Page 94 of I Knew You Were Trouble

Duncan gets up and helps me hook the video camera up to the TV. He remains standing, positioning himself to get a good angle through his hidden camera.

A few minutes later, I’m able to play the interview through the TV. A hush descends, and when Bianca appears on screen, there is a collective sucking in of breath.

The footage begins with Bianca stating her name and age. Her face fills the TV screen.

‘Shit, Cal, Bianca Lawsonstilllooks good,’ Miller comments.

‘Shut up, man,’ Cal shoots back, his gaze fixed firmly on the TV from the moment he sees her. ‘Don’t talk.’

I position myself so I am facing Cal. I watch as, off screen, I am easing Bianca into the interview, getting her to talk about her childhood, her family and studies. We’d gone over all the questions at the beginning off camera, so she’d known nothing would come as a surprise. Her nerves are still evident.

The boys watch the video in enthralled silence, listening intently to Bianca speak.

‘Can you tell me how you first met Caleb Whitlock?’ I ask on screen.

Panic flashes in Bianca’s eyes, though she swiftly regains her composure. ‘It was just under two years ago now,’ she begins. ‘It wasn’t long before Rebel Heart split up. I got sent backstage passes for the show at Madison Square Garden on February sixteenth. I took two of my girlfriends. I don’t think I expected anything to happen there, you know, I thought it’d be a fun night out. I was a fan, you know, but not like some of these crazy girls. I liked their music.’

Cal shifts, getting to his feet. He’s restless, uncomfortable. He shrinks to the back of the room, his arms crossed over his chest, his expression unreadable.

Bianca stops for a moment, letting out a shaky breath. ‘Anyway, we got invited into the after-show party, I don’t remember who by, there were some other celebrities I knew there, and a few photographers. When we got into the venue, Cal came straight over to us. He asked me if he could get all of us a drink. He was still buzzing from the show; I think he’d just gotten outta the shower. He definitely paid me… particular attention. He knew who I was, and he’d seen my reality show. A little while later, he took my hand and led me to this secluded little corner, right at the back of the room. And we… you know, we made out. For quite some time. We talked too…’

‘What did you talk about?’ I hear myself ask on the TV.

On screen, Bianca gives a forlorn smile. ‘He was telling me how much he loved Pavarotti. Which was kinda weird, because I do too. My parents, they love the opera. They go to the City Opera, Carnegie Hall, like, all the time. I don’t know, we kinda clicked.’ She smirks. ‘He was a really good kisser.’

There is sniggering. Miller gives a mock cheer.

‘Shut up,’ Cal snaps. He’s backed all the way to the window, his expression pained.

Bianca looks uncomfortable, looking down. Behind the camera, I had motioned for her to raise her chin a fraction. ‘I felt bad for abandoning my girlfriends, you know, and it seemed like Caleb wanted more than for us to just kiss. I freaked out a little and I told him I would be back in a few minutes… so I went to find my girlfriends. Took me a while to track them down, and I must have been with them for maybe twenty minutes, not all that long, at least I didn’t think so. When I went back, he was…’ Her breath hitches. ‘I saw him making out… with some other girl.’

At that moment, the boys all react, once more sucking in their collective breath.

‘Hold up!’ Miller howls. ‘Pause it! Pause it!’

I hit the pause button.

Miller turns his head. ‘What the fuck? You kissed another chick in front of her?’ he shouts at Cal.

Cal’s at the back of the room, looking to the floor. The base of his neck has gone red. He’s reeling, as though a hazy memory is dawning on him. ‘Just play it, Lexi,’ he says with a wince.

I hit the play button. ‘And how did that make you feel?’ I am asking Bianca off screen.

Bianca gives a tight, exaggerated shrug. ‘I don’t know, I… I probably read too much into it. Like, I thought he was into me. So, yeah, I was hurt. I guess I was wrong. We left soon after. Me and my girlfriends, we got the hell outta there.’

‘Cal hadn’t taken your number?’

‘No… no. Nothing like that.’

‘So… you had no way of contacting him?’

‘No, not by any direct means.’

‘And then what happened?’

Bianca draws another shaky breath, pushing back her shoulders, running her fingers through her hair. ‘I went home. Went to bed. When I woke up, somebody called and told me that I was on the front page of thePost. I couldn’t believe it. It was this blurry image… somebody had taken a photograph of me and Cal at the party, making out. And I was mad, you know, because, I was like, what the hell, he was with someone else five minutes after me…’

‘So then when you sent the tweet… you were angry.’

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