All About the Hype (15 page)

‘I’ll probably only be there for the one weekend. They don’t have half-term here.’

‘Really?’

He listens with interest as I tell him about the differences between schools here and at home. They don’t even have time off for Easter. You just get one week off around the third week of
March called Spring Break. School finishes much earlier for summer and, a whopping two and a half months later, it starts up again – in the middle of August. So strange.

‘Did Stu tell you that he wants me to do my GCSEs?’ I ask Tom.

‘No?!’

Once more, the time flies by as we chat. After a while, he divulges that everyone at school is still talking about me.

‘What’s this I keep hearing about a teen girl squad?’ he asks and I can picture the look of bemusement on his face.

‘It’s just a bit of fun,’ I reply with a giggle.

Celebrity gossip blogger Samuel Sarky coined the term, saying we’re like a mini, much less famous, version of Taylor Swift’s girl squad. A few other gossip sites have picked up on
the phrase and run with it, which is pretty hilarious.

The Instagram pictures that Gina posted online got a crazy amount of attention this week, and three more tabloids have been in contact with Johnny’s PR, Hannah, requesting interviews with
me. Johnny told me to stick with
Hebe
magazine and turn the newspapers down, so I didn’t even mention them to my bandmates. It’s all very surreal. The team from
Hebe
are flying over on Tuesday so I have to skip band practice. But I’ll be squeezing as many mentions of All Hype into the interview as I can to make up for it.

‘How many followers on Twitter and Instagram do you have now?’ Tom asks.

‘I don’t know. I haven’t checked for a few days.’

‘I hope you’re having as much fun as you look like you’re having,’ he says. ‘I went to a club last night and saw this girl sitting at the bar looking totally
miserable. Then she got out her phone, plastered a completely false smile on her face, held up her drink and took a selfie, trying to make it look like she was having the time of her life. It was
ridiculous,’ he says scathingly.

‘Well, I’m not doing that,’ I tell him, feeling stung that he might think that I am.

‘I’m not saying you are.’ He’s quick to put me right. ‘At least I think I know you better than that.’

‘You do,’ I say in a small voice.

We both fall silent for a long moment.

‘So are you official yet?’

I know what he’s talking about and I’m instantly uncomfortable. ‘Yes. He calls me his girlfriend, just not when our bandmates are around,’ I clarify.

‘Why?’ His tone is disparaging.

‘I’ve told you why,’ I reply. ‘It would complicate things. Can we not talk about Jack? How’s
your
love life?’

The question spills off the tip of my tongue, but, as soon as I ask it, I dread his answer.

‘What love life?’ he responds.

I let out the breath I’d been holding, knowing I have no right to feel tense.

I try to sound light-hearted as I say, ‘Are you telling me that the hottest boy in school doesn’t have dozens of girls chasing him around?’

My joke falls flat on its face when he doesn’t answer for a long time. Eventually he says, ‘Yeah, right,’ sarcastically.

We wind up our conversation soon after that.

I try Jack’s number once more and, when he doesn’t answer, I do my best to get on with some homework, but I’m preoccupied. My fingers are twitching, but I manage to resist
calling him again. After a while I give up on what I’m doing and return to the living room, seeking a distraction in the form of my half-brothers. I find them sandwiching Gramps on the sofa,
watching a Disney movie.

‘Come and join us,’ Gramps offers, patting the space beside Phee’s cuddly body.

As soon as I sit down, Phee gets up and clambers onto my lap. I wrap my arms round his chunky waist from behind and press my cheek against his. He giggles and I instantly feel a lot better.

When the movie is finished, Barney drags me over to the enormous box of Lego that he found in the children’s bedrooms here, while Meg takes Phoenix for his nap. I help Bee to build a
couple of cars and we race them round the sections of the floor that aren’t covered in plush rugs.

‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ he asks me later when we’re lying on our stomachs with a mound of Lego between us, building stuff.

I stare into his solemn green eyes and fight the urge to giggle. ‘Well, I really like singing.’

‘I wanted to drive a train, but now I don’t know,’ he confides.

‘It’s a long time before you have to make any decisions like that,’ I tell him.

‘Mummy says that I can’t be a singer like Daddy.’

‘Does she?’ I ask, surprised.

‘So you should probably think about what else you can do, too,’ he finishes seriously.

