CHAPTER TEN
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ɴᴏʟᴀɴ ᴍᴜʟʟᴇɴ
After I dropped Oakley off, I knew it wasn't quite safe enough to go home yet, so I spent some time in my car in a parking lot, scrolling through social media.
Sometimes I wondered how they were so damn fast with writing those articles, because pictures of me and Oakley standing by my car were somehow everywhere.
How do they even write an entire article about that?
"Why did you go out of town?" my mom asked when I walked through the front door that night.
"I just wanted ice cream," I said innocently. My mom didn't like me trying to avoid paparazzi. And I knew trying was pointless.
"Nolan," she sighed. "We've talked about this."
"I just don't want everyone to look at me like that, mom. I have to watch where I walk and what I say every time I just want to go outside. It's exhausting."
"It's just the price you have to pay, Nolan. You love acting, I know it. But with your talent comes fame and I know you didn't want it, but you're stuck with it now."
It was the same story over and over again and every time she repeated it, I wanted to rip all of my hair out. I didn't need the same shit story I'd been getting since I was thirteen. I wanted someone to understand me.
"Oakley Carrillo was the guy you were seen with today. He's number one with his music, you see? And I have yet to hear a bad word about him. He never 'takes a break', but he's doing great, Nolan."
Maybe he's number one, but he didn't seem too happy either.
"I don't care, mom. I want to walk around in the streets without being scared of doing something stupid."
"Well, it's your decision what you're gonna do. You can give it all up and go to college like your friends, or you can stay here and do what makes you happy, but that means less privacy. We've been through this before, Nolan. We can't change the industry."
I sighed. How much I hated to hear it, it was the truth. And I did love acting. I'd done it my entire life and couldn't imagine never doing it again. Even in my break I actually had a tiny role in the school play, but I didn't want to be the lead because I didn't want to rob someone else of that role.
But it just felt nice, pretending to be someone else for a while. I couldn't imagine not doing it anymore.
"I get it," I said, slouching down on the couch.
"Now go to bed. Dahlia told me you have an audition next week."
"I do?"
"Yeah, some teenage rom-com. It would be perfect for you," she said.
I took my mom's advice and went up to my room.
Ava had texted me. And there were also three missed calls from her.
Ava 🤓:
NOLAN! PICK UP THE GOD DAMN PHONE YOU PIECE OF SHIT!!!
And then she started spamming me random shit just to get my attention.
You:
Jesus Christ, Ava.
You:
Patience.
You:
You need some.
Ava 🤓:
Whatever. Can you call me now???
You:
I want to sleep
Ava 🤓:
It's only like ten
You:
Yes, and I'm fucking tired Ava
Ava 🤓:
WELL BUT I WANNA KNOW ABOUT OAKLEY ACRRILLO
Ava 🤓:
CARRILLO*
You:
Oh my lord Ava are you srs?
Ava 🤓:
Very serious.
You:
When you think people mature the moment they leave for college 🤡🤡🤡
Ava 🤓:
I'm sorry but he's just so cute and real and I just— he's basically perfect 😍
She made it sound like he was some kind of fucking saint. Not that he looked like a bad guy at all. In fact, he really was a nice guy, but she knows better than to believe whatever the media says.
You:
Ava, you know perfectly well how this industry works, right?
Ava 🤓:
Can you at least tell me if he's as cute irl?
You:
Ava 😑
Ava 🤓:
It's a simple question, cranky old man . Just answer please !!!
I would've given her an actual answer if I actually paid attention to him instead of myself and what he'd think of me. However, I'm an insecure piece of shit and barely even looked at him.
All I could do was give her the answer she was hoping for. That would be the only way to get her off my back, considering she'd only keep asking questions otherwise.
You:
Fine. He's very cute. Happy ?
Ava 🤓:
More than happy 🥰🥰🥰
You:
Goodnight.
I was about to shut off my phone but for a moment I wondered if I should text Oakley. He did give me his number for a reason, right?
Or was he only trying to be nice, not actually expecting me to reach out to him?
Even if I did text him, what would I even say?
I decided against it and let my phone to rest on my nightstand.
I turned off the lights and stared at the white ceiling of my room, and let out a deep sigh.
Maybe tomorrow I'll text him. Maybe I won't. All I really wanted to do was to sleep, because I was fucking tired.
Author's note:
Don't forget to vote and/or comment :) let me know what you think of this chapter!
Xxx,
Cara.