Page 94 of Selling Out
“Move over.”
I frown and squint at the person talking to me. The sun is right behind her, and I shift my head until hers blocks the light.
Tori smiles and takes a seat beside me.
“How…?”
“You’re still sharing your location with me from when you picked us up at the airport,” she explains.
“So, you use it to stalk me?” I love my sister, but I’m not really in the mood for her—or anyone—right now.
She shrugs. “Should’ve thought about that when you ignored my calls.”
“I’m ignoring everyone’s calls,” I say as I go into our text conversation and untapshare my location.
“Why, though? Paul said you left upset.”
I slip my phone into my pocket again and clasp my hands in front of me.
“Come on.” Tori nudges me with her elbow. “Better to talk it out than keep giving the stink eye to innocent strangers.”
“I’m not giving the stink eye to?—”
“You are.” She flips to her photos and shows me a grainy, zoomed in shot of my face. I’m staring ahead, brows bunched together, nostrils flared. I look like I’m about to pounce on somebody. “See?”
I relax my expression and let out a sigh before recounting to Tori what’s been happening with Fusion recently—and this morning specifically.
“I’m so tired of them screwing me over,” I say. “I’m sick of dancing to their stupid, crappy tunes.”
“So stop.”
“I can’t. I’m still in a contract with them.” A crazy contract that takes total advantage of me. Little did I realize when I signed it just how badly those seemingly harmless words would come back to haunt me. At the time, I was just happy to have an offer, to have someone put their weight behind me.
Now, it feels like they’re pile-driving me with that weight.
“What happens if you cancel?”
“I owe them a crazy amount of money I can’t afford to pay.”
“Yikes. Can you just bootstrap it until the contract’s over, then?”
“I’vebeenbootstrapping it. Almost since I started with them. And I think the straps are about to snap.” I blow out a long breath through rounded lips and let my head fall back. “How did I get here?”
She lifts her shoulders. “Google Maps? That’s what I used.”
I shoot her an unamused look.
“Oh, you mean, how did you get to this point in your lifewhere you’re singing dumb music while your own stuff gets sold to someone you hate?”
“You think my music is dumb?” I’ve never been brave enough to ask my family their opinions on the stuff I’ve been putting out until now. Probably because I knew it was trash and didn’t want to hear it said out loud by the people who mean most to me.
“I mean, notdumb, maybe,” Tori says. “But the songs aren’t about to win a Nobel Prize. Now that song you and Mia sang together…” She raises her brows at me. “It gave me the chills. Did it feel any different foryou?”
I think back to last night. It feels like a different lifetime. “Honestly? I haven’t felt that way performing for a long time.” I pause. “No. I haven’t felt that way ever. And I don’t know if it’s because it was my own song or because I was singing it with Mia.”
“But now you’re mad at her.”
“I’m not mad at her. She didn’t do anything wrong. The fact that she stood up for me to Noah is a big deal to me. It’s just weird to have her dreams coming true thanks to Fusion while I’m getting sucker-punched by them. After all the money I’ve brought in for them… I want to be happy for her, but I’m worried.”
