All About the Hype (10 page)

‘Oh, God.’ She looks shocked and actually stumbles a bit.

‘So I was a bit of a mess that day.’

‘No shit,’ she says, falling silent.

I try to think of a lighter subject, but then someone bumps into me and I grab Sienna’s arm to stop myself from falling and inadvertently pull her down with me. We both burst out laughing
as we sit on our backsides on the cold, wet ice. The temperature is so far from freezing in LA and the ice is rapidly melting.

‘I need a drink,’ she splutters.

‘Me too. I hope we can get a proper one,’ I find myself adding.

‘I heard Gina used to go out with one of the barmen. Let’s go find her!’

The party flies by. Sometimes I spy Jack talking to various people, but I’m not missing him as I laugh and chat to my new schoolmates. Gina Miranda is fun – she reminds me a little
of the singer Jess Glynne, with her curly red hair and beautiful alabaster skin. Margarita Ramirez is super friendly, too, but it’s Sienna who I find I really like.

‘We should get a selfie,’ Margarita says at one point, shouting out to a passing Jenna. I spy Lottie and call her over. She joins us, smiling.

We have to give Margarita’s phone to the barman to take the picture because there are so many of us to fit in.

‘Let’s see how many retweets this one gets,’ Margarita says with a grin as she posts the picture. ‘What’s your username, Jessie?’

‘I don’t have one.’

‘What?!’ she gasps. ‘We have
got
to rectify that before I post this. Where’s your phone?’

I smile and get it out, luckily not minding that I’m being railroaded into embracing social media. She talks me through what to do, but I hesitate when I’m asked to write down my
name. Am I Jessie Pickerill or Jessie Jefferson?

A couple of days ago, Annie – Johnny’s PA – gave me my social-security number and informed me she’s already well into the process of getting me American citizenship. The
name we agreed to file is Jessica Pickerill Jefferson.

I feel a pang of guilt as I type out Jessie Jefferson, but that’s already taken. I try Jessie Pickerill, but that’s gone, too, and I feel strangely relieved that the decision has
been taken away from me. Eventually I compromise and settle on JessiePJeffers. I’m satisfied with that.

Margarita tweets the pic and tags us all. I feel a little flurry of excitement.

‘Now we need to get you on Instagram,’ she says, tucking her glossy black hair behind her ears and flashing me a smile.

At least I’m already on Snapchat…

‘I love your dress,’ Sienna says to me later, after we’ve media maxed out. ‘Alexander Wang, right?’ she says.

‘How did you know?’ I look around. Is someone else wearing the same thing as me?

‘I’m a model. I need to know about these things,’ she explains with a shrug, as though reading my mind. ‘Hey, we should go shopping some time.’

‘I’d love that,’ I say with a smile.

‘Next week?’

‘That’d be great. I can’t do Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays… Jeez,’ I say, as it dawns on me. ‘The only free days I have are Fridays. And shit! No, I
can’t even do Friday next week!’ We have our
Muso
interview at four o’clock.

She wants to know why I’m so busy so I tell her about my singing lessons and band practice and driving lessons, which I only started on Wednesday. She laughs as I describe the look on my
instructor’s face when I went a little too fast along Mulholland Drive. I persuaded him to let me drive my new Fiat 500, but he told me we’d be using his instructor vehicle next time so
he can slam the brakes on with his dual pedals…

‘And Friday?’ she asks.

‘Jack, Miles, Brandon and I are doing an interview with a magazine.’

‘Which one?’ she asks with interest.

‘
Muso
. Do you know it?’

‘I’ve heard of it, but music magazines are not really my scene. Give me fashion mags any day of the week. I liked you guys, though. Have you got any gigs coming up?’

‘Hopefully we’ll be doing one in San Francisco next month.’

We’ve been invited back by the same venue as last time and I’ve asked if we can make it the weekend of half-term in mid-February when Stu’s visiting. Stu suggested it,
actually.

‘Cool, maybe I’ll come,’ she says.

‘That would be great,’ I reply with a grin, spying Jack across the terrace. He raises one eyebrow at me and jerks his chin towards the edge of the garden. I give him a minuscule nod
of acknowledgement and, a moment later, make my excuses.

I check over my shoulder as I duck behind a cluster of palm trees, but I can’t see anyone looking this way and, the next thing I know, Jack is tugging me further into the darkness. He
presses me up against a palm tree and proceeds to kiss me passionately. The trunk is rough and spiky against my back, but I barely notice. I feel dizzy and I’m pretty sure it has nothing to
do with the couple of drinks I’ve had.

