Girl Online: On Tour (8 page)

“I know.” She casts her eyes down to the ground. “It was wrong of me. I don’t know what happened to us, Penny. We used to be such good friends.”

“I guess we just grew apart.”

“Well, if there’s any hope for us to still be friends, I’d like that . . .”

We stare at each other for a moment, and eventually
Megan smiles. It’s so full of warmth that I can’t help it: I nod. “I’d like that too,” I say. Then I smirk, and look down at our matching dresses. “Hey, we must look like twins walking around in the same outfit.”

She laughs warmly. “Yeah, well, you can’t buy good taste, right? Come on.” She takes my arm again. “Everyone will be worried about where you are. Let’s get you home.”

Chapter Nine

When we arrive back at my house, all the curtains are closed and the hallway is dark. I’m confused. Did my parents go out for the evening? Then I hear voices from the living room and realize they must be watching a film. I gesture for Megan to follow me in. The living-room door creaks as I push it open.

“Mum?” I say tentatively.

What I don’t expect is for her to leap off the sofa when she hears my voice. “Goodness, Penny!” she says, clutching her chest. “You frightened me! Your father put on one of those awful horror films that he knows I can’t stand.” She throws him an evil glare, but Dad just laughs it off. He knows as well as I do that my mum loves a good scare—it’s all in the name of drama, after all!

Then she genuinely does frown as she looks at me. “But what are you doing home so early? We weren’t expecting you for hours yet.” She looks at Megan, and I can tell she’s trying not to blurt out another question as to why Megan is here with me after everything that happened with
Girl Online
.

I can’t help it—I break down into shaky tears as I describe
my panic attack and the sense of claustrophobia in the crowd, and eventually Megan takes over, filling in the gaps where I don’t remember. When she’s finished, Dad flicks on the lights and potters off to make a cup of tea. Before I know it, I’m feeling much better, and a new feeling starts to dominate my nervous system. It’s no longer anxiety; it’s guilt. Even though I had no phone, no wallet, and no way of leaving him a note or getting a message to him, I still know that Noah will go crazy with worry when he finds out I left without telling him.

“I’m just going to nip upstairs and let Noah know I’ve come home,” I say.

Mum nods, then she smiles at Megan. “How are your parents, sweetheart? It’s so nice to see you again . . .” Leaving Mum to catch up with Megan, I run up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

As soon as I’ve written a direct message to Noah (he’s far more likely to check Twitter than his email), I also take a moment to open up my blog. Megan’s apparent change of heart has been playing on my mind, and I know who I want to tell.

I know it’s my second post today, but it feels like the longest day ever! So much has happened.

Do you remember a while back when I wrote about drifting apart from a friend? And then that “friend” turned out to be the very person who sold me out to the media? (I know—who needs enemies when you have friends like that, right?)

Well, she actually apologized.

Can you believe it? I never thought I would see the day.

She helped me out when I thought no one would, and was really nice to me. And, even though I kept looking for an ulterior motive, she didn’t seem to have one.

She was just nice.

She was my old friend again.

It felt good to have her there to talk to. Is that weird? Is it even possible to forgive something so big? Can I ever forget what she did to me?

She even said she had been jealous of me. How can that be right? I guess we don’t always know what other people are thinking, even if they seem to have everything figured out.

Wiki, I know you will hate this when you find out.

But I think I want to forgive her. I can’t throw away that many years of friendship so easily . . .

Anyway, I will keep you posted.

Girl Offline . . . never going online xxx

•  •  •

I change out of my dress and into my most comfortable onesie, then head back downstairs. Mum and Dad switch the film back on, so Megan and I curl up on the sofa to watch as well.

It’s not very long until there’s a frantic knock on the door. Dad goes to open it and Noah runs into the room.

“Penny, thank god!” Noah’s face is as white as a sheet. Seeing him wrenches the knot in my stomach. He rushes over and gives me a hug. “What the heck happened? I came out after my set to find you, and Elliot said he hadn’t seen you at all. When I saw all your stuff in the dressing room, I was so worried about you. I called you about a bajillion times . . .”

“I’m so sorry, Noah. I can’t believe I missed your set. I was so excited it just completely went out of my head to
even check that I had my ticket with me. Then someone in the crowd knocked my phone out of my hand and it all became way too much for me. Thankfully Megan was there to help me out.”

“I wish it could have been me. If I’d known what was going on . . .”

“You would have leapt off the stage?” I say, laughing. “There was nothing you could do. Besides, it’s OK now.” He hands me back everything I left backstage and I smile gratefully. Now it’s only my phone that is missing.

