Rise To Stardom

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

It was all thanks to Aubrey that I was able to survive the past couple of weeks. According to her, the rumors were starting to dwindle away.

The people were more sympathetic toward me having heard that a guy touched me without my consent - at least most of them were.

Stories still circulated around that I contacted Aubrey to lie to make myself look better. There came a point when Carson had to step in. The twenty of us that were left gathered around the TV to watch the celebrity news channel.

Carson was being interviewed about the aforementioned rumors. At first, everyone else was clamoring in curiosity. Especially Jessica with her constant thirst for entertainment.

Kayla and I were the only ones who knew about the whole ordeal, but we disguised it with fake expressions of surprise. Carson was formally dressed up in a blazer, black pants and black loafers, the attire complete with his hair neatly gelled back.

For the first time on television since he lost Hayley, a genuine smile was spread across his face.

"I would like to end the show by disregarding one of the rumors out there. Rise To Stardom contestant, Emory King, and I do not have a romantic relationship with each other. I can vouch for her best friend, Aubrey, that she was assaulted at the club that night and I was simply protecting her, just like any other gentleman would."

Hesitance glossed over his features for a brief second, a second during which Kayla winked at me and passed her iconic smirk. There was nothing to smirk about. He was telling the truth.

As much as the sixteen-year-old me wanted us to fall in love together, he will always be my first celebrity crush. Clearly, acting like hearing this was news to me didn't go as smoothly as I planned because Jessica spoke up.

"Wait, did you know all along about these rumors?" Her eyes were still glued to the screen which was now showing a commercial. I tried, again, to act as though I had no idea, but she stared blankly at me while she waited for an answer.

I nodded. Between the shows and singing in the shower, my throat had been hurting. The acoustics in the shower were urging me to sing with all my might.

Unfortunately, that led to me being on the verge of losing my voice. I had to take it easy so I made a mental note to make tea after my shower. I dragged my feet upstairs and entered my room.

Now that I was within the privacy of the bathroom, I shredded my pajamas off and stepped inside the shower. The stream of water was warm, but leaning more toward the hot side.

My arms already felt tired thirty seconds after massaging the shampoo into my hair, but those seconds ticked by quickly with how much I was daydreaming. Come time to wash my body, a myriad of flashbacks of the club clouded my mind.

My heart started pounding in my throat when I felt someone tug me into the corner by one of my braids.

It was Elliot.

Singing in the shower acted like the distraction I didn't know I needed. He didn't take off my clothes. He couldn't because all of the possibly-sober witnesses that were crowding inside the building. However, I could still feel his cold hands trailing up my skin and his shuddering words whispered in my ear.

"I wish you wore something sexier for me, gorgeous. But instead... you had to make it harder for me to take your clothes off."

Instinctively, I reached for the anxiety ring mom gave me, but then I remembered I took it off before the shower. Great. The one time I desperately needed it. It was as though an iron grip clasped around my throat with the determination to decrease my oxygen levels to a deadly number. I stepped out of the water and felt my back slam against the wall, sliding down the length until I hugged my knees for comfort.