Faded (Rock Star Trilogy)

to kiss me, and I hear Alec clear his throat. We both pull back.
    “Don’t be gross, guys,” he says.
    I give him my best fuck off look.
    “Why did you invite Alec again?” I asked Stephan.
    “I actually didn’t. Alec invited himself,” he answers. “By the way, Peter and I had an interesting conversation earlier.”
    “What?” I question cautiously.
    “He says he wants a sexy scene of us.” Stephan shoots me one of his sexy, panty-droppingsmiles. “I have to admit, I like his idea…”
    I look over where Peter is standing. The cameras, as always, are on us. As much as I want to ignore them and have a normal night, I can’t. People in the bowling alley are staring at us, and a few are taking pictures. As I begin to think about it, I realize normal will never be an option for me , especially if I continue doing music.
    Stephan starts to get up to go pick out his ball, but I stop him. “Hey, Stephan… I was wondering what you would think if I chose to quit.”
    “Quit what?”
    “Music,” I answer quietly.
    He thinks for a moment before responding, and I’m scared of what his reaction will be.
    “I think that before you quit, you need to prove to yourself that you can do this with your music. After you prove it to yourself that you can, if you still want to quit, then I would be behind you one hundred percent.”
    “Okay, but what if after this I want to continue? Would you really be okay being in the spotlight with me?” I have to know.
    “Scar, if I couldn’t handle it, I never would’ve talked to you that first day in study hall.”
    “Right.” I cross my arms over my chest. “It’s not like you knew then that you’d fall in love with… I mean…” Crap. I said the word love again. “I’m sorry. I meant… Actually, never mind. Just forget I said that.”
    I start to walk to pick out my ball, but Stephan grabs my wrists and pulls me close to him. “Don’t ever be afraid to say what you’re feeling.”
    I’m feeling love.
    But I’m not going to say it and be rejected.
    “I won’t,” I say, but it’s a lie. I’m scared to death.
    We both go grab our bowling balls, and when we come back to the lane, Alec is putting everybody’s name in the computer.
    “Have room for one more?” I hear a voice behind us. I turn around to see Mona standing there, holding a lime green bowling ball.
    “Yes, we do,” Ethan quickly says, stepping between her and Stephan.
    I look at Ethan. “Can you and I talk? Privately…”
    Ethan nods and turns to Stephan and Mona. “Don’t kill each other while we’re gone.” Then he follows me away from the others.
    I stop suddenly once we’re out of earshot and turn toward him. “Mona? Really, Ethan? What the fuck were you thinking ?”
    I’m desperately trying to ignore the cameras.
    “It wasn’t me,” he quickly denies. “I didn’t even tell her we were coming here.”
    I look over at Peter, who is looking anywhere besides me. It was him . It had to be.
    “But since she’s here, maybe you could convince her to tell Stephan,” he tells me. “I think it’s a great idea. It’s not really your place to tell him. It should definitely come from her.”
    “How am I supposed to convince her?”
    “I don’t know.” He pats me on the back. “But I’m sure you’ll think of something.”
    He walks away, and I lean up against the wall for support.
    How did I get myself into this situation?
    “Scarlett? Can I have your autograph?” I hear somebody ask.
    I’m about to tell the person to fuck off, but when I open my eyes I see a little girl about Anna’s age. She’s holding out a notebook toward me.
    “Sure.” I take the notebook and pen from her. “What’s your name?”
    “Hilary,” she answers.
    I sign her notebook and hand it back to her. “It’s very nice to meet you, Hilary.”
    “Thank you.” She grins and runs back towards her parents who are watching her from a couple lanes over.
    As I walk back toward my friends, Peter comes up beside me. “I really thought for a minute there you were going to tell that little girl to get lost.”
    I shrug. “Sometimes it would be nice to have a normal night out, but I’m not going to take it out on her. She’s just a child.”
    “But you wanted this life.”
    “I guess,” I say, biting my lip. “I was fifteen when I got signed to a label, and my career took off so fast. My parents controlled my life, and at the time, I didn’t think I had a choice in the matter. Besides,