Moving Forward (Moving Neutral, Book Three) (13 page)

Chapter
Thirty

“Casey?”  I heard Trevor’s voice through my door, and I leaned over onto my side, feeling the smushed pillow against my cheek.  Apparently I’d managed to fall back asleep. 

“Come in,” I said, hearing the
exhaustion in my voice.  I rubbed my eyes and sat up in bed, rolling up my sweatshirt sleeves.

“
Hey,” Trevor said, tentatively opening the door.  He walked into my room, dragging a huge cardboard box behind him.  “I’m sorry, Casey.”

I furrowed my eyebrows.  “What are you sorry for?”

“If I hadn’t — if you hadn’t gotten me that present, you wouldn’t have been in a fight with mom and dad.  I love it, but you guys were all being nice to each other… and I ruined it.”

I sat up in the bed, patting the spot next to me for Trevor to sit down.  “Trev, you didn’t ruin anything.  I did
— I just have so much going on right now, and I got mad at mom and dad for assuming something that wasn’t true.  I just—” I looked down at him, wondering how much of this I could explain to a fifth grader.  “It’s hard sometimes, trying to get mom and dad to stop seeing me as a kid.”

He looked up at me
.  “But you are a kid, Case.  You’re always going to be a kid to us.”

I exhaled, almost a laugh.  He was probably right.  There weren’t enough tabloid covers or modeling campaigns in the world to convince my parents I was an independent adult. 

“What’s that?” I changed the subject, gesturing to the box behind him.

“It’s your present,” Trevor grinned, pulling it over to the bed.  “It came last week.”

“From mom and dad?”

“Nobody knows who it’s from.”

I grinned at him.  “Think it’s from Santa?”

“Not unless Santa drives a UPS truck,” he snickered.

I ruffled his hair.  “You’re too smart for your own good, kid.”

I looked over the box, which
had a card pasted to the side with my name on it.  I set the card aside and began to unwrap the packaging, pulling aside the silver wrapping paper with my hands.

Underneath the wrapping paper, I felt something smooth and black and hard.  As I slid my hands over it, my mouth dropped open. 

Tearing the paper the rest of the way, I uncovered a black guitar case, smooth and shiny with silver locks on either edge.  It was a few feet wide and almost as tall as me, and I felt myself holding my breath as I fitted my fingers to the latches and opened them.

Inside was the most beautiful acoustic guitar I’d ever seen. 

It wasn’t new, but it was in perfect condition, obviously taken care of by someone who’d known exactly what to do.  The body was light tan and perfectly unscratched, and the strings looked like they’d just been replaced.  Parts of the neck were stained where someone had held it for hours and hours, but that only made me love it more. 

I let my fingers glance over the strings, almost afraid to touch it.

“Wow,” Trevor breathed.  “Who’s it from?”

I blinked my eyes, coming back to reality.  Wrenching my hands away from the guitar case, I picked up the card and slid my finger along the edge to open it.

Casey,

This is Ramona.  She taught me how to play, and a little bird told me you wanted to learn too. 
Treat her well — she’s special to me. 

You both are.

Blake

Feeling tears coming, I swallowed and took the deepest breath I could. 

“Trev,” I said, trying to keep my voice even.  “When did you say this came?”

He looked down at his fingers, counting the days.  “Tuesday,” he finally said, looking at me with confidence.

I counted back in my head.  Blake had sent this after the show with Liv, before I’d gone to his house.  Before I’d showed up at the party with Tanner.  Before I’d been caught coming out of Tanner’s hotel, wearing my dress from the night before.

I couldn’t catch my breath.  It felt like someone had just ripped out my lungs.  “Thanks,” I said, hearing my voice shaking.  “Listen, could you tell mom and dad I need a minute?  I’ll be right down, ok?”

Trevor nodded, giving me an uncertain look before standing up and leaving the room, shutting the door behind him.  I fell face-forward into my comforter, not bothering to hold the tears back.

Blake had sent this to me.  Blake had sent me this beautiful, exquisite gift.

But it didn’t mean a thing.  We’d had our last chance, and it was over. 

