Caught Up in the Drama

by ReShonda Tate Billingsley

  I had barely stuck my head in when my mother jumped out of her chair and raced over toward me. “Lexi! Oh, my God. I was so worried.”

  “Alexis!” My father was right behind her. They both squeezed me so hard I thought I would snap in half. “Oh, baby, I am so happy to see you.”

  “Where were you? What happened?” my mother fired at me while she grabbed my chin and examined my face. “Did anyone hurt you? They didn’t tell us anything except that you’d been found. Please tell me you weren’t hurt.”

  “I’m okay,” I said, relishing the closeness.

  “What happened? Where have you been?” my father asked. Surprisingly, he didn’t sound mad, like I’d wasted his precious time. He just sounded relieved.

  Miss Rachel was standing behind us. When I heard her clear her throat, I knew all this happy-go-lucky family stuff was about to come to an end.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Lansing, if we could please have a seat,” she said, pointing at the chairs in front of her desk.

  My mother eased back over to the chair, never letting go of my hand.

  Miss Rachel took a seat as well. “Alexis has asked me to stay here while she talks to you two. She has something she wants to say.”

  Both of my parents immediately turned to me with perplexed expressions.

  I tried to open my mouth and say something, but nothing would come out.

  Finally, Miss Rachel spoke up again. “Alexis, how about I begin?” Her voice took on a gentle tone as she turned to my parents. “Alexis ran away.”

  “What?” both of my parents exclaimed.

  “Ran away?” my father said, confused. “You have the best of everything. Why in the world would you run away?”

  The fact that he’d even had to ask that question was proof of just how out of touch my parents were.

  “Yes, Lexi. Don’t we give you everything? Why in the world would you even think about running away?” my mother said.

  “Are you serious?” I asked, not trying to hide my irritation. That warm and fuzzy feeling I had a minute ago was definitely gone.

  “Alexis, you will not be disrespectful,” Miss Rachel chastised.

  I bit my bottom lip. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be,” I replied. “I just don’t understand how you guys can think I’m happy.”

  “Because you have things most people your age only dream about,” my father said.

  “Do I? Yes, I have a BMW, and the finest clothes, and a credit card. But I would give it all up to get my parents to love me.”

  “That is absurd,” my mother said, shocked. “Of course we love you.”

  “No, you don’t. Not only do you never have time for me, but if you loved me, you’d figure out how to work things out and not get divorced!” I knew I sounded like a baby, and I knew plenty of people whose parents were divorced, but I wasn’t plenty of people. Since my sister had left, my mom and dad were the only family I had. If they broke up, they’d just pawn me back and forth. At least Mari and Marlee had each other. I wouldn’t have anyone.

  My mother’s eyes watered up. I expected her to begin one of her dramatic performances, but instead she just said, “Lexi, darling, I promise you, your father and I divorcing has nothing at all to do with you. It’s us. But it doesn’t diminish our love for you.”

  My father kneeled in front of me. “Alexis, I know we haven’t been perfect parents, but if anything, this divorce has made us even more committed to making sure you get your time.”

  “But Marlee and Mari said their dad ran off and married some woman half his age,” I responded. “She doesn’t like them, so they never even see him anymore. He chose his new life over them.”

  “Those twins that you used to be friends with? Are they the ones that put this crazy idea in your head?” I didn’t answer as my father continued talking. “Alexis, you don’t ever have to worry about that.”

  “Sweetie, the only thing your daddy is married to is his work,” my mother said, not missing a chance to get in a dig at my father.

  He ignored it. “Trust me, Alexis, I have no intention of marrying someone else, and if that ever happens, she would have to understand that me and you, we’re a package deal.”

  The idea of him marrying someone else startled both me and my mom, because she shot him a wild-eyed look. I didn’t want them to start fighting, so I quickly said, “Why can’t you two just stay together?”

  “We don’t love each other anymore,” my father said matter-of-factly.

  “No.” I didn’t want to hear that, even if it was true. “I saw you two before I came in here. You were massaging her shoulder like you used to!”

