Following Me (22 page)

It wasn’t like Devon had anyone
to impress anyway.  Jenn could get over it, and Brennan wouldn’t be in anyway. 
He had called in sick every day since his gig.  Jenn hadn’t said what was
wrong, but it must have been serious.  He never missed work as far as Devon
could tell.

She cursed a second time and
openly glared back at the old woman until she broke eye contact.  Devon was not
a woman to be messed with right now.  Since Brennan had not come into work, she
hadn’t talked to him in four, going on five, days.  He probably thought she was
a super shitty person for walking out on his show without a word.  When she had
found out he was sick, she had sent him a text, but she hadn’t received a
response.  She could only assume he was pissed or deathly ill.  Neither were
preferable options.

As the train came to a halt, Devon
pushed her way through the doors before they opened all the way.  She brushed
her hair off her face as the heat of the city hit her full-on.  She wanted to
run straight to Jenn’s, but she knew if she ran, she would be sweating by the
time she got there.  That wouldn’t help her case any.

Not able to help herself, she
rushed down the flight of stairs to the street level.  When her phone started
ringing loudly in her purse, she cursed again. 
Now was not the time.

She grabbed the phone out of her
purse, stared down at the screen, and sighed.  Not the best time, but she had
been avoiding her mother for too long.

“Hey, Mama,” Devon said, leaning
the phone against her ear as she pushed through the turnstile.

“Hey, honey!  How are you?  I’ve
missed you so much this summer,” she said, gushing like always.

“I’ve been fine.  How are you and
Dad?  How is Dani?”  Devon said, asking the requisite questions.

“We’re all great, Dixie.”

Devon rolled her eyes.  She would
never live down that nickname.

“Your father started a new song
that would bring tears to your beautiful blue eyes.”

Devon’s thoughts drifted to
another song that had brought tears to her eyes last week.  She swallowed down
that thought.  This would be a good time to ask her parents about helping out
Brennan.  She opened her mouth to say something, but then she closed it again. 
How would she explain Brennan when her mom didn’t even know she was in
Chicago?
  Devon cringed.

“I really think this one is going
to be a hit.  Dani was almost emotional,” her mother said.

“Another sad one?” Devon trotted
down the stairs, barely listening to her mom.  She didn’t want to think about
how she would explain Brennan to her parents, but now, all she was thinking
about was how to do it.

“No!  It’s so happy that you
would just cry with happiness,” her mother said, giddy.  “It’s really, truly
beautiful.”

“That’s good, Mom,” Devon said
dryly.

“We can’t wait to see who the
record label chooses for it.”

“Mama, I’m kind of busy.  Can we
talk later?”  Devon said, treading the familiar track to Jenn’s.

“Oh, I’ll just be quick and tell
you why I called!  So, I bought our plane tickets to New York.  I bought one
for you—” she began.

“Mom!” Devon whined, drawing the
word out as long as she could.  “I’m not going.”

“Now, Dixie, be reasonable.  It’s
refundable just in case you can’t make it, but really, you should be able to
make it.  It’s a nonstop flight from St. Louis to LaGuardia.  I even got first
class,” her mother cooed as if that would make up for it.

“Mom!”

“It’s going to be really fun! 
Your father and I have been nominated for an award, honey!”

“Mom!” Devon tried again.

“It’s going to be so nice to have
the whole family back together,” her mom said.

“I’m not going, Mama.  I’m too
busy.”

“I’ll send you the flight
information in an email.  Dustin thinks that he and Kelly aren’t going either,
but I’ve already sent their itinerary along.  I’m sure they’ll come around,”
she said, oblivious to Devon’s frustration.  “Did you need me to get Reid a
ticket as well?”

“No,” Devon said flatly.

“Are you sure?  I’d be happy to
get one for him, too,” she said in a singsong tone.

“I’m not going, so if you got
Reid a ticket, he would be going
without
me,” Devon said.

“Dixie, please,” her mother said,
turning on the waterworks like a light switch.

Devon sighed, hating when her
mother did this.  She couldn’t deal with this right now.

“I’ve got to go to work.  I’ll
talk to you some other time,” Devon said hastily.

“Work?” her mom asked.