Staring at the guitar was like looking into the past.  If the timing had been a little better, if things had been just a tiny bit different, it would have meant something.

But now? 

It didn’t mean a thing.

Chapter Thirty-
One

The next morning, Madison and I sat on my bed in silence, staring at the guitar.

Madison f
inally spoke first.  “You know,” she raised an eyebrow at me, “Blake sure does know how to mess with your head.”

Something between a choke and a sob came out of my mouth.  “I don’t think that’s what he was trying to do,” I sighed.

“I don’t either,” she admitted, still looking at the guitar like it might be some kind of trick.  “You guys just have the worst timing, huh?  He’s hot, he’s cold.  He’s cold, you move on.  You move on, he’s hot again.  It’s, like, the stuff of legends.”

“It’s the stuff of soap operas.”

“It’s the stuff of great songs.”

My lip trembled.  “I can’t keep it,” I said, finally voicing the thought that had been running through my head all morning.  “Not after what happened with Tanner.”  I meant,
not once the photos come out
, but Madison understood. 

“You don’t have to keep it,” she said, letting a finger rest on the velvet lining inside the case.  “You can just… hold onto it for him.  Like a loan.”

It wasn’t a solution.  I knew in my heart that holding onto the guitar wasn’t any better than keeping it — the moment I put my fingers to the strings, it would be irrevocably mine. 

“Not it,” I murmured, half to myself.  “She.”

Madison held back a smile. “You’re a goner already,” she grinned, reaching into her bag.  “Listen, do you, um…  Do you want to see this week’s US Weekly?  I had to get gas on the way here, so I figured I’d do some recon.”

“Am I in it?”

“Yeah,” she gave me a guilty expression.  “I mean, you knew you were going to be, right?”

“I guess so.”  I looked down at the cover, which, thankfully, wasn’t a blown-up photo of me leaving Tanner’s hotel room.  I breathed a sigh of relief.  “Yeah, I want to know.  What does it say?”

Madison flipped through the first twenty pages, and then opened up to a story.  “Here,” she said nervously, passing the copy back to me.

I glanced down, feeling my stomach twist. 

Breakup Watch: Casey Snow and Blake Parker

I glanced over the text, wishing I could just have a normal breakup like a regular person, and not have millions of people witness every single detail.  Sighing, I skimmed the story.

Rumors have been swirling that “it-couple” Casey Snow and Blake Parker are no more, but this week, it’s been confirmed for good!  Both attended Rolling Stone’s charity fundraiser shortly before Christmas, but appeared separately on the red carpet and didn’t speak the whole night.  Sources say their breakup has been “icy,” and that Blake’s heart is broken by the girl he once called his first love.

But Casey Snow is moving on!  Recently spotted around in the Big Apple with the new Moving Neutral guitarist, Tanner Cole, Snow appeared at his side on the red carpet, and sources caught them canoodling in the VIP area of the party. 

And the party wasn’t the end of the night for Snow and Cole.  The next morning, US Weekly snapped these exclusive photos of Snow emerging from Cole’s hotel, dressed in the same clothes from the night before.  Sources say they left the party together, heading back to his hotel for a romantic nightcap… and who knows what else. 

“Casey’s really excited about Tanner,” an insider reveals.  “He’s everything Blake wasn’t: easygoing, flirtatious, and tons of fun.  They’re taking it slow for now, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they did something crazy, like run off to Vegas and tie the knot.  Tanner’s impulsive, and Casey is so smitten that she’d do anything for him.”

“Where do they even find this stuff?” I rolled my eyes at Madison, touching the bottom of the page to flip it over.  “The inside source is probably, like, our mailman.”

“At best,” Madison smiled sympathetically. 

I took a deep breath.  “Well, that’s the worst of it, right?”  It was about what I’d expected.  Not fun to read, but I’d known what I was getting into.

“Not exactly…” Madison’s smile wavered.  “Next page.”

I flipped it over.

The headline read:
Blake Parker: A New Flame?

I grimaced, looking down at a photo of Blake and his date from the other night. 
I wanted to tear the photo off the page.  Who was she? 

The
music world was abuzz when Blake Parker arrived at the party with a stunning brunette on his arm.  His first public appearance since his breakup with Casey Snow had everyone wondering: Who was the mystery girl?

