Page 71 of Together in Harmony
I open my arms and he collapses into them. Together we fall onto the sofa. The doors open again and Lennox runs in, followed by Harry.
“Hugo, it’s no big deal. You got this.” Harry is saying. “The live show starts in an hour, so just cool off until then…”
The muscle in Hugo’s jaw is twitching. Harry really needs to back off.
Lennox obviously feels the same as he shoves Harry out saying, “Good talk, Harry,” then locks the door. Hugo buries his head in his hands.
“That bitch, that fucking, fucking bitch.”
“Brookes,” says Asa to me.
Oh no. What now?
Harry found out that “Danny has been sent a ‘sneak peek’ of Brookes’ new book. Tell-all is putting it mildly. We knew it would be bad, but this is extreme.”
“Can a lawyer stop it?” I ask.
Hugo looks up bleakly. “You think if the British royals couldn’t stop Prince Harry, I have a chance with Brookes?”
He has a point. Damn it.
“What's the worst of it?” I ask. “You have to know the worst, then you can make a decision on how to act.”
All three of them look at me.
“Guys, my whole life has been about people spreading lies and rumors about me. Or stealing my secrets and sharing them. I never told you of the time Screech took my notebook and photocopied it, spread it all over the school. There were poems and thoughts in there about my crushes. My feelings about my mom. When I started my period, when I learned to masterbate…”
“Motherfucker,” Lennox says, bunching his fists.
“I’m not telling you this to get riled up. I’m telling you this as an expert. An expert in ‘what not to do’. I was on my own, young and not very clever. I felt powerless, I was powerless. But Hugo, that is not you. You have power and you are not on your own. So think about what you would have done, if we had been together during our teen years. How you would have saved me from the humiliation and pain. Come on! Think!”
They looked at me, a little stunned.
“Also, you are not allowed to have violence as part of your answer. Now, you, Asa," I point at him. “You are my boyfriend, I'm thirteen. My secret poems have been spread around the school, how do you combat it? Save me?”
Then I swing around to Lennox.
“And Lennox, we are dating. We are fourteen and every girl in the school suddenly hates me because of rumors Screech put about. How do you save me?”
“Fuck yeah, girl boss,” he grins at me. “This side of you is sex-x-y.”
I crouch down next to Hugo. “And you, my sweet sweet man. My love. If someone had recorded me, shared my innermost thoughts and secrets. Shouted out my most shameful moments for the world to hear—what would you do to make it right for me?”
I stand again. “I’m not saying I have any answers. I know that together, we are strong and powerful and awesome. Surely we can turn this fucking thing around.”
Flopping down in a chair, I sigh. “But we may need some more vodka.”
HUGO
We play the meadow song as a teaser for the new album. Harmony had decided on the name: Meadowsweet.
Meadowsweet is a plant traditionally used for curing heart and joint pain—she’s so clever.
The live studio audience loved it.
After the song, during the ad break, an assistant leads us over to the sofa area. I feel like I’m being led to my execution.
Why didn’t we just cancel the interview?
