb, things calmed down. Dad sat in a chair and his voice got quieter and quieter. By the time he hung up, he just looked a little numb. He looked over at me.

"I already knew," I said.

"You two are going to kill me," dad said wearily.

"I'm sorry," I said. I felt like I was continuously stuck on repeat with my apologies.

"BROOKE, ONE MINUTE!"

I hadn't even heard the door open. I glanced at dad. We both stood up. Dad gave me a hug.

"I know you're sorry," dad said. He kissed the top of my head.

"Have a good show," he said. I nodded. I had a feeling dad was going to be having a long chat with Uncle Bri.

"Love you," I said.

"Love you too, BooBoo."

I opened the door and headed out.

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"The tape came from the hotel security camera."

Dad, Angel, and I were sitting up in the bus. It was ridiculously late. Dad had just gotten a frenzied phone call from Grandpa Mike.

"It looks like one of the staff thought it would be easy money to distribute it online. The hotel is working on matching up who was in charge of the camera room at that time with the date/time stamp on the video."

I felt relieved. I mean, it didn't erase the fact that thousands of people had seen me naked, but at least I knew the culprit hadn't been Trevor.

Or Nate. I felt horrible that I had even considered he would try to enact some sort of jealous revenge.

"In other good news, Grenadine's last stop with us was tonight," Angel said. "The whole tape thing didn't sit well with PR."

"It's bullshit it took this to get them off the tour," dad said.

I was surprised I didn't feel bad about not saying goodbye. Then again, I pretty much had already said my goodbyes to Trevor. The image of his raised hand was something I wouldn't forget anytime soon.

"I'm done with guys," I announced. "They're nothing but trouble."

I felt like that was a totally true statement. Even my brother was trouble. My best friend was pregnant because of him. I hated that guys thought with their dicks. I lowered my head onto the table.

Someone, I think my dad, started to stroke my head. I let my eyes close. Dad started telling Angel about Noah.

"What are they going to do?" she asked.

My brain felt heavy. I guess I was more tired than I had inititaly thought...

I didn't even stay away to hear dad's answer.

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"Wow. It's a chimp-free zone. Very nice."

I gave Jasper a look. "I'm done with chimps."

He grinned. "Good. The place was starting to smell like a zoo."

I rolled my eyes. I watched the crew assembling my stage.

"How you doing?"

I looked back at Jasper. He was watching me out of the corner of his eye. I felt the heat rush into my cheeks.

"Did you see it?" I asked.

Jasper could have played dumb and said 'see what?,' but he didn't.

"I chose not to watch it," he said. "It's child pornography."

"I'm sixteen."

"Until you're eighteen, you're a kid," he stated matter-of-factly.

"Do I look like a kid?"

I regretted the question the moment I said it. It sounded like I was slutting myself out again. Jasper put his guitar back on the stand and stood up. He walked over to me and put his hands on his hips.

"Truthfully?" he asked. I nodded feebly.

"You're a sixteen year old with a twenty-one year old's body. If you were older, I'd probably be peeling bananas and making a fool out of myself right along with all the other twerps. But, you're not. You're sixteen. Enjoy it. You're going to be an adult soon enough. Just be a kid."

He tapped his finger to my nose (my nose!) and walked off.

I stared off in the direction he headed. He had said a lot in that one soliloquy. First, he thought I had an amazing body. Second, he was kinda attracted to me.

But more importantly, he had just told me that he considered me off limits. And I believed him.

Plus, I was willing to accept just a friend at the moment.

Something told me that friends were going to be much more important to me now than a romance.