Jaded (Rock Star Trilogy) (10 page)

What if she's dead?

No. No. She's
NOT
dead. I could not think that. Stacy was very much alive. If she wasn't, he wouldn't have said he had “good” news. Because finding my sister dead would not be good news.

I push it to the back of my mind. I would know soon enough what the news was. Early tomorrow, Andrew would be at my home. Until then, I would enjoy my first date with Stephan.

We go a little out of town, and down a few back roads. Finally we park on the side of the street. There are probably about 40 cars all parked along the side of this random back road. A lot of nice cars are out here, some not so nice. Everybody is crowded along the side of the street.

I look for the track.

“Where do you race?” I ask.

Stephan points at the road in front of us.

“But this is a public street. Isn't this...
illegal
?”

“
Are you scared?”

I shake my head quickly, and I realize that I'm not. In fact, I'm kind of excited.

Plus, it's not like this is the first illegal thing I've done.

Stephan and me walk up to a group of people. I recognize some of them from Tuesday. Ginny and Britney are both there, along with the brunette girl who waved the flag. I never actually got to meet her.

“Scarlett!” Ginny is excited to see me. She looks nice. He once orange hair is now blonde, which I must admit fits her much better.

“
Hey, Ginny. Love the hair,” I comment. She smiles.

“
Wait... Scarlett?” the flag girl says. “As in Scarlett Ryan?”

Stephan puts his arm protectively around me. “Yes she is Scarlett Ryan, but shut up, Zoe. Seriously, don't draw attention to her.”

“Are you trying to tell me that
the Scarlett Ryan
is hanging out with
you
,” she half laughs. “What the hell are you even doing in Hope, Florida?”

I want to slap this girl. I don't like her. I grab
Stephan's hand, and see her flinch. I finally get it. She
likes
him.

“
And Stephan, what are you thinking? Bringing
her
here. If we get caught out here, we are all in deep shit. She's just going to draw attention,” she rolls her eyes.

I look at Stephan, who now looks mad. “If you have a problem with Scarlett being here, then maybe
you should leave
.”

Stephan pulls me closer, and I shoot her a smile that says
fuck off, bitch. He's mine
. And then we leave his friends behind.

“
So, is it
always
this crazy?” I ask.

He nods. “Yeah. And Zoe is a little... dramatic. She can't stand it unless there is some kind of fight.”

“I noticed. What a bitch.”

“
Stephan, Scarlett!” I hear a voice behind us. We turn around to see Ginny and Britney walking up to us.

“
Forget, Zoe. She's a major drama queen,” Brit said, basically saying the same thing Stephan did. “Hang with us tonight.”

I smile, because I'm genuinely happy to hang out with them. They seemed to like me when we first met, before they knew who I was. It's a good feeling. “Ok.”

Britney leaned closer. “By the way, I'm sorry about what I said... About not liking your music.”

I can't help but laugh. I really think I'm going to like Britney.

12:01 am

Hard to get.

Ginny and Brit walk me around, introducing me to people that they know... Which is practically
everybody.
They just call me Scarlett. A few people recognize me, but we all 3 deny and laugh about it. We say something like
why would Scarlett Ryan be in Hope, Florida
? People seem to buy this excuse.

All the girls hanging out are wearing provocative clothing. One girl is wearing a pair of short shorts and her thong is sticking out the top. Brit and Ginny make fun of her in secret, but I can't bring myself to laugh. If anything, I feel sorry for her.

A few guys try to stop us and get our phone numbers. Brit and Ginny readily gave out their numbers, which I later find out they are
fake numbers
. I can't help but laugh at the two of them.

“
Why not just tell them you're not interested?” I ask.

They both burst out laughing, like the answer is completely obvious. Brit is the one who explains. “We never said we
weren't interested
. We just like to play hard to get.”

They both think it is clever, but I think it is kind of stupid. I keep my opinions to myself. Both Ginny and Britney seem to like getting attention from the guys. They don't care if it is good attention or bad attention. I don't understand it, but who am I to judge?

At one point in the night, I feel somebody grab my ass. I turn around and see a guy smiling at me. I quickly put my knee to his groin and smile as he doubles over in pain.

“
Touch me again, and I will surgically remove your balls with a knife,” I tell the guy who has a mohawk and tattoos. Figures, typical
bad boy
.

“
Bitch! You messed with the wrong guy!” He grabs my wrist hard, and pulls me toward him. As I get close to the guy, carefully take the heel of my shoe, and kick his shin as hard as I can. He falls over and I laugh. That is going to leave a bruise.

“
No. You messed with the wrong girl. Fuck off you perv,” I say, using a fake sweet voice.

About that time, Stephan walks up behind me. “Hey, I'm about to race.” He looks down at the guy on the ground. “Is he bothering you?”

I smile. “Not anymore.”

Ginny, Brit, and I follow him over to his car. They stand a few feet away, waiting for me.

“So...” I hesitate, “are you sure I can't ride with you?” I give him my best pouty face. It always works with Alec, and I'm hoping it works with him.

“
Scarlett, no.” He sighs. “I'm sorry. But I couldn't live with myself if I wrecked and you were with me.”

I feel the disappointment rush over me. I'm going to have to work on my sad face.

