Untouchable ~ A Jared Leto/MARS Fanfiction

Chapter Fourteen

From the moment Jared made his escape from me down the hall, his attitude has been aloof and very unlike him. During lunch he barely looks at me, engaging with Shelby instead as she gushes on and on about her tower and the kittens. His face is animated and smiling as they discuss what to name the kittens, and how much she loves everything about the tower. And the more they talk, the more like shit I feel about what I said to him. I have to face it...once again I've opened my mouth and behaved like an idiot.

While we eat veggie burgers with a side of tabouleh salad—first time for me eating either one and I find them odd but surprisingly delicious—Constance's eyes flit between Jared and me, so I know she's picked up on the distance and tension between us.

So does Shannon when he appears for a bite to eat. "I was in the studio," he explains when, desperate for something to say, I ask where he's been.

"I haven't seen the studio yet. Where is it?" I ask.

"There's a big soundstage on the north end," Jared replies shortly, not looking at me, but at his plate, before meeting Shannon's eyes across the table. "I'd like to spend the rest of the day in there, too. I had some songs I was working on before I left for Arizona, and I think I've finally figured out the bridge for Dawn Will Rise. I'd like to play around with it."

Jared and Shannon launch into a music discussion from that point. I look away and sigh inwardly before rising from the table to carry my plate to the sink. I've fucked up. I've fucked up bigtime. I just don't know how to make it right without carrying the burden of what could possibly be another lie.

***

That night, no one's in the house except Jared, Shelby, and me, Shannon and Constance having left a few hours ago. Shelby's in bed with the two kittens curled up with her, and I'm up in her room with her as she tells me all about meeting Jimmy's son Tyrell. The two of them hung out for a few hours in the tower, played with the kittens, ate snacks, and played video games on Shelby's new Playstation. With his big dark eyes, ready grin, and impeccable manners, he is his father in miniature. 

"He's really nice," Shelby says now. "He's going to show me around school and introduce me to his friends. He told me all about his teacher, Mrs. Bryce. Maybe I'll have her, too."

I pinch the bridge of my nose between my finger and thumb. School? In the Hollywood Hills? My God, the students that go to Ty's school are comprised in good part of celebrity and other wealthy people's children. In contrast, Shelby has exactly two pairs of jeans, neither of which are in good condition, and three t-shirts. One pair of hiking boots, and a few changes of underwear. My daughter will be laughed out of the place. Or worse, bullied mercilessly.

But she can't not go to school. She's already missed several weeks of her fifth grade year, and to keep her out for the duration of our stay at Jared's is out of the question. Not to mention illegal, and the last thing I need is another black mark on myself. I have a few hundred dollars; I'll find a thrift store. Surely there must be one somewhere in the area, and given the neighborhood, their cast-offs are probably top-end designer labels.

As I say goodnight I turn off Shelby's bedside lamp using the wall switch, and the moon and hundreds of stars on the ceiling instantly glow with ethereal light. "Oh, wow," she whispers. "Mom, you gotta come here and see this. Lay on the bed with me."

I come back and lay beside her, and I instantly realize what's got Shelby so enchanted. Looking up through the branches of the silk-leaved trees at the stars reminds me of the many nights spent in the wild with her, when we'd lay on our backs in a clearing and stargaze. I look up at the heavenly spectacle over our heads and my throat tightens, knowing without a doubt that Jared had this done for Shelby to bring a bit of her home to L.A.