LEXIE HOWARD
The secret was out.
Lexie had told no one about what she was working on with Remus and Elliot, and Elliot had few friends to share the secret with either.
So, their project remained a secret.
But then, they had finished their shooting, and Remus had uploaded the song.
Lexie would argue that she was the first to listen to the song on Spotify, but the song did not immediately blow up, nor had they expected it to.
Remus was a new indie singer, and no matter how good the song was.
They could not expect it to rake in thousands of streams in a day.
That was simply not possible.
But then a miracle had struck.
It was a few days after the initial release.
Elliot shared in their group a link to a TikTok clip, and it was a new social media platform that was gaining attraction amongst her friends.
She was not herself an avid user yet, but she could see the appeal of those short-form videos.
‘E: Look!
You are blowing up!’
Now, her interest was piqued, and she clicked on the video, and it took her to a short video shot on a phone.
The account was random, and the video was from a restaurant just uptown.
~HAD THE BEST EXPERIENCE EVER!
THIS NEEDS TO BLOW UP!~
The video was out of focus, and her hand shook, but despite that, Lexie could easily make out the figure on the stage and the familiar lyrics in an instant.
It was him.
It was Remus.
He was singing ‘Before You Go’ on stage, and she did not know anything about it.
‘L: Is it really you, R?’
‘E: Ofc.
It’s him!’
‘R: Yeah.
It is me.
It was a setup by mother.
The manager was her friend.’
And her intentions aside, the whole affair had worked in his favor.
The clip already had over fifty thousand views, and she could see that it was gaining traction.
She quickly shifted to YouTube.
‘E: How’s the song doing now?’
‘R: Better!
It’s starting to gain some momentum!’
‘E: Sick!
Leslie’s a marketing genius!’
And she scrolled down to look at the views, and the song had around twenty thousand views on YouTube alone.
‘L: Crossed 20k on YT!’
‘E: HO!
We are legit!
Our boys made it!’
She liked the video herself, when suddenly she heard a scream from the upper floor.
“Lexie,” and it was Cassie’s voice, and she frowned and chose to ignore her.
‘L: Should we upload the next one?’
‘E: Yes!’
‘R: Not possible.
I am still working on the video ☹’
‘L: I can help.’
She offered, but Cassie was not done just yet.
“LEXIE! COME UP HERE RIGHT NOW!” and her face scrunched up as she pressed the power button and stomped up the stairs.
She threw open the door to her room, which was filled with Cassie’s friends.
“What is it?” she asked, annoyed by her antics.
It was Maddie who stepped forward and pushed her phone towards her face.
“Yeah, so what,” and now her sister was quick to cut in.
“And you didn’t tell me?” Cassie asked, and she shrugged.
“What was I supposed to say?” she asked, and Maddie rolled her eyes.
“Anything. The least you could have done was tell us that about Remus working on something so big,” and she shrugged.
“I don’t see how this concerns any of you,” and she walked up to her bed and sat down.
Cassie and Maddie exchanged looks while Kat turned towards her.
“I never knew Rue’s brother could sing like this,” and Kat shook her head.
“And those lyrics. They are something else,” and she knew that already.
“Did he write this about me?” Cassie asked, and Lexie’s frustration was obvious as she snarled.
“Not everything is about you, Cassie,” and her sister was under the delusion that the entire world was about her.
“Come on. She breaks up with him, and then he miraculously writes something like this,” Maddie was quick to counter, as she threw herself onto the bed.
“She did not break up with him. She cheated on him,” Lexie clarified.
“Whose side are you on?” Cassie asked.
“I don’t think there are any sides here,” Lexie countered quickly.
“Still, you have to spill the beans.” Maddie straightened up and looked into her eyes.
“Why?” she asked, and she raised a brow.
“Your sister’s really just a child,” Maddie shook her head and complained to Cassie.
“Is he working on anything else?” Maddie asked, and she shook her head.
“I don’t know,” she lied.
“Don’t lie to me bitch,” and Lexie frowned.
“Why does this even matter to you?” She could not fathom at all how this was a concern for them.
“Of course it matters. If this is not just a one-hit wonder, then you are looking at a rising star. That changes things,” Maddie clarified.
“How?” she asked stubbornly, and Maddie shrugged.
Maybe it’s time for me to move on from Nate and look for greener pastures,” and so she was on the hunt, and Lexie could not believe her ears at all.
“You want to date Rue’s brother?” and for some reason she wanted to slap her hard, but she also knew that doing so would be nothing short of suicide.
“Why not?” Kat chimed in.
“He is hot and good-looking. The only thing going against him was his rather serious personality, but with talent like that,” and she fanned her face with her hand.
“He is quite a commodity,” and she realized that Maddie was serious.
“But what about Nate?” He was the captain of the Football team, and he and Maddie had been together for years now.
“What about Nate?” she asked, and Maddie groaned.
“Nate’s been very weird lately. For some reason, his father just picked up his bags one day and left,” and she did not know that at all.
“What?” “What?” and if Kat and Cassie’s reactions were anything to go by, they did not either.
“Yeah. He has been in a fucking mood for days now, and I just couldn’t handle it anymore,” and so they were on another break, and these sabbaticals were a rather constant feature of their relationship.
“But why would he leave?” Kat asked, and Maddie shrugged.
“No one knows. They have been trying to reach out to him, but he is not answering any calls. He is even selling up his business,” and that seemed serious.
“Nate and his brother have been trying to contact him, but there is no answer,” and her sister finally chose to cut in.
