26. Paparazzi

CHAPTER 26

PAPARAZZI

LADY GAGA

“So wait, he pulled you on stage with him?!” Dani squeaks over her morning coffee as Mama comes back into the room, hair in a bun and ready for work.

“He did; it was, well, kind of surreal if I’m being honest.”

“What happened?” Mama asks, clueless until Dani turns her phone to her and she can read the giant headline for herself. She reads it out loud, “Hollywood’s Golden Boy Turns Bad for Date.”

“I wish they weren’t so fucking sexist about it, though. Mystery woman holds down a career as an underpaid teacher for a misogynist dickhead while finding time to date Hollywood hunk has a ring to it.”

“It’s a little wordy, and I don’t think even the rags will print dickhead in their headline.” Dani smirks.

“Speaking of, did I tell you that dickhead last night had the cojones to give himself an award for charity at his own charity event?”

“Stop saying those words! Both of you.”

“Yes, Mama,” we say flatly in unison.

“At least they don’t know who you are yet—and do you really want them to?”

“Fair point. Okay, enjoy your day off, Dani. Come on, Mama.” I grab up my things and head for the door. I’m not sure how long it will take me to adjust to the lifestyle of a movie star’s girlfriend. Glamorous events and late night kink sessions are fun, but it makes waking up in the morning and going to work a lot harder. Especially on the nights I want to stay with him. He asked me to stay last night, and I hated turning him down, but I knew I couldn’t make it to work if I had stayed. His arms are too tempting in the morning, and too difficult to pull myself away from.

I hook my finger over the door handle and get it open, even with my arms full. I nearly drop my box of papers when the roar of cameras clicking hits me and the strangers on the other side of the fence shout questions.

Are you the mystery woman dating Chase Cooper?

Are you fucking him?

How long have you been together?

How big is his dick?

Have you read the fan reactions online?

Is the agency paying you to sleep with him?

Mama tries to push past me to see what’s causing the commotion, swearing in Spanish under her breath at the swarm of people crowding the sidewalk and even the street. A car tries to pass by and they slam on their brakes to avoid hitting a younger guy with a camera as he darts across the street to get a picture of me in all my teacher glory.

“Shit,” I snarl and glance at Mama. “Ready to make a run for it?”

“I’ll get the gate,” Dani announces as she looks over our shoulders at the growing crowd. “Am I allowed to fuck with them?”

“Yes,” Mama and I answer together.

“Fuck yeah!” She runs out into the yard, flipping them all off and shouting something about her band’s next show. Leave it to Dani to find an opportunity to promote her band in any circumstance. Someday, when she makes it big, she’ll know how to handle these clowns, and she’s getting her practice in today.

I ease the car out of the driveway while the horde descends on us. Dani yells and swears at them, but I’m too focused on trying not to hit anyone and waving my arm, shooing them away. They don’t care, they just keep shouting and taking pictures. My phone doesn’t stop buzzing from the cup holder, but that will need to wait. When I’m finally out of the driveway and in the street, I watch in my rearview as Dani shuts the gate and flips them all off again before waving at us.

There’s silence as I drive to Mama’s work. Normally, I would only drive her to the bus station, but after that mob, there’s no way I’m risking it. I swing into her favorite coffee spot, hoping it will give us both time to calm down from all that chaos.

“Renate, baby, maybe you should rethink this guy,” she asks as we wait in the line at the drive-thru. It’s the first thing she’s said since we left the house. “Rich white men are weird.”

“Yeah, but I’ve found one of the decent ones, Mama. I promise, he’s worth it.” I pick up my phone as we wait to place our order. Four missed calls from Chase and even more texts from him, Teresa, Marta, and a few other teachers from the school. News travels fast, especially here..

I start with Chase’s texts.

Cuddle Puppy

Are you okay? A friend sent me pictures of your house.

I’m talking to my agent to see what she can do.

I’m sorry about all this. I’ll fix this, Ren.

God, you look fucking hot, though.

I can come get you. In fact, I’m leaving now.

When I read the last one, I quickly reply that we’ve made it out safely and that I’ll call him as soon as I can. Hopefully, he hasn’t left yet or gotten too far.

They haven’t reached Mama’s work yet, and with any luck, they won’t. The paparazzi invasion at the school has begun, and I recognize some of the same faces from earlier. Why would anyone want a career like this? Chasing people around, invading their lives, and harassing them for a few dollars? The stupidity of a job like that just makes them assholes. I’m a teacher. What do they think they’ll get from me? A lecture and a syllabus?

I guess I’m not as boring to the gossip mags as I imagined.

