Chapter seventy:

Becky parted ways with Jenna and Christy in the lobby as they stopped for coffee. She had a feeling that Zac was going to be beyond pissed off at her, and she snuck up to their room.

She unlocked the door and stepped inside, attempting to prepare herself incase he yelled.

She shut the door behind her and Zac came out of the bathroom, drying his hair on a towel.

“Becca!” He dropped the towel and rushed over to her, hugging her tightly. “Thank god you’re okay!”

Becky stepped away from the hug in complete shock. “You’re not mad?”

“I’m relieved. I’ve never been happier to see you in my life. I’m so glad you’re okay!” He hugged her again tightly, then held her at arms length. “I was so worried about you…”

“Why?” Becky asked.

“Because. Last night someone broke into the house and threatened your life and today you went out like it was no big deal. I was terrified that someone would come after you and something would happen!” He hugged her for the third time, pulling her body tightly against his and lifting her off her feet.

“Zac… I didn’t pretend like it was no big deal. I was terrified. I just don’t think being trapped in a hotel unable to go out or do anything is very fair. I’m not a caged animal!” She sat down on the small love seat.

“Fair enough.” He said, sitting next to her and taking her hand in his. “I’m not mad at you, babe. I just… I wish you would have told me. I was worried sick.”

“If I had told you, you would have stopped us.”

“No, I would have tried to go with you, and look out for you…”

“That’s worse!”

“How is that worse?”

“You’d be stuck in a nail salon complaining, and you would attract about a million fans!”

He sighed. “Okay. Just promise me one thing?”

“What’s that?”

“Just let me know where you are next time, okay? Just so I don’t worry?”

Becky smiled. “I will. I promise. And it’s really cute that you care so much.”

He returned her smile and gently kissed her lips. “How about we curl up and watch a movie? Your choice…”

“Okay. Give me a minute to put my pjs on?”

“Sure.”

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Christy snuck into the room she was sharing with Isaac. She had bought him a coffee as a peace offering, but she knew it wouldn’t go very far.

She attempted to sneak off to the bedroom, but he was sitting in a chair waiting for her.

“where were you?” He demanded immediately.

“I… umm… coffee?” She offered.

He took the tray of coffees from her and dropped them onto the desk, causing them to spill onto the surface. “You put yourself and your two best friends in danger today over your stupid fucking fingernails!”

“Don’t yell at me! You don’t understand! Its not fair that we have to be stuck here all the time! We had already made plans! We can’t center our lives around a stupid empty threat!”

“You don’t know it was an empty threat! Look what they did to Becky three years ago!”

“That was three years ago! And don’t you think that if they wanted to kill us they would have done it already!”

He didn’t respond to that, but remained just as tense as before.

Christy sighed heavily and sat down in a chair and continued in a softer tone. “What happened last night scared the shit out of me, and I needed to forget it. I had to get out for just a little while… I’m not saying what I did today was the best way to handle things, but I needed to feel normal…” Tears escaped her eyes. “I just wanted to spend some time with my best friends… I couldn’t be stuck here all day.”

He drew in a deep breath and relaxed. “I was so worried. I called the police, and I called the hotel security. I was so afraid that something had happened… I love you so much. I’m just trying to protect you. I know you don’t like it and you don’t like what’s going on, but I was trying to do what’s best for your own safety. I shouldn’t have yelled, I made things worse.”

She sobbed loudly.

“C, come here. I’m sorry…” She stood and he enveloped her in a hug. “Come on, don’t cry.”

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Jenna opened the door to the hotel room she was sharing with Taylor. She made no attempt to hide the fact that she had been gone all day when she was supposed to be hiding in the hotel room.

He was sitting on the sofa reading a book when she came into the room. Without looking up at her, he said “I hope you enjoyed your freedom today because it’ll be the last bit of freedom you’ll get for a long time. The bodyguard gets here tomorrow, and you three girls will be stuck with him throughout the whole tour.”

Jenna froze. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. A babysitter!?”

Finally, he put his book aside. “If you had done what you were told to do in the first place, you wouldn’t need one.”

Jenna shook her head. “No, I won’t listen to him. I won’t be stuck with that glorified babysitter all summer long.”

“You will. He’s been instructed to keep you three together and keep an eye on you at all times.”

“No. I won’t go along with that. I’ll take off again.”

Taylor got up from the sofa and stood to faced her. “He’s been instructed to use any means necessary to restrain you.”

“That’s fucking ridiculous!” Jenna yelled. “It’s completely unfair!”

“No, its not. What’s unfair is that you girls took off today and had us all worried sick! It’s unfair that I was forced to lie to Luke today, one of my closest friends, because he called looking for you! I had half a mind to tell him everything!”
Jenna sighed heavily. “This sucks.”

“I know it does. But it’s for your own good, right?”

“That doesn’t mean I like it anymore.”

“No, of course not.”

“I’d better call Luke.”

“Are you going to tell him everything?”

“Are you kidding? He’d fly out here and worry over everything, and he’s worked so hard to get that job… I think it’s best if he doesn’t know.”

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