Read Online Girl Trouble by Miranda Baker - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Miranda Baker
Ads: Link
Kat’s heart pound as she sat down next to her at the table.
“I mean it, Beauty. That’s not me. How could it be? I was with you all day yesterday.”
“I know it isn’t you. Just like I knew it was you in the newspaper the other day. I can recognize you from any angle, from a fraction of an angle.” Bonita pointed at the first picture. “Your fingers are longer, nails rounder.” The next picture, “That’s not your hip.” And the next, “Your shoulders are thinner.” Finally, “You don’t do that with your chin.”
“Then what’s the problem?” she asked, relieved.
“Someone didn’t make an identity error here. The person who did this isn’t afraid you’re going to sue them. All of the pictures appeared today. Someone paid for this—probably a lot. Who do you think that could be?”
Fury brought her fully awake. “Herb.”
Bonita nodded. “And if he feels the need to publish fake photos just because we appear in public together once, then I must be a serious threat to your image. I can’t stay here with you.”
Kat snatched her phone from the kitchen table and sent a furious text to Herb. Get your ass back here. He was so dead. After she talked Bonita out of leaving, she was going to kill him. She tossed the phone back down.
“It’s too risky.” Bonita’s mouth was firm, lips drawn into a tight line. Kat had made those lips tremble last night. Now they looked hard enough to crumble. “I thought it would be fine. I wanted it to be fine, but we can’t do this, especially when you have a new movie coming out.”
“Beauty, this shit comes and goes. It’s just part of being a celebrity.” She tried to sound casual, amused and just a touch impatient but instead sounded desperate.
Bonita shook her head. “Gaining weight, getting engaged, getting arrested. Those things come and go. Being a lesbian will kill your career. You know it. I know it. Clearly, Herb knows it, too. For your sake, I need to get out of here. I won’t let the last twelve years be wasted and meaningless. Our sacrifice has to mean something.”
The certainty that had begun to grow last night when they left the theater took root.
“It does. It means we were stupid kids who didn’t know what we wanted. Now we do, or at least I do. That’s what last night was about. Showing you how good it could be. I don’t want this to end.”
Bonita pushed away from the table and walked across the kitchen to put her coffee cup in the sink. “It’s not going to end. You can come to Norton whenever you want. It’ll be just like it used to be.”
Kat stared at her, noticing for the first time she was fully dressed. Her smooth blond hair was still damp from a shower, and she was wearing makeup. Was her bag packed and sitting by the front door? Was there a taxi waiting at the bottom of the hill?
The contentment she had felt upon waking was gone. Her pulse raced again as old doubts fought to strangle the delicate roots of her newfound certainty. Bonita doesn’t want forever with me. She only wants a week. She doesn’t feel what I feel. I’m not good enough for her. I’m never going to be good enough.
Her parents had thought she’d be home within a week, broke, knocked up, with her tail between her legs. She’d shown them, but it still hurt. Bonita’s parents had barely tolerated their friendship, making no secret of their disdain for their daughter’s wild friend. She’d shown them, too, achieving modest success before their fatal car accident, but their rejection had left marks. Her chosen career was ever precarious, each success dwarfed by the next goal, the next mountain of a blockbuster movie to climb and conquer. She didn’t know any actors who felt like they’d truly made it to the top. Would it ever be enough? Would she ever be good enough? For Hollywood or Bonita?
It’ll be just like it used to be. Those words would have made her ecstatic if Bonita had spoken them last year. Now she felt dread, choking her,
“I mean it, Beauty. That’s not me. How could it be? I was with you all day yesterday.”
“I know it isn’t you. Just like I knew it was you in the newspaper the other day. I can recognize you from any angle, from a fraction of an angle.” Bonita pointed at the first picture. “Your fingers are longer, nails rounder.” The next picture, “That’s not your hip.” And the next, “Your shoulders are thinner.” Finally, “You don’t do that with your chin.”
“Then what’s the problem?” she asked, relieved.
“Someone didn’t make an identity error here. The person who did this isn’t afraid you’re going to sue them. All of the pictures appeared today. Someone paid for this—probably a lot. Who do you think that could be?”
Fury brought her fully awake. “Herb.”
Bonita nodded. “And if he feels the need to publish fake photos just because we appear in public together once, then I must be a serious threat to your image. I can’t stay here with you.”
Kat snatched her phone from the kitchen table and sent a furious text to Herb. Get your ass back here. He was so dead. After she talked Bonita out of leaving, she was going to kill him. She tossed the phone back down.
“It’s too risky.” Bonita’s mouth was firm, lips drawn into a tight line. Kat had made those lips tremble last night. Now they looked hard enough to crumble. “I thought it would be fine. I wanted it to be fine, but we can’t do this, especially when you have a new movie coming out.”
“Beauty, this shit comes and goes. It’s just part of being a celebrity.” She tried to sound casual, amused and just a touch impatient but instead sounded desperate.
Bonita shook her head. “Gaining weight, getting engaged, getting arrested. Those things come and go. Being a lesbian will kill your career. You know it. I know it. Clearly, Herb knows it, too. For your sake, I need to get out of here. I won’t let the last twelve years be wasted and meaningless. Our sacrifice has to mean something.”
The certainty that had begun to grow last night when they left the theater took root.
“It does. It means we were stupid kids who didn’t know what we wanted. Now we do, or at least I do. That’s what last night was about. Showing you how good it could be. I don’t want this to end.”
Bonita pushed away from the table and walked across the kitchen to put her coffee cup in the sink. “It’s not going to end. You can come to Norton whenever you want. It’ll be just like it used to be.”
Kat stared at her, noticing for the first time she was fully dressed. Her smooth blond hair was still damp from a shower, and she was wearing makeup. Was her bag packed and sitting by the front door? Was there a taxi waiting at the bottom of the hill?
The contentment she had felt upon waking was gone. Her pulse raced again as old doubts fought to strangle the delicate roots of her newfound certainty. Bonita doesn’t want forever with me. She only wants a week. She doesn’t feel what I feel. I’m not good enough for her. I’m never going to be good enough.
Her parents had thought she’d be home within a week, broke, knocked up, with her tail between her legs. She’d shown them, but it still hurt. Bonita’s parents had barely tolerated their friendship, making no secret of their disdain for their daughter’s wild friend. She’d shown them, too, achieving modest success before their fatal car accident, but their rejection had left marks. Her chosen career was ever precarious, each success dwarfed by the next goal, the next mountain of a blockbuster movie to climb and conquer. She didn’t know any actors who felt like they’d truly made it to the top. Would it ever be enough? Would she ever be good enough? For Hollywood or Bonita?
It’ll be just like it used to be. Those words would have made her ecstatic if Bonita had spoken them last year. Now she felt dread, choking her,
Similar Books