US Weekly has confirmed her identity, and it’s not who you think!  Blake’s date for the night was his sister Brooke, a sophomore at UCLA.  “Blake’s been so busy with classes that I haven’t seen him since summer,” she explained.  “So when he offered to bring me, I jumped at the chance!”

I set the magazine down, my breath catching in my throat.

Blake hadn’t shown up with a date at all. 

And what had I done?

Paraded around with Tanner, right under his nose. 

I looked over at the guitar, its presence making me feel even worse. 

“We’re cursed,” I said to Madison, curling my knees to my chest.

She looked at me sadly, like there was nothing she could say.

Chapter
Thirty-Two

My parents never took the check.  At the end of the night, we’d settled into a tentative truce, the same way we’d done a hundred times over when I’d battle with them over some party I wanted to attend, or some concert that was past curfew.

Trevor got to keep the iPod Touch.  And
he made me promise that if any future gift bag contained an Xbox, he was first in line.

“You’re
ten,” my mom said, ruffling his hair and giving me a hesitant smile.  “Just because your sister’s started spoiling you, don’t think that’s gonna fly all the time.”

I pulled Trevor to the side.  “Listen, dude.  You covered for me so that my whole life could start.  I get an
Xbox?  It’s yours.”  He grinned.  “Just don’t let mom and dad see it, okay?”

The week passed in a blur after that.  As my flight to Los Angeles got closer and closer, I had to tell my parents.  To my surprise, they actually didn’t seem to mind.

“So what is this thing you’re doing?” My dad asked, sounding actually somewhat interested. 

“Oh, it’s, um
—well, actually, I have this photoshoot afterwards, but I’m not exactly sure what we’re doing for New Year’s,” I said.  “I’m sure Lauren will fill me in when we get there.  Vegas, maybe?” 

I thought of the US Weekly story. 
No Vegas.
  The last thing I needed were the tabloids running stories about Tanner and me eloping over New Year’s.

My parents exchanged a look.
  “Vegas?” My mom asked warily.

“Sorry
, guys, it’s not like that.  We’ll be, like, hosting the party, getting them publicity, you know.”  I bit my tongue. 
Why was I being so obnoxious?  I hadn’t known any of this stuff six months ago.
  “So, the media cover where the celebrities are, so the celebrities get paid to show up for big nights, and this is just going to be…”

I trailed off, looking at my parents’ blank expressions.

“So you’re the celebrity?” My dad asked.

I blushed.  “I mean, sort of.  Not really.  But sort of.  You know.”

Another glance between them.  I shoved a pile of tank tops into my suitcase, complete with a bathing suit I probably hadn’t worn since junior high.  It was slim pickings from my childhood bedroom.  I’d have to remember to tell Lauren to pull some extra clothes for me.

“And who, exactly, are you going with?”

“Do we have to get into this?” I whined.  “It’s not high school.  You don’t have to call their parents, ok?  I’m going with a girl who’s been helping me with PR stuff, and hopefully Sophie, and Tanner.  No big deal.”

I finally zipped the second suitcase shut, and when I got up, I could see the indentation of the nylon pattern on my elbows where I’d pressed it down. 

“Everything will be fine,” I tried to put on my most grown-up, reassuring face, and planted a kiss on my mom’s cheek.  “I’ll be back at school in a week, okay?  I’ll see you then.”

Hoisting one bag over my shoulder, I rolled the other to the door with practiced ease, and then out onto the walkway, where a town
car was waiting to take me to the airport.

“Love you,” I said to each of my parents, grabbing them in a giant hug.  “Trevor, come here
—” I screamed, deafening everyone for a moment.

I felt my mom kiss my temple, rubbing the back of my shoulder.  “Just be careful, Case,” she whispered.  “We love you.  We’re here for you, no matter what.”

“Take care of the guitar, ok?” I asked her.  I’d decided to leave it with them, rather than risk a cross country trip.  They’d drive it into the city and leave it in my dorm when I got back.

“Of course
,” my dad said, looking down at where I’d left it in the doorway.  “Have a safe trip.”