Chapter 7
I didn't like the sound of Dad's voice when he told me that we were going to have a family discussion. I knew it was serious and that I wasn't going to like it one bit. Unfortunately, I couldn't escape the discussion so I got out of my bed and made my way downstairs. Mom and Dad were sitting on the leather couch in the living room.
"We need to talk," Dad said.
"I got that," I said. "I know what a discussion is." I sat down on one of the chairs, wondering what they were going to talk about.
Dad sighed for a long amount of time before saying, "You need to get your drinking problem out of control."
"So I've been told," I said. "One or a hundred times."
"We're serious, Hunter," Mom said. "With a baby on the way, it won't be safe."
"What do you mean it won't be safe?" I asked. "I stay in my room when I drink and it never affected anyone. I know the baby is important, but so am I. I've been trying to get my problem under control for a long time."
"Obviously a long time isn't enough," Dad said. "We need to get you professional help."
My eyebrows shot up at the news. "Professional help?! I don't need professional help!"
"It's the only way," Dad said. "It's how I fixed my problem."
"But I am not you," I said. "Just because you were able to fix your problem, it doesn't mean I will. I'm already so busy with school and now getting tutored. I don't have time to get professional help!"
"Hunter, we're trying to help," Mom said.
I snorted a laugh, standing up from the chair. "You're trying to help? If you were really trying to help, then you would actually listen to me for once!" I turned around and walked out of the living room, heading straight to my bedroom.
I locked my door and pushed the blankets that were hanging off my bed to the side. I hesitated before reaching under, something I hadn't done before. Violet's words from a few days ago echoed in my mind. If you ever feel upset about something, you could always call me.
I sighed and grabbed my cell phone off of my nightstand and dialed Violet's number. She answered after two rings. "Hello?"
"I need someone to talk to," I said quickly, tempting to just hang up. I never really talked to anyone about my problems before.
"Is everything okay?" Violet asked.
"No," I said honestly. "You told to call if I ever feel upset about anything."
"Yeah," Violet said. "You want to talk about it?"
I took a deep breath before sighing. "My parents want me to get professional help with my problem."
"That's a good thing, right?" Violet asked.
"No, it's not," I said. "Me getting professional help means that they're just getting someone else to help because they don't want to do it themselves. I just wish they would talk to me."
"Do you want to hang out somewhere?" Violet asked. "It would help getting your mind off of things."
Honestly, that sounded cool. I had never hung out with anyone before, mainly because everyone thought I was a loser and a loner. I didn't really care what they think, though. The joke's on them because they called the son of a celebrity a loser.
"That sounds great," I said.
"We could go to the carnival in town," Violet suggested. "I heard that the rides there are amazing."
"Yeah, sure," I said. "I'll meet you there." We both hung up and I went downstairs, where Mom and Dad were talking about something. They looked at me, eyebrows raised. "Dad, can you take me to the carnival?"
Dad scoffed and rolled his eyes. "You gave us attitude and expect to be allowed to go to the carnival?"
"Please?" I asked. "You want me to stop drinking, right? Well, my friend wants to hang out and help get my mind of things. Please?"
Dad sighed and got up from the couch, making his way outside. Taking it as a yes, I followed him. "You're sixteen, Hunter," he muttered. "Get your licence."
We both got into his car. "I have a horse," I reminded. "I don't need my licence."
"Then why not ride Thunder to the carnival?" Dad asked as he pulled out of the parking lot.
He did have a point, but still. I'd rather have a horse than be one of those guys who are obsessed with their cars.
After a few minutes of complete silence, I decided to speak up. "Dad, I'm really sorry for my attitude," I said. "I don't want to get professional help, though. It's something I want only certain people to know about. Only people I trust."
"You can trust the professional help," Dad told me.
"I know," I said. "But I don't want professional help. I'm trying to deal with it. Just trust me."
Dad pulled into the parking lot of the carnival. "You better," Dad said. "Or I will have to take matters in my own hands."
I sighed and got out of the car. I didn't know what he meant by taking matters into his own hands, but I didn't want to know.
Violet was waiting nearby, so I walked over to her. "Hi," she said with a smile.
"Hey," I replied. "So what do you want to do first?"
"I'm actually kind of hungry," Violet said. "I totally forgot to eat before I left."
"Then we'll get food," I said. "I'll pay."
"I can't ask you to pay for me," Violet objected.
I, however, wasn't going to take no for an answer. "I'm paying," I announced as we began walking to the food stand. "It's the least I can do after everything you've done for me."
We stood in the somewhat long line up, and Violet was still objecting me paying for her. "I didn't do that much," she said.
