by Kailin Gow
Rachel shoots me a suspicious glance.
If she only knew what happened between Drew and I, she would have a fit. To her, I am still off-limits for Drew. Somehow, she doesn’t say anything. Maybe it’s because she’s just witnessed how brutal people can be in attacking me.
We’re so close to the Academy now, I’m almost relieved that we could get away from all that. What had started as a pleasant day, became ugly because of a few bitter women.
“Don’t let them get you down,” says Rachel. “They’re just jealous they don’t have someone like Astor in their lives. He really did look amazing on television.”
“Yes,” I respond.
“Are you going to see him when he gets back into town?”
“We’re still friends, of course.”
“He wants more than that, Summer.”
“I know, but it’s complicated.”
“Oh, holy crapness!” Rachel shouts. “Who would do such a low thing?”
“What?” I turn away from her and look in the direction she’s looking.
The windshield of my car has been shattered, and someone had spray-painted in neon orange paint, the word, “Slutty Bitch” on there.
“Can’t be those women back there. They couldn’t get here that fast to do that.”
“Look there!” Rachel points at the glass doors to the Academy’s entrance.
The same neon orange spray paint had smeared the entire double doors and walls of the entrance. “Slut, Copycat, Stupid Bitches, Wannabe, Glad You’re Dead, Close Down. Whore, Hope You Shut Down, Unoriginal, I Couldn’t Care Less If You Died, Call Yourself an Acting School?” and more obscenities all over.
Rachel takes a good look at this, and let out a deep sigh. “I thought those bitches back at the salon were bad, this is ten times worse.”
I’m speechless. Cyber-attacks are one thing, but now these bullies had come out hoping to physically harm me and my property.
I’m glad Rachel is with me. I wouldn’t know what I would do if she wasn’t. I probably would have freaked out, especially since I am already in such an emotional state.
Rachel has her phone out, taking pictures of the car, of the doors, the walls, and the Academy. “I’m sending this to the police,” she says. “This is not acceptable. We’re not going to take this shit from anyone.”
Shortly after she sent off the photos, she gets a call. It’s Nat.
“Yes, she’s here. She’s fine. Summer’s a tough girl…the bullies won’t get to her.” She hands me the phone.
“Summer?” Nat’s soothing voice asks. “Are you alright?”
“Yes, I am,” I respond. “My car isn’t, though. The windshield’s been shattered by a brick, and the Academy looks like a graffiti artist’s latest project.”
Nat laughs. “Good to see you still have your sense of humor.”
“Trying,” I respond.
“When they insult you like that, insult Aunt Sookie and the Academy,” Nat solemnly says, “Summer, they’re insulting everyone and everything Aunt Sookie, you, and the Academy stands for, including us. Aunt Sookie helped so many kids, women, and all kinds of people reach their potential. She provided them a way to achieve their dreams, and she taught all of us what it’s like to really live. We are all better off because we knew her. And the attacks against you? It’s not acceptable. I’ll use everything I have, including Donovan Dynamics’ resources to find out who did this, and we’ll make sure they don’t do this again or there will be heavy consequences for them. You’re not going to be a victim to them, Summer. Aunt Sookie wouldn’t want you to.”
“Thanks,” I say. It seems that’s the only word I could say at the moment.
“I’ll be flying in tomorrow after I get a few things around here taken care of, but I’ll be there. Don’t worry, Summer. I’ve never said this to you before, but, I think you’re one of the most amazing people I know. And you know this already, but I’m crazy about you. Everything about you. You have a lot of people who love you, so don’t let the haters get you down. Anyone who is worth their salt, who is doing something important with their lives, who is making waves, will have them. Otherwise, haters aren’t even worth the time they put into hating.”
“True,” Rachel says, jumping in.
“Hey,” I say, “I thought this was a private call between Nat and I.”
“Oh, sorry,” Rachel responds, “I wanted to talk to Nat. Tell him what the police said. They just called me after I submitted the photos.”
