Skyville Boys

by Mia Belle

  Kara leans forward to press a kiss on my cheek. “Don’t mention it. You’ve helped me, too.”

  I go still for a second. Did…did she just kiss me?

  She collects the rest of the garbage and sits down at the table, just as Peyton walks in with her thick math textbook and notebook.

  Snapping out of it, I sit next to Peyton. It takes us two hours, but we finally get her homework done, and she understands the material, which is a huge bonus. Kara disappears to video chat with her grandmother, who is minutes away from her performance.

  Peyton pokes her finger into my arm. “I like her.”

  “Yeah, she’s cool, isn’t she?”

  She rolls her eyes. “She’s more than cool. Is she your girlfriend?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “It’s not so simple.”

  “Why not?”

  “Peyton, I don’t want to talk about my love life with you.”

  She throws her hands up. “Then with who? Mom? She’s never home. You refuse to speak to Dad. And your friends never come over. I miss them.”

  “You know I don’t like bringing people over.”

  “Then why Kara?” she asks.

  I look to where she’s sitting on the torn sofa, video chatting with her grandmother. “I don’t know.”

  “Well, you should bring Jax and Ezra over,” Peyton says. “They’re your friends. You shouldn’t be embarrassed in front of them. I wish I had a close friend I don’t have to impress or hide my true self.”

  “You can,” I say. “You don’t have to chase the popular girls.”

  She shakes her head. “I’m a girl in middle school. You don’t get it.”

  Kara also told me I should tell the guys. I don’t know why I don’t. I guess pretending I’m normal makes me feel more normal. Makes me be someone else for a bit, someone who has a better life. Which is silly. I should be my true self with my friends.

  Kara returns with a smile. “My grandma is about to go on stage. The whole theater was sold out. I wish I could be there. It’s been so long since I’ve watched her perform.”

  “You preformed with her on Sunday night,” I say.

  “Yeah, but it’s different seeing it from an audience point of view.”

  I play with the edge of the math textbook. “Maybe the next time she has a performance around the area, we could go together.”

  Her eyes slowly meet mine. “Oh. Um…I don’t really want to leave Skyville. I mean, I shouldn’t leave. You know, because…”

  “Right.”

  “We can go someone here in Skyville,” she says. “I don’t mean to a concert. I mean, anywhere.”

  “Yeah? I mean, yeah! That’d be cool.”

  Peyton moves in her seat. I forgot for a second that she’s here. “So you get the math?” I ask.

  “Yep. I hope it stays in my head until the test. By the way, Cart, there’s a parent-teacher conference next week.”

  I shut my eyes for a second. Awesome.

  “You think Mom will be able to make it?” she hesitantly asks.

  “I don’t know, Pey. Honestly, I don’t, but I’ll speak to her. I’ll try to make it happen.”

  “Okay, thanks.” She gathers her things and leaves the kitchen.

  I lean back in my seat and blow out some air. “Sorry about that. By the time I’m done with homework, I’m so wiped I’m barely awake for bedtime.”

  “Your siblings are great,” Kara says. “I miss Kitty.”

  “Is this the first time you’re apart?”

  “No. She’s been in and out of Hollywood since she was three, and it’s always hard. She and I are really close. Best friends.”

  “I’d like to meet her.”

  “She and my parents are visiting this weekend,” I say. “Unless Kitty has another audition. They had to leave early this past weekend because her agent got her a last-minute audition for a movie.”

  “How did she do?”

  “No callback,” I say. “But it’s okay. I don’t think she was suited for the role, anyway. It’s too mature for her.”

  I shake my head with a smile. “I don’t know how you guys do it. I don’t think I’d be brave or strong enough to go from audition to audition. It must hurt every time a door is slammed in your face.”

  “But it’s so satisfying when a door opens. That makes it worth it.”

  “And that you can share your amazing talent with the world.”

  The smile slowly vanishes from her face. “Yeah.”

