Page 23 of Tracing Holland (The Hold Me NSB #2)

“That doesn’t make sense. How could it be gone?”

“I don’t know! But I’m telling you it’s not there!”

They look to us, and we just shrug.

“Maybe Rob noticed an issue and took it in to get it checked out,” Eli suggests.

They consider that, but seem skeptical. “Wouldn’t they tell us they’re taking our bus? I mean, all our shit’s on there!” Parker argues.

Eli shakes his head. “I don’t know, dude. That’s weird.”

“This is…shit! What do we do?” Derrick cries, as the other three pale.

“I don’t know. I mean, are you absolutely sure it’s gone? It’s not just hidden behind a tree or something?” Eli asks, totally serious. At least, he looks totally serious. I’m about to lose it.

Just then, Sweeny comes racing in as well.

“Oh good! There you are! Guys, I don’t know how to tell you this, but did you leave your bus unlocked or something?”

They all shake their heads, eyes wide. Parker looks ready to pass out.

“Ok, because I just saw some dude pulling around the front of the building in your bus and it definitely was not your driver. You don’t leave the keys in the drawer, do you?”

“Wait, by the fridge?” Derrick asks, past pale and nearly transparent at this point.

Sweeny curses. “You idiots!”

I can’t move. I can’t speak. I can’t even look at Sweeny and Eli. Oh. My. God. I stare at my plate, focusing on taking deep breaths. In. Out.

“What are you still doing here? Go!” Sweeny cries. “Go chase that criminal down before he gets too far!”

“We need to call the cops!” Reece yells, bolting to his feet. “Our manager!”

“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of that. You just see if you can catch him. It’s probably just some superfan taking a joyride. I doubt they’ll even leave the parking lot.”

“That happens?” Derrick asks in horror.

Eli shrugs again. “Only if you leave your keys in the drawer. Hope you guys have insurance.”

The panic is all over their faces as they rush from the room in a flurry of frantic anger.

We’re quiet for a moment after they leave, silently processing what just happened, then exchange a look before exploding into laughter.

“Are you serious? You moved their bus?” I cry, laughing so hard tears sting my eyes.

They are too, and we pretty much collapse on the table from our shrieking.

“Oh my god, did you see their faces? Parker was ready to throw up!” Eli snorts, slapping his hand on the surface.

I shake my head, wiping my eyes. “I can’t believe you! They are going to beat the shit out of you!” I still can’t breathe as I lean back in my chair. “Where’s their bus now?”

Sweeny can barely speak as he starts up all over again. “I waited until I was sure one of them noticed then put it back! It’s fucking in its spot!”

My eyes widen in disbelief, my stomach in agony from the laughter. “And you just sent them running all over the parking lot looking for it!”

He nods through his own tears, fighting for air.

“You know what this means, don’t you?” I warn, still chuckling after we finally gain control of ourselves.

They nod, but don’t seem to care. “Yeah, we know. It’s on.”

I shake my head in amusement. “Oh, it’s on.”

I find Jesse messing around on his acoustic in their dressing room and hold up my hands in a gesture of peace.

“Just stopping by to see how you’re doing?” I explain, and he shakes his head with a grin.

“That was fucking genius. Totally messed up, but genius.”

I laugh and drop to a chair nearby. “You know they wouldn’t have done it if they didn’t consider you friends, right?”

He nods, still smiling. “I know. They really had us. I think Parker might need therapy.”

“He looked about ready to shit his pants.”

“I think he might have a little.”

I study him and lean forward with a mischievous look. “So what are you doing to get them back?”

He stares at me and seems confused. “Wait, what?”

“Seriously?” I scoff. “You’re just going to let them prank you like that and not retaliate?”

I can tell it hadn’t occurred to them and have to hold in my snicker. I’m here to be helpful. “Ok, look, this is how it works. They started it, so yeah, you have every right to get them back. Just keep it funny and safe.”

I see his mind already working. “That’s going to be hard to beat,” he observes.

“Yeah, but trust me, it’ll be worth it when you do.” I start to rise, feeling a small sense of pride that he’s taking it so well.

“Hey, Luke, wait. Before you go, can I ask you something?” He quiets, and the mood suddenly shifts. “Um, it’s a little personal.”

I return to my seat. “Sure, what is it?”

He seems nervous, which is never a good sign. “Well, I’m not exactly sure how to ask you this. It’s about those photos of you from Charlotte.”

I stiffen. “What about them?” I respond, somehow managing to sound casual even though my insides are exploding.