‘Jack,’ I gasp, putting my hands on his chest. I can feel his heart pounding against my palms.

He breaks away from me, breathing hard against my mouth. ‘What?’

I don’t know what to say. I don’t want him to stop, but I feel completely out of my depth. I’m not even sure he knows I’m a virgin.

‘You’re scaring me,’ I whisper.

He tenses and immediately steps backwards, looking shocked.

‘Not like that,’ I explain, realising he’s taken me the wrong way. ‘
This
is scaring me.’ I motion to the two of us. ‘I’m scared how much I like
it.’

His shoulders sag with relief.

‘What if it all goes wrong?’ I ask.

He frowns. ‘What do you mean?’

‘With Miles and Brandon. All Hype.’ I love singing and being a part of this band. I want to be more than just Johnny Jefferson’s daughter. ‘I don’t want to be
another Eve.’

‘I don’t want that, either,’ he states. ‘But I can’t keep my hands off you.’

‘I don’t want you to keep your hands off me,’ I whisper.

‘Good,’ he says meaningfully, closing the gap between us.

‘I just hope we can be cool if it doesn’t work out,’ I murmur, as he presses his lips to my neck. ‘I really,
really
don’t want to screw up the
band…’

‘We won’t,’ he whispers between kisses. And then I can’t think about anything else apart from kissing him back.

The next morning, I groggily come to at the sound of Johnny’s voice outside my bedroom door.

‘Can you get up and come to the studio?’ he calls.

I frown. ‘Sure,’ I reply.
Am I in trouble?

I remember with a lurching stomach that last night I kept Davey waiting on the road outside Justin and Jenna’s house for half an hour.

I get dressed as quickly as I can with a pounding headache. I didn’t even drink that much last night, did I? Maybe I did. Those cocktails slipped down way too easily.

I emerge bleary-eyed from my bedroom and wander along the landing to Johnny’s music studio. The door is ajar so I go straight in.

Johnny is sitting on a stool behind the glass with his acoustic guitar in his hands. The mixing desk with its control panels is in front of me, flanked by big speakers. Johnny’s voice
comes through them now.

‘Afternoon,’ he says drily.

‘What time is it?’ I ask, rubbing at my eyes.

‘Eleven thirty.’

‘Oh, is that all?’

He raises one eyebrow at me. ‘Get in here.’

I push open the glass door and walk into the soundproofed room. There’s a full-size drum kit in here, and a keyboard, too, but Johnny’s various guitars are hanging on the wall in the
control room outside. The walls in here are covered with yellow foam, made of miniature pyramid shapes. Apparently the sound bounces off the walls and improves the acoustics.

‘Close it,’ Johnny says, nodding at the door.

He reaches forward and flicks a switch to turn off the microphones and then indicates the stool in front of him. ‘Sit down. We need to talk.’

Shit
. This sounds serious.

‘Sorry about keeping Davey waiting last night,’ I say quickly.

‘That’s not what this is about.’ He tucks his chin-length hair behind his ear. I notice he hasn’t shaved for a couple of days, judging by the dark-blond stubble gracing
his jaw. ‘But try not to do it again.’

‘I won’t,’ I promise.

‘Did you have fun?’ he asks, regarding me steadily.

‘Yeah.’ I can’t help but grin. ‘It was great, actually.’

His small corresponding smile morphs into a look of apprehension and I tense up again. He digs into his pocket and pulls out his phone, pressing a few buttons before passing it over to me. His
display is showing the photo we took of all of the girls last night, and my jaw hits the floor when I realise it’s made it onto one of the biggest online celebrity gossip sites.

‘Pictures from the party are all over the net,’ Johnny says.

My brow furrows as he takes the phone back and searches for something else before handing it over again. This photo is of Sienna and me clutching each other’s arms and laughing our heads
off as we ice-skate. We went for round two towards the end of the night. It was such a laugh.

I grin up at Johnny, but he’s not smiling. ‘What’s the problem?’ I ask with confusion.

‘She a friend of yours?’ he checks.

‘I hope so. I really liked her. We’re going to go shopping sometime. Her name’s Sienna Victor.’

‘I know her name,’ he replies heavily. ‘I recognised her from your party, but I didn’t know who she was until today.’

I’m extremely confused now.

