Page 38 of One More Made Up Love Song
Either way, I have no idea how to process what this means. It isn’t about me—but itfeelslike it is. Like it’s about our whole family.
Losing Daphne almost killed me.
I can’t lose Carina too.
For her to be so careless, to make such stupid, reckless choices, it feels like someone has pulled the rug out from under me.
How am I supposed to deal with this? To help her? How am I supposed to keep her safe?
By the time we make it downstairs, Carina seems worse off than she was before. Maybe all the exertion is finally getting to her? Fortunately, the entryway is empty, so there’s nothing stopping us from making a clean escape.
I hoist Carina’s bag a little higher on my shoulder and half drag, half carry my sister to the door.
Cole appears and opens it for us, and we make our way onto the porch. “Tell Wayne I said hello,” he says, then heglances over his shoulder back into the house. “But I’d hurry, if I were you.”
I follow his gaze and see a shadow that can only be Margot moving toward the open front door.
“Okay,” I say to Carina. “Time to run.”
CHAPTER NINE
Freddie
I seeIvy before Wayne does, running from the front door, her arm hooked through Carina’s as she drags her sister forward. Carina slips, falling to her knees and nearly pulling Ivy down with her.
I’m out of the car before Wayne can stop me, running across the seashell driveway to help.
I try to catch Ivy’s gaze, but she’s focused on the car, looking past me—maybethroughme?—with singular focus.
“Let’s get you into the car,” I say, stepping under Carina’s free arm and shifting her into my arms. Wayne is out of the car now too, and he’s got the back door open and ready for us.
“Margot’s coming,” Ivy says as soon as Carina is in the backseat. She shoves Carina’s bag onto the floorboard behind the driver’s seat. “We need to gonow.”
I nod but we haven’t made it two steps before Margot appears on the porch. She’s motioning to someone insidethe house, then a man appears beside her, wearing a backward baseball cap and holding a camera in his hand.
I don’t always love that I’ve never known adulthood without fame. But it’s taught me a lot, and right now, everything I’ve picked up from Wayne’s constant vigilance is helping me recognize all kinds of red flags. It only takes me a matter of seconds to read my current situation and intuitively sense exactly what’s going to happen next.
Margot is walking toward me,in a bikini,with a purpose that immediately makes my skin crawl, while the man on the porch has his camera lifted, one hand adjusting the lens.
I have no idea why there’s a photographer camped out at Margot’s party in the first place—though I shouldn’t be surprised. It feels like a very Margot move to invite the paparazzi into her personal space. She’s always loved beingseen.
Regardless of why he’s here, with the backdrop of Margot’s Malibu beach house, one photo of the two of us together would be tabloid fodder for weeks.
We don’t even need to be side by side. We only need to be in the sameframefor Margot to use it to her advantage.
Rumors about the two of us vacationing together or having some sort of secret rendezvous. A hidden relationship, a one-night stand, however she spins it—and she will—it won’t be good for me.
So much of my audience isyoung.Teenagers. Even middle-schoolers. I’m a role model for them whether I want to be or not, and Margot is constantly mixed up in things that make that harder. Plus, I’m just so tired of her lying about me. And that’s all she seems to do these days.
My frustration grows at the futility of my situation, butthen Ivy reaches out and grips my arm. “Do you remember that moment in CVS?”
I shake my head, struggling to understand why she’s asking me thisnow.“What?”
“When we pretended to make out,” she says. “This is just like that moment. Except, this time, you need to kiss me for real.”
I blink, still not fully processing what Ivy is telling me.
She reaches for me, wrapping her arms around my waist. “Trust me,” she quickly whispers. “This will work. We just have to give the photographer a bigger story than you and Margot together at a Malibu beach house.”