“What did they say?” I ask, moving out of my catatonic state.
“They’re coming here to investigate, get fingerprints, photos, and other things…you know police things.”
“Match it with any past vandalism in the neighborhood, at the Academy, and stuff like that?” I ask.
“Yes, you’re recovering already, Summer!” Rachel asserts.
“I was shocked at first, saddened by the meanness of it, at how low a human being could get to say those things about anyone, but now I’m mad, and I want justice,” I say.
“So are we,” Nat responds. “Like I said, an attack on Summer, an attack on Aunt Sookie or the Academy is an attack on all of us.”
Chapter 11
Nat
I’m in the office at Donovan Dynamics, talking to the team Dad assigned to work on tracking the source of all the cyber attacks on Summer and the Academy. Despite everything Dad’s done to break up the family with his affair and then the divorce, I couldn’t help feeling proud at this moment, to be associated with Dad, to be the son of the man who built this billion dollar company from scratch. Every executive here seems to have some reverence towards him, some form of respect.
The more I learn about this company, the more I see how what they’re doing is helping someone I care about…Summer, the more I begin to see how much work and genius go into making Donovan Dynamics what it is today.
It’s easy to dismiss something like this, or a company like that. There’s no personality, no face, no people you see associated with it. But when you look below the surface, it’s all there. The company is built by people. It’s the personality of the founders, and definitely the vision of theirs that is being carried out every day.
“We’ve got traces that go all the way to Sri Lanka, some to the Philippines, others to Germany,” Timothy Childs says. He’s one of the executives working on this project.
“A large concentration seems to be coming from Florida,” Peter Lee says. “Many of the comments, the blogs, and even the tweets originate from there.”
“What’s in Florida?” I ask.
“We found a blogger who is a major fan of Astor Fairway’s from there. She’s kind of a celebrity stalker. You wouldn’t know it if you look at her. Here’s a picture of her from her blog. A double bagger if there is one. Everything’s Peachy Reviews. Blogs about movies, movie stars, books, authors, music, musicians, gossip, and people she hates. She has a hate list and also a witch hunt list. She claims to be religious, but from her behavior, her hate list, and what she’s pushing, it seems the opposite. I mean I’m religious, and if I saw her stuff, I’d say she doesn’t live by her beliefs. She claims to be unbiased, but she reviews tons of her so-called friends’ or what she perceives as her celebrity friend’s books or music, and gives them glowing reviews, while she puts down their competitor’s books or music. A real peach that one.”
“Well, thank you Peter, for your honest opinion,” Timothy says. “You think this falls into the group that has been targeting Summer and the Academy?”
“One group. Astor Fairway’s super fans. It’s funny how that works. They love him, but at the same time, they’re jealous of anyone who he gets romantic with, to the point of dangerous obsession.”
“What if they break up?” I ask. “How would the fans react to that, if Astor breaks up with a girl?”
“They will say they saw it coming or something like that or they will hate on her big time,” Peter says. “I mean ‘hey girlfriend – that ho
e is a gettin’ what she deserves’ kind of hating.”
“Summer’s getting that a lot, if you see anywhere there’s a photo of hers on the internet,” I say. “Just by dating Astor Fairway, suddenly Summer’s the easy target for these women.”
“Plus she’s pretty, which makes her easy to hate on, too,” Timothy says. “My daughter went through bullying at her school. Not quite like this, but she was bullied right after she won a local pageant. She’s the sweetest kid in the world, and did nothing to deserve any of that. They just need someone they can blame for their miserable lives.”
Another reason why I didn’t want her to see Astor in the beginning of their relationship. I did try to warn her away, but she just thought I was jealous, which I admit I was. Still am. “Sorry to hear your daughter was bullied, too, Timothy. If we can use our resources here to help her, I’ll make sure my father agrees to it. Now getting back to this case…we’ve figured out one group. What are the other groups? Do you think that Everything’s Peachy woman…what’s her name?”
