“Hold on, Lucy,” she said, and I waited while she went to see what had made him shout. “Oh my God.”
“What?”
“You’re on TV. You and Jason have sparked a discussion on breakfast television abou
t age gaps in relationships.”
Oh, for goodness sake. Had this not been about me, I would have laughed. The power of social media, and the media in general, was crazy. Were they really so desperate for news and hot topics of discussion that age gap relationships were their big concern? What about the immigration crisis? What about homelessness, and murder, and all the other issues plaguing the world?
For the first time in my life, I questioned my desire to be a journalist. My parents had paid ridiculous amounts of money for me to study at university, and for what? So I could turn into one of those gossip-hungry animals who interfered in other people’s lives? Realistically, I knew I didn’t have to be that kind of reporter, but in that moment, I hated everything about my chosen career.
“Lovely.” The sarcasm in my tone was clear. “And how’s that going down?”
“That’s not important. Lucy, I can’t handle this and I’m not sure you can either. I don’t want to see my daughter on the television with people debating whether or not you are dating a pervert.”
“What?” I screeched. “You have got to be kidding me?”
“I’m not kidding. He’s almost thirty and you’re a teenager. How do you think that looks?”
I pressed the end call button on my phone and turned it off, ignoring the string of tweets and texts that had come through overnight.
A pervert? Really? I could guarantee that if I’d been just two, or maybe even one year older, people would have been a whole lot less judgmental but the “teen” part of my age made everything messier.
**
The rest of the day was nothing short of ridiculous. The whole band, including Ellie and I, were on lockdown in the bus. Anything we needed was gathered for us by roadies. Derek had got the first plane to Prague, and insisted the show was cancelled but Jason was adamant it would go ahead. It wasn’t fair to cancel because of the craziness in his personal life.
Throughout the afternoon, the news got worse and worse, and when Drew came to me with yet another story, my insides curled with anger and humiliation. The frenzied press had apparently reached out to anyone who might know me back home, and some guy from one of my classes had been quoted as saying he was one of my friends, and that I was a “sweet girl but has no experience with guys”. True as it was, that wasn’t the part that infuriated me. That simple quote had added more drama to the “Is Jason a pervert” debate, questioning whether he’d preyed on me because of my inexperience.
“This is sick,” I muttered. “Sick.”
Drew nodded. “I agree. Just to be clear, no matter how unhappy we are about you and Jason, this is not what we were worried about. We know him better than that, and I just hope the rest of the world can see that too. The band’s Twitter account has blown up today and you’ve had a lot of support from the fans. But for every one supportive tweet there are five from ill-informed idiots. And we’re not supposed to answer.”
Lockdown meant not just staying in, but keeping away from anything that might make us lash out at some troll who was trying to get a reaction.
I looked up at Drew. “I don’t know what to do. And… I don’t feel supported by any of you. The people who should be supporting me. Me and Jason.” A tear splashed onto my cheek.
Drew nodded stiffly. “I know, Lucy. Don’t think this is easy for us, either. We’re trying to support you but it’s difficult when we don’t think you’re making the right decision.”
“That’s not how support works, Drew. You support the people you care about because you care about them. And then, if they make the wrong decision, you pick them up and help them move on. You don’t shout them down before you’ve even listened.”
“We listened.”
“You didn’t! You and Ellie are so blinded by what you think that you haven’t heard a word I’ve said. And you know what’s worse? You both know how it feels to be on the crappy end of unfounded rumours, and you’re still not helping us.”
“Because we’re not sure what we’re helping with.” Drew’s tone softened.
“Well, first of all, this.” I pointed to Ellie’s iPad which everyone had been using as a news source that day. “This needs to be stopped right now. Jason is not a pervert, I am well over the age of consent, and the age gap is none of anyone’s bloody business. Whatever you think about me and Jason, you at least have to get this crap retracted.”
“Derek will fix that. Or as best as he can, anyway. You know how it is, though. People will believe whatever they want to believe. What we don’t yet know is how this I going to affect the rest of the tour.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean the people who know us probably won’t go anywhere, but our chances of picking up new fans with this happening will be slimmer now. If you were someone else, anyone else, Jason having a girlfriend would not be such big news.”
I knew he wasn’t saying this was my fault, but it still felt like I’d been sucker punched. It was true. I could have been any other nineteen-year-old in the world, and there would have been raised eyebrows and whispers. But a nineteen-year-old who’d known Jason her whole life? The news angle was so easy. It didn’t matter that there was not even the slightest bit of evidence Jason had been into me at any other time than now, or that much older rock stars dated much younger women. What mattered was selling newspapers and getting ratings by starting debates that weren’t important in the grand scheme of things.
“Lucy.” Derek’s voice caught my attention, and I flicked my head round to look at him. “Can you come with me, honey? We need to talk.”