Pull

Chapter Twenty-two

Demetri

I sang as I walked back to my house. I’m not even ashamed

to admit it. Sure, I got a few weird looks, but I didn’t care. Hell,

they were getting a free concert as far as I was concerned. I mean, I

know I hadn’t sung in front of people in a while, the taffy corner

didn’t count, but I was still a rock star, right?

I did a little dance move as I jogged up to my door and

belted out the last part of the song before spinning around in a

circle.

The door opened wide, revealing a very stoic looking Bob.

“You high?”

“On life.” I nodded and lifted my hand for a high five.

Bob shook his head and shoved past me. “I’m going to run

to the store. Think you can stay out of trouble for a few hours?”

I nodded. “My virtue will stay intact, this I swear. If any

women scream and throw their bras at me, I promise to keep my

pants on. If they touch me, I’ll scream rape.”

“Can’t rape the willing…” Bob smirked. “But I wasn’t

talking about the women. Clearly you’ve been seeing Miss Alyssa

again, if that giant smile is any indicator. I was talking about, you

know… the stuff that came today.”

“Stuff? As in, presents? Clothes? Food? What stuff?”

The vein in Bob’s head twitched. “You don’t know? Haven’t

you checked any of your messages on your cell?”

“No.” To be honest I forgot all about my cell. I reached into

my back pocket and pulled it out. “Shit. How do I have thirty

missed calls?”

“Yes, well, if you don’t mind stepping out of the clouds for a

minute, I’ll explain.” Bob was the best security you could ask for,

almost like a real human, if you ignored the fact that he looked like

a really pissed off Navy Seal.

“Shoot.” I crossed my arms.

“Short version.” Bob cleared his throat. “You’re

everywhere.”

“Dude, I’m famous, kind of goes with the territory.”

“No, you misunderstand me, you’re everywhere.”

“Care to explain?” My phone buzzed in my hand again. It

was Alec. “Hold on. What’s up, bro?”

“Finally!” he yelled, and then whispered. “I got ahold of

him.”

“Can someone please tell me what’s going on?”

“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.

Later that night I found out just how thrilled everyone was

about the whole rumor of me doing a reality show.

Holly and Aaron glared when I opened the door. I cursed

and ran my hands through my hair. “Not that I have to defend

myself, but it’s not true.”

“What’s not true?” Sam pushed past them and hit me on the

shoulder.

“This a*shole is doing a reality show here in Seaside.

Cameras have been following him for the past month. So was that

whole speech just for TV then, Demetri?” Aaron was chest to chest

with me. I took a step back and put my hands in the air.

“Okay, first off, you need to chill. Second, do you see any

cameras in my house? I mean, seriously? Third, do you think I

want all my own shit on live TV for people to see? Do you realize

how messed up my life has been? It’s not like I want to broadcast

the fact that my brother got my girlfriend pregnant, or that I had a

drug problem.”

“Your brother? A son?” Holly tilted her head.

Crap. I forgot I had only told Alyssa, and that it wasn’t in

group. “It’s not important.” I glared at both of them and waited.

They slowly nodded their heads and walked into the living

room. I exhaled and stole a glance at Sam. “You mad too?”

He shook his head. “Girls love celebrities, why would I be

mad?”

I groaned. “Panty throwing isn’t all it’s cracked out to be.”

“Yeah, pretty sure that’s a lie.” Sam laughed and walked

into the living room. I waited near the door. How the hell was I

going to explain this to Alyssa? She’d been working all day. She

sent me a text an hour ago saying she’d be at group, but it was ten

minutes past six and she still wasn’t here. I began to pace.

The doorbell rang. I nearly knocked myself out opening the

door.

Alyssa stood there, her smile was so bright I found myself

staring at her for a few minutes in complete silence.

“May I come in? Or are you just going to stare like an idiot

all night?” She put her hand on her hips. She was wearing low

slung hip hugger jeans with a cute hot pink tank top and flip flops.

I wanted to maul her.

I stepped forward and pulled her into a hug. “How about

we go hang out alone… and leave everyone here?”

“Some group leader you are…” came a voice behind me. I

turned to see Sam shaking his head in amusement. “Come on,

Alyssa, you can sit by me.”

“No touching.” I eyed them both and shut the door.

Sam lifted an eyebrow as if to say no promises. I flipped him

off as if to say I’d break every one of his fingers if he even thought

about it, and made my way into the room. We were missing our

final member, but I wasn’t sure if he was coming back after all the

drama from last time.

Sure enough, the minute I sat down the doorbell rang again.

I opened the door and was happy to see Connor standing there

with his hands shoved in his pockets.

“You made it.” I reached out to shake his hand. He nodded

and shook my hand and took a step into the house just as a flash

went off. I cursed and looked at the boardwalk where several

paparazzi were setting up camp.

“Shit.” I pushed Connor into the room and slammed the

door behind me.

Everyone came into the entryway to see my freak-out,

including Alyssa. “What’s going on?” she asked.

I groaned and banged the back of my head against the door.

“I swear I had no idea, you guys. I didn’t even find out until I got

home this afternoon. Nothing’s bugged in here, like I said. But the

minute you leave the house, your faces are going to be everywhere.