  Damn. I made her think about the creepy, obsessed stalker. “Hey, wanna see my room?”

  A smile is back on her face. “Sure.”

  I lead her toward the back of the house. Our place isn’t big, just one floor. Kevin is in the room, playing with his action figures, and I ask him to play with Mackenzie. Kara scans the posters on my wall, of famous composers. Old and new.

  “Who’s your favorite?” she asks.

  “It’s got to be Beethoven.”

  “I thought you might say that.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know,” she says with a laugh.

  “Now you can read minds?” I joke as I sit down on the bed and motion for her to sit near me. “You truly are a girl of many talents.”

  She must not be ready for how bouncy my bed is, because her shoulder knocks into mine. “Sorry,” we both say. There’s a tingly sensation where her shoulder hit mine. Does she feel it, too?

  “So…” I say.

  “So.”

  “How do you like my room?”

  “It’s cool. Just…” She looks around. “What do you do for fun? I don’t see any video games or books.”

  “I spend most of my time composing music. I don’t have a piano at home, so I use a program. Not the same thing, but pretty close. Then I practice my creations at the club.”

  “Can I hear one?” she asks.

  I laugh nervously as I run my hand through my hair. “They’re not professional or anything…”

  She playfully slugs my shoulder. “Oh shut up. You don’t have to impress me.”

  I pull two chairs to my school-issued laptop and we sit side by side. “This is the one I’m working on with Ezra. He’s doing the lyrics.”

  I play the song. It’s in musical theater style, and it’s a love story, about two people who want to be together but can’t because of circumstances beyond their control. Kara’s listens intently, her face changing along with the story of the song. “It’s beautiful,” she says.

  “Ezra was really into it a few months ago, but then his grandfather died and…” I shrug. “I guess he’s been in a funk ever since.”

  “Why? I mean, I get that they were close, but I can’t help feeling there’s more to this.”

  “His grandfather was his number one supporter,” I say. “But you should discuss it with him.”

  “You’re right. Can I hear another song?”

  I show her two more, with me just playing piano. Her head bobs along with the beat to a fast tempo, her lips lifting in a smile. “Oh, I love this. You can totally dance to it.”

  “Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.”

  She gets up and does a little twirl, then moves along with the music. I laugh as I watch her lose herself, watch her totally let go. Every part of me itches to join her, but I’m the worst dancer in the world.

  Her movements come to a halt when her eyes land on the picture frame on my end table. “Can I see that?”

  Every part of me urges me to say no. I don’t know why I even have that picture. I should have thrown it out years ago. “Yeah, sure.”

  She takes the photo and drops down on my bed. “Your dad?”

  I join her. “Yeah.”

  “He looks so happy.”

  My fingers trace over the photo. Mom’s pregnant with Kevin. Dad’s got his arms wrapped around me and Peyton while baby Hannah sits on my knees. I’m hanging onto her like my life depends on it. We’ve all got huge smiles on ou
r faces.

  “I don’t know why I’ve kept it all these years.” I put it down on the end table. “It’s a lie.”

  “Maybe you don’t want to let go of the happy memories,” she says. “Maybe you want to remember that once upon a time, your life was a little different. Maybe you want to remind yourself that if you have kids one day, you want to have that.”

  I slowly bring my eyes to her. “Wow. That was…that was very…”

  “Deep. Sorry.”

  “No, no. That’s exactly how I feel. Maybe not the future dad part, but the rest of it is spot-on. You really know how to delve into human emotion.”

  “I guess I need to,” she says. “For my line of work. I always find myself delving just a tad too deep into the emotional part of any situation.” She laughs lightly. “I’m sure it can drive someone insane.”

  “Delve into me.”

  She studies me, her eyes growing softer as they rove over my features. “I see a really good guy, a good brother, a good son, trying hard to take care of his family. A guy who’s super talented but will easily throw it away for them. He struggles between doing what he wants and what they need. His family is everything to him, which makes him want to be the most selfless person on the planet.”

