I size him up. “Did you know who my dad was when you took me on? Before it came out atschool?”
He grins. “I did my homework. Can’t fault me forthat.”
Some of the joy I felt about making it to LA on my own merit falls away, but I refuse to let it vanishentirely.
Beck’s right. I’ll always be Jax Jamieson’s kid, and I need to make peace withthat.
Even if my dad and I can’t find a way to make peace with eachother.
Pen joins me, and I nod to Finn. “I’ll see you tomorrow for the finalshow.”
I grab my friend, and we take off back to ourhotel.
“I’m glad you came with me this weekend. It means a lot,” Isay.
“Of course! I can afford to make a DIY long weekend by blowing off a single day ofclasses.”
November in LA is balmy as hell. I stick my hands in the pockets of my jean shorts as we pass palmtrees.
“I’ve been wondering if I made the right call in going to Vanier instead of Columbia. The highs and the lows are a kind of extreme I’ve never experienced, not even when I learned Jax was my dad or when Carly torturedme.”
“Well, if you ever decided to transfer to Columbia, obviously I’d be supportive,” Pen says. “We’d have a fabulous apartment with a wine fridge, and I’d be the best sommelier-slash-roommateever.”
My chest expands. “I’ll miss you when you go back tomorrow. And I’m taking you to the airport whether you like it ornot.”
“You’ll spend the whole day in traffic,” she warns. “You should just fly back withme.”
I kick a stone on the pavement with my boot, thinking about everything that’s gonedown.
“Nah, I’ll stay and do the final show tomorrow night. But I do want to see Elle and Beck. Hell, maybe evenRae.”
“AndTyler.”
“DefinitelyTyler.”
His handsome face appears in my mind. I wish I had him to talk to. I know what I’dsay.
I missyou.
I shouldn’t have blamedyou.
I’m sorry I fucked up your chance in thisindustry.
Back in the hotel, Pen’s sprawled across the other double bed when my phone buzzes on mynightstand.
Elle: You need to seethis.
It’s a link for Beck’s vlog. Something’s glitchy though, because the number of followers is off by a fewzeroes.
I reload the page, but it shows the same thing. It’s not only the follower count that’s off—it’s theviews.
The top video is one called “Unhinged.” Most of Beck’s videos are ten or fifteen minutes, but this one’s nearly an hourlong.
I hitPlay.
It’s Tyler sitting on his bed with his guitar. My heart sticks in my throat. A few seconds in, I hear Tyler’s voice, humming over thechords.
He’s riveting. From the comments, a lot of people think so—hundreds of thousands of likes, more than one millionviews.