by Wendy Knight
"What's going on, Harli?" JoAnn asked, and again Harli felt like she could see her very soul. "What'd she do to you?"
Harli almost choked. Was she that easy to read? After all this time, the secrets and the hiding and the lies… and this one woman could see through it all in a few days?
"Nothing. She didn't do anything. But I am starving. It's been—" She checked her watch. "—an hour… since we ate…" she finished lamely.
"Harli, we aren't going anywhere until you tell me the truth." JoAnn raised herself to her full height, which was several inches more than Harli's 5'8", and crossed her arms over her chest.
Harli caved. "She doesn't like me very much," she said, hanging her head. "I ruined everything."
JoAnn snorted, and Harli's head jerked up so fast she felt her neck pop. Absently, she reached up to rub it.
"She didn't have anything to ruin. She was sleeping around with anyone she thought could get her into the industry. She was a mess long before you showed up, Harli."
Again, the earth shifted, and Harli would have stumbled if not for Angela's quiet strength, seeming to hold her up. "I don't understand."
"She wouldn't work for it. She wouldn't work for anything. You can only go so far when you're sleeping your way there." JoAnn shook her head, eyes flashing. "She tried the same line on me. Did you know that? All these years, I thought I'd done something wrong. Well, listen to me, Harli. We did nothing wrong except let her manipulate us. You didn't know better, but I did. And we're done with that, as of now. You will stay far, far away from her, and you will audition for Julliard. Do you understand me? I'm not going to let you waste your talent like she did hers, Harli."
Harli blinked, felt Angela's icy touch against her cheek, and tried to make the world stop spinning. "I don't—I don't—I can't—"
"Harli." JoAnn stopped and faced her, her steely gaze unwavering. "You can. Let her go."
Harli swallowed. "I can?"
"You can."
She felt chains fall from her soul. She felt the weight of eighteen years of pain slide off her shoulders, and light shattered the darkness. "I can. I will!" She screamed, crazy, maniacal, ear-shattering. She screamed and she spun in a circle and felt the world shift once more, but this time — this time the world shifted into place.
JOANN TOOK HER TO the airport herself. Harli had already missed one day of school, and as much as she didn't want to leave, it caused massive anxiety to miss class any more than she already had.
"You're sure you've got a place to stay? Away from Selicia?" JoAnn asked for the third time.
"Yes." Harli smiled, patting her hand. "I'll be okay, I promise."
"And you'll call every week?"
"Yes." Harli's smile grew. So this was what having someone care felt like?
It was nice.
Especially since she still hadn't heard from Levi.
"And you promise you'll set up an appointment with Julliard?"
Harli nodded obediently, beaming.
"Okay. One last hug before you go."
Harli threw her arms around JoAnn, holding on tight. "Are you sure you can make it out of here without getting mobbed?" she asked quietly, so no one could hear.
"We'll survive."
As it was, they'd come in through the service entrance. Being a celebrity had its perks. And its… non-perks.
They called for the final board, and Harli grabbed her bag and waved. "I'll call you when I get home." And then she dropped her bag, went in for one last hug, and ran for the gate.
"I love you!" JoAnn called after her.
Harli couldn't remember the last time she'd heard that from someone who wasn't Kim or Levi. She whirled around. "I love you, too!"
Chapter Twenty-Three
LEVI THREW HIS PHONE ACROSS THE bus, and this time, it shattered.
Finally.
"What the hell?" Colin asked, looking up from his video game.
"She said she'd unblock me." Levi growled, kicking at his shattered phone. "She lied."
"Maybe she just forgot. She's sorta spending quality time with her long-lost grandma, Levi."
"No." Levi dropped to one knee as they went around a corner, scooping up what was left of his phone. "She should have gotten home yesterday. I'm still blocked."
"She did go home, though, right? Did you ask your spy?"
"Keven? How would he know?"
"Not Keven, idiot. Jace."
Jace.
