Page 23 of Living on the Edge

LEXI: Come on up.

RYLEIGH: Be there in five.

She tells me the room number, and I grab my phone and room key before heading to the elevator. We’d been joking yesterday about how boring the bands are and they’re not giving me anything interesting to write about other than their music, and she’d laughed, saying she’d think about it.

Maybe she has an idea for a story?

It seems ludicrous that the bands would come up with their own stories, but that works for me. I’m still not comfortable with the deceit Rich has set up for me, so if I can find a way to placate him without alienating my new friends, it’s win-win.

“Hey.” Lexi opens the door with a smile.

“Hi.” I walk in and see Kirsten sitting on a chair and she smiles.

“Hey, Ryleigh.”

“What’s up?” I ask, looking around. “Am I in trouble?”

“God, no.” Lexi waves a hand. “But I was thinking about what you said yesterday, how you don’t have anything interesting to write about.”

“Uh oh.” I chuckle as I sink into the chair next to Kirsten’s, while Lexi sits cross-legged on the bed.

“Well, as you know, I’m pregnant.” Lexi motions to her non-existent baby bump.

“I wouldn’t know if you didn’t tell me,” I point out.

She laughs. “I know. It’s weird, but we’ve done multiple ultrasounds and some extra bloodwork just to be safe and everything is fine. I’m just one of those women who doesn’t pop right away, I guess.”

“Lucky you!” Kirsten says.

“Anyway, because I had cancer, along with chemotherapy and radiation when I was sixteen, there was some damage to my health and the doctors always told me I might not be able to get pregnant, and if I did, the pregnancy would most likely be very high-risk. Now that it’s happening, so far everything is good, but we’ve had to put some insurance policies into play just in case.” She pauses and looks to Kirsten.

“That’s why I’m here,” Kirsten says. “Yes, I’m with Sam, and Ford is my brother-in-law, but I’m supposed to be getting ready for college. Instead, I’m here learning the songs and the set, just in case they need me to step in.”

“Oh.” I hadn’t realized that.

“That’s kind of a story, right?” Lexi asks me.

“Well, yeah.” Rich will probably lose his mind.

“There’s been a lot of speculation about my pregnancy, in general, so instead of us just releasing a statement… what if we did an interview? You can spin it any way you want.”

“You wantmeto do a story about your pregnancy?” I’m surprised and humbled. They don’t really know me but she’s willing to give me a shot.

She nods. “We can talk about my bout with breast cancer, my surprise that I got pregnant naturally, and the fact that Kirsten is here as my back-up. I haven’t told anyone else this stuff, not in any detail, so why not you? You’re already here, and after you called us boring, I figured it was win-win.”

“I didn’t mean it that way,” I said, slightly embarrassed. “I just meant?—”

“No, you’re right. Wearekind of boring in our personal lives. We’re all married, with kids, having kids… we’re really settled. Thank goodness the music is popular or we’d be the worst rockstars ever!”

The three of us laugh.

“I’d love to do a story like that,” I say gratefully. “And my managing editor will probably pee himself when I tell him.”

“Ew.” Kirsten wrinkles her nose. “That’s kind of gross.”

“Rich is pretty gross,” I say. “I know I shouldn’t say that about my boss but he is. I really don’t understand why he and my dad were friends. My dad wasn’t the best husband, and he was a mediocre father, but he wasn’t a jerk. He was always kind and respectful, so it confuses me that he and Rich were so close.”

“They say opposites attract,” Lexi says thoughtfully, “and sometimes I think that applies to friendships too, not just lovers.”

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