Pull (Seaside 2)

“Turn on the TV,” Alec grumbled. I looked to Bob. He followed me back in the house. The same house I had left not twenty-four hours earlier looked transformed. Bottles of champagne-filled baskets were everywhere. I ground my teeth and flipped on the entertainment channel.

“The big news today, Demetri Daniels! Singer turned reality star!”

“Am I getting punked?” I said into the phone.

Alec laughed. “I wish, man, I wish. Nope, it seems there were some ulterior motives with having us stay in Seaside for our break.”

“No shit.” I closed my eyes and counted to five as the woman on TV continued talking.

“It’s finally confirmed that the new reality show Seaside is in the works for Demetri! Who knew the kid could be so entertaining!

Cameras have been following him around for the past month.

Apparently, the studio had been planning on doing a reality show for some time, but since AD2 took a hiatus for some much needed emotional rest, it looked as if it would fall through. But recent sources say the show is back on!”

“I didn’t agree to this.” I sat on the couch and cursed again.

“Alec, you know I didn’t agree to this.”

“Neither did I. Doesn’t mean it isn’t gonna happen, bro. I’ve been on the phone with our publicist all day. Apparently it’s been in the works for a while. Somehow it was leaked to the media, and now, well, now that the clips of you walking around Seaside with Alyssa have gone viral, the record company is salivating.”

“Thus the champagne.” I groaned.

“You’re drinking?” Alec yelled into the phone.

“No. But there’s enough alcohol in this house to kill an elephant, that’s for sure. I’ll have Bob get rid of it.”

“Demetri…” Alec sounded worried.

“Bro, I can handle pressure okay? I’ve got taffy, and it’s possible I slept with Alyssa last night.”

“In a bed?”

“No dude, in the ocean. Yes, in a bed, not that anything happened. We—” I shrugged as a shit-eating grin spread across my face. “It was nice.”

“Are you sure you’re not drinking?”

“No, you ass, I’m not drinking.”

Alec laughed into the phone. “Sorry, but you have to understand that the day you choose cuddling over sex is the day I’m wearing a dress.”

“Better go shopping then…”

Alec laughed again and sighed. “Dude, I really am sorry about all this. Just keep doing what you’re doing. We’ll figure it out, okay? Until then, don’t go outside.”

“Trapped, just like before.” I cursed. “I won’t do it.”

“Come again?”

“Alec, dude, I can’t do it. I can’t just sit in my house all day. I really will go insane. I’ll start making bad choices. I mean, I honestly can’t get bored… I don’t want to think about what will happen if I do.”

Alec cursed into the phone and then was silent for a bit.

“Fine, just don’t do anything stupid in public, and when the media asks you about the show, don’t say a thing. Just… be normal.”

“Said the fish out of water,” I grumbled. “Fine, I’m guessing the local news won’t be showing up for another hour or so. Takes them a while to get their local celebrity gossip. After all there is only one Starbucks.”

“Dude, if it bothers you that much, just build one.”

“Now there’s a thought… We’ve already established how sexy I look in a visor. Imagine me in the green apron.”

“You need taffy or something, you’re losing your mind.”

“Agh.” I cursed and flipped off the TV. “Story of my life.”

“Later, bro. I’ll text or call if I find out anything on my end.

Just stay invisible, don’t drink and drive, don’t do drugs, make good choices, guard your virtue—”

“Screw off.” I hung up the phone laughing.

Bob moved to stand in front of me. “Know any restaurants interested in some free Cristal?”

Bob laughed. “I’ll go make some donations, shall I?”

“That’s the spirit.” I got up and slapped him on the back. I didn’t want to watch any more TV. I mean, most of what people said was crap anyways. I just wasn’t sure how I was supposed to talk to Alyssa and the rest of the group about all of this. I mean, the stuff everyone was dealing with was super private. I would rather die than have them think they couldn’t trust me, or that I was just waiting to put them on TV. Then again, people got weird when opportunities for fame came up. I just hoped they wouldn’t flip tonight during the meeting like Mrs. Murray had when she came barreling through my door that morning. Threatened. She’d actually threatened me. It had been a long time since an adult had done so much as point their finger in my face. I told her I would step down as group leader, which just made her more furious.

Apparently, it wasn’t the whole reality show thing that had her ticked. It was her worry that all that extra attention would hurt the rest of the group. After all, group therapy was counseling, which legally wasn’t anyone’s business but that person’s. She said she’d notify the members that they no longer had to attend and shook her head.

I felt like I had let everyone down. Again. This time I knew it was my fault. If I hadn’t nearly killed myself last year, our publicists wouldn’t be trying to find some lame ways to salvage my reputation. I just wish they would have told me what they had up their sleeves before announcing it to the media.