No, Levi hadn't asked Jace. He hadn't quite figured out how to do that. Hey, so the girl you're in love with that you're helping me get back decided she still loved me, and now I can't find her so could you track her down?
Yeah. Not awkward at all.
Even though he'd done it a thousand times already.
He also had Elizabeth's number, but after the way he'd left, he was too damn embarrassed to go crawling to her for help, either.
Although desperate times…
He looked down at his hands. Shattered phone. "Son of a bitch."
Sighing, Colin dug his phone out of his pocket and handed it over without looking up from his game. "I have Jace's number."
"Have you heard from Harli? Did she get home okay?"
Seconds later, the phone buzzed. "Tell Levi to go to hell. I'm done helping him.
It took him several long seconds to realize Jace didn't know it was Levi talking to him. He should probably rectify that. "This is Levi. And what'd I do now? Or do you just randomly hate me like most of the paparazzi?
"We work out this elaborate plan, you get her back, and then you don't even bother to call her for four days? What the hell, Levi?"
Levi was tempted to throw Colin's phone, too. Except that Colin would kill him. "She didn't unblock me. I can't call her." He refrained from calling Jace every name he so desperately wanted to call him right then.
Because that would probably be counterproductive.
"Hang on. I'm not with her right now."
"Well?" Colin asked, trying to look over and failing, while he fought demons with a whole bunch of online strangers.
"I'm on hold."
"She's an idiot. And she hates herself right now."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"She forgot to unblock you."
"Ugh, Sunshine!" Levi didn't know whether to be seriously pissed off or seriously relieved. He settled for staring at the phone, undecided.
"She said it's going straight to voicemail. If this is another game, Levi…"
"It's not. My phone… broke. I'll get a new one when we hit the next town. Tell her to call me on Colin's phone."
The phone rang. Levi jumped, instinctively throwing it at Colin. Colin caught it, paused the game, and answered in one fluid motion. "Hey."
And then he tossed it back. "It's Jace."
"Hi," Levi said cautiously, wondering what, exactly, would warrant a phone call. "So we have a problem."
Levi's heart sank. "What's that?" She hates you. She's not unblocking you. She's running away again.
"She's been asked to Prom five times. It's this weekend and she hasn't answered anyone yet because, I suspect, she is still waiting for you to remember your promise to come home for it."
Levi stumbled back, landing on the couch. "Shit."
"Yeah. And since you're technically not her boyfriend, she's not gonna say no. Because she says it's impolite."
Levi ran his hand through his hair, shaking his head at nothing.
"I could ask her. If she went with me, it would keep her away from everyone else."
Levi could hear the hope in Jace's voice, no matter how hard he tried not to. And he didn't know what to do about it.
Luckily, Kim did. "I have an idea!" she squealed from the background. "We'll play for Prom! They just have a radio right now. If we play, she won't have to go with anyone else!"
Levi sat up. "That's good! That would work!"
"I don't play in public," Jace muttered.
"Sure you do. You play in public all the time,
dummy," Kim argued. "Levi! I have another idea! Come home for Prom. We'll surprise her!"
And Kim squealed again, nearly shattering Levi's skull.
"I have a concert Friday, in Florida. If I could even find a flight home, I wouldn't make it until late."
"It doesn't even start until seven. We could play until you got there. Aren't you famous? Why don't you have a private jet?"
Levi snorted. "That would be nice, wouldn't it."
"Wait!" Colin had apparently been eavesdropping. "I have a plan. It is a fabulous plan. We come. The whole band. We take over for Harli when we get there, and she can dance with Levi. It'll be so romantic," Colin said in a high-pitched, apparently-supposed-to-be-a-girl voice.
"Wait." Levi stopped them all. "I have an even better plan. Colin, how fast can you learn a new song?"
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU talked Mr. Clarence into letting us play." Harli watched Kim paint her toenails glittery blue.
"Talked him into it? He practically begged. We're so much cooler than a stereo speaker whatever thing he was using." Kim snorted.
Neither of them mentioned how Levi was supposed to be here today, or how Harli hadn't heard from him all week.
