Grown(24)

“You’re right, Mrs. Jones. My apologies. I never intended to be disrespectful.”

I glance at the living room. On the sofa, the Littles stare wide-eyed at the back of Korey’s head. Through the front window, his bodyguards lean against their black trucks.

“Enchanted asked me, on behalf of her school, if I would stop by,” he continues. “I thought it would be cool.”

Daddy taps his fingers on the table, side-eyeing me. I bite my lip. I never asked Korey to come to my school.

“I said it before,” Korey continues. “I think Enchanted has some amazing potential. I mean, no lie, my phone’s been blowing up with producers and record labels wanting to know who this mystery girl is. I think it’s time we take the show on the road.”

“What does that mean?” Daddy says.

“With your permission, I’d like Enchanted to be a special guest on my acoustic tour.”

Mom gapes at him. “Not a damn chance in hell.”

“Mom!”

“I know it sounds crazy, right? But—”

“BUT the answer is still no,” Daddy fumes, voice taking up every corner of the house.

Korey cocks his head to the side with an amused smirk.

“If I may, Mr. and Mrs. Jones,” Jessica jumps in. “I have been working with Korey for quite some time, and what we see in Enchanted, we’ve . . . never seen in any of his other protégés. The label is really invested in grooming her, and then we can work on setting her up with her own record deal.”

Mom’s eyes widen with a jerk.

“I’m happy to act as a legal guardian,” Jessica adds. “This has been done for dozens of underage stars in the past.”

“And I’m sure Enchanted could use the money,” Korey chuckles, glancing back at the Littles, sitting next to Daddy’s freshly printed protest posters. “With school . . . and all.”

Daddy swallows back some rage. “The answer is still no.”

Mom chews her bottom lip.

Daddy’s nos are firm, walls built of concrete.

But Mom’s nos are made of drywall. Can be penetrated with the right force and tools.





Chapter 30


A Mother’s Grip




“Never Knew Love Like This Before,” by Stephanie Mills. That’s the song he sent me.

Once again, I’m wondering what he means between the song lyrics. Is he saying he loves me?

Because I think . . . I mean, I know I love him.

Never knew love could feel like this. That spent-all-day-swimming-in-the-ocean breathless feeling. I can hear the sea in my ears. Taste the salt water in the back of my throat. Korey makes me feel like home. My real home. Only mermaids can swim in emotions this deep.

I’d do anything to feel this type of love forever.

I’m sixteen years old. I’m not a child!

That’s the line from The Little Mermaid that keeps popping into my head. The way Ariel snapped at her father, even when I was little, made my muscles clench. Couldn’t imagine talking to Mom or Daddy that way and living to tell about it.

But now they’ve pushed me.

The brisk fall air squeezes through the cracks of my jacket as I stand outside school, waiting for Mom.

Late, again.

Shea shivers next to me. “You’re being selfish. You know that, right?”

I roll my eyes. “Mind your business, Shea. This has nothing to do with you!”

“Daddy and Mom barely have enough for next semester,” she huffs. “You know how embarrassing that’s gonna be? And you’re worried about singing.”

I pull a hat over my baldy, ignoring the gnawing in my gut. Korey hasn’t returned any of my text messages today. What if he’s done with me? What if he doesn’t want to be bothered with my drama? What if he’s already moved on? The desperation chills my backbone.

Mom whips her car around the corner, and I hop in the front seat.

“Wipe that look off your face, Chant,” she snaps. “You’re not going. End of discussion!”

“Mom, you have to let me do this.”

Shea rolls her eyes and pops in her earbuds. “Here we go again.”

“There’s no way one of us can take off work for weeks to follow you around the country.”

“But you won’t have to. Jessica will watch me!”

“Jessica is a stranger!”

“She works for the label. She’ll watch me. And what about the money? The label’s gonna pay me fifteen thousand dollars! We’re just gonna turn that down?”

“What? How do you know all that?”

I gulp, gripping the phone in my pocket.

“I . . . that’s what I heard background singers make on tours.”

Mom shakes her head. “Your father said no.”

“But this is my chance! People would kill for this opportunity.”

“There will be others, Chant. You’re seventeen! You just have to be patient. Besides, what about school and swim?”

“I can homeschool!”

“What about the Littles?”

“Is that what this is about? You won’t let me go ’cause I won’t be home to watch the Littles?”

Mom’s face flatlines.