  “I know that calms her down,” he explained. “I still care about your mother, and I always will.”

  “Lexi, is that why you ran away?” my mother asked. “Because you thought it would bring us back together?”

  I sighed. It sounded so stupid now. But I hadn’t been thinking straight. I’d just wanted to make them stay together.

  “I just thought, you know, worrying about me might bring you two closer together.”

  My mother shook her head in exasperation. “Lexi . . .”

  “Baby, that was not the answer,” my father said.

  “I know.” I stood up, feeling defeated. “Can we go home now?” So much for my plan. It seemed like this divorce was happening no matter what, and I just needed to get used to it.

  34

  Camille

  I had never felt like such an outsider. But with the way I’d been acting lately, I guess you could say I was an outsider. After Alexis went back home with her parents, we pretty much went our separate ways. First, though, I asked Jasmine, Angel and even Tyeesha to forgive me. While Tyeesha and Angel didn’t hesitate, Jasmine had this look like too much damage had been done.

  “Camille, I’m just really through with you,” she said. Then she recited some crazy saying her grandma used to have about “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” I asked my mom what it meant, and she said it basically meant that if you give a person a chance to do you wrong after they’ve already done it once, it’s your fault.

  That hurt my heart. I think I really messed up this time.

  But Tyeesha didn’t think so.

  “What you guys have is special. Don’t give up without a fight,” she told me when she called to invite me to Angelica’s second birthday party.

  I didn’t want to go and get my feelings hurt, but Angel told Miss Rachel it was okay for me to come. She had taken it upon herself to invite me when Angel told her she wanted me there but couldn’t bring herself to call me.

  So here I was, clutching a pink gift bag closer as I debated my next move.

  “Hi, Camille,” Miss Rachel said as she came up behind me.

  “Hi.”

  “Why are you waiting out here?” she asked. I was standing on the porch of Angel’s house, debating whether I should go in.

  I shrugged as I stared at the front door. “They don’t want me here, I know it.”

  “Did they actually say those words?”

  “Not exactly, but I know.”

  She gave me a sympathetic look. “I think your guilt may be playing a role in that. As I seem to recall, Angel said you could come if you want.”

  “Well, regardless, I don’t want to get all embarrassed. I’ve had enough of that to last a lifetime.”

  Before I knew it, tears were trickling down my cheeks. I dabbed at my eyes, trying to get myself together.

  “Camille, nobody is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. The key is to learn from those mistakes.” Miss Rachel’s voice was soft and gentle, but it still didn’t ease the pain I was feeling.

  “Why would they even want to be my friends anymore?” I asked. That’s what I’d been wrestling with all night. “I said some horrible things.”

  “Because they love you,” she replied. “And love means sometimes forgiving.”

  “Even if they forgave you once before?” I said, thinking about all
the drama that had gone down with the teen talk show. I’d been a jerk then, but I had been an even bigger jerk now.

  “Yes. Sometimes even again.”

  “So, do you think they’ll forgive me?”

  “I think they’ve already forgiven you.”

  “Even Jasmine?”

  Miss Rachel laughed. “Jasmine might take a little work. But, Camille, you can’t keep doing your friends wrong and expect them to always be there when you’re ready to make it right. Growing up means learning from our mistakes, not repeating them.”

  I sniffed. “I know. I just got caught up. But I realized, all the fame in the world doesn’t mean anything if you don’t have people who really love you and care about you there to share it with you.”

  “I couldn’t have said it better myself.” She took my hand. “Come on. Let’s go see the birthday girl. And your friends.”

  Miss Rachel knocked on Angel’s front door. I wanted to turn and run, but I knew I couldn’t let my pride get the best of me.

  “Knock, knock,” Miss Rachel said, easing the front door open when no one answered.

  The laughter that filled the room faded when I walked in. Actually, only Alexis, Angel, Tyeesha and Jasmine stopped laughing, but it felt like the whole room got quiet. In all, about twenty people had been invited, including some people I assumed were Angel’s relatives. Angelica was sitting at the head of a small table. She was dressed in the prettiest pink party dress and was surrounded by eight other little kids.