"You're tutoring me," I said. "You never told anyone who my parents were. You promised not to tell anyone about my problem. And you're the only friend I have. Besides, it's not like paying for you will make me broke."
"You're not going to take no for an answer," she said. "Are you?"
I smiled and shook my head as we almost reached the front of the line. I looked at the food menu, blinking a few times as I tried reading what was on there. Needless to say, it wasn't working.
"I can't read the menu," I told Violet in a quiet voice.
Violet looked at the menu and began reading everything out loud for me, alone with the price. I was so thankful for that.
When we reached the front of the line, we gave the worker our order. As I was pulling the money out of my wallet, the worker said to me, "You look very familiar."
I looked at him, eyebrows furrowed. I hadn't seen him before in my life, and he looked like he was in college, not high school. "I don't know how," I said. "It's my first time here."
I handed him the money and he gave me the change as he started working on our order. "I don't recognize customer faces anyway," he said. He gave us the food, then snapped his fingers as if he got it. "I know. You look a lot like Austin Bolton."
"Really?" I asked. Nobody had ever said that before, but sometimes I did think I looked a lot like my dad did when he was my age.
"Yeah," he said. "You almost look exactly like he did when he was a teenager. Hold on a second....." I winced, hoping he wouldn't realize who I actually was. "You're his son, aren't you?"
"Nope," I lied. "No way."
"That's why you look familiar!" he said, ignoring what I just said. "You were on the talk show last week with Austin Bolton! You are his son!"
Since he was talking a little bit too loud, a lot of people's heads shot this way and began muttering amongst each other.
"Thank you for the food," I said. "We'll be going now."
Violet and I walked to a nearby bench and sat down, many people's eyes on me. I was beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable. I was just a normal person, not some celebrity.
"Don't worry," Violet said. "People are only curious to see what Austin Bolton's son looks like up close. It's not like they're all going to rush over to you and ask for an autograph."
"Thank goodness for that," I said. "Because I don't have a signature."
We continued eating our food, then decided to walk around before going on any rides to let the food digest. We walked by a stage and I couldn't help but notice how frantic the workers nearby looked. Violet must have noticed it too because she walked over to them with me following. "Is there no live music?" she asked. She must have been to the carnival before if she knew there was supposed to be live music.
One of the workers sighed and shook her head. "No. The band who was supposed to be playing quit at the last minute. We haven't been able to find anyone." She then eyed me before having a look that told me she had an idea. "What about you?"
"Me?" I asked. Why would she ask if I could do it? "I don't sing." That was a lie, but I had never performed in front of a crowd before. Besides, I hadn't practiced any songs whatsoever.
"You don't sing?" she asked. "Aren't your parents the Austin and Maybelle Bolton."
I sighed. So that was what it was about. "That doesn't mean I can sing."
"Can you excuse us for a minute?" Violet asked before pulling me away. "Hunter, you have to do it. For one, it will save the carnival. And two, it will help get your mind off everything."
"I don't sing."
Violet crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "You do remember that the day after you were on the talk show, you told me you can sing."
I sighed. "I can sing, but I don't sing."
"That makes no sense," Violet said. "Come on, Hunter. You'll do great."
"But I don't know any songs to sing," I said. "Sure, I have every single on of my dad's songs memorized and sometimes he taught me how to sing them but....." I stopped talking once I realized that nothing I was saying was helping my case. "Okay, the truth is I don't want to sing because I don't want to be compared to my dad."
"You won't be," Violet assured, but I wasn't so sure. "Please?"
I sighed, not being able to attempt to say no to her. The look she was giving me was hard enough as it was. "Alright, fine. But I'll only sing one song."
Violet smiled and threw her arms around me. "Thank you, Hunter!" She grabbed my wrist and pulled me back to the worker. "He'll sing one song, but that's it. Only one song."
The worker smiled and handed me a microphone. "One song is good enough! Thank you for doing this. What song will you sing?"
I thought for a bit before giving her the name of my dad's biggest hit song when he was my age. After finding the backing track for the song, the worker literally pushed me onto the stage. With a microphone in her hand, she said, "We are so sorry for the inconvenience. We knew most of you were expecting the band that was performing today, but sadly they quit at the last minute. However, we are lucky enough to have the son of Austin Bolton perform a song for us. Give it up for Hunter Bolton!"
They cheered for a bit, which was a weird feeling. When the cheering died down, the backing track to the song played. I took a deep breath before beginning to sing. After a few lines, I had to admit I was loving it. Performing on the stage gave me such a good feeling, not to mention everything in my mind was pushed to the back. For once in my life, I felt free. I felt like nothing could hold me back.