“Comfortable clothes. It’s hard work. Here, I’ll help you.”
Song momentarily forgotten, we went to his room and I helped him pack. We spent the night talking about the tour and what he could expect.
I could tell he was nervous up until he fell asleep.
Sleep evaded me, too, and I went over exactly how I was going to tell everyone about our new addition. Near midnight, Mom texted me.
Mom: So, no one else knows?
I hadn’t talked to her in a few weeks, and while I hated to admit it, not having her talk my ear off about my secret identity helped ease my worries.
Dad had called to check in, but once he found out that I was busy, he was quick to tell me he would give me space to work. It all seemed too good to be true. He had to be busy with somethingthat he forgot about. Or maybe there was something else up his sleeve.
Rose: No. No one knows.
She didn’t answer and I felt terrible for the fact that I was almost grateful.
I finally fell asleep early into the morning, and when we woke, the plane was ready. While we were driving to the airport, my phone lit up with a call from Malia.
“I know you’re supposed to be relaxing,” she said, and I heard a smile in her voice, “but I have something you need to hear.”
“Is it about the new guitarist? Because I have news for you.”
“No, not at all, but what’s the news?”
“Barry agreed to step in so we can continue practicing while we find someone else.”
“That’s fantastic. Justice will be so relieved.”
“Yeah, we’re really lucky he could step away from his other job.”
“I’ll be sure to give him my thanks in person. Now, enough about work. I need you to listen to Blaze’s new album.”
“It already came out?”
“Yes. He surprise-dropped it. And it’s . . . hilarious, honestly. But I wanted to tell you first because you’re mentioned in it. A lot.”
I’d been dreading whatever he was planning, but I knew I couldn’t stop him. He had Mia behind him and I wondered if they were working on something devastating. I didn’t think they were going for comedy, however. “Why’s it so funny?”
“It’s terrible,” she said. “The worst album I’ve ever heard.”
“Really? But Mia produced it.”
“And you can tell she’s a PR agent trying to make music. Give it a listen. It’ll brighten your day.”
“I will,” I said. “Thanks for the warning.”
We got off the phone moments later, and I could see Barry watching me.
“I heard Mia’s name. That doesn’t usually mean good news.”
“This time it is. We have an album to listen to. A very bad one, apparently.”
Blaze Matthews FINALLY Releases His Side of the Story . . . And It’s Bad
By Perez Adder
We were all waiting for Blaze Matthews to release something detailing what went down with Lila Wilde. According to him, it takes two to ruin a relationship and she seemed happy pushing the blame onto him.