Stephan leans over and kisses my forehead. “Don't be sad.”

“
I'm sure you'll find a way to make it up to me.” I bite my lip to keep from smiling.

A kiss on the forehead?

REALLY
?

I don't think
any guy
has
ever
kissed me on the forehead, and I think I just swooned.

“
That is hella distracting,” he says. “Now I can't stop thinking about your lips. I wonder how they taste.”

He leans closer, but I back away. “If you win, maybe you'll find out.”

Stephan laughs. “Tease.”

12:22 am

Best. Kiss. Ever.

It's not Zoe doing the flag here. There are actually two girls standing in the middle of the road. One of them is
thong girl
. The other girl is wearing a skirt equally as short, and a bikini top.

Wow.

What sluts.

I feel bad for my thoughts. I have no right to judge them.

Each of the girls are holding flags. They are holding hands and count down together. They wave their flags down, and all four cars zoom past them. I'm watching Stephan as he takes off, but out of the corner of my eye I see both of the girls start to make out.

“
It's amazing what some girls will do for attention,” I hear Ginny say.

“
They aren't lesbians?” I ask.

Brit laughs. “No. Ella, the girl with the thong, told me she wasn't even bi-curious. She just likes sex a lot, and says she fucks guys in the back seat of their cars between races.”

“Ewe. That is disgusting.” Stephan's, and the other guys' cars are now out of eyesight. I nervously watch for their return.

“
Tell me about it!” Ginny says. “But the girl wearing the bathing suit top, she doesn't care – guy or girl. She even hit on me once.”

“
Can you say
daddy issues
?” Brit laughs.

I look at the girls. Despite the smiles on their faces, I can see pain in their eyes. I wonder what their story is. What makes the girls just give themselves to any and everybody that wants them?

And suddenly, I want to smack myself. Why am I listening to Brit and Ginny? They love to gossip, and I'm not even sure what to believe with the two of them.

Everybody starts cheering and I look to see Stephan and two of the other cars coming back around. The fourth car is a lagging behind. There is one other car slightly ahead of him, but somehow, right before the end, Stephan pulls ahead. As soon as the car stops, I run over to him. He opens the door, gets out, and then throws his arms around me.

“I won. You promised me a kiss,” he says, and before I even have time to respond, he closes the gap between us.

The moment his lips touch mine, I see fireworks. (Trust me, I know that sounds cheesy!) It's like his kiss, his touch... it's what I've been missing my whole life. This kiss... it's what a kiss is supposed to feel like.

He massages my tongue with his, and I can't help but moan with pleasure. He even tastes good. I push him against his car and get as close to him as I can. Every inch of our bodies are literally touching.

I forget that we are on a very crowded street. But then I hear people whistling and yelling at us, and we both pull back.

Stephan is breathing just as heavy as me.

“
Wow,” he says.

Yeah, wow.

Best. Kiss. Ever.

Just then, I hear sirens.

“Get in!” Stephan yells at me.

And just like that, our magical moment is over. All the cars that were once lining the street are all taking off in different directions. We both jump in the car, and take off.

“That was awesome!” I say, as we speed away.

“
And I won a
lot
of money.”

“
Really?” I look at him questioningly. “You bet on the races?”

He nods. “Yep. You have to pay two thousand dollars to even race.”

“Wait, how do you have two thousand dollars? Do you have a job?” I wonder.

“
No. When I turned 18, I got access to half of my trust fund.”

“
So you are using your trust fund money to
gamble
?” I'm kind of in shock. Stephan seems like a smart, level headed guy, and what he's doing is very reckless.

He shrugs. “I haven't lost a race. In fact, I've won over 100 thousand dollars.”

“How do kids in Hope, Florida have that kind of money?” I ask.

“
I don't
just
race here. I went to Miami a few times and raced. The pay out there is higher,” he explains. “And really, it's not even a big deal. I have a large trust fund, and losing a few thousand dollars isn't going to make a dent.”

“
Still, Stephan, it's dangerous.”
But fun,
I add silently.

“
Maybe I like danger,” he is joking, I think, but then his voice get's very serious. “You know how you feel when you're on stage performing?”

I nod. Suddenly, I am missing the spotlight. I haven't performed in a few weeks, and I miss it.

“Well,
that
is how I feel when I race. It's like my heart beats fast and slow at the same time. My adrenaline is high, and I feel in control. It's the
one thing
in life that
I
control, and it feels amazing.”

When he puts it like that, it makes me want to get in on the action. “Maybe I can race next weekend.”

“Can't do,” he smiles. “Next weekend, we are going to go to the races in Miami.”

“
We?”

“
We, as in you and me.”

I like this idea. “That sounds awesome.” But then I remember... “No, I can't. Alec is coming. He's bringing me my car.”

“So we will bring him, too,” he suggests.

“
Alec will
love
it.”

I get home around 3am, and I go straight to bed. I have to get up early to meet with Andrew Davis in the morning, and I'm already dreading it. It's going to be a long day.

Saturday, September 12

Way too early AM

Picture of me.

I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing, and instead of hitting ignore and going back to sleep like I want to, I answer it. It's Andrew Davis, my P.I.