“April Marie Hayes,” Peter says. “She and a group of her followers have targeted Summer for some reason. She even has people posts lies and things about Summer and even Aunt Sookie, on forums and on Twitter. She’s working with an agent of a rival who has been publicly harassing Summer and the Academy. Turns out she’s been harassing Aunt Sookie for a while, too, hunting for any information on her that she can twist to look negative. Like a time when Aunt Sookie hired an ad agency to come up with a commercial for the school. The agent called Aunt Sookie a fake, someone who required branding because she hired an agency to do what agencies do for people – advertise and market. Twisting everything on her into a lie, spinning it and even calling Aunt Sookie a con artist for using an agency to create a positive image of herself and the school, thus misleading young people. All her claims are ludicrous of course. Almost everyone in the public eye has an agency or a pr person behind them. It’s even expected. But for some reason, it’s because they’re targeting Aunt Sookie and Summer. I wonder why.”
“Can you say ‘obsessed’?” Mandy Leigh, from public relations, says. “Who has that much time on their hands to spend so much time obsessing over someone to hate?”
“Sounds like someone who don’t have a life and lives vicariously through other people because they don’t, that’s who?” Peter says. “Back in the medieval days, this April Marie would have lived in an old hut in the woods, spending all day coming up with potions to turn princes into frogs. Probably talks to herself saying, “I be seeing some ho wanting to kiss ya frog, but ya now uglier than dirt, no one’s wanting to kiss you.’”
“Okay, thank you for that, Peter,” Timothy says. “I think we have a good profile of who these people are. You’d think they know better, being how old are they?”
“Old enough,” Peter says. “Heck, I think she’s a stay-at-home mommy, not that that’s bad, there’s plenty of stay-at-home moms who are ultra-cool (my wife for instance) and don’t hate on others, so at least she should know not to teach her kids to hate, because what if any one of them get hated on from bullies at school? How would that feel?”
“Do unto others as you would have done to you,” Mandy says. “Everything’s Peachy…you are going to get what you’ve always wanted…your fifteen minutes, but not in a good way.”
“What do you have in mind?” Timothy, Peter, and I turn to look at her.
“She wants to profit out of the misery of others, make victims out of people she’s jealous of or wants out of the way for her friends to move up, then how about she gets a taste of her own poison?”
“We’re not into that kind of tactics, Mandy,” Timothy says, “but I’m liking it. She thinks it’s alright to pick on Summer because she is an easy victim right now, since she’s going through a recent death in the family, she’s pretty, and she’s dating one of the hottest young stars in Hollywood, then she’s picked on the wrong person. Bullies are cowards, picking on people when they’re weak instead of helping them. Now with the internet, they can hide through anonymity and build a mob up just because they’re so-called social media friends of someone. I usually don’t get personally involved in these things, but when social media is used to hurt someone innocent like this, someone who is trying to do so much good in this world like Aunt Sookie was, then this is one case where I want to see this cyber bully hanged.”
I cough. “I personally feel the same way, Timothy. Believe me, I also want to see the cyber bully who started this mob lynching hanged. Now guys, we’ve figured out some leads, but that leaves the others who have been vandalizing the school, her car, and the ones who send her threatening emails, one disguised as a blogger under a fake name, and other stuff we’ve found.”
Peter brings out a binder. “It’s all in here. Records, Imprints, everything. Plus, since we have connections to the police department and we’re one company who is contracted with the government, too, we can probably get their help on more information.”
I break out into a spontaneous smile then. “I think we’re on our way towards helping one girl regain her sense of self and confidence again, everyone. Knowing Summer and knowing how her positive outlook on life helped pulled me and my siblings out of some dark times, you’re not only helping one girl, but you’re helping everyone who she helped. Good job. Excellent progress, team. Thank you.”
