Faded (Rock Star Trilogy) (3 page)

“Me too,” Stephan agrees. “No way you're going without me.”

“I'll call my pilot.
I am not flying to Europe commercial,” Alec says. Once again, I am reminded how spoiled Alec and I are.

He gets on his phone, and starts making phone calls.

“We need to get you a new phone,” Stephan says.

“What happened to yours?” Bridgett looks at my shattered phone.

“I got mad, and I kind of threw it at a concrete wall,” I explain. “I hate my dad, and I don't want a new phone.”

Alec comes back over to us. “You have
thirty minutes to pack. We have to be at the airport in one hour.”

Thirty
minutes. I've packed in a lot less.

Bridgett
, however, looks panicked.

“Don't worry,
” I tell her. “I got this. After four years of traveling, I'm a very fast packer.”

Stephan goes to his house, and Alec, Bridgett, and I go upstairs and pack in a rush.

As we pack, I grab my iPod and turn up One Direction. I soon find myself dancing to the beat. Seriously, this band always turns my bad mood around. I'm singing along and smiling before the first verse is over.

This is why I love music. It has the ability to change your mood in a matter of seconds. And w
ho doesn't love a cute boy band — especially a British band.

My phone
vibrates on the bed beside me. I'm scared to look at it, but I do anyway. It's a text from Stephan.

Stephan:
Want to join the mile high club? ;)

I can't help but smile. Once again, Stephan knows exactly what to say to cheer me up.

Scarlett:
You are my favorite person.

Stephan:
Is that a yes?

Scarlett:
Hm
m
…

Stephan:
You can't resist my charm forever.

Scarlett:
Is that a challenge? If I remember correctly, I am still winning our bet.

Stephan:
Bet?

Scarlett:
'You will never see me nake
d…
EVER.' Remember?

Stephan:
O
h…
:( Would it help if I begged?

Scarlett:
Now I'm picturing you on your knees, and I'm definitely ok with this fantasy!

Stephan:
I like where this fantasy is headed...

I just laugh and continue packing.

“Is that Stephan?” Bridgett asks, as she stuffs clothes into her suitcase.

I nod, smiling.

“You love him, don't you?”

“Is it that obvious?” I ask.

“
Yes. It's written all over your face. And his. I see it every time you walk into a room that he's in. Every time you touch each other, or kis
s…
It's sickening and sweet at the same time. Martin never looked at me like Stephan looks at you. I want to experience that kind of love.”

I sigh
, almost sadly. “I don't know that Stephan loves me. He's never told me.”

“So
metimes words aren't necessary. But if you love him, you should tell him. Maybe he’s just too scared to say them.”

She's right. But I still want to hear
him tell me
first
. Maybe I’m too stubborn for my own good.

“I'm not having sex with him until he tells me.
”

“Does he know that?” she questions.

I shake my head. “Right, cause I'd tell a guy tha
t…
Guys will say anything for sex, Bridge. I want him to tell me because he feels it, not because he wants to fuck me.”

“Every guy, except Martin
.” She sighs sadly. “Am I just not sexually attractive to guys? I mean, why would he go for Mia and not me?”

“Because he's a fucking moron.”
It’s the truth. “Besides, have you not seen the way Alec looks at you? I'm about ready to castrate him.”

She blushes. “I'm sure he's like that with every girl.
He won’t be satisfied until he’s slept with every woman in the US, maybe Europe too.”

“Not really,” I say. “He's picky. But still, Alec isn't a relationship kind of guy. He is only interested in sex. So don't let him break your heart.”

“I won't,” she promises.

1:33 PM

We could totally drive to Europe.

By 1:30, we are all in the private jet, waiting for
takeoff. Stephan and Bridgett are both looking around, and they seem pretty excited. Alec and I are both pretty chill, because this is nothing new for us.

“So, whose jet is this?” Stephan asks.

“It's one of Scarlett’s record company's jets,” Alec answers. “We often have to fly to get to our performances in time, so our record companies let us use it.”

I roll my eyes. “Please. Alec owns his own jet.”

“No, I don't. My dad does,” he clarifies.

“Your dad has
two jets, and he never uses the second one,” I argue. “So it might as well be yours. He lets you take it any time you want.”

“I'm an only child,” Alec
tells them, like it’s an explanation.

Alec's dad is Steven Torch. He was a rock star back in the day, and now he owns Ace Record Company, which
used to be a sister company to mine. He is a very rich guy.

And Alec
is very spoiled
. He has any and everything he wants, and he always has.

“I need to document this for the documentary,” Alec says, pulling a camera out of his bag.

I glare at him. “Seriously?”

“What? They gave me a camera so I could record pre-show stuff. There is going to be
thirteen hours of footage on TV. It's going to take a lot of recording to get that.”

I roll my eyes as he turns the camera on me.

“So, Scarlett, tell me, what are you feeling?”

I
flash him a fake smile. “I'm feeling like I want to shove this camera up your ass.”

“Ok
a
y…
” He turns the camera to Bridgett. “What about you, Bridgett? Are you excited about your first trip to Europe?”

