When Stars Fall [EBOOK and PAPERBACK PUBLISHED]

22. Ellie - 2006

Eleven Years Ago

Isaac is sprawled on the couch, his phone in his hand as I wander past him, headed for the coffee maker.

"Want some?" I call out, holding up a mug.

"Nah."

"What's that?" I motion to his phone.

"Twitter."

I frown and shake my head. Isaac is always on the ground floor of whatever newest craze is about to hit. I do not share his love for technology.

"What's it do?" I ask as the coffee percolates.

He hoists himself off the couch and sits with his back to me. He's hungover. Wyatt's out of town on a shoot, which makes Isaac unsettled, a little wilder. Something lurks under the surface, and Isaac tries to keep everyone from seeing it. Once in a while, I catch a glimpse of his pain when he's too high to conceal it. Sometimes I wonder if I should ask, but I never do.

"You can tell people in real time what you're thinking, where you're at, what you're doing." Isaac wanders over to me in the kitchen. He squints against the light streaming through the big windows behind me.

"You sent Wyatt the link for that, right?" Wyatt's comment when we were at the island's airport comes back to me. After pouring myself a coffee, I get the sugar out of the cupboard.

"Yeah, he says it's a stupid idea. But mark my words, he's going to love it." Isaac grins. "That guy lives for attention. He's an attention whore. When this takes off, he can have crowds around him all the time—figurative or literal."

I shudder. "Sounds like a bazillion fights waiting to happen."

"You gotta learn to relax and enjoy your fame. People love you and Wyatt. Wyllie is on fire; they can't get enough of you two." He takes a seat on the stool at the island and rests his head on his arms.

"You and Wyatt are like broken records." I sip my coffee. "You both self-medicate to deal with all this fame shit, so I don't understand how you can tell me to relax. The other day when I went to Starbucks, I was swarmed. Kyle had to cover me with his jacket and push people out of the way just so we could get out of the store. I didn't even get my coffee. I really, really needed that coffee."

"Coffee is overrated." Isaac takes his bottle out of his pocket and shakes out a pill. He pops it in his mouth. "The fame thing doesn't last forever, short stuff. Look at me. Lately, I'm merely famous by association."

True, but I'm not going to admit that out loud. Why isn't he getting jobs? Could be because he's always high and not always high functioning or maybe the problem is something else. He blames his tanked career on being brown. How do I respond to that?

"Yeah, well, when Wyatt isn't with me the paparazzi toss names at me like we're playing catch. Slut, whore, bitch, cunt. Fighting back makes me look like a bitch. I can't win. The crotch shots mean I can't wear short skirts without Wyatt or Kyle to help me in and out of vehicles. It's all so ridiculous. Who wants these pictures, Isaac?"

"Everyone, Ellie. The two of you can't do joint interviews, parade around like the hottest couple in town and then complain about the attention. Doesn't work that way. You don't like it, ask Wyatt to tone it down. Half the time, I think he calls in tips to get paps."

I roll my eyes, but it's true. He's on a first-name basis with many of them. "I've tried, Isaac. It's one of the few things we fight about." My phone pings with a new text message. It's from Kyle. Anna, Wyatt's sister, is at the gates. "And the second thing we fight about just showed up at the gates."