  The room is dead silent, the only sounds coming from Mackenzie and Kevin who, surprise surprise, are fighting in the girls’ room. My hands are flat on my knees, sweat from my palms seeping into my jeans. My chest rises and falls heavily.

  “Sorry for prying,” she says.

  “No, you’re totally spot-on. Again.”

  She slowly reaches out a hand and lowers it on mine. Like by my shoulder, I get that tingly sensation again. “I don’t think you have to sacrifice your dreams to take care of your family. Did you ever consider…?”

  “My dad?” I snort. “He’s not part of my life.”

  “But you want him to be.”

  She’s right. I pretend we’re better off without him, but the truth is that I remember when he was a good dad. When we were happy. Sometimes I wish I was Mackenzie or Kevin and didn’t remember him. It would be easier to pretend he doesn’t exist.

  “There’s no point,” I say. “My mom asks him for money all the time. He always comes up with different excuses. We’re better off without him.”

  Kara nods, but I can tell she has so much to say. I don’t want to be rude, but she has no idea what it’s like. She’s got an awesome dad, from what I can tell.

  I pull my hand out of her grasp. “It’s getting late. I have to help get the kids ready for bed.” I stand.

  She stands up, too, her face masked with guilt. “I’m sorry I dove, Carter.”

  “It’s okay.”

  She follows me out of the room and says goodbye to everyone. At the door, she turns to face me. “Don’t give up on your dream, okay? I’m sure there’s a way to make it work.”

  I force a smile. “Thanks. You’re sweet. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  She squeezes my arm before walking away.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Ezra

  I’m lying in bed, staring at the ceiling as the events of the afternoon roll around in my brain. They haven’t left my mind since I came home from school. Dancing with Kara. Touching her. Gazing into those beautiful sapphire eyes…

  A small smile tugs my lips when I remember how her face lit up when I screwed up the dance. I was embarrassed, but Kara helped me feel a little better about it.

  I haven’t done anything like this before, just lying on my bed and replaying the memories. Focusing on the way her eyes sparkled when she laughed. Hearing the sound of it bouncing off the walls of my brain. I want to make her laugh again. But I’m not good at those things.

  Plopping down on my desk chair, I boot up my computer. I go to YouTube and search for Kara Starr’s channel. Jax showed her videos to me and Carter last year when he was obsessed and would watch the videos over and over again. Every time she uploaded a new video, he would stop whatever he was doing to watch it.

  But when I click on her channel, there are zero videos. Weird. There was a whole bunch last year.

  I’m about to close the webpage, when a recommended video catches my attention. It’s a video of Kara and Kitty, but the quality isn’t as good. Someone else must have downloaded them or recorded them and re-uploaded them. I click on one.

  Kara is dressed as Shrek and Kitty as Donkey. The room is adorned with little trees and plants, depicting a forest. Kitty is running around all over the room, sometimes dropping on all fours as Donkey begs Shrek to take him along with him. When Shrek turns his back on Donkey, Donkey leaps onto his back and squeezes his neck, so tight Kara gasps for air. She shoves her sister off her with so much force that her little ogre ears fall off and the green paint is smeared off her face. The two of them burst out laughing. And then they improvise the scene, Kara claiming the donkey has cursed paws and is trying to turn him into some sort of human-ogre monster, and now he has a mistaken identity because he has no idea who he is. The whole thing is pretty hilarious, and I start laughing. Actually laughing. It feels foreign and makes this ball of pain in my stomach.

  I click on the next video. By the time it’s over, I’m laughing so hard my cheeks hurt. These are the only two videos on here. I wonder why she took them down. I skim over the comments, where many people posted how the two Starr sisters get them through the days. The recent comments are people complaining that they took the videos down.

  I sit back in my seat, the dance once again invading my mind. This time, the memories of me dipping her. The way she felt in my arms…so soft and warm, and she smelled good. She looked worried like she was scared I’d drop her, but I held onto her like my life depended on it. And when we were done, I grew cold. I know that confused her.