“Maddie, you can’t just leave Nate in times like this,” and she was right.
“I can,” Maddie answered easily, before her eyes traveled towards her.
“Especially if there are better options available.”
“So, spill the beans, Lex. Is this a one-hit wonder, or are we looking at the next Bieber?” and she did not know what to say, so in the end she chose to lie.
She knew that she could not break Remus’s trust, but she could not lie to Maddie as well, for soon enough she would know that Lexie had lied to her when the second song would come out, and she would remember that.
“He is already seeing someone,” and the words slipped out of her mouth.
“What?” All three of them spoke up in unison.
“Yeah,” she answered under their scrutinizing gazes.
“Who is it?” Maddie inquired with a frown, and her mind raced to come up with a suitable answer.
“I don’t know,” she lied.
“They are not from our school,” she clarified, and now Maddie rubbed her chin.
“Have you seen her? Do you have a picture of her?” and she shook her head.
“No. He hasn’t shared anything with me. I just heard him talking about it to Elliot,” and Maddie nodded.
“Well, no matter. I can deal with that botch, whoever she is,” and her sight was set.
“But I need you to do something for me,” and Lexie felt dread creep up onto her.
“I need you to bring him to McKay’s party next Saturday,” and she shook her head.
“That’s impossible,” and it really was.
“He will never come to that thing. Never,” and there was history there.
“That is why I am asking you,” and she shook her head. This story is hosted at g.com.
“Not happening,” she remained stubborn.
“Lexie. Lexie,” Maddie added.
“Ask him yourself. But I am telling you, there is no chance in hell that he ever comes to that thing…..”
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.
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REMUS BENNET
While Lexie was busy being assaulted by Cassie and her friends, Remus and Elliot were busy making plans.
Elliot was already planning a tour while he was busy working on the video for the second song.
He planned on taking advantage of the hype to upload the second song.
He sat on his chair while he worked in Premiere to give the thing its final touches when suddenly the door to his room was pushed open.
“Who do you think you are?” and because of the headphones, he noticed it too late as Rue suddenly came at him and pushed his chair forward angrily.
“Rue! Rue!” and the headphones fell to the ground as he hit the table.
“You told Fezco and his friends not to sell me their shit,” Rue screamed at him as she picked up his water bottle and threw it towards him.
“Who gave you that right?” She threw it towards him, and thankfully, he was able to protect his face with his hands.
The bottle hit his arm and ricocheted towards the screen, and hit it hard.
“WHO!” she screamed at him, and she tried to reach for his head, but Remus was finally able to grab her hand.
“What the fuck are you doing!” he screamed at Rue as he pushed her towards his bed.
His heart was racing as he saw her glare at her with bloodshot eyes.
“Have you lost your mind?” he screamed at her as she tried to jump him again, but Remus was both older and stronger than her, and he threw her back onto the bed once more.
“Calm down, Rue,” and Gia was already there, now holding her back.
“Get away from me,” Rue pushed Gia away as she glared at her.
“Stop interfering in my life,” Rue screamed at him, and it broke his heart to see her like this.
“I am only trying to help you,” he implored.
“I don’t need your help! I just need it all to go away,” she screamed at him, as Gia cried in the corner.
“I just need it all to go numb,” and she broke down as Remus bit into his lip.
“That is no way to live. You are stronger than this, Rue. Much stronger,” and Rue shook her head.
“I don’t need to be strong. I just need you to get out of my life,” and she was breathing heavily now.
“You think you are so perfect with your music and shit. You think you are better than all of us. Well then, you are not. You are just a coward,” and he ignored her vitriol as he gave her his verdict.
“I won’t let you make a mess of your life again, Rue,” he refused, and she scoffed.
“Please, Rue. Stop,” Gia added, and she shoved her away.
“Get away from me,” and Gia was sobbing now, as she continued in her rage.
“You know why my life is a mess. Well, it’s because my father fucking died. Do you understand?”
“He was my father as well,” and she chuckled at his retort.
“It doesn’t feel like it. Tell me, have you even cried once after his death? Did you even love him, you bastard?” and that was a low blow, as Remus stilled.
“Get out of here,” he ordered angrily.
“You didn’t, did you? It explains why you are such a prick!” and he closed his eyes, barely holding himself back.
“LEAVE!” he screamed, and Rue finally saw his rage.
“I hate you,” Rue said to his face as she pushed herself off of his bed.
“I hate you, and I wish that you had died in that fucking crash,” and with those words, she stomped out of his room as he passed and drew in a breath.
“Gia,” he turned towards his younger sister.
“Go to your room,” he spoke softly now.
“She is going to be fine, right?” Gia asked worriedly, and the truth was that he did not know.
“Yes. She will be fine,” and with that she walked out of the room, leaving him alone once more, and he walked into the bathroom and splashed himself with some cold water as Rue’s words rang in his head.
He knew that it was not really Rue speaking, that it was her addiction fuelling her outburst, yet that did little to console his heart.
He picked up his phone and contemplated calling their mother.
But he did not want to worry her, but he had to do something.
He looked up at his computer and saw that it was drenched.
He tried to turn it on, but the thing was fried, much to his frustration.
“Shit,” he cursed, and pulled out the cords and opened up the case to unhook all of the connectors.
He was doing this when Gia suddenly rushed into her room, panicked.
“She is gone,” she said, and he turned towards her.
“What?”
“Rue. She is gone. She is not in her room….”
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Have a fantastic day!