“Well, it’s just that, I’m from Philly. You know that, and we’ve played pretty much all the local spots in the tri-state area.”

I nod, my stomach churning. Oh no. “Yeah?”

He looks away, clearly uncomfortable. “I’m trying to figure out how you were in Club Castor in Atlantic City when we were parked in Charlotte, North Carolina.”

He meets my gaze again, and I can tell he’s not coming from a place of hostility. He’s legitimately confused by the photos, by me.

I take a deep breath. Is this it? Dr. Flynn wanted me to tell the truth to a friend. I never in a million years would have thought Jesse Everett would be my first attempt at honesty, but here it goes. It kind of helps that the lie didn’t work on him.

“Ok, fine, the truth? It’s because I wasn’t in Club Castor in Atlantic City while we were parked in Charlotte. I was in Club Castor almost two years ago on our Bittersweet tour.”

I can’t tell if that cleared anything up. He looks just as confused, if not more so.

“So the pictures are fake?” he asks.

I shake my head. “No, they’re real. They’re just two years old.”

“So your phone got hacked?”

I suck in my breath. Jesse might be a genius. He’s just given me an out for the masses, but that doesn’t help me now. My instinct is to accept the perfect lie, but I manage to catch it on my tongue. Dr. Flynn would kill me if I screwed this up after having it gift-wrapped and handed to me.

“Well, not exactly,” I begin. “It’s complicated, but basically, I’m the one who leaked them,” I explain, and his face looks about what you’d expect when you politely inform someone you’re a total idiot. As the words slip out, it occurs to me that the lie is way more plausible than the truth.

“Um…wow. Ok...”

I sigh. “I know, it’s totally messed up, but you saw the shit they were saying about Callie and I figured if they were talking about me, they’d leave her alone. It was stupid, but it kind of worked.”

He just stares at me for a moment, eyes wide. “Shit, man. That is totally fucked up.”

I laugh. “Yeah. Yeah, it is. Don’t ever do something like that. Totally stupid,” I warn. Yes, Jesse, don’t be a complete moron who leaks your own social death sentence. Mentor of the Year right here.

“Got it. Still, you obviously haven’t told anyone else. They’re all really upset.”

I look away. “Not yet, but I will. And we’ll tell the rest of the world that my phone got hacked. Thanks for that.”

He smiles. “No problem. You should probably hurry though because it’s going to come out soon that those pictures aren’t legit. I mean, Club Castor, man? You could have picked a less obvious spot.” He laughs and shakes his head. “It’s almost like you wanted to get caught.”

I shrug with a sheepish grin. He’s probably right. I wouldn’t put anything past my subconscious at this point. “I was pretty pissed about what was happening to Callie. Wasn’t exactly thinking straight.”

“Well, I still think that’s totally messed up, but kind of awesome in a way. Thanks for letting me know. I got your back.”

I start to warm inside a bit. I don’t hear that a lot, but I have to admit it feels good. “Hey, thanks, Jess. And remember to think of a way to return the favor to Eli and Sweeny,” I respond with a smile.

He grins. “Oh, don’t worry. We got this.”

I make the difficult phone call to TJ after leaving the Limelight dressing room. The Label needs the truth, well, most of it, and Jesse’s brilliance will give them much-needed direction for their PR spin. They’ll like that part at least.

I leave Callie and her situation out of the story.

I don’t need them resenting her for something stupid I did, something that she’d be just as upset about.

TJ is shocked, then furious when I tell him I signed my own death warrant for no apparent reason, but he’s at least grateful I’m only guilty of being an idiot, not sliding down the cliff again.

He agrees the phone-hack defense could work and is going to call the Label next to see what they can do to fix this mess.

I feel better when I hang up. Maybe the truth is turning out to be an improvement over the lie after all.

I glance down at my phone and cringe at the string of texts and missed calls from Callie and Casey.

They’ve been trying to get ahold of me for a while now, but I just haven’t been ready to face them.

Maybe now I can. They need the truth too, probably more than any of the others, but for some reason I’m finding that hurdle the hardest. It went well with Jesse, ok with TJ, but I’m still not ready.

I know I haven’t totally fractured that relationship beyond repair yet, and I’m afraid of messing up what’s left.

I’m still skeptical of this honesty thing, transparency.

I need to test out the madness on one more person, one more trial in this messed up experiment.

Time to see what this Truth thing does for the one relationship I’ve totally fucked up.