Or how Harli's heart was breaking all over again.
But she was good at hiding pain, so they hung out at Kim's and painted their nails and curled their hair and did their makeup and spent the entire day being girls. Harli's dress hung against the closet — a gorgeous dress with a pink bodice and a poofy black skirt that ended mid-thigh. The pink stiletto heels that went with it were still in the box underneath.
"Are you nervous?" Kim sat back and admired her handiwork.
"No. Should I be?" Harli asked.
Kim smiled. "No. Because the Harlequin Lee I know isn't afraid of anything."
"Well, except spiders. And heights. And serial killers." And my mom.
Kim rolled her eyes.
"Are you nervous?" Harli asked curiously. She couldn't remember a time Kim had ever been anything but completely and perfectly confident.
"Well… we're playing in front of our entire school. And I have to sing, which, let's be honest, is terrifying anyway. So yeah, Harli. Little bit nervous."
"But it's just music. You just open your mouth, and it happens."
Kim raised an eyebrow, and Harli realized that practically everyone could do that except her. "It's not like that unless you're a prodigy, silly girl."
Harli sat back, baffled. "I had no idea. I mean, I was nervous when I played with my grandmother, but this is just our school. These are our friends."
"Yeah. Which is more terrifying, if you ask me."
"Wow. The things you learn."
Kim laughed, throwing her dress at her. "Hurry up. We're gonna be late."
Harli shimmied out of her sweats and into her dress and then her shoes, both courtesy of her grandmother two days ago.
The shoes were her favorite part, although the dress was none too shabby. She blew out a breath, turning slowly in front of the mirror. Levi would have loved this.
And there was the pain. So she changed the subject. "Is Jace meeting us—"
The doorbell rang.
Kim squealed and bounced out of the room and down the hall. Harli followed, smiling, but her smile felt broken, a little. She kept waiting for Levi to call. Praying he had some valid excuse for not texting or anything in the six days since she'd seen him.
Since she'd thought everything was going to be okay.
Then he'd gone and shattered her heart.
Again.
She knew he was alive and well because she checked his Forum page. Shattered Assassin had nailed their last two concerts. Everyone loved them. And yeah, she'd forgotten to unblock him, but then she had, and he'd never called. Or answered his phone. Which left her no choice but to believe he'd forgotten her or he was too mad at her to call.
It hurt worse the second time.
Added to that pain was the fact that Levi had arranged his tour schedule all those months ago specifically so he could take her to Prom. And here she was, going without him. She almost wished she hadn't seen him in Georgia at all.
Well, that wasn't true. She tried to wish it. But it didn't happen.
"W.O.W. Jace." Kim breathed just as Harli came around the corner. He looked good, dark hair tousled just right, tie loose around his neck.
He met her eyes and sucked in a breath. "You look good, Harls," he said quietly.
"So do you," Harli said, hoping her smile reached her eyes.
"Kim, you look… there are no words. Gorgeous is as close as I can get." Jace took Kim's hands and spun her. She giggled, her purple satin swirling out like a princess, the butterfly patterned back shimmering and throwing the light.
"Ready?" Jace asked.
"Wait!" Kim's mom cried, rushing into the room, holding her very old camera. "Pictures!"
Harli slid her arm around Kim, and Jace lined up on the other side. Laughing and poking each other and trying to pose, they made it through five pictures before it was time to go.
"Mama, put those on the Forums, 'kay?" Kim asked, hugging her mom tight before they left.
It was something Jace insisted she do. Every time.
"I got your drums and your guitar there already, Harli. The stage is swimming in purple. Kim will fit right in."
Harli bit her lip, playing with a stray curl that had escaped her elaborate updo. Her purple instruments Levi had bought her. Her favorite color.
"Thanks," she winced because she could hear the hurt in her own voice. But Kim and Jace, luckily, didn't.
"I am so nervous. I think I'm gonna throw up," Kim moaned, leaning her head on Harli's shoulder.
