*can be read as a stand-alone; you won't have to read the rest of the series in order to understand most of this book*
*cover by justtoofabulous*
Rhys Prince has always felt stuck in both his dad's and his twin brother's shadow. Most people...
I was starting to think something was wrong with Echo. She was starting to be a lot more quiet whenever we talked like there was something on her mind, and she was starting to talk to me less and less.
And of course, he not talking to me and looking like something was wrong only distracted me in both dance rehearsals in school. Dad noticed and asked me about it, and I told him the truth. He told me to ask Echo if everything was okay, so I sent her a text.
I didn't get a reply yet.
She had been gone on tour for a month now, so at least she was one-third of the way done the tour. I just hoped she wasn't going to break up with me any time soon, because I had a small feeling she was going to.
Kingsley didn't think she was going to, though. He just told me the tour was probably getting too stressful for her, and now she was overseas so the timezones were even more complicated. Well, not too much, since she was only five hours of me right now.
I was at Kingsley's house after school, doing our homework together for the psychology class so we wouldn't have to do it over the weekend, and Kingsley focused a lot better with me doing my homework with him.
However, I ended up getting distracted when I got a text from Echo. She didn't respond to my last text, but she did ask if I was free to video chat.
"Hey, Kingsley, is it okay if I talk to Echo right now?" I asked.
"Go ahead," Kingsley said. "You two need to work things out anyway."
I texted Echo back, telling her I was free to video chat and shortly after, she sent the request. When I answered it, her face appeared on the screen and she was smiling, but I could tell she was faking it. "Hey," she said.
"Hi," I said. "Is everything okay?"
"Why wouldn't it?" she asked.
"Echo, please don't act like everything is," I said. "I can tell. You were just acting like something's wrong, talking very quietly, and you've barely been talking to me."
"Sorry, I've just been really busy with the tour," Echo said. "Performing, travelling, rehearsing. It's all so crazy."
"Yeah, but you would have told me that was the reason why when I texted you," I said. "What's really going on?"
"Nothing," Echo said, and there was a small crack in her voice.
"Please, don't hide it from me," I said.
"Rhys, I promise I'm fine," Echo said, and that was when I saw the tears starting to form around Echo's eyes.
"Obviously you're not," I said. "What's wrong?"
Echo didn't even bother hiding her tears then.
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"I can't be hear anymore," Echo said.
"What?" I asked. "I thought this was one of your dreams. What's happening?"
Echo shook her head, never giving me a straight answer. All she said was, "I miss you," but I knew that wasn't why she was upset.
"Echo...."
"I have to go," Echo said before hanging up the video chat.
As soon as she did, I knew what I had to do. "I have to go to London."
"Can I come?" Kingsley asked. "After all, you need someone to be on the plane with you."
I then sighed. "I'm an idiot. There's no way my parents would let me go overseas, and I can't even afford paying for it without them knowing before we leave."
"Uh, then you don't tell them," Kingsley said. "And obviously, I could pay for you."
"What?"
"Rhys, my cuz, I get a lot of money from VidGalore. I could afford two plane tickets, both there and back, as well as hotel and other accommodations. Say the word, and we'll go."
"Are you serious?" I asked.
"Of course I am," Kingsley said. "You're the one who seemed serious about going to London. If you really are serious, say you want to go, and I'll book the tickets now."
"Okay, I want to go," I said.
"Sweet," Kingsley said. "We should at least let one person know so nobody freaks out."
"Who can we tell?" I asked. "I would tell Zayden, but then he would ask to come and if we say no, he would tell my parents."
"Don't worry, I know someone we can tell," Kingsley said, gesturing for me to follow him. He headed down the stairs and to the kitchen where Jerome was. "Papa, Rhys and I are going to London, most likely tomorrow."
"London, Canada, or London, England?" Jerome asked.
"England."
"Oh, okay. Have fun."
"We will," Kingsley said before going back upstairs. I was confused for a bit before quickly following Kingsley.
"Seriously?" I asked. "You just have to tell him, and he'll let you go?"
"Pretty much, yeah," Kingsley said. "Now I'll go book the plane tickets now. What time would you prefer to leave?"
"As soon as possible," I said.
Kingsley nodded and looked at the flights. "Ooh, there's one in five hours."
"What time will we get there, then?" I asked.
"Let me check," Kingsley said and opened up another tab to find out what time we would be there. "About nine in the morning, in their timezone."
"She's usually at the venue around then rehearsing," I said. "We could head to a hotel, then go to the venue."
"Prefect," Kingsley said. "Now the only thing you have to worry about is packing, and getting out of the house with a suitcase without your parents worrying."
I sighed, but as I thought for a bit, I remembered I had another sibling, one that actually knew how to keep a secret, and that was very good at distracting people.
"I think Willow can take care of that," I said.
"Then go right now and pack," Kingsley said. "If you can't sneak you suitcase downstairs, place it on the roof below your window, and I can climb on the roof to get it. I've done it before."
"What? When?"
Kingsley shrugged. "I do it all the time. Like last night to sneak into Zayden's room to find a dirty secret of his so he could stop blackmailing me. I couldn't find anything yet."
"He's seeing someone on Nonpareil."
"Well....I should have asked you about it. Thanks, favourite cousin. I no longer have to be blackmailed. Now go pack."
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Aww, Rhys, such a cinnamon roll and sweetheart. And Jerome wins the new father award, replacing Laughlin. Jk, they're probably tied.
But Nolan is a cinnamon roll as well and might have to snatch that award, just because I love him so much and he'll always have a special place in my heart. <3
