Chapter 1

There was one day left of winter break, and I was making the most of it. After most of the last semester living our relationship over video chat, Kat and I had been inseparable.

Well, mostly inseparable. Mrs. Phillips still had her rule of keeping out of each other’s rooms, which we abided by, mostly. For now, we were relaxing on the couch. Kat was leaning into me with my arms draped around her, watching some mindless reality competition show she seemed to like.

“So, what do you think you’ll be doing on the tour? Have they told you anything yet?” she asked when a commercial break came on.

I couldn’t help but laugh. I’d lost count of how many times she’d asked me that same question over the past week, to the point where it had almost become a bit instead of an actual question.

“Kat, I honestly don’t know any more than I did the last time you asked. But I promise, as soon as I find out, you’ll be the first to know.” I paused, giving her a playful grin. “Unless you keep asking me.”

“Oh, shut up!” she said, smacking my arm. “I’m just excited for you. After everything that happened this summer, with your career hitting that roadblock, and MAC trying to ruin you, you’re on the verge of having everything you’ve ever wanted.”

She wasn’t wrong. It had only been a week since my win on The Stage, but I already had a full tour booked with the show finalists that would pay pretty well, and Warren had told me the previous Friday that there were people calling. It was a new year and it was definitely looking like my music career might take off.

Not that I expected it to be easy. Given my history, that wasn’t even an option.

“I know, I’m excited, too,” I said. “We just have to wait and see what happens. I mean, it’s only been a week, right?”

As the commercial break ended and the show came back on, Kat shifted in my arms, turning to face me more directly, suddenly ignoring the show that had seemed very important a few minutes before.

“So, I’ve been thinking a lot about everything that’s happening for you,” she said.

I don’t know what I expected her to say, but that certainly wasn’t it.

“Okay?”

“I ... I want some kind of ... I don’t know, part in your career. I’m not saying that I want you to make me a member of the band or anything. It’s just that, at first, I was along for the ride as your friend and now your girlfriend. Kind of a plus one. I know how hard you’ve worked and everything you’ve given up for this, and I want to be part of it. With you. I want to have a way to actually help you out and support you. Beyond just standing behind a merch table, which you probably won’t need anymore once you start playing stadiums or whatever.”

“Let’s not jump the gun. I haven’t actually booked anything other than the finalists’ tour, since winning, and I wouldn’t be the first person to win the show, and then kind of fade away.”

“I thought you said that was because of the contract the studio made them sign.”

“I mean, that’s what Warren and Benny said, and it sounds right, but I don’t actually know anything. It’s all a guess. Besides, you already support me more than you know. I don’t think I could have won the show without you.”

“Bullshit, and I know I’m supportive, but that’s not what I mean. I want to be part of the team. Team Charlie. I don’t care what it is. Just like you watched me train last summer all those times and want to go to the Olympics, I want to be there for you. I want it to be us, together.”

I pulled her closer, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I want that too, but I also don’t want you taking away from your stuff. You’re probably the only person with a busier schedule than me. Your school starts back up in a few weeks, and then you’ve got the Olympics to train for, plus actually winning the Olympics this summer. That’s going to take up a huge amount of your time and energy. The last thing I want is to hurt your chances of getting the thing you’ve spent so much time training for.”

“That’s all true, which is why I’m not asking for anything big. I just want to be part of the team. I don’t care how small the job is.”

“Kat, you’re always part of my journey. Every time I play a show or write a song, I’m thinking of you. You’re my inspiration.”

She leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to my lips. “Sweet talk me all you want, but you know what I mean. I want something more active, more involved.”

“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“Nope,” she said, grinning at me.

“Fine, I’ll think about it. I mean, I’ll try to think of something you can do. Hell, now that I’ve got multiple lawyers and a manager, I’m not even sure what I need to do half the time. I’m sure we can find something for you to do that won’t interfere with your training or school.”

Kat’s grin widened into a full-blown smile. “Good. See how much easier life is when you just do what I tell you to do?”

We both laughed at that. Considering our history together, that was quite the line. Satisfied, she turned back around to refocus on her show; I closed my eyes and pulled her tighter against me, just enjoying the moment.

The next morning, I pulled into the school parking lot, taking a moment in my car to mentally prepare myself for being back. After almost a month off, most of which was spent in Hollywood having the biggest moment in my life, it was kind of a massive shifting of gears to be back here, a high school kid again.