‘I didn’t say that.’ Meg casts her eyes to the ceiling as she enters the room, closely followed by a smirking Johnny. They obviously overheard. ‘I just said that
it’s good to have a couple of alternatives. Right, Jessie?’ She looks at me for help.

‘Definitely,’ I reply. ‘Always good to keep your options open.’

‘I think I would’ve been an architect if I hadn’t been a singer,’ Johnny muses, collapsing on the sofa.

‘You’ve always said you would have been a racing driver,’ Meg says, as she sits down beside him.

He grins at her sideways. ‘I mean a normal job.’

‘An architect? Really?’ I ask with interest.

‘Yeah, I love design and I love houses. I reckon I would’ve liked to combine the two as a job.’

‘What would you do if you couldn’t sing?’ Meg asks me.

I shrug and sit up, thinking. ‘I don’t know. I mean, now that you’ve said that, Johnny, I do quite like the idea of designing houses. But I really hope the singing works
out,’ I add quickly.

‘I reckon it will,’ Gramps says encouragingly. ‘You’ve got a stunning voice, you really do.’

‘Aw, thanks, Gramps,’ I say warmly.

‘Why do you get called Gramps and I’m still Johnny?’ Johnny asks with annoyance, frowning at his dad.

‘Aah,’ Meg interjects sympathetically, giving her husband’s leg a tender squeeze.

Is he being serious? ‘Does it bother you?’ I ask with a furrowed brow. I know he’s teased me about it in the past, but is there more to it than that?

‘It does a bit,’ he admits, and he looks quite vulnerable as he crosses his arms in front of his chest. Barney is still knee-deep in Lego and Phoenix is asleep in his room, but
everyone else is staring at me.

‘I guess it’s because I’ve only just met Gramps, but I’ve known you as Johnny Jefferson for my entire life. It’s harder to get used to calling you Dad.’

He nods, accepting my explanation, but I still feel bad.

‘What are you making?’ he asks, nodding at the Lego construction.

‘A garage.’

He gets up and comes to lie on the floor beside me and we work in contented silence while Meg and Gramps chat between themselves.

‘What are you after?’ Johnny asks me, as I rummage through the pile in search of the largest-sized bricks. I tell him and he helps me look, throwing a few my way.

‘Thanks.’ Pause. ‘Dad,’ I add cheekily.

He purses his lips, but doesn’t comment, making me giggle. The central heating is turned up and he’s only wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt so his tattoos are visible. The B one
catches my eye. He sees me studying it.

‘Guess I’ll have to get a J one soon,’ he says under his breath.

My stomach flips. ‘Would you?’ I ask with surprise.

‘’Course I would,’ he replies, making my heart swell.

‘Can I get a tattoo?’ I ask eagerly.

He throws his head back and laughs. ‘I don’t think so, no,’ he replies, as I scowl at him.

‘Is that your phone ringing, Jessie?’ Meg asks suddenly.

My ears prick up. Yes, it is. I race to my room to see a missed call from Jack. I ring him straight back.

‘Hey,’ he says in his sexy, deep voice. ‘You called earlier.’

‘I did. Agnes said you stayed out last night.’ I try not to sound as on edge as I feel.

‘Yeah, crashed at Drew’s. I did a gig with him last night.’

‘DJ-ing? I didn’t know you had anything lined up.’

‘I didn’t. He called me yesterday afternoon,’ he explains.

‘Was anyone else there that you knew?’

He pauses, then says warily, ‘Have you got a sixth sense?’ Before I can ask what he’s going on about, he continues. ‘I saw Eve.’

A wave of nausea crashes through me. ‘Did you speak to her?’

‘A little, unfortunately.’

‘Why unfortunately?’

He falls silent for a long moment, as though trying to decide whether to tell me. ‘She was being a bitch,’ he says eventually. ‘You don’t wanna know.’

‘Well, now I really do.’

He sighs heavily. ‘She was giving me crap about you.’

‘In what way?’ I ask, my stomach clenching.

‘She says we only chose you because of who your dad is.’

‘Oh,’ I say flatly. I thought he meant she was giving him grief about our relationship. It feels oddly worse that it’s about All Hype and Johnny. Somehow that makes it even
more personal.

‘You wanted to know,’ he reminds me.

