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SHE WAS BACK, standing in Salt Lake City International Airport wearing a One Direction shirt and jeans with sun-bleached hair that she'd straightened and sun-kissed skin from all her time outside.
Of course, she wouldn't be Phoebe Miller without Taylor Swift. I Know Places played in her earphones, making her think about what was in store for her future.
Phoebe looked down at her phone, waiting for a text from her dad or her brother telling her that they were there. She was excited to see them, having gone nearly two months without Jack annoying her or James randomly knocking on her door to check up on her. Even though both of them would call her to do those things, it wasn't the same as being there in person.
After the two of them and her boyfriend, Ricky Bowen, dropped her off in California, she'd been unpacking and settling into her room while listening to music. When Never Grow Up had come up, she'd started sobbing.
Her phone vibrated in her hand, a text from her dad telling her they were pulling into the parking lot. Phoebe looked up and smiled as she watched James park. She started walking over to the car.
James immediately took her suitcase from her. "Hi, sweetie," her father greeted her, pulling her in for a hug.
She let out a small breath as she melted into his arms, happy to be home. At first, California had been a good fresh start. She'd written a ton of songs and had so many ideas. But then she got signed to her label that practically forced her into making an album and shot down all of her songs that were happy.
She pulled away from James and turned to the 13 year old boy beside him with open arms, grinning at him as he pretended to be annoyed. Jack had grown a lot since she'd last seen him and was now about an inch taller than her.
The drive home consisted of Jack asking Phoebe if she could introduce him to any famous people and then asking why she wasn't friends with any famous people.
Nothing in her house had changed. Her piano still sat in the hallway and her room was in the exact same condition she'd left it. She huffed and forced herself to start unpacking, knowing that her suitcase would sit there for weeks if she didn't.
It took her about an hour to put everything away. She sat back down on her bed when she was done and opened up her phone, clicking on Ricky's contact. She hesitated, wondering if she wanted to wait and surprise him tomorrow. She decided she couldn't wait that long and pressed the FaceTime button.