Devon stopped in the middle of
the street.
Shit!

She hadn’t meant to say that. 
She was slipping.  Her mother wasn’t even supposed to know that she was
working.  She needed to come up with something quickly.  No one was supposed to
know what she was doing.  If one person found out, the whole thing would come
tumbling down.

“Yeah, I’m just filling in for a
friend at a restaurant.  They were shorthanded, and I offered to help,” Devon
lied, trying to cover up her mistake.

“Do you need extra money, Dixie? 
I’d be happy to put some into your account,” her mother offered.

“No, I’m fine,” she said quickly.

“I don’t like the thought of you
working when you’re already so busy.”

“I just…have to go,” Devon said,
cursing herself for fucking up.  “Bye, Mom.”

Devon threw her phone back into
her purse in frustration.  She was already at the back door to Jenn’s, and she
needed to get her shit together.

She headed inside and waited for
the shitstorm that was likely to surface.  Quickly stashing her bag in the
break room, she surfaced just in time to see Brennan walk into the kitchen. 
She stopped in her tracks, surprised to see him.  Jenn had said he wouldn’t be
in all week, and he still looked pretty sick. 
What was he doing here?

“Hey,” Devon said, wanting to say
something before he did.  “Sorry about running out of the show last week.  I wasn’t
feeling well.”

Brennan shrugged, not looking
directly at her.  “I guess it’s going around.”

“Yeah, but I feel bad.  I should
have waited,” she said.  “You put on a great show.”

“Thanks,” he said. “I thought it
went well.”

He still hadn’t met her gaze. 
What
was up with him?

“I really liked the last song.” 
She bit her lip, hoping he would look at her.

“I think it still needs some
work.”

Devon tried to figure out a
different angle.  He seemed even more off and withdrawn than normal.  “Are you
feeling any better?  Jenn said you were sick.”

He shrugged again.  “I guess. 
Some.  I just came in for my check.”  He waved it dismissively in the air.

“Oh.  So, you’re not staying?” 
Her stomach sank.

“Jenn won’t clear me even though
I told her it wasn’t that bad.  She said I handle food, and she doesn’t want me
to contaminate her customers.”

A faint smile touched his face
when he finally looked up at her.  He really didn’t look good.  No wonder Jenn
was sending him home.

“That sucks,” she said, not sure
what else to say.

He felt so far away.  Through his
music, she felt like they had connected on a different level, one that even she
couldn’t figure out.  Yet, she had left, and now, it was like he was an empty
vessel.

“Hey, how did your medical exams
go?”  She hoped changing the subject would bring him out of his funk.  She had
forgotten to ask him about it at his show.

He visibly flinched at the
words.  “Fine.”

She wasn’t sure how she had
managed to make him even less comfortable. “Do you think you’ll get into the schools
you want?”

“We’ll just wait and see,” he
responded dryly.

It was the same tone she had used
with her mother. 
That wasn’t good.

“Well…good luck,” she muttered.

“I’ve got to get out of here. 
Not feeling as well as I thought, I guess.  I’ll see you around, Devon,” he
said with a half-smile before he walked out the back door.

She watched him leave with a
heavy weight on her chest. 
Hadn’t she left St. Louis to escape her
problems?  Why did it feel like the farther she ran, the more problems kept
piling up?
  Nothing was working, and she couldn’t hide out in Chicago
forever.  She would have to face what had happened to her before school started
or else it would only get worse.

Somehow, she
would have to factor Brennan into all of that because whatever she was feeling
wasn’t going away.  Her stomach twisted at that thought.  Brennan didn’t need
to be anywhere
near
her problems…they could get him killed.

JENN WAS BEYOND bitchy when she
finally found Devon.  Devon couldn’t really blame her; it was a holiday. 
Who
was late on the Fourth of July?
  She was missing all the fun with parades,
barbeques, and American flags everywhere outside.  She wished that she could
have had the day off, but Jenn’s was slammed.  Hannah had called in sick, and
there was no way that Jenn was going to let Devon leave early, especially after
she had shown up twenty minutes late.

The only good part about being
this busy was that Devon didn’t have any time to think.  She was on her feet
all morning, literally running at some points to get through orders faster. 
Her head was pounding by noon, and her feet hurt like the first day she had
started working there.

