Absolutely Unforgivable(22)

I tried to hide my embarrassment as I grabbed my towel and covered my body but really there was no hope of that. I went inside to shower and clean up as my artwork dried outside in the hot Houston sun.

I tried to waste time until Jeromy got home so I painted my nails pink and then my toenails and then messed with my hair some more, but eventually I was running out of things I could do to avoid leaving my room. Finally I decided to just suck it up. I was going to have to face them all eventually so I found an old pair of cutoff jean shorts to put on and a large t-shirt that hung loosely on my body.

When I walked out of my bedroom I could hear that they had made their way downstairs. There was a lot of noise so I figured they were in the game room which was next to Billy’s studio.

Still not wanting to face everyone, I made my way outside to check on my artwork. Since it was finally dry I hung it up in the living room near the photographs I had put up earlier. While I was admiring my handiwork the noise from the game room was getting louder and my curiosity finally got the better of me. I had to see what they were doing in there.

At hearing the clink of balls hitting each other, I glanced over and saw Mindy was playing pool with Darla and Starla. There were also a few others near them that I didn’t recognize. I made my way to the crowd and realized the entire band was there now and by band I mean, the band plus the sound guy Patrick, their webmaster, a handful or girls, including Mindy, Darla and Starla and their self-appointed publicist / manager named Trista who had been with the band for years now.

Billy told me that one day she approached them after a gig and offered her services, saying she would work for free because she could use the experience. It was like her own self-created internship. She was a very serious, organized person and made sure everyone else's lives were just as together. She screamed anal retentive. I remembered what Billy had told me about her before. He said that Trista was a very intense, highly focused person, who wanted everything and everyone in her life to fit into neatly organized little slots.

When I walked into the game room Trista, who was talking to Bran, stopped what she was doing and looked up at me with her mouth wide open. She stared at me and then after a moment of extreme awkwardness she leaned back into Bran. “So that’s her, huh? Damn, damn, damn, damn.”

“Yep. That’s her in all of her perky glory. Have you seen the video yet?” Bran asked Trista.

Perky? I’m not perky. At least I don’t think I am. Mindy, she’s perky. I’m far more subdued than that. And what video were they talking about? They spoke about me like I wasn’t standing right there, in the same room. I wasn’t sure what was wrong with them. Why were they treating me like this?

“Yeah, I checked it out on my way over. This girl is going to be trouble. Big trouble,” Trista said. She was attempting to be quiet, but I was close enough to still hear every word.

I started to walk over and say something to them; but then Billy caught my eye. He was behind Trista sitting on a bar stool strumming an acoustic guitar. He played a few chords and then looked up at me with a sort of sexy half smirk. I had to catch my breath. He extended his arm, calling me over to him.

While I stood next to Billy listening to him play, I heard Trista still talking to Bran. “That one is going to be the death of him.”

I don’t think they meant for me to hear that. But I did and it kind of hurt my feelings. What the hell was their problem? I turned to glare at Bran in disgust and heard him say, “Well if ya gotta go, that’s one hell of a way to go,” as he eyed my ass in my cut off shorts.

I rolled my eyes at his comment. I decided not to confront them. They weren’t worth wasting my time on. Instead I turned back to give my full attention to Billy but I still couldn’t help but wonder what video they were talking about. Something about that stuck out in my mind.

And then Travis, who just seemed to have noticed my arrival, gave me a nod and a big smile “Yeah! There’s our little superstar.”

Everyone in the room stopped to face me, which caused me to blush. I wasn’t used to being the center of attention.

Mindy let out a loud squeal, ran over to me and threw her arms around me. “I’m so glad you are finally here. Ya! I missed you.” She dragged me over to a laptop sitting on a table near the back of the room. “I want to show you something. You are going to love it,” she exclaimed. “Don’t get mad, okay?”

I looked at the computer screen cautiously. “Ummm okay.” Why would I get mad? I had no idea what she was about to show me on the computer but I was pretty sure that if she had to preface it with don’t be mad then I probably wasn’t going to like it.