  “Aunt-ie ’Mille!” Angelica yelled. She jumped down from the table and came racing over toward me.

  I picked her up and kissed her forehead. “I two,” she said, holding up two fingers.

  “I know, pumpkin. Happy birthday.”

  “Mine?” she asked, pointing to the bag hanging on my arm.

  “No, this is my Dora the Explorer bag.”

  She giggled as she squirmed trying to get down. “Mine! Dora!”

  I gave her the bag, and she immediately tore into it, pulling out the Dora doll. I noticed Angel glancing sideways at Jasmine, like she was hoping Jasmine didn’t ruin her daughter’s birthday.

  Angelica didn’t notice as she raced off to show her friends the doll. I spoke to Angel’s mom and a few other people before walking over to Alexis, Angel, Jasmine and Tyeesha.

  “Hi, you guys,” I said shyly.

  Tyeesha was the only one to respond. But I was determined. “Alexis, how are your parents?” I asked.

  “Getting a divorce,” she said coldly. I could hear the pain in her voice. She was about to go through an awful time, and I wanted more than anything to be there to help her.

  We stood in awkward silence before I finally said to Angel, “I didn’t know if Angelica had that doll or not.”

  “Umph,” was all Jasmine said.

  “Thanks,” Angel replied. “She didn’t.”

  “You know, girls, I think it would be a good idea if you all went outside and talked,” Miss Rachel said, easing over to us.

  “I’m sure Camille just came to drop off her gift,” Jasmine said. “She has to get back to her real friends.”

  It dawned on me then that they only knew what they’d read in the tabloid. They didn’t know the real story behind my getting fired, or the fact that I didn’t have anything to do with Sisco and his crew anymore.

  Angel finally spoke up. “You guys, let’s go outside and talk, because I’m really tired of this. It takes too much energy for us to stay mad at each other. And I don’t want all of this negativity up at my baby’s birthday party.”

  The forcefulness in her voice made us all do double-takes. Tyeesha seconded her. “I’m with you, Angel. Let’s just go outside with Camille. End this and move on. I finally found some decent friends, and I can’t take all of this bickering. Come on, Camille.”

  I didn’t protest as she took my hand. She reached for Jasmine’s hand, but Jasmine popped a cupcake in her mouth and didn’t move.

  Tyeesha rolled her eyes and shook her head. “We’re going outside whether you like it or not. So stop being stubborn.” She all but pulled both of us toward the door.

  We soon gathered at the back of Angel’s porch, no one saying a word. “Well?” Tyeesha said after no one started the conversation.

  “Well what?” Jasmine asked.

  I decided to finally speak up. They didn’t have to ever forgive me, but I needed to have my say.

  “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry,” I began. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you, Alexis. I’m sorry I acted like a complete jerk, and I’m sorry I got caught up. I let all of this stuff go to my head.”

  “You ain’t never lied,” Jasmine tsked.

  “Would you let me finish? Please?” I said. This was hard enough without all her comments.

  Jasmine smirked but didn’t say anything else.

  “When you guys tried to bring me back to reality, I felt like you were trying to steal my joy. But what I know now is that you all were trying to keep me grounded. I got caught up in the drama. I lost Xavier because of it. But that’s okay—boys come and go. But friends like you guys last a lifetime. And I want to do whatever it takes to get that back.” I felt the tears coming, and this time I didn’t try to stop them from falling.

  Angel looked at me, her expression soft. “Camille, we have been through so much. You know we’re your friends. But you hurt us with your ways.”

  “I know. And if you never forgive me, just know that I’m sorry.” I sniffed.

  She sighed heavily. “We forgive you. Don’t we, Alexis?”

  Alexis was watching me with tears in her eyes as well. I wanted to jump for joy when she nodded.

  “Jasmine?” Angel said, turning to her. “We forgive her, right?”

  Jasmine didn’t respond.

  “Come on, Jas. Don’t be like that,” Angel said.