“Hey, Noah.” I look up at the unfamiliar voice and I’m surprised to see Blake standing there. “Now that you’ve found her, I’m going to get back to the hotel.”

“Sure, man, thanks for helping me out. Can you let Dean know everything’s OK? And get him to check with security to see if anyone’s handed in Penny’s phone. It’s got a pink case with
PP
doodled in black Sharpie on the back,” Noah says.

“Uh, Penny, I’d better go too.” Megan stands up from her seat and gives me a little wave, but I can tell her attention is all on Blake, despite this being the first time she’s met Noah. Slouched against the doorway, Blake strikes an edgier, grungier vibe than Noah, and possesses that rock-star confidence that can only come from being onstage in front of a huge, screaming audience. Megan casually takes her hair out of her bun, shaking it out around her shoulders, and I can see Blake stand up and take notice too. “Thanks for the tea, Dahlia.”

“Of course, Megan,” says my mum. “Thank you for being there for Penny today. It’s nice to see the two of you together again.”

“My pleasure. Any time. See you later, Penny.” Megan flashes me a wide smile, tossing her hair and rolling her shoulders back to showcase her outfit—my dress somehow looks completely different on her. At least I know the world hasn’t completely turned upside down; this is the Megan I’m used to.

“Megan . . . thanks. A lot,” I say. “I’ll see you around.”

She nods and disappears down the hall towards the front door. Blake follows a step behind.

“What are
you
doing here?” comes a high-pitched voice from the hallway. I cringe as I realize Elliot must have come into the house just as Megan was leaving. Talk about bad timing.

“I was helping out my
friend
, which is more than I can say for you.”

I let out a noise that is somewhere between strangled cat and deranged weasel, then jump up and run into the hallway. A battle between Megan and Elliot is not what I need right now.

“Elliot,” I say, and I give him a look I hope says,
It’s OK. Megan might have redeemed herself but I’m not sure yet.
Can a single look convey that entire message? I’m not too sure.

He seems to get it though, in the way that only best friends can.

“See you later, Megan,” he says through gritted teeth.

“Bye,” she says, before finally leaving, followed closely by Blake.

“Don’t let the door hit your giant head on the way out!” he shouts at the closed door. He looks up and takes in my appearance, which I imagine can be summed up in one
word: disaster. I’ve changed into my favourite onesie, my hair is a bedraggled mess, and my eyes are still swollen from crying.

We all regroup in the living room. “Princess Penny, what happened?” asks Elliot.

I decide to tell him the condensed version of the story—I can always fill in the details later, in private, and he’ll also read the blog I wrote. It’s not just my feelings that I have to consider right now—I’m also aware of the look on my mum’s face, the frown that deepens every time she hears me talk about how panicky I got. I’m not used to seeing her look so worried. Normally she’s carefree and breezy, taking every concern in her stride.

But now I can feel my chance to go on tour with Noah slipping through my fingers. If she thinks I can’t handle it . . .

Dad pours more tea into my mug—a Disney one with Piglet, my favourite character, on the front. I hug the mug to my chest, feeling its warmth spread through my body. I lean into Noah’s arms. He’s holding me so tightly I don’t think he ever wants to let me go.

Elliot sits down on the floor, and my parents both take chairs opposite. I feel like we’re about to go into full-blown interrogation mode. Mum and Dad exchange a long look, before turning to Noah and me. “I think this is exactly what we were afraid of,” says Dad, his voice grave.

Mum nods. “Your dad’s right, Penny. There’s no way we can let you go to Europe now.”

Chapter Ten

“Mum, what? No!” I say, my jaw almost hitting the floor.

“Not if this is how it’s going to be, Noah,” continues Mum, and she sounds angrier than I expected. “It’s not going to be possible for Penny to just walk home from a concert in Berlin or Paris! You promised she would be taken care of—if this is how it works in Brighton, how will she cope in Europe?”

“It was my first time backstage, Mum; I promise I’ll be more prepared next time . . . ”

Mum shoots me a look that makes me snap my mouth shut. I’m going to have to work a lot harder to prove to them that I’m ready for this; I certainly haven’t proved it today.

Noah removes his arm from round me and leans towards my parents. “I promise this will never happen again. Penny won’t have to go out into the crowds by herself at the concerts in Europe—it was only because she was going to sit with her friends this time that she even had a separate ticket. And I promise every single person on my security team and The Sketch’s will know her face and will always look out for
her. She’s already met Larry, my bodyguard, and I’ll make sure he doesn’t let her out of his sight.”