  I shake my head as I slide back into bed. She could never understand me. She doesn’t know what it’s like to fight every day, to want something so badly, only to have people crush your dreams. It’s not her fault. I can’t take out my frustrations on people whose lives seem better than mine. I know everyone goes through things, and I’m almost positive Kara’s been through something as well. Maybe that’s why she left New York City and is staying in this boring small town with her grandma. Her eyes are sad. I don’t know why I have this urge to help her, to make her smile. It’s none of my business. I don’t want anyone sticking their nose into my business, either.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Kara

  Today’s rehearsal goes by smoothly. We focus mostly on the acting and not the singing, and Miss Lewis is glad that most of us are already off-book. She’s also happy that some of the costumes are completed and we’ll have our first fittings soon.

  I meet Jax in the costume room, where something hangs behind a white curtain.

  “What’s there?” I ask with a grin, because I’m pretty sure I know exactly what’s behind there.

  He matches my grin. “A surprise. I still need to add some finishing touches before it’s ready to meet the public.”

  “Want to go to the studio together?” I ask as he packs up.

  “You sure? Your class doesn’t start until much later.”

  “I know. But the house is too empty.”

  He shuts the light and locks the door. “When’s your grandma coming back?”

  “She’s not sure. She thought she was going to stay in California for a few days, but she’s having a really good time meeting up with all her old friends. And I think her agent is trying to squeeze in some auditions for her.”

  “It’s cool that she’s still kicking butt out there,” he says as we exit the auditorium.

  “Watch it. She’ll kill you if you called her old.”

  “I never did! She looks younger than some moms. She could even look like your older sister.”

  “Make sure you tell her that. She’ll love you for life.”

  I told James this morning that he could have the day off. Jax and I gather with the other people at the bus stop. Sk
yville is a pretty small town and only has one public bus route. Some days the bus is crazy packed while others it’s mostly empty. Unfortunately, today it’s pretty packed. Jax and I are forced to squeeze in the back. I hold onto a pole while he hangs onto an overhead handle behind me. The bus’s jerky movements make his chest knock into my back every so often and I get a whiff of his soapy smell.

  “Sorry, my jacket is messing up your hair.” He pats it in place with his free hand. “Uh, it’s not really staying down.”

  I laugh. “Sometimes it has a mind of its own.”

  He catches one strand in his finger and twirls it around. Then his eyes widen and he quickly releases it. I want to tell him he didn’t have to do that. That it kind of felt…nice. More than nice. But I clamp my lips shut.

  “Gotta love public transportation,” he jokes. “I can’t wait to get my license. What about you? Got your permit yet?”

  “No. I don’t know if I will. I’m used to living in New York City. Most people use the subway.”

  “Right. City girl.” He winks playfully. Then his face lights up like a sudden thought hit him. “So you plan to go back to New York City one day.”

  I shake my head. “I honestly don’t know.”

  “It’s a shame. You bring joy to many people, present company included.”

  Maybe too much joy. I internally sigh. I hate that he ruined this for me and for my fans.

  Someone pushes someone else, and then Jax bangs into me, his shoulder slamming into my jaw. I taste blood in my mouth.

  “Sorry!” He turns to the guy. “Careful. You could hurt someone.” He gingerly takes hold of my chin. “I didn’t break you, did I?”

  I laugh. “I’m not made of porcelain.”

  “I know, but you’re Kara Starr. If something were to happen to your face…”

  I shift from one foot to the other.

  “Sorry,” he says again. “I over did it again.” He mutters under his breath.

  “It’s okay,” I say.

  “No. You’re a person, not a celebrity. I want to get to know the real Kara Starr, not the fantasy version I have in my head.” His eyes widen and his cheeks grow red. He laughs slightly as he scratches the side of his head. “I mean, I don’t have a fantasy version of you…”