Just as she was taking her first
break of the day, Devon saw Hadley walk into the restaurant.  Hadley had been
as scarce in the apartment as when Devon had first confronted her about the
drugs.  This time, Devon was pretty sure that it wasn’t her fault though.  She
had never found out what had caused Hadley’s argument with Garrett.  Hadley
hadn’t been around all week, so Devon hadn’t gotten the chance to ask her.

Garrett hadn’t been acting any
differently toward her.  He clearly didn’t know that Devon knew about the
argument.  The more time she spent with him, the more she thought it must be
Hadley’s fault.  He wouldn’t be that carefree about the situation if it had
been his fault.  She knew because she felt terribly guilty for leaving St.
Louis, like it was her fault for not facing her problems, for not somehow being
better.

Garrett didn’t show any signs of
feeling bad about the argument, whereas Devon knew Hadley was using.

Hadley’s eyes roamed the
restaurant, and when she found Devon, she bit her lip and nodded her head to
the side.

Hmm…

Devon was on her break, so she
did have some time to talk to Hadley, but all things considered, it was weird
that Hadley wanted to talk to her.  It was also strange that Hadley was alone. 
It was a holiday.  She should have been with her family, or with Garrett, or
with Garrett’s family.

What the hell?
Devon
thought, deciding to go find out.

“Hey, do you have a minute?”
Hadley asked when Devon reached her.  “I know it’s packed in here.”

“I’m on break actually,” Devon
said.

Hadley looked relieved and
motioned for her to follow her outside.  Devon’s curiosity was getting the
better of her.  She wasn’t going to miss a chance to talk to Hadley even if
Devon wasn’t sure of the circumstances.

They walked around the side of
the building and stood in the alleyway facing the street.  It wasn’t exactly
private, but it was more privacy than they would get inside.  Plus, if Jenn saw
Devon in the break room, she would likely flip, and Devon’s fifteen minutes
would be up.  Devon leaned back against the brick building and waited for
Hadley to say something.

“Hey,” Hadley said awkwardly as
if she wasn’t talking to her best friend.

“What’s up, Hadley?” Devon asked,
knowing there was something to this.

What was she going to ask
for—money for her drugs?
  Devon couldn’t help thinking the worst of Hadley,
and it made her feel bad.  Hadley was her best friend, and Devon needed to act
like it.  Just because she was going through her own issues didn’t mean she
couldn’t keep trying to help Hadley.  It was something Devon could work toward,
but it was another thing she had just as little control over.

Hadley sighed and looked down at
the ground.  “I didn’t know who else to talk to,” she whispered.

She sounded more like the Hadley
that Devon knew before she had found out Hadley was on drugs.

“About what?” Devon asked
carefully.  She didn’t want to scare Hadley off.

Hadley swallowed and fidgeted. 
“I’ve…I’ve been trying to quit.”

“That’s great, Hadley!” Devon
cheered.

“I’m still working on it,” she
said, fidgeting some more.  “I didn’t really come to talk about that though.  I
just…just thought you should know.”

Damn!
  That was the best
news she’d had all day.  Devon didn’t know exactly what it meant, but at least
it showed that Hadley knew she had a problem.  Progress was progress.

“I’m really glad you told me,”
Devon said honestly.

“There’s, um…more.”  Hadley bit
her lip and moved from the ball of her foot to the other.  “Garrett and I got
into this huge fight the other night.”

“You did?” Devon asked, feigning
surprise.  Now wasn’t the time to reveal that she already knew this much.

“Yeah.  You might have noticed I
haven’t been at the apartment much.”

“I did.”

“Well, I just got so angry at
him.  I…I slapped him, Dev,” Hadley said, her hands shaking.  “Gah, I mean…what
happens if we break up, and he kicks me out of the apartment?  It’s his place. 
He could do it if he wanted.”

Hadley was blabbering on, and
Devon was just staring at her, surprised that Hadley had told her.

“Wait…wait…back it up,” Devon
said.  “What were you even fighting about?”

“That’s the thing.  I don’t even
know.  It all just escalated and got way out of hand,” Hadley said, glancing
off into the distance.