Total pages in book: 148
Estimated words: 135517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
The thing that got to me, though, more than their mocking me, was the song they sang. Some names should not be used to bully and spite others. Some names should never be used to condescend and ridicule and it definitely shouldn’t be used by black-hearted sub-humans whose only claim to life and fame is that one of their siblings got fucked on camera in some homemade porn that apparently wasn’t that good, and the other is the offspring of a wannabe movie star who still lives in his sister’s shadow even after she’d unalive someone. For fuck’s sake!
Oh dear, my twin is rearing her ugly head. Better take some pills and put the phone down before I do something I’d spent the last five years refusing to do. Only in this town. It’s only in L.A. that the victim can be thrown to the damn wolves and made the scapegoat. I’ve done everything in my power to take myself out of the equation, but for some reason, these people can’t seem to leave me the hell alone.
Alrighty then, let’s dance.
Chapter 26
*Elena*
“Sydney, come over; bring food and ice cream. I just returned today and haven’t been downstairs to check the fridge, so I’m unsure what we have down there.”
“I’m on my way.” I hung up and turned up Elastic Heart, which I’d had on repeat for the last half hour.
Sydney turned up about an hour or so later, but I was caught up in working on the ditty that had popped into my head after reading some of the crap online and didn’t really notice the time. We exchanged hugs and small talk about what we’d both been up to since we last met before getting down to business.
“I guess you saw.”
“I saw, but you know, I don’t believe half of what these things say. Since I was away for so long and you were here, why don’t you tell me what’s really been going on.”
“Actually, it’s pretty accurate since it all played out online. Though the original post was taken down, someone screenshotted and reposted it, and all hell broke loose.”
“Yeah, I was afraid of that. I was hoping it was another one of those things that were blown out of proportion.”
“Nope. I personally think she’s mad because Ryder followed you to Europe and hasn’t been home in months. They tried telling everyone that he was in some rehab somewhere, but no one can verify that so far, so basically, I think that she thinks you two were together.”
“I haven’t seen him, I promise you.”
“I know that, but try telling that to those idiots out there. Since you said you’ve been reading about it, you must know that things are getting really heated. People have yet to get over the fat shaming thing, and now this. I don’t think they’re going to let it go that easily.”
“I wish they would because this is only going to cause me more grief. I’ve already asked my fans not to engage, but there isn’t much I can do beyond that. Now, I have her fans on my ass again, like I stole something from them. When will it end?”
“Some of them are saying that you have a victim complex.”
“It’s not a complex when it’s real. Tell them to look up the definition and get back to me. I’ve never acted like anything other than what I am. I went away for many years to give myself time to heal. I was broken in front of the whole world, and though I was pissed beyond compare, not once have I confronted anyone, and I’ve gone out of my way to be fair when some asshole brought it up in an interview. What more do they want from me?”
“I wonder if these people ever heard about truth and facts. I also wonder about the ones who hate me so much; what exactly is their reasoning behind that hate? What’s more, I dare any of them to handle this exact same situation better than I have. Would they have been happy if I’d spilled my blood for all the world to see?”
“What is it exactly that I’m guilty of? Hmm? It’s not just my fans who saw what was done to me. It’s every man and woman of any age who saw this shit play out. If they have a heart and a conscience, then they’d understand. It’s not my fault that people think what was done to me is shitty because the fuck it is. What’re you looking at?”
“You, you finally sound like your old self.”
This bitch! I thought I was sounding like myself this whole past year. “What did I sound like before? I mean, after I got my shit together.”
“It was you or some version of you. But there was always this sadness surrounding you that was breaking my heart. I’m glad to see you getting rightfully upset and not making excuses for those monsters. So, tell me, how are we going to destroy the enemy?”