For Real or For Publicity?

Chapter Fourty Two

Joanne Bell Kameron

Something was wrong. Really wrong. When I woke up this morning, Brandon wasn't asleep or smirking at me.

  I saw him looking down at his phone in the living room.

  I approached him. "What's up?" I asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

  He looked up, as if I'd caught him doing something wrong. "N-nothing," he stuttered, quickly keeping his phone.

  I frowned. Something was up. "O-kay," I said, even though it wasn't really okay.

  I shrugged and drove to the Hannah's SuperMarket. As I entered the entrance, I shoved everything I needed into the cart. As I made my way to the magazine rack, I saw headlines stating that there were rumours that Brandon's parents are getting a divorce.

  What? I thought. Was Brandon keeping that big a secret from me, his girlfriend?

  I grabbed a magazine containing that headline and checked everything out. As I drove back home, thoughts went into my mind.

  Did Brandon trust me? Why would he keep this from me? Was he lying to me and this is all because of the contract? Why am I crying? I thought as my index finger wiped away tears that were forming in my eye.

  You're crying because this incident reminds you of the time Mum died, remember? You yelled at Dad for getting a new wife so quickly, like he doesn't even care! The logical side of me pointed out.

  Of course Dad cares! A side snorted. Don't let your imagination get carried away!

"What is this?" I asked the minute I burst into the apartment.

  He turned and saw me holding up the magazine. "T-that is nothing." His eyes flicked left and right.

  "Don't tell me that's nothing," I snapped angrily. "I can't believe you would keep secrets from me. Why? No wait, don't tell me. All this is just for show, isn't it?"

  "No!" he said. "It's not for show. It's just that I don't want you to . . . get involved. I didn't want to bother you."

  "Brandon," I said, tugging gently on his arm, signalling him to sit down. "Whatever you do, whatever you say. It's not gonna bother me. I just want to know if I can help, that's all."

  He smiled weakly at me. "Mum and Dad are getting a divorce."

  I gasped. "Why? Ruby and Fred are so good together!"

  "I don't know why either," Brandon admitted. "Neither does Taylor and Jovan - and they still live with them! They said that everything was going so fine. This divorce plan was out of the blue."

  "Then is it a secret or something?" I asked.

  "It is a secret. Why do you ask?"

  I lifted up the magazine. "This," I said.

  He gasped and snatched the magazine from my hands. "How did the media know?"

  "The big question is - who told?" I said.

  "It couldn't be Abigail - she doesn't know yet. Mum's planning to tell her tomorrow. Taylor and Jovan have no time to meet up with the paparazzi or even utter a single letter to them," Brandon said wistfully.

  "Maybe it was Ruby or Fred," I suggested.

  "No, it couldn't be them. It was their idea to do the divorce in secret." Brandon shook his head forcefully.

  I glanced at my watch. "Why don't you take a nap?" I suggested. "Maybe you're stressed. After all, you did wake up pretty early today."

  "How did you know? You were still snoring and mumbling something about Zac Efron when I slipped out of bed!" He exclaimed in disbelief.

  "When I woke up to go to the washroom at 2:30 this morning, you were gone!" I chuckled.

A/N

A super huge thank you to xxblueskiesxx for giving me the inspiration.

Thank you RegineTan755 for yelling in my ear and waking me up from my daydream.

You guys are great friends. :)