Page 76 of The Spotlight Effect

“I don’t need luck as long as you’re here,” Gray tells me before kissing my cheek. Butterflies swarm my stomach as I feel myself blush from the feeling.

“Come on, Gray, no time for your show of everlasting feelings!” Charlie yells over.

“Three minutes!” Raven yells.

“You should go,” I tell him. Gray smiles and turns away to go line up on the stage while I walk back over to Emerson and Zara.

“Would have been super cute if he kissed you,” Emerson states as the concert begins.

We arefive songs away from the concert ending when my phone starts to vibrate. I excuse myself and walk around, finding an empty hall by the dressing rooms to answer the phone. “Hello?” I answer.

“Alexia,” the voice says, a voice I haven’t heard in months. My dad’s.

“Dad.”

“I called to inform you of something,” he says.

“Get on with it,” I reply, pulling myself together.

“Griffin. He’s out of prison; they are going to re-do his trial. Considering he has mental issues. I want you to write a letter if you don’t want to come to court and testify. It could really help,” Dad says.

“I’m not justifying what your brother did. It’s bad enough you didn’t stick up for your kids. I'm not helping him get out of prison,” I tell him and hang up.

I don’t want this to be real.

It can’t be real.

This is hard to believe; I thought he was convicted of kidnapping, attempted murder, sexual assault and arson but now he’s getting out and now he can get to me.

Me and my family.

The man that haunts my nightmares is free.

I stumble back to where Emerson and Zara is shaking and on the verge of crying.

“Where’d you go? Are you okay?” Zara asks, but her eyes go wide as she sees me.

“Emmy!” Zara calls out.

“Lexi, what happened?” Emerson asks, coming over to me.

“My dad called,” I state. I slide down a nearby wall.

“Lex, you have to tell me why?” Emerson says, holding my shoulder.

“He said Griffin is out and going back on trial, but this time under the condition he was driven mentally insane, which means he might not go back to prison,” I say, weakly.

I clutch my knees to my chest as I start to cry. The tears run down my face as I try to breathe through this.

I can do this.

Everything will be fine. I repeat to myself. “Lexi, it’s okay. We will tell your mom. Everything is fine,” Zara says and runs over to the edge of the stage, waving off someone.

“Um—I’ll… I’ll be back, sorry,” Gray stutters. I hear the music stop on stage before Charlie takes over, singing his part.

“Alexia, what’s wrong?” he asks, crouching down beside me. I can feel his arms wrapping around me.

“Her dad called. Griffin is out,” Emerson tells him.

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