I’ll do my best to sneak you out the back. I guess we could call the

cops and put hoods over your heads.”

Alyssa burst out laughing. “Seriously? Hoods over our

heads? What’s going on?”

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out except

for air. I began to sweat.

Sam spoke for me. “The media seems to think Demetri is

going to be doing a reality show about Seaside. Some pictures of

you guys were leaked to the media as well as the information that a

show had been in the works and, voila, you’re caught up. Hey,

where’s the popcorn?”

Wordlessly, I pointed to the kitchen and put my head in my

hands and groaned. “Guys, you have to believe me. I really didn’t

know.”

Alyssa shrugged. “Demetri, it’s fine. Let’s just get on with

the session and then we can figure out how to get everyone out of

here.”

She made it sound so easy. As if I could just snap my fingers

and all the nightmares would disappear. I sighed and hung my

head. Instantly I felt her warm body pressed against mine and then

her lips were pressed against my cheek. I missed everything about

her — the way she smelled, the way her lips felt against my skin.

Hell, I would move heaven and earth for this girl. She had to know

what I felt for her, what I would do for her.

“Thanks,” I mumbled as she pulled away.

She shrugged and blushed. Damn, it was hot when she

blushed. “For what?”

“Making me feel better.”

“It’s the least I can do.”

“And what’s the most?” I pulled her back into my body and

slowly walked backwards until we were against the wall and out of

earshot of the rest of the crowd.

“T-the what?” she stuttered.

“The most.” I leaned in and smelt her hair, then trailed my

nose against the outside of her jaw, as my lips nibbled down

toward her mouth.

Alyssa closed her eyes and then tilted her head back. I kissed

her exposed neck. She gasped. My fingers bunched her shirt as I

started to lift it.

Someone cleared his throat.

She pushed me away.

I wanted to kill whoever just interrupted us. I turned slowly

and came face to face with Bob. Yeah, I’d lose in a fight with him.

He lifted an eyebrow and peered at both of us while crossing his

arms. Why did I suddenly feel like I just got caught doing

something wrong? I mumbled a curse and stepped around him,

grabbing Alyssa’s hand in the process.

Bob’s chuckle followed us into the living room. It irritated

the hell out of me. My body was hot and cold all at once. I just

wanted to be with Alyssa, not lead the stupid group or have to

worry about all the paparazzi outside.

“Look…” I took a deep breath and sat down. Everyone was

drinking soda and munching on popcorn. “I had no idea about this

whole reality show thing. Just so we’re clear. We can still meet, but

I think it might be smart for us to start meeting at someone else’s

house, considering the circumstances.”

“We can meet at mine,” Alyssa piped up and winked.

Man, I loved her.

What the hell?

I felt my mouth drop open at the realization. No. No way.

No way did I just say that in my head. I ran my fingers through my

hair and cleared my throat. “Um, okay. Thanks, Alyssa. That’s

really cool of you.” Deep breaths, Demetri, deep breaths. “So today

I want to talk about regret.”

Mrs. Murray had reminded me in our last counseling session

that it was important for people to voice something they regretted

not doing or saying to the person they lost. It had taken me three

months to finally go through with the process of writing my ex-

girlfriend a letter. I bawled for days and ate more taffy than I cared

to admit.

“What do you mean?” Aaron asked, grabbing a piece of

paper and pencil.

I hated opening up, but it seemed like the only way to get

them to understand things was to use myself as a guinea pig. Great.

Hopefully, I don’t cry like a girl. “I lost my dad when I was little.

He had cancer. But we knew he was sick. I have to admit I suck

around sick people. I think I’m traumatized from being around the

hospital so much, but the point is we knew it was coming. We

knew he was terminally ill. Therefore, my brother and I were able

to say goodbye, we were able to have no regrets with him.” I blew

out a shaky breath and continued. “I mean, I still regret that he

didn’t get to see my brother and me grow up, but that was beyond

my control. My dad didn’t get stolen from me. I didn’t wake up one

day to find him missing from my life. When you go through the

type of grief where a person is suddenly ripped away from you, it

feels like a part of your soul is missing. You look back and wonder

what you could have said or done, did they know how you felt?

Were they aware that you cared for them? Did you just get into a

fight? Those are the type of regrets I’m talking about. I know this

sounds like a lot of psychological bullshit, but Mrs. Murray’s

awesome at this stuff, and I know it really helped me.”

“It helped you?” Aaron narrowed his eyes. I shifted in my

seat.

Holly patted him on the hand and nodded. “I like it. Come

on, Aaron. Let’s go over and sit in the corner and decide what

we’re going to write.”

Soon everyone was dispersed around the room. Everyone,

but Alyssa.

“Are you okay?” I tapped her on the leg with a pencil. I

wanted to hold her, but she suddenly looked like the last thing she

wanted was for anyone to touch her.

“I don’t know if I can do this,” she whispered under her

breath.

I shrugged. “Just try. I’m going to go over there.” I pointed

to the kitchen. “Far, far away, so you can have your privacy, okay?

Just write what’s on your heart.”

She nodded and I walked off feeling like crap. I hated that

bastard, and I hated myself for hating him. I hated her for loving

him, but most of all I hated the connection I knew they still shared.