Undercover Star

♪ Forty ♪

I had been away from Churchwood for two weeks when Rich decided enough was enough. He had scheduled a meet-and-greet for me at some museum that day. Nothing I said could get me out of it.

I had spent the few weeks sitting on the couch, either watching TV or staring at nothing. Zak came a lot the first few days, but eventually he gave up and stopped trying. I hadn't seen him in a little while.

My mom forced me to eat and tried to get me to do something useful. She wasn't home much, though--it was party season