‘Jessie, do you know who Dana Reed is?’ he asks seriously.

I swallow and nod. Dana is Johnny’s druggie ex-girlfriend. She was a singer-songwriter and marked for great things, but I haven’t heard anything about her for well over a year. She
and Johnny infamously met in rehab and got up to all sorts of crazy, scary shit together. It was like one of those terrible, twisted relationships that usually end in disaster. They both overdosed
– Johnny could have died before I even found out he was my dad. It’s a chilling thought.

The press planted most of the blame for what happened on Dana’s doorstep, re-embracing Johnny when he married Meg, a sweet, ordinary girl whom he claimed was the love of his life. If the
press painted Dana as the devil, Meg was their angel.

Seeing how settled Johnny is with her now, I have to concede that the press had Meg pretty well pegged. But what has Dana Reed got to do with my new friend? I’m shocked when Johnny tells
me.

‘Sienna is Dana’s half-sister,’ he reveals. ‘She didn’t mention that to you?’

I shake my head, gobsmacked. No, she didn’t, which is a bit surprising, considering her sister’s horrifying history with my dad.

‘Dana used to talk to me a bit about Sienna,’ Johnny reveals. ‘Dana’s dad had an affair with Courtney, and Sienna was the result of that. She and Dana weren’t close
when we were together. I don’t know about now.’

‘Sienna is nothing like Dana,’ I say quickly. ‘She’s not into drugs or anything like that—’

Johnny cuts me off. ‘Jessie, Dana is Meg’s worst nightmare,’ he states. ‘If Meg knew that you were hanging out with anyone even remotely connected to her, she’d go
mental.’

‘But Sienna is really nice!’ I defend her. ‘I promise you, you have nothing to be worried about.’

He gives me a long, weary look and then sighs heavily. ‘I hope so, chick. I guess I can’t tell you who to be friends with, but I can warn you to be careful. The same goes for Jack
Mitchell.’

Damn
. I thought the heavy conversation was over, but, from the look on his face, my dad’s just getting warmed up.

‘I didn’t want to get into this with you last weekend, but I’ve gotta tell you, I’m sorry Tom’s no longer on the scene. He was a better option than Jack.’

‘He lives in another country!’ I squawk.

Johnny shrugs and purses his lips. ‘Exactly.’

‘Come on,’ I say with annoyance. ‘Tom and I weren’t working out. And I really like Jack. I
really
like him,’ I emphasise.

I don’t like the look he’s giving me. It’s almost… pity. ‘Just be careful,’ he reiterates quietly, his green eyes piercing mine for a long, uncomfortable
moment.

My face warms and I nod and look away. ‘I will,’ I mumble.
Are we done now? Can I go?

‘Sixteen is underage in California,’ he adds.

I shoot him a sharp look, momentarily forgetting to blush. Is he talking about sex now?

‘Google it,’ he adds.

‘OK!’ I say, trying to sound breezy. ‘Do you mind if I go and get a shower? I’ve literally just rolled out of bed.’

‘Not yet,’ he says. ‘There’s something else I need to talk to you about.’

Oh, God. What
now
?

‘Don’t look so worried. This bit’s good news,’ he says with a grin, before adding, ‘at least, I hope it is. You remember when you did a few harmonies for me before
Christmas and we put it on a demo for Nick?’

I nod. Nick is from his record company.

‘Well, he wants us to lay the track down properly. You OK about featuring on my new album?’

I nearly fall off my chair. When I’m done screaming, he laughs softly. ‘I’m going to take that as a yes.’

There’s no time to waste. Johnny’s next album is coming out at the end of February, well in time for the world tour that kicks off in April. I’ll have to postpone
tomorrow’s singing lesson so we can go to the studio downtown after school.

I can’t believe it. I’m going to sing on his album! I’m even going to get paid for it. I am beside myself with excitement.

Finally I get up to go, desperate to wash away last night’s cobwebs, but, on my way out of the door, Johnny speaks.

‘And Jessie?’ I look over my shoulder at him to see a crease between his eyebrows. ‘Don’t mention anything about Sienna or Dana to Meg. I don’t want to stress her
out if I can avoid it.’

Now I realise why we had our conversation in a soundproofed booth.

‘I hope you’re not getting carried away with it all,’ Stu says a few days later when we finally manage to catch each other for a chat. It’s so difficult
with the time difference. ‘I keep hearing your name being bandied around school.’