Page 57 of Such A Bad Girl

The mention of my mother’s actions made me cringe.

Countless interviews had been done about me over the years. Some that I contributed to, but most that I did not. People dug up every story that they could find about my past. None of the things she was saying was a secret.

No, I wasn’t proud of the details, but I didn’t have a lot of secrets these days.

Just that one, really. Avett.

And my membership at the temple, I guess.

Oh, and my feelings for Theo….

Fine. There were a few. But nothing that this crazy woman was ranting about at the moment was a real secret. But somehow, she knew the only secret I was trying to keep. And she did send that newspaper cover, right?

“I always felt for you, Everleigh. At least at first. I heard all the rumors about your family. Saw how shy you were around certain people. Hell, I watched you bloom in those last few years at Westlake.”

So, she was there. I still had no fucking clue who she was. She was certainly not a friend of mine; I would have remembered.

“But with that blossoming, came your over inflated ego, didn’t it?” She laughed. “God, I remember it so well. Everyone in school just slowly started worshiping you. Like you just became this trend that everyone followed, like a haircut or something. We all wanted to be around you. We all wanted to be like you. And all the boys, well, we know what they wanted from you, don’t we?”

I shook my head. I couldn’t argue my point because my mouth was full of what? A cotton scarf, maybe a poly blend. Either way, she didn’t seem interested in hearing a word I had to say, despite her endless questions. She seemed to just want to ramble. And flail those fucking scissors around.

“I tried to be your friend. I tried with Theo and West, too. And Donna and Frenchie, who never seemed to leave your side. Why did you like them so much? They were such bitches. You were too, though. Maybe that’s why. You all acted like I was a piece of gum you’d stepped in.”

I was never an actual bitch to anyone in high school. I wracked my brain to think of anyone who may have felt like I treated them like that and came up empty. Whatever I’d done, it certainly didn’t warrant being tied up and tortured like this. And if she thought this was how she was going to get an apology from me, she’d ruined any chance of it now.

Where in the fuck was Theo or West? The question raged in my head. How much more of this would I have to endure?

I’d been here for hours now and she was becoming increasingly unhinged.

“And now, isn’t it funny, Everleigh? I could sell a piece of gum that you chewed for thousands to freaks on the internet! What has the world come to?” She stopped, laughing again. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and kept my hands hidden.

“But, hey, us peasants have to do whatever it takes to make a buck, right? Hustle, hustle, hustle and it’s never enough. Everybody wants the easy way out, don’t they?”

God, if this was just about money, I hoped it ended soon. I’d give her whatever she wanted. If she’d take this gag out of my mouth long enough, I could tell her that.

“They’ll sell their panties to horny old men, open up their homes to thousands of strangers while they dance around naked in front of a webcam, and what else? Stalk celebrities for a taste of their daily life, maybe snap a photo, maybe capture a momentary breakdown in their perfectly manufactured image and show them being actual humans? Maybe they catch them smoking a cigarette or kissing someone they weren’t supposed to be kissing? Maybe they dared to go out of their house without a full face of makeup? And people will pay thousands for proof that celebrities are just like us peasants, as if they wouldn’t have known if they didn’t have a photo of it to prove it.”

God, she wouldn’t shut the fuck up. I had no idea what any of that had to do with me. Her rambling speech grew louder and louder with each word, until she was shouting like a lunatic in the darkness. But suddenly, her voice dropped to a menacing whisper.

“You’re not so special, Everleigh. I know. I saw. I saw you in your vulnerable moment. I see you now — scared and shaking and alone. Where are your bodyguards now? You’re nothing without all the bells and whistles of fame. Just like you were nothing back in Austin, before the world started worshiping you. I saw you. I saw Theo, I saw what you did to Avett. I saw everything!”

My blood ran cold. I needed to stop her before she ruined my entire life.

My fingers balled up into fists behind my back, and I took a deep breath through my nose. Mustering up every ounce of power and strength I possessed, I lunged straight for the scissors in her hands.

Chapter Thirty-Five

THEO

“You’re fucking fired. Get out of here, Charlie!” West roared.

When we arrived at Everleigh’s house, Charlie hadn’t even realized she was gone. Her car was missing, as well as her phone and purse. Surveillance footage showed her leaving the house alone, late last night, not long after she’d arrived home with Charlie.

“West, I’m sorry. She just didn’t tell me. She told me she was staying in for the night and gave me the night off. I was in my house, right here on the property, if she needed me. All she had to do was call and I would have accompanied her anywhere, at any hour.”

“Well, she sure as fuck needed you, Charlie,” West shouted. He was becoming increasingly frantic. We both were. I hadn’t hired Charlie myself, so it wasn’t up to me to fire him. But it was taking all my strength not to rip his head off.

“What now?” I said, as Charlie walked away without another word. Kaylee walked up, putting her phone in her pocket, and handed my phone back to me.

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