Page 44 of You and Me, For Real
He doesn’t get it. “I can’t.” I stumble backward, shaking my head.
Every wire in my brain short-circuits, setting off warning bells. I’ve successfully avoided social media for five years. Kept my life private. Managed to keep the paparazzi from connecting me and my blog toBeing the Blakesor my mom. The risk of losing my sacred anonymity was too great.
“I’m sorry. Can you excuse me? Where’s your bathroom?” I don’t wait for him to respond. I rush inside, my internal panic pushing me to escape.
He hollers from outside. “It’s on your left, first door to the right and through the bedroom.”
Without turning, I wave in acknowledgment, my breaths too short, my body too hot.
I made a mistake coming here. A huge mistake.
13
GRIFFIN
“That went well.” Luke’s wide eyes stare at me from over the lip of his mug.
I huff. “Ya think? Did I say something wrong?”
“Don’t think so. She must really hate social media. Or the girl really doesn’t like you. Ha! Imagine that! A woman who doesn’t swoon and bend to every whim of America’s favorite heartthrob.” He slurps his coffee. “That, and your timing sucked.”
I ignore the jab and swipe a hand across my face. “You’re the one who said she needed something besides a blog if she’s ever going to get attention for her cause! I thought you were with me on this?”
“I was. Until I saw her reaction. Dude, she was more skittish than Roxy when we brought her home. I think you’re going to have to ease her into things.”
“We don’t have to do any of this! I was just trying to help.” I mean, I get it. I don’t love social media either—especially since half of mine is fake. My feed is plastered with couple-y pictures of Scarlet and me. But I’d like to help Ashton, and social media is something I can offer her advice on.
“Maybe you need to get to know her more first,” Luke shrugs.
I set my mug on the outdoor coffee table. “She could just be nervous. You know, camera shy? That’s something I can help with.”
Having been on a stage since the age of eight does gain you a level of confidence not everyone naturally possesses. That, and being properly motivated. When you have the reward of the applause, or in my case, the love and support of both parents—it makes you pretty eager to open yourself up to the public more. At least, it worked for me for a time.
“Maybe catch some clips here and there? Put a little montage together. If we show her what the idea is, maybe she’ll get more comfortable with it.”
“Or she’ll hate it and never talk to you again. Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.”
I growl. “You are not helping.”
He chuckles. “Oh, I think I am.”
I’m about to tell him a thing or two when a light knock comes from the front door, followed by the entry illuminating with light as my front door opens.
“Hey Griffin, it’s me!”
It’s my newest neighbor, Wren, a rising pop star. She texted earlier that she’d stop by to borrow my blender, and I’d told her the door would be unlocked in case we were busy in the back.
Wren moved here from a small town in Kansas. She’s a recent transplant to California and is still learning to navigate life in LA. I’ve made it my mission to help her get acquainted with Hollywood life. I took her under my wing because I never had that myself, even with my father as an agent.
“Hey guys, what are you up to this morning?” Her smile is as wide as Texas as she breezes her way onto the patio. Her fiery red hair matches her vibrant, energetic personality. She’scarrying her perky little Chihuahua under her arm. She takes Churro everywhere with her.
Luke takes a couple of steps back, as though trying to slip into the shadows and disappear. I wouldn’t say my cousin is shy or antisocial—more like a man of few words—and it seems every time Wren makes an appearance, he becomes a man of even fewer.
“Hey, Wren. Actually, I have a bit of news to share?—"
Before I can finish, she bursts in exhilaration, “Oh my gosh, is that a dog? Is that two dogs? Did you get dogs?”
I laugh, enjoying her excitement and shock. She knows I’ve never had a dog, and she always makes fun of me because I didn’t know how to interact with her miniscule dog the first few months after she moved in.