I took one last deep breath, drummed my hands on the steering wheel, and got out, ready to get back to normal. The world, it seemed, had a completely different idea.

It was night and day from how last semester started. I hadn’t exactly been persona non grata last year, since things had settled down over the summer, but I had gotten a lot of sideways looks and people kind of avoiding me, while the collective student body waited to see which way the wind was going to blow.

This time, it was like I had some kind of magnet on me. Every step I took toward the front door, someone changed their trajectory to walk past me, slap me on the shoulder, or just say something.

And everyone had something to say.

“Congrats on winning The Stage, Charlie!”

“What was Trey Mitchell really like?”

“You heading to Hollywood soon?”

Questions and well-wishes bombarded me from every direction, most from kids I didn’t even know, let alone was friends with. I just kind of answered everything with non-committal answers and thank yous, pushing through the crowd until I reached the front steps of the school.

Waiting at the top of the steps was Dr. Wallace.

“Charlie, can you come with me to my office for a moment,” he said as soon as I made eye contact.

“Sure,” I said.

I wasn’t particularly worried as he turned and led me inside the building. Last semester, which had also started with a trip to see the principal, I’d been pretty concerned, but Dr. Wallace had played it straight with me all semester and kind of bent over backward to make sure I could go do the show. Sure, I’d had to trade on that a bit with the concert at the football field, but that was a small price to pay for the freedom he’d given me.

“Congratulations on winning the show, by the way,” he said as we walked through the doors and toward the front office. “Having seen you play, I had no doubt you would do well, but your performances were quite moving. You really did a great job.”

“Thanks,” I said kind of awkwardly.

Even after playing on stage for a few years now, I still had a weird reaction every time someone told me ‘good job,’ but it was even stranger when it was an adult I knew outside of music.

“I mean it. What you’ve accomplished at your age is remarkable. Which is why I know we are in for a very exciting semester. It being your last one with us, I’m expecting great things from you.”

We reached his office and he held the door open for me. I stepped inside, it had a weird sense of familiarity, which kind of made sense after all the time I’d spent talking to the principal over the last couple of years, both in good and bad contexts. I wouldn’t have thought I’d have a sudden wave of nostalgia, though. Especially not while I was still in school.

“Actually, there was something I needed to come see you about today anyway. I have the finalists’ tour for the show that I’m contractually obligated to do, especially after winning. But, it’s a lot longer than taping the show was. I haven’t seen the full schedule yet, but it’s set to go over two months. I want to be in school as much as I can, and it’s not back-to-back dates, so I’ll be able to do some flying back and forth, but ... it’s still going to be hard to be in every class.”

That was something I’d spent a lot of time worrying over and thinking about. Mrs. Phillips had said, considering how things went last year and how the school had treated me before I headed to the finals, it most likely wouldn’t be a problem, but I was a worrier at heart.

And it wasn’t like I’d had an overwhelming amount of luck for most of my life. Dr. Wallace made his way around his desk and sat down, leaning back in his chair like he did a lot of the time when I’d come in and talked to him.

“Actually, Charlie, I’m already aware of your upcoming tour obligations. It’s actually why I wanted to talk to you.”

“Ohh, you are?”

“I am. Your manager, Mr. Rice, reached out to me over the holidays, shortly after your victory on The Stage. He wanted to make sure we were on the same page regarding your professional and educational conflicts.”

“Oh, wow. That’s ... that’s good, I guess,” I said, not sure I liked the way he said ‘professional and educational conflicts.’”

“Don’t look so worried,” he said, smiling finally. “I’m not going to roast you over the coals. In fact, I’ve already had some preliminary discussions with a few school board members about the possibility of arranging a partial remote learning option for you during the tour.”

“Really? I hadn’t even thought that was an option.”

“Normally, it isn’t. The school district has no official policy one way or another on remote learning, but we also have never done it, so this would be new ground for us. We had discussed the possibility of some kind of tutor-based system where you kept to the school district curriculum but weren’t enrolled in classes here but, to be honest, I don’t want to lose you from our student body. Besides giving me bragging rights with every other principal in the district, I know you’ve put in a lot of work and have a lot of friends here. There’s something special about a student’s senior year, finishing that last lap, that I don’t want to take away from you. Unless you want to unenroll and go with an outside tutor system.”