I’m relieved to see the resource officer doing his best to keep them a safe, legal distance away from the building. He and I don’t get along most of the time, but at least now he’s doing something productive that doesn’t involve harassing my students. I glance around, knowing the paparazzi can all see where I’m parked, and I consider asking for a new spot, but it wouldn’t matter. If these people want information and images, there’s plenty of staff and even students that would rat me out for a payoff. I leave my grading in the car—I can send someone out for it later or come out myself when they’ve grown tired of watching a public school’s parking lot.

I’ve never wished for spontaneous rain so hard in my life.

I’d hoped that getting to my classroom would help, but I’m still too frazzled and can’t get the image of all of those people hanging over our fence out of my mind. The terrifying reality that my family, my house, my car, everything, and everyone in my life are going to be fodder to those blood thirsty assholes knots my stomach. If I hadn’t had that talk with Cynthia last week, I might lose my shit, but she gave me some pointers on how to not get arrested for punching one of them in the nose. I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to keep myself from doing that, but I’m going to try my best, for her sake.

I’m almost inside when I glance over my shoulder one more time. That’s when I spot the big, fake blonde wig of the reporter that came to my house. I want to gouge her eyes out. There’s something off about her, but I can’t figure out what, and I can’t waste time hanging around to find out. If she’s here, I can bet on who ratted me out.

“Miley, you fucking son of a bitch,” I murmur as I duck into my class. A few of the students are in class early, milling about. If they hear me, they don’t mention it. Too busy on their phones.

Shit. The phones.

“Okay, Hannah? I’m going to put you in charge of this—I want everyone’s cell phones on the table in the back of the classroom. Face up, understand? Tell the other students as they come in.” This won’t go over well. I always allow cellphones in my classroom. Encouraged, even. I use them as a teaching tool rather than taking them away as punishment. Not all teachers can or should do that, but I’m a technology teacher.

“Tell them it’s part of a class assignment and they’ll all get their phones back in a few minutes, okay?”

I feel awful taking their phones away. Most of these kids can’t focus on a lecture; their brains don’t allow for it anymore with the overstimulation that surrounds us these days. It’s one of many downsides to technology. I'm not blind to that, but I can’t change it either. The adrenaline wanes and I head to the back of the classroom to get prepared while there’s still time. Locking the door to the storage room, I hop up on a counter I can see out into the classroom from.

“Hey, Ren, I’m so sorry—” Chase stammers as soon as he answers my call. But I cut him off.

“These people are fucking insane!” I shout, looking out the small window on the door to monitor the students. It’s only five minutes until class starts. “But, baby, it’s not your fault. Stop apologizing.”

“It is my fault. I knew this would happen. I knew better than taking you last night, putting you on display for those vultures.”

“Are you serious about that?”

There’s silence, followed by a heavy sigh as he thinks about it. “No. I’m glad you were there, Ren. I knew it would all blow up, but I thought it would take a day or two to find out who you are.”

“Miley and that fucking bitch reporter were behind that leak.”

“Who?”

“The one that came to my house.”

“Fuck,” He sighs into the phone, and I can picture the stressed look on his face. “Come to my place after work. There’s a chance fewer of them will stay around your house if you’re not there.”

“I don’t know, Chase. I don’t have any clothes with me or anything.”

“You’ll be at my place. Why would you need clothes?” His goofy laugh lures me in.. “I can get a driver to pick up clothes from your house, or I’ll order you more. I don’t use my celebrity privileges often, so let me use them for you.”

“I have all these papers to grade and…”

“I promise, I’ll let you. I’ll stay out of your hair. Hell, you can grade them out by the pool. You know you’d love that.” He tries to persuade me, and it’s working. “I’ll cook us dinner and make sure your mom and Dani are taken care of, too. It’s like a vacation, Sunshine.”

“A vacation where I still need to work.”

“Please? You don’t want the alternative, remember? Cameras, security systems, and cops.”

“When do you leave for Atlanta again?”

“A few days. It’s a quick trip, reshoots I think. You can stay in the house while I’m gone if you want, or you can go home. It’s your call. Hell, you can bring your mom and Dani over here.”

“Chase, I just don’t know if?—”

“I’ll give you whatever privacy you need, Renate. I just want to make sure you’re safe and they can’t get to you for a few days. Give you room to breathe and adjust. Hell, I’ll sleep in the den and you can take the bed with the dogs so I don’t keep waking you up for a taste of your ? —”

“Okay! Okay. Not to you sleeping in the den. I’ll come over. Dani can pack some things for me. I’ll drive straight to your place after work. I gotta go, but I’ll call you before I leave, okay?”

“Perfect. Just like you. It will get better, Sunshine. I promise.”