Faded (Rock Star Trilogy)

want.”
    “I'm an only child,” Alec tells them, like it’s an explanation.
    Alec's dad is Steven Torch. He was a rock star back in the day, and now he owns Ace Record Company, which used to be a sister company to mine. He is a very rich guy.
    And Alec is very spoiled . He has any and everything he wants, and he always has.
    “I need to document this for the documentary,” Alec says, pulling a camera out of his bag.
    I glare at him. “Seriously?”
    “What? They gave me a camera so I could record pre-show stuff. There is going to be thirteen hours of footage on TV. It's going to take a lot of recording to get that.”
    I roll my eyes as he turns the camera on me.
    “So, Scarlett, tell me, what are you feeling?”
    I flash him a fake smile. “I'm feeling like I want to shove this camera up your ass.”
    “Okay…” He turns the camera to Bridgett. “What about you, Bridgett? Are you excited about your first trip to Europe?”
    “I’m actually more nervous than anything.” She grins. “This is my fourth time on an airplane, and I still haven't gotten over my fear of flying.”
    “Don't worry, I'll protect you.” Alec puts his arm around her playfully.
    “Yeah, cause he could totally protect her if our airplane crashed,” Stephan whispers in my ear, and I can’t help but laugh at his sarcasm. He knows exactly how to distract me from… well, me .
    Alec turns the camera to Stephan. “What about you?”
    Stephan smiles, and then looks at me. “I think I need to go to the back when the plane takes off. Right, Scarlett?”
    I shake my head, and laugh.
    Alec turns the camera on himself. “Scarlett and Stephan are seriously gross. If they are what it's like to be in love, I hope I never am.” He fake gags, and turns off the camera.
    I wait for Stephan to tell him we're not in love. But he doesn't.
    “I can't wait to see you fall in love,” Stephan laughs. “When you do, I am going to torture you and your girl.”
    Once we take off, Alec falls asleep. I'm thankful, because it gives me time to think. I love him, but I seriously might go crazy living with him over the next few months.
    I think about my mom. I haven't seen her in almost ten months. It hurts to think of all the time that has gone by since I last spoke to her. I wonder if it's easy, since I'm not really her kid. Maybe she just never felt that mother-daughter connection with me.
    I think of Bridgett's mom. Sure, she's a psychotic bitch, but at least she loves Bridge. I'm lucky if I get an email from my mom once a month.
    Stephan is sitting beside me, and he sees my frown. “What's on your mind?” he asks.
    I sigh. “Family.” I know he doesn’t understand what I’m going through, because his mom adores him, and from what he has told me, so did his dad. But his family is pretty fucked up too.
    “Tell me about your mom.”
    So, I do. “My mom's name is Stephanie Ryan. She used to be beautiful, but she's had a lot of plastic surgery, so not so much anymore. Before I became a rock star, she was a teacher. She was always good with kids, but never with Stacy and me. Looking back, I wonder why they adopted me. It was always obvious that they didn't love either of us. But my parents had a pretty good marriage.
    “When we moved to LA, things took off pretty quickly for me. I had a ton of offers, first from the Disney Channel, but my parents wanted bigger. They said they wanted more than for me to be a child star . Luckily, when I was fourteen I looked older than I was. I got signed, went on tour and started recording my first album.
    “Soon after the money started rolling in, my parents started fighting. They couldn’t wait to spend all my money. Thankfully Alec’s dad suggested that we get a financial adviser. He convinced them to put fifty percent of my earnings into a trust fund; the remaining fifty percent would go to them.
    “The financial adviser must have known my parents were complete asses, because every property they bought automatically went in my name the day I turned eighteen. I hate to think that my parents would have gotten it all, especially considering how hard I worked.
    “I think my parents’ marriage started downhill when we first moved to LA, but they tolerated each other. It wasn't until I started making a lot of money that they finally separated. By then, it was almost a relief to have my mom out of the house. I couldn't handle being around the both of them anymore.”
    I shake my head, sad at the memory.