I had moved on from my feelings for Shaq. Even though I thought he and I had both made our choices, I was obviously wrong. And now I was even more confused. One thing I could be sure of, however, was that I wasn’t being fair on Riley.
‘I’m so sorry,’ I cried. ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I …’ I pulled on my clothes from the day before and grabbed my bag.
‘Stop, Jess!’ Riley cried as he realized I was leaving. ‘Can we at least talk about it?’
‘I’m sorry,’ I said again, and bolted towards the door. I ran through the hotel suite, causing a stir as the other boys and Tegan watched my dramatic flight.
‘Jess?’ Tegan shouted, but I ignored her, heading straight for the door. I just wanted to get to Dad’s house, to get away from here.
I made it out to the lift, desperately pressing the buttonover and over again as tears fell from my eyes. As the doors opened, I heard Shaq running down the hall. He caught me by the wrist. ‘Jess, tell me what’s wrong. Is it Riley? Did he hurt you?’ His body was shivering with anger at the possibility.
‘No, he didn’t hurt me.’ The lift door opened and I jumped in, pressing down on the lobby button. ‘You were right. I hurt him.’
‘Jess!’ was the last word I heard as the lift doors shut.
21
Gossip
Tegan sat on the edge of my bed. ‘Come on, Jess. You’ve been hiding out and moping in here for ages now. I’m worried about you and so are the boys, you know. I think they’ve been texting. Don’t you even want to check your phone?’
‘I don’t want to talk about it just yet,’ I mumbled. ‘I’m not sure I even understand my own feelings.’
‘Is it Riley?’ Tegan asked. She looked at me seriously. ‘Or someone else?’
I knew that she probably knew what was going on in my head, but I wasn’t quite ready to admit it myself, so I grumpily rolled over and waited for her to leave the room before going back to sleep. For the time being, sleep was much easier than being left to contemplate my own thoughts.
It was the noise of hushed voices outside my door that finally pulled me from my dream-filled sleep. When it didn’t stop, I threw my covers off and sat up, swinging mylegs over the side of the bed. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair, disgusted at how greasy and horrible it was. The mumbling outside my door still continued, but I chose to ignore it, not caring who or why they were there. I grabbed some clean clothes, a pair of sweats and a tank top, and made my way into the shower. After I had tried to wash away the previous day’s events, I put my trackie bottoms on and tied my wet hair into a messy bun. I made my way back into my room and stood in the middle, not having a clue what to do. Tegan had left my phone on my bed. The battery was dead. I plugged it in and placed it on the side. I didn’t know what time or even what day it was, but frankly I didn’t care. Looking out of the window, I would say it was around noon. I sighed and decided to go on my laptop. Maybe it would take my mind off, well,
everything
.
While I was waiting for the laptop to load, my phone lit up and I leaned over to see Riley’s name appear on the screen over and over again. I resolutely ignored it, launching the internet, but before I even realized what I was doing I saw that I had typed ‘The Only Truth’ into the search engine. I tried to pull my eyes away, but it was too late as hundreds of thousands of results came up.
I clicked on a fan website and scrolled over to ‘news’. Thousands of results popped up on my screen. One of them was:
The Only Truth’s Callum Wickson wants a puppy to join the band.
I laughed to myself. I really wouldn’t be surprised if thatwas true. I would have to ask him about that one next time I saw him, if there was to be a next time. My heart sank as I realized there might not be. I carried on scrolling down the page till I came to a few words that made my heart stop. My eyes widened as I read
‘I’m so sorry,’ I cried. ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I …’ I pulled on my clothes from the day before and grabbed my bag.
‘Stop, Jess!’ Riley cried as he realized I was leaving. ‘Can we at least talk about it?’
‘I’m sorry,’ I said again, and bolted towards the door. I ran through the hotel suite, causing a stir as the other boys and Tegan watched my dramatic flight.
‘Jess?’ Tegan shouted, but I ignored her, heading straight for the door. I just wanted to get to Dad’s house, to get away from here.
I made it out to the lift, desperately pressing the buttonover and over again as tears fell from my eyes. As the doors opened, I heard Shaq running down the hall. He caught me by the wrist. ‘Jess, tell me what’s wrong. Is it Riley? Did he hurt you?’ His body was shivering with anger at the possibility.
‘No, he didn’t hurt me.’ The lift door opened and I jumped in, pressing down on the lobby button. ‘You were right. I hurt him.’
‘Jess!’ was the last word I heard as the lift doors shut.
21
Gossip
Tegan sat on the edge of my bed. ‘Come on, Jess. You’ve been hiding out and moping in here for ages now. I’m worried about you and so are the boys, you know. I think they’ve been texting. Don’t you even want to check your phone?’
‘I don’t want to talk about it just yet,’ I mumbled. ‘I’m not sure I even understand my own feelings.’
‘Is it Riley?’ Tegan asked. She looked at me seriously. ‘Or someone else?’
I knew that she probably knew what was going on in my head, but I wasn’t quite ready to admit it myself, so I grumpily rolled over and waited for her to leave the room before going back to sleep. For the time being, sleep was much easier than being left to contemplate my own thoughts.
It was the noise of hushed voices outside my door that finally pulled me from my dream-filled sleep. When it didn’t stop, I threw my covers off and sat up, swinging mylegs over the side of the bed. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair, disgusted at how greasy and horrible it was. The mumbling outside my door still continued, but I chose to ignore it, not caring who or why they were there. I grabbed some clean clothes, a pair of sweats and a tank top, and made my way into the shower. After I had tried to wash away the previous day’s events, I put my trackie bottoms on and tied my wet hair into a messy bun. I made my way back into my room and stood in the middle, not having a clue what to do. Tegan had left my phone on my bed. The battery was dead. I plugged it in and placed it on the side. I didn’t know what time or even what day it was, but frankly I didn’t care. Looking out of the window, I would say it was around noon. I sighed and decided to go on my laptop. Maybe it would take my mind off, well,
everything
.
While I was waiting for the laptop to load, my phone lit up and I leaned over to see Riley’s name appear on the screen over and over again. I resolutely ignored it, launching the internet, but before I even realized what I was doing I saw that I had typed ‘The Only Truth’ into the search engine. I tried to pull my eyes away, but it was too late as hundreds of thousands of results came up.
I clicked on a fan website and scrolled over to ‘news’. Thousands of results popped up on my screen. One of them was:
The Only Truth’s Callum Wickson wants a puppy to join the band.
I laughed to myself. I really wouldn’t be surprised if thatwas true. I would have to ask him about that one next time I saw him, if there was to be a next time. My heart sank as I realized there might not be. I carried on scrolling down the page till I came to a few words that made my heart stop. My eyes widened as I read
Similar Books