‘Does she know you and I are together?’ I ask.

‘Probably.’ He doesn’t divulge details. On second thoughts, he’s right. I don’t want to hear whatever catty comment she came out with.

‘Don’t let her get to you,’ he adds.

‘Do you think she wants you back?’ I find myself asking.

‘Probably,’ he replies. My eyes widen, then he continues. ‘I’m a catch,’ he teases.

‘You’re such a dick,’ I say with a laugh. He doesn’t deny it, but I know he’s smiling. ‘So what is her band called?’ I ask.

‘Gold Leaf,’ he replies.

‘You lied to the journalist, then.’

‘I knew it was Gold something, but I couldn’t remember what. Anyway, why should we give her any press?’

I hate that now it feels like even more of a competition.

‘What are you doing tonight?’ I ask, trying to change the subject.

‘Now that my girlfriend has cancelled my date?’ he replies drily, and I get a thrill at the sound of him calling me his girlfriend. ‘Aggie and I are gonna catch another
movie.’

‘Are you really?’ I ask with a smile. ‘You’re such a good big brother.’ I was an only child growing up. It was lonely. ‘I wish I’d had a brother like
you.’

‘You wish I was your brother?’ he asks, jokily startled.

‘No!’ I laugh. ‘There’s nothing sisterly about the way I think about you, Jack.’

‘I should hope not.’

A shiver goes down my spine at the underlying meaning in his voice.

‘Man, I really wish you weren’t so far away,’ he murmurs.

‘Next weekend,’ I say significantly, and my stomach twangs with nerves as I realise that that sounded like a promise. We seriously need to have a conversation about the sex
thing.

It’s Johnny’s birthday tomorrow, and when I hang up I remember that I haven’t yet written in his card. It was hard enough knowing what to get him – Jack
helped me in the end. He came across a rare B-side record at work and I could have kissed him when he suggested it. I did kiss him, actually. Johnny might already have it, but then what
do
you get the man who has everything? Hopefully the thought will count.

I go to fetch a pen and the card out of the back of my suitcase and open it up, staring at the blank space. What do I write? Sudden inspiration strikes for my opening line and, after that,
it’s easy…

That evening, Gramps goes off in search of a pub, accompanied by Lewis, and Meg jokes that he can only do the doting grandfather routine for so long before he cracks and needs a
drink. I hang out with Johnny and Meg for a bit before finally calling it a night myself. I’m in my bedroom getting ready when I remember that I left my phone on the coffee table, so I set
off back to the living room to retrieve it, halting in the darkened corridor when I hear Meg and Johnny talking.

‘I’m going to miss you so much,’ I hear Meg say. ‘I can’t get my head around the fact that you’re going on the road without me.’

‘I’m going to miss you, too,’ Johnny replies in a strained voice. ‘But you’ll be there for some of the dates.’

I take it they’re talking about his upcoming world tour. I poke my head round the corner to see them cuddling on the sofa in much the same position as I left them.

‘Yes, but not enough of them,’ she replies fretfully. ‘I want to be there for all of them. I want to support you. I hate the idea of you doing this on your own.’

‘I won’t be on my own. I’ll have my team around me,’ he says calmly, before falling silent. He presses a kiss to her forehead, looking apprehensive. ‘You’re
going to have to trust me, Meg.’

Is he talking about women or drugs or both? It
must
be drink and drugs. I can’t believe he’d cheat on her – he dotes on her too much.

She withdraws and stares up into his face. ‘Can you one hundred per cent honestly say that you trust yourself?’

He doesn’t answer her and my heart races.
Come on, Dad!

‘I’m taking Barney out of school,’ she declares suddenly, firmly, as though her mind has just been made up. ‘We’re coming with you.’

He sighs and tucks her hair behind her ears. ‘What about Jessie?’ he asks quietly.

She stares at him for a long moment and then her shoulders slump.

I can’t bear this. Without even thinking, I walk into the room. Meg looks shocked when she sees me.

‘I came back for my phone,’ I say, sitting on the sofa next to Johnny. ‘It’s OK,’ I try to reassure them. It’s pretty obvious I was eavesdropping. ‘I
don’t want you to stay behind because I’m here.’ I stare at Meg. ‘I couldn’t bear that. I’m sixteen. I’m more than capable of looking after
myself.’