“I hope you were polite,” she said to me, tone clipped.
I didn’t speak. I couldn’t.
That night, I lay in bed at the hotel, curled into myself. I didn’t cry. I couldn’t even scream. I just stared at the ceiling, letting the image of his face, his voice, burn into me like a brand.
Jasper called that night.
“Hey, little star. How was the show?”
“It was great,” I said, my voice too steady.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. Just tired.”
I lied.
And the worst part? I was good at it.
The next morning, my mom acted like nothing had happened. She handed me green juice, commented on how my stomach looked flatter already.
“You’re close,” she said. “Young likes you. Play your cards right and you’ll be everywhere soon.”
I excused myself and threw up in the sink.
I kept hearing his voice in my head.
Every girl who’s made it did what she had to do.
I didn't tell Jasper. I didn’t tell anyone.
I just got thinner.
And quieter.
And the industry applauded.
No one knew the difference.
No one ever does.
Chapter 9
Brittany
The Past - Age 19
It had been nearly three months since that night in the hotel room with Mr. Young, and I still hadn't found a way to breathe properly. Something inside me had cracked open, and now everything I did just leaked pain. I moved through the world like a ghost, smiling for cameras, posing in lingerie, pretendingI didn’t feel dirtied and used, pretending my mother hadn’t betrayed me in the worst possible way. She still believed Young was my miracle. The man who would make me a star.
But he wasn't.
He was the reason I stopped sleeping at night.
"You're not okay," Jasper said. He'd flown in from Harvard for Coachella weekend. My mother thought it would be great for publicity, some new campaign about young Hollywood having fun, but Jasper knew me. He always knew. And this time, he wasn’t going to ignore the signs.
"I’m fine," I lied, adjusting my sunglasses even though the sun had already started to set.
He didn’t say anything right away. Just kept looking at me with those sharp eyes that always saw too much. He handed me a water bottle. "Drink. You’ve had nothing all day."