“I’m actually more n
ervous than anything.” She grins. “This is my fourth time on an airplane, and I still haven't gotten over my fear of flying.”

“Don't worry, I'll protect you.” Alec puts his arm around her playfully.

“Yeah, cause he could totally protect her if our airplane crashed,” Stephan whispers in my ear, and I can’t help but laugh at his sarcasm. He knows exactly how to distract me from… well,
me
.

Alec turns the camera to Stephan. “What about you?”

Stephan smiles, and then looks at me. “I think I need to go to the back when the plane takes off. Right, Scarlett?”

I shake my head, and laugh.

Alec turns the camera on himself. “Scarlett and Stephan are seriously gross. If they are what it's like to be in love, I hope I never am.” He fake gags, and turns off the camera.

I wait for Stephan to tell him we're not in love. But he doesn't.

“I can't wait to see you fall in love,” Stephan laughs. “When you do, I am going to torture you and your girl.”

Once we take off,
Alec falls asleep. I'm thankful, because it gives me time to think. I love him, but I seriously might go crazy living with him over the next few months.

I think about my mom. I haven't seen her in almost
ten months. It hurts to think of all the time that has gone by since I last spoke to her. I wonder if it's easy, since I'm not
really
her kid. Maybe she just never felt that mother-daughter connection with me.

I think of Bridgett's mom.
Sure, she's a psychotic bitch, but at least she loves Bridge. I'm lucky if I get an email from my mom once a month.

Stephan i
s sitting beside me, and he sees my frown. “What's on your mind?” he asks.

I sigh. “Family.”
I know he doesn’t understand what I’m going through, because his mom adores him, and from what he has told me, so did his dad. But his family is pretty fucked up too.

“Tell me about your mom.”

So, I do. “My mom's name is Stephanie Ryan. She used to be beautiful, but she's had a lot of plastic surgery, so not so much anymore. Before I became a rock star, she was a teacher. She was always good with kids, but never with Stacy and me. Looking back, I wonder why they adopted me. It was always obvious that they didn't love either of us. But my parents had a pretty good marriage.

“When we moved to LA, things took off pretty quick
ly for me. I had a ton of offers, first from the Disney Channel, but my parents wanted bigger. They said they wanted more than for me to be a
child star
. Luckily, when I was fourteen I looked older than I was. I got signed, went on tour and started recording my first album.

“Soon after the money started rolling in
, my parents started fighting. They couldn’t wait to spend all my money. Thankfully Alec’s dad suggested that we get a financial adviser. He convinced them to put fifty percent of my earnings into a trust fund; the remaining fifty percent would go to them.

“The financial adviser must have known my parents were complete asses, because every property they bought automatically went in my name the day I turned
eighteen. I hate to think that my parents would have gotten it all, especially considering how hard I worked.

“I think my parents
’ marriage started downhill when we first moved to LA, but they tolerated each other. It wasn't until I started making a lot of money that they finally separated. By then, it was almost a relief to have my mom out of the house. I couldn't handle being around the both of them anymore.”

I shake my head, sad at the memory. “My parents didn't even care that Stacy
ran away
, of course now I know that they kicked her out. They didn't love either of u
s…
I truly think if it wasn't for the money, they would have kicked me out a long time ago, too.”

Stephan smiles sadly at me. “Do you have any happy memories with your parents?”

I think for a minute, and then shake my head. “Not really. I mean I have good memories with Stacy, but not them. Maybe there were good times, but there were so many bad that it clouded any good ones.”

“Do you remember your life before LA?”

I think for a minute. “A little. Mostly I have memories of our old house, Stacy, and of course my friends from school.”

“There has to be good memories though,” he says. “Maybe you should talk to Stacy.  She was older, so I'm sure she remembers.”

I shrug. “What good would it do anyway? I'm done with them, Stephan.”

“Well, you will always have me.” He puts his arm around my shoulder, pulls me closer, and gently kisses my forehead.

“Thank you.” There is so much truth in Stephan’s words. “I don't really know how to depend on other people, but I'm learning.”

“I will just have to prove to you that I'm not going anywhere.” He smiles, and I know that he is going to do everything in his power to prove it
to me. “Seriously, anything you ask me to do, I will.”

“Good thing I'm not that high maintenance.”

He laughs. “Yeah, right, Scar. A
private jet
! You don't get much more high maintenance than that. Seriously.”

“You get used to it. Trust me, this isn't that exciting for me. It's jus
t…
another day. I really hate all the time I waste flying, but it's faster than driving.”

“Yeah, cause we could
totally
drive to Europe.”

I roll my eyes
at his sarcastic remark. “You know what I mean.”

“I'm sorry that you had such a sucky childhood. I wish I could make it up to you.”

“It's not your fault.”

He smirks. “I could take your mind off it.”

“Oh yeah?” I ask. “How?”

He leans closer and whispers in my ear. “I'm pretty sure we never finished our conversation about joining the mile high club.”

I look over at Bridgett who is watching a movie on her iPhone. I then whisper in his ear. “Not going to happen.”

He pouts.

Damn, he's so cute when he pouts.

It's his lips. It's got to be.

“Why not?”