With his hands tucked into his pockets, Tanner walked back over to our group. Molly saw him coming, took hold of her bag and said, "Come on, Polly. Let's change into our football gear." Before she left, she paused, leaned in close to me and whispered, "I know he's your boyfriend, but don't take your eyes off of our background music for a second."

Paranoia, apparently, was catching.

The twins headed toward the restroom, which left me nothing to do but watch Tanner walk up.

"Hey," he said. "I just wanted to wish you good luck. Break a leg. Preferably not Richard's leg, though."

I knew he was trying to make me laugh but I couldn't muster much more than a smile.

Tanner glanced back at his brother. "Richard can't bring himself to ask you, but he really wants to know if Adrian is here."

"I'm not sure where she is. She'd already left with the car this morning when I got up. So Rick wasn't the only one who had to hitch a ride here."

Tanner's eyebrows lifted and disapproval sprung into his voice. "Adrian left you without a car?"

"Yeah, it's nice to have my family's support." I shrugged as though it didn't bother me, but Tanner didn't notice. He looked past me, his mind somewhere else.

"She won't talk to Richard," he said after a moment. "He's called and left messages but she won't return them. Why is she so upset?" He let the question linger in the air. I could tell he was trying to figure everything out, and I suddenly felt what I'd done was inexcusable. How could I explain to Tanner that I'd kept Adrian in the dark about Rick and me to protect her from him?

"When was the last time you talked to her?" he asked.

"I checked on her last night when I came in."

"But when was the last time you talked to her—said more than a few words in passing?"

"I don't know. She hasn't said much to me since she broke up with Rick."

He nodded as though this too was part of the puzzle, and I had to stifle the urge to spill everything. Why was it that Tanner did this to me? One well-placed look into my eyes and I would have turned over my diary and let him read the whole thing.

"Have you tried calling her to see where she is?"

"She didn't pick up."

"Maybe she will, if I call. What's her number?"

I gave him the number. If I hadn't, Rick would have.

"I'll let you know if I find anything out," he said. Then he wished me luck again and walked back down the hallway toward the auditorium doors.

Molly and Polly came out of the restroom dressed in football jerseys and sat on the floor again. I decided I'd wait until the goatee guy took more contestants backstage before I changed into my sparkly outfit. I didn't want to sweat in it. I recited the words to my song, chanting them like it was a prayer.

I could do this. I had an advantage over most of these people because I was used to performing in front of crowds. I performed at every pep assembly and game.

So yeah, Rick, who says cheerleading is a useless skill?

I wandered around talking to other people in the hallway, all the while keeping an eye on Rick. He sat by his stuff, listening to his iPod, and mouthing the words to whatever he was listening to. Curiosity propelled me in his direction, and I walked close by him, pretending I wanted a drink from the drinking fountain.

I recognized the music coming from his iPod. How could I not? It was the background music for "Dangerously Blonde."

So much for Rick's deal with his brother.

At ten-thirty, the judges took a break. They had to, because crushing all those dreams is strenuous work. Goatee guy came into the hallway, tapped his watch, and told us we had ten minutes before he took the next group of contestants backstage.

Rachel, Aubrie, and Samantha came to find me. They all gave me hugs. "The judges are going to love you," Samantha said.

"Yeah, because the rest of the numbers stink," Rachel said. "We've heard so many cracking voices you'd think they were serving helium back here."

Which is what jitters do to most voices and another reason I was glad I'd already sung in front of crowds.

Samantha let out a sigh. "I wish we could be up there with you."

" I 'm almost glad we're not," Aubrie said. "I'd be so nervous." She immediately looked like she wanted to take back the words. "Not that you should be nervous, because you'll do great."

"Thanks." I leaned in closer and lowered my voice. "I can't believe you guys let out the air of Rick's tires."

Samantha's head tilted. "What? We didn't do that."

I thought she was joking. "You really shouldn't have," I whispered. "You could have gotten in a lot of trouble if you'd been caught."

Rachel shook her head. "We didn't do it."

My gaze went back and forth between my friends, waiting for a smirk that would let me know they were lying. But they didn't smirk. "Then who did?"

Rachel shrugged. "Either an enemy of his or a fan of good music. They're both large categories."

Aubrie looked past Rachel and down the hallway. "Well, whoever did it, it didn't stop Rick for long. There he is."

"That doesn't matter," Samantha said. "All that matters now is what you can do on stage. And Chelsea, you can do it."

This statement was followed by several others along the same lines. They said they'd all come visit me in L.A. once I became a big star. Rachel made me promise that I'd introduce her to Orlando Bloom.

She might have requested a few other invitations as well, but Samantha glanced down the hallway and said, "There's Tanner."

Rachel's gaze flickered over to him. "Do you want us to stay or do you want time alone with him?"

Samantha didn't give me time to answer. "We're going. Trust me, when Tanner is around, you don't want to try and keep track of the verbal camouflage Chelsea throws around."

They wished me good luck again, and left.

Even before Tanner reached me, I could see the seriousness in his expression. It wasn't just in his eyes. It was in his walk, his posture. His gaze met mine, but he didn't smile.

I knew the look. I'd seen it before. It was the look of condolence people wear before they deal you a blow.

At first I didn't understand. I thought, well, he's going to give me some sort of talk where he officially says we shouldn't see each other anymore. Not much of a surprise, so it shouldn't hurt.

It shouldn't, but it still did. Each footstep he took down the hall bruised me.

And then I saw the open cell phone in his hand. It wasn't about us, I realized, it was about Adrian, and it wasn't good news. Even before he spoke, my heart stopped. Something horrible had happened.

Chapter 19

He held the phone out to me, hesitating. He didn't want to do this. It's a car crash, I thought with panic, just don't let her be dead.

"Adrian wants to talk to you," he said.

Good. She was alive. I took the phone from his hand but my hand shook. "Adrian, where are you?"

Her voice came across the line, ragged with emotion. "I'm in Spokane."

Which was way better than being in a hospital, but still, Spokane was an hour-and-a-half drive away—not a place a person with a learner's permit should go by herself. "What are you doing in Spokane?" I asked.

"I have a flight out at 1:00. I'm going to live with Dad."

Several seconds went by before I could speak then I sputtered out, "What? You can't do that." The worry pumped through me harder, because I knew she could. She shouldn't. But she could. He had joint custody.