Jace glanced over in alarm as he sped down the road toward the school — the only place in town big enough to hold a dance — or any public gathering, really.
"She'll be fine," Harli assured him, and then to Kim, patting her head, "You'll be fine. Once you get started, you'll forget how scared you are."
"I thought you weren't nervous." Kim peered up at her without lifting her head.
"I'm not. That's just what Levi always says."
Jace parked the car. It was early — the dance didn't start for another half-hour, but there were still some couples hanging around, waiting to go in.
They looked as nervous as Kim.
"We're playing tonight," Harli said when they reached the teacher acting as bouncer.
"Right. Come on in." He backed out of the way with a bow. "Looking forward to hearing you play, Harli."
Oh. Well, that did make her just a teensy bit nervous.
Teensy-tiny bit.
They stashed their stuff backstage and checked their instruments. "Please tell me everything will go okay tonight," she heard Kim murmur.
Harli glanced up, ready to answer, but Jace had already slid his arm around Kim's shoulders and pulled her against him. "You'll be amazing, Kim."
"Okay." She nodded, agreeing with herself. "Okay."
They spent about fifteen minutes getting ready, which was actually just a lot of time waiting around and peeking through the curtain. When Principal Clarence went out to welcome everyone, Kim checked one last time. "I think the whole school's out there." Her face was completely white, and her eyes were giant blue saucers in her face.
"Hey." Harli grabbed her shoulders. "Look at me."
Kim stopped her nervous pacing. "Curtain's gonna go up any second, Harli. We don't have time for a pep talk."
"Shush. There's always time for a pep talk. I have your back. Okay? Whatever you do out there, I will follow you. I will catch you. Don't be scared."
Kim blinked and swallowed, a small smile found its way to her lips. "Okay."
The curtain rose, and Harli raced, as fast as she could in six inch heels, to her stool. Kim raised her chin and went to the center of the stage. Jace glanced back at Harli and Harli nodded.
She's okay.
Kim looked over her shoulder. Harli raised her sticks and closed her eye
s.
They'd opted for no introduction, mainly because they didn't have a name, and none of them knew what they would say. So they opened, instead, to drums.
Harli's drums.
Her sticks flew over the toms, lightning fast. She saw it all in her head, felt it all through her body as her foot hit the bass.
Jace joined her, his notes winding with hers. She opened her eyes, met his, and smiled.
She'd taught him well.
Kim didn't hesitate. For all her nerves and fears, she launched into the song like a siren, her voice pulling the entire crowd to the music. Kim glanced over her shoulder when she paused for a breath, blue eyes glowing.
Harli flipped her sticks into the air and winked.
Chapter Twenty-four
LEVI ADJUSTED HIS CUMMERBUND FOR THE thirtieth time. "You look fine. Will you knock it the hell off? We're famous, Levi," Graham grumbled. "This is a stupid high school dance."
"Says the guy who didn't go to any of his," Colin snapped back.
"Who said I wanted to? I had better things to do with my time. Like girls."
"Enough." Dorian cut between them. "Levi, your girl is up there rocking the stage. We aren't late."
Levi inched toward the open doors, trying to see inside. Mr. Clarence, of course, blocked his way. "Mr. Vasi. Can I help you?" He crossed his arms over his chest and glowered, smug. Levi remembered when he had gone here, Clarence had seemed so big. Now, Levi stared down at him, at least two inches taller and solid muscle, whereas Clarence…
Was not.
"We're here to play backup."
"You're the backup band Jace said was coming?"
Levi nodded. Colin and Dorian stepped up next to him.
"Fine. You cause any trouble, Vasi, and I'm calling the cops." Clarence shoved the doors open and jerked out of the way. Levi could practically see the steam coming out his ears. Maybe if it hadn't been so dark.
"Let's go. I want to watch her before they take their break." Levi led them inside, sticking to the corners where it was darkest. Couldn't be recognized. It would ruin everything. Not calling her to tell her he couldn't stop thinking of her had been torture. It had taken everything he had to stay away from her for this long.