  “So we forgive her this time, then what? The next time something else comes up, she’ll kick us to the curb again.”

  “No, I won’t. I promise.”

  “Come on, Jasmine. When your brother died, Camille was there for you from the very beginning. And Alexis, Camille has always had your back.” Angel tilted her head toward the house. “Miss Rachel is always talking about forgiveness. It’s time we started listening.”

  I guess the compassionate tone in Angel’s voice touched all of us.

  “Jasmine?” Angel asked again.

  “Okay, fine, whatever,” she said, throwing up her hands.

  It was a start. Jasmine was the toughest of the bunch. I’d have to try a little harder to make things right with her, but I was willing to do whatever it took.

  I was about to say something when Marcus, Angelica’s father, stuck his head out the back door. A tall, handsome, brown-skinned boy stood next to him.

  “Hey, I’m about to go,” Marcus said. “My friend Juan is here to pick me up,” he said, pointing at the boy next to him.

  “Hey, Juan,” Angel said.

  “What’s up, girl?”

  “Are you sure you’re okay with me bailing?” Marcus asked Angel.

  “Naw, you’re good. You’ve been here all day and you did pay for the party.” I know Angel was happy about that. Up until a few months ago, she couldn’t even get Marcus to acknowledge that Angelica was his.

  “Cool, we have tickets to the VIP section of Jay-Z’s party, and you know everybody’s going to be there,” Marcus said.

  “Hey,” Juan said, cocking his head and looking at me. “Aren’t you Camille Simone? That singer from Sisco’s video?”

  Even though I didn’t say anything, Marcus nodded. “Yeah, that’s her.”

  Juan smiled widely. “Dang, girl, you’re tight. You oughta roll with us. I got an extra ticket.” He started bouncing on his toes. “Beyoncé might be there, and my brother works on her security team. I can get you back to meet her. You never know. She might be able to help you with your singing career.”

  Meeting Beyoncé! Oh, that would be so off the chain. T
he thought was enticing, but I glanced over at my friends, who were all looking like they were waiting to see what I would do.

  “You got four extra tickets?” I finally asked. “I mean, five,” I said, noticing Tyeesha. She smiled.

  “Five?” Juan said, drawing back. “These tickets are one hundred and fifty dollars a pop.”

  “Then I think I’m going to pass.”

  “What?” he said, looking at Marcus. “Did you hear me say Beyoncé might be there? And even if she isn’t, you can meet some pretty important people to help with your singing career.”

  “Naw, not really feeling the singing thing.”

  “There’s bank to be made,” he said, shaking his head like I was the craziest person he’d ever met.

  I glanced around at my girls again. The expressions on all of their faces told me they were proud of me. But even more so, I was proud of myself.

  “Maybe so,” I told him. “But what I have here, that’s priceless.”

  “Awwww,” Angel said, coming over to hug me. My other friends joined her as I heard Juan mumble something about me being “crazy for throwing away a singing career over some broads.”

  I didn’t care what he was talking about. As I stood there in a big group hug, I knew friendship was more important than fame. I’d learned that the hard way. And now that I’d been given a second chance, no way was I going to mess it up.

  Reader’s Group Guide

  Caught Up in the Drama

  ReShonda Tate Billingsley

  Description

  Camille enters a talent show to showcase her amazing voice at the urging of her boyfriend, Xavier, which surprises her three best friends. She blows the crowd away, and then gets a surprise herself: not only does she win the contest (and the prize money), but she also snags the lead role in superstar Sisco’s new music video. Fame hits Camille like a tidal wave, and soon she is swept up in the chaos and drama that comes with being a celebrity, drifting further and further from her friends and her boyfriend. One friend in particular, Alexis, really needs her help: her parents’ fighting has escalated and they’re heading toward divorce, but Camille is too caught up with her new friends and extracurriculars to pay attention. At her wit’s end and trying to save her parents’ marriage, Alexis comes up with a plan to unite her parents in a family “tragedy” by running away. When her friends come together again to bring Alexis home, they finally confront Camille about her betrayal of both the group and herself.