“No need to thank us,” Timothy says. “Your dad gave us jobs when he doesn’t have to, and we’re happy to be working on something like this. Grateful for jobs, especially when so many people don’t have them,” he says.
Peter smiles, “Besides, if you can’t tell already…we dislike bullies and haters with a passion.”
“Amen,” Mandy says. “My slightly overweight diabetic teen nephew was bullied, locked in his high school bathroom stall, with a crowbar outside his door, for hours, and by the time they found him, he was sick and in shock from not having eaten, and they had to rush him to the hospital. I could have sworn if I’d seen one of those bullies who did that to him that day, I’d put a shotgun to their heads, I was so mad,” Mandy says. “And I’m not a violent person, but they have to know something like that is not funny and can be deadly.”
“My fifteen year old daughter Kate, recently was cyber-bullied for going to one of the school dances with some popular boy whom some girl in her high school clique liked. Kate found her photos all over the internet, that had been altered to make it look raunchy, and this girl spread gossip all over the school about Kate, saying how she cheats, how she sleeps around, and how she must have copy other people’s term papers to get an “A” on her own paper. As though Kate isn’t smart enough to get an “A” on a term paper when she’s has a 4.0 grade point average. I swear, the more the bullies and the haters talk, the more stupid and illogical they sound,” Timothy says. “Anyways, I digress. Nat, we should have some things ready for you in a few days.”
“You work that fast?” I ask.
“If you’ve got connections and this is your specialty, we do,” Timothy says. “Now go finish what you have to finish, and fly back out to Malibu to be with this girl. She’ll need her friends around her, giving her support right now, and looks to me, you’re a good friend of hers.”
I think of Summer, and my body warms up, especially around my stomach where I feel some fluttering. “Very good friends,” I say.
“I bet,” Timothy pats me on the shoulders. “Go out and enjoy your Winter Break. I swear, Philip works you hard, doesn’t he? But that’s just because he has such faith in you and your potential, Nat. Proud of you, always talking about his kids.”
Really? I’m a little surprised at hearing that, but I don’t want to pursue that right now, not especially since I’m in front of the rest of Dad’s employees.
“Thanks,” I say. “Happy Holidays, and I’ll see you when I get back.”
I head out the door, feeling much better than I’ve felt in months. I haven’t realized it before, but it seems that I have been in a slu
mp. I have been just existing. Now, without her even knowing, Summer has given me a focus in life, once again. God, I love her.
Chapter 12
Summer
After the police takes my car as evidence, and we’re driven home, Rachel and I collapse into the large sofa in the living room. Suddenly everything I’ve experienced, the stress and the emotions culminate to the point where I’m physically worn down.
“I’m ordering pizza,” Rachel says, going to the kitchen to look at some of the magnets on the refrigerator. “Ah, here’s a pizza place,” she says, picking one out.
While she’s ordering pizza, I get a call. I’m so tired, but I manage to pick up, thinking it’s the police following up. It isn’t. It’s someone who I haven’t expected to get a call. Astor.
“Summer?” Astor’s voice is soft, gentle, but urgent at the same time. “It’s me, Astor.”
“Hi,” I say.
“Summer, I heard about what happened to you and the Academy.”
“How?” I ask. “I mean you must be so busy wrapping up for the break that you won’t have time…”
“It’s important enough for me to know,” Astor says. “Summer, I’m so sorry if whatever I did brought this onto you.”
“It’s not your fault,” I say. “It’s just all that stuff you have to deal with, and if I’m with you, that comes with the territory.”
“I know,” Astor says, and there’s pain in his voice. Pain and longing. “Summer. I wish this isn’t happening, especially to you. I’d die if anything bad ever happens to you because of me. I mean it. You mean so much to me. You have no idea how much it hurt when you said it was over between us, on your birthday. I’m sorry I mentioned you on television. I wasn’t even thinking. It just came out because that’s all I’ve been thinking of. You. And wanting to be with you.” There’s silence for a while and I can hear Astor breathing hard.