Page 40 of Stuck With My Rockstar Boss
“About…?” Chase asks with an eyebrow raised.
“Mika!”
Lucas narrows his eyes. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
“No, not about–” Jay grabs a handful of popcorn and then passes the bowl around. “She’s on the tour, that’s not what I mean. I just mean with the house and your parents.”
I take a deep breath. “Listen, there’s nothing you all can–”
“I know we can’t,” Jay says, mouthful of popcorn. “At least not directly.”
We all look at him with furrowed brows. This sounds like the beginning of a conspiracy theory.
Suddenly, Chase exclaims, “Oh! Oh, I see what you’re saying.”
“Right? We could–”
“Yes!”
It’s like a different language, the two of them.
“Would someone please enlighten us?” Lucas says, crossing his arms.
“We can’t help Mika, but we know boatloads of people who can. Arenas full, actually.”
At once, Lucas, Dylan, and I catch on and Dylan claps his hands. “That’s a great idea, Jay!”
“We can ask the fans to help. That’s perfect,” Lucas says.
I’m not so sure, though. “How would we do that?”
Jay snorts. “Just ask of course.”
“We can create a Venmo or something and put the QR codes out or link it on our site or–” Dylan explains.
“Projections, easily,” Lucas adds.
They all start building on the idea while I remain quiet. Sure, this isn’t them helping out directly, but I still am having a hard time accepting the idea. All of this effort for me to stay on tour and now all this effort to make sure my parents and I don’t lose the house? It seems ridiculous. Unreasonable. I’m not sure I deserve it.
“Guys,” I say, but it only comes out a whisper.
“If you donate, you can be put in a raffle for something. Signed T-shirt or—” Jay cries.
“A meet and greet!” Chase adds.
“Guys,” I say, louder this time.
I get Lucas’s attention with that one even though the planning continues. “What’s wrong?”
I almost feel like crying. I’m so overwhelmed.
“Hey, Mika,” he says, coming toward me. “What’s going on?”
The guys quiet down at this and all look in my direction.
“I just…” I take a deep breath. “I really don’t deserve this. You know, we’re the ones who got into this situation, me and my folks. It would be… I can’t imagine accepting help from the fans for this. I mean, they’re your fans, not mine.”
“Don’t be modest, Mika. They’re your fans too. You sing onstage with me every night,” Lucas says with a soft smile.
