Page 85 of Once Upon a Boyband
Angry.
Annoyed.
But mostly just frustrated with myself because I should have known this is how things would end up. Everything that already happened with Laney this week is just further evidence that I never should trust anything that comes out of Kevin’s mouth, no matter how Freddie feels about him.
“What about the charity?” I ask. My voice is low, and it sounds menacing, and I don’t even care. Ifeelmenacing. I push my plate away and lean forward on my arms. “You told me we were doing this forcharity.That it was about rehabbing Freddie’s reputation, and the charity would help with that.”
“You did say that,” Freddie adds. “That was part of the deal.”
Kevin waves a dismissive hand. “Aportionof ticket saleswill be donated to charity,” he says, like I’m a five-year-old who doesn't understand grown-up math. “Big difference.”
“That’s not what you said. You mentioned the Breast Cancer Foundation specifically, and you saidall ticket revenue.Was that a lie? A ploy to get me to say yes?”
Kevin scoffs. “I would not lie to you, man. I’m sure you misheard me. New Groove lost out on a lot when you walked. They aren’t giving up their shot to recoup some of their loss.”
“Their loss?” Freddie asks. “They gotme, Kevin. And I’ve made them plenty. Don’t throw Adam under the bus for this because you stretched the truth to make him more likely to say yes.”
I appreciate Freddie’s defense, but Kevin’s not the only one at fault here.
A wave of nausea rolls over me, and I force myself to take a deep breath.
I donotlike how familiar this feels.
As a whole, we never had a lot of control over Midnight Rush. Mostly, we just sat around while record executives and agents told us what was happening next. We were all less than eighteen, so it was easy to let other, more experienced people call all the shots. But by the end, I felt more like a puppet than an artist.
How manytrusted adultsencouraged me to hang on just a little bit longer? To trust that Mom would make it to the end of the tour? It was easy to convince myself they were right. That I couldn’t turn my back on the money, the fame, or I might risk losing it all.
But then I lost Mom instead.
“That’s all water under the bridge,” Kevin says. “It’s behind us. What matters is that right now, we’ve got three amazingshows coming up, and you guys are going to kill it.” He claps his hands together, like he can gaslight us into compliance with his own enthusiasm. “Who’s excited? Are we excited? I’m excited.”
I finally turn to face Freddie. He looks…awful. Mortified. Like he had no idea this was going to happen. “You said one show,” I say to Freddie. “I agreed toone.”
“I know. I know what I said, and I can fix this. I’ll talk to the label. And the charity thing—I told them we needed ticket sales donated in order for this to work, and they said we could talk about it, so I’ll make them talk. I’ll call Meryl.”
“What is there to talk about?” I say, anger finally creeping into my voice. “It’s already done. Because just like last time, Kevin is making decisions for us without even talking to us about it.”
“Let’s all calm down,” Kevin says, but I’m already shoving my chair back, standing up from the table.
“The thing is, itisn’tlike last time,” I say. “Because I’m not a kid anymore. And people don’t make decisions about my life without talking to me first.”
“My back was against a wall, Adam,” Freddie says. He’s standing now too, shoulders squared as we face off across the table. “I might have gotten a few of the details wrong, but I was honest about why I needed you, and I hoped our friendship would be reason enough for you to say yes. Was I wrong about that part?”
“Yes toone show,” I repeat. “A show that, until right now, I thought would benefit cancer research. Research that might have cured my mom. Let’s not forget that part. Clearly, the foundation Kevin mentioned was chosen on purpose. But three shows?” I turn on Kevin. “What else does the label have planned?”
“All the usual,” Kevin says. “Half a dozen talk show appearances, mostly late night, plusThe Today Show, Kelly Clarkson,Saturday Night Live. Pretty routine stuff.”
I shake my head and back away from the table.
“No,” I hear myself say. Because what elsecanI say?
I can’t do it. I can’t doanyof it.
How did I think I could ever walk back into this world and come out unscathed?Of coursethe label has everything planned.Of coursethey’re taking every opportunity to milk every possible dollar from the situation.
I can’t fault Freddie. I believehebelieved what he was telling me—that he thought through determination alone, he might be able to pressure Meryl Hendrix and the rest of the New Groove executives into giving him what he wanted. What he thought Ineededin order to participate.
But Freddie’s optimism has always outpaced his reality. I don’t know why I thought this situation would be any different.
