Every Time You Hear That Song by Jenna Voris

Author:Jenna Voris [Voris, Jenna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2024-04-02T00:00:00+00:00

Eighteen

Decklee

New York City, 1972

I throw a party in the elegant suites of the most expensive hotel in Manhattan.

There are too many rooms and too many guests and too many people I don’t know handing me drinks. I take them all. If I close my eyes, I can still see the Mayberry girl climbing out her window and disappearing into the night. I can still see the Memphis girl, digging her nails into that city until it came apart. Then I open my eyes, take another drink, and decide I’m better than anything those girls could have imagined.

At one point, Markell lifts me off the ground and twirls me through the living room yelling, “You star! You absolute star!”

I kiss him between bottles of champagne and he actually lets me, which is how I know he’s drunk, too, high on the success of finally getting everything we’re owed. We hold hands on the balcony under a sky thick with city lights, and even though I make it a habit to never look back, I’m glad Markell is still here with me now.

James finds me next, slips an arm around my shoulders, and tries to lean in for a kiss. I push him away. We aren’t in public anymore. We aren’t on the red carpet and I have no reason to pretend. “No, thank you.”

For a minute, he looks genuinely wounded. “But you’ll kiss him?” He gestures over his shoulder, to where Markell still stands on the balcony.

“I actually like him, James.” I roll my eyes and snatch another glass of champagne from the table. “Now get out of my hotel room.”

Ricky makes me pose for pictures with him and the other label executives, with everyone who’s ever told me no. They all smile and pat me on the back.

“That’s my girl,” Ricky says, like he hasn’t actively tried to sink me. “That’s my star.”

“I’m not your anything,” I say through clenched teeth, and they all laugh, like it’s a joke. I clutch my statues so hard my knuckles ache and force myself to laugh along because I won.

They all know it.

I don’t know when exactly I stumble over to my own room. It’s almost dawn, I can tell by the way the air tastes cool and sweet on my lips, but the party still rages around me. Maybe they’ll stay all night. Maybe this is my life now—a wild mosaic of celebrations and award-show sweeps. I let out a breathy giggle as I open the door, then stumble to a halt when I see it’s already occupied.

Mickenlee sits on my bed in the dark, elbows resting on her knees. Her expression is distant, guarded, but she jumps up when I enter. “I’m sorry,” she says. “I’m not . . . I just needed somewhere quiet.”

No, this is fate, I think. This must be what fate feels like.

“It’s okay.” I step into the room and close the door behind me. “I’ve been looking for you.”

Something flickers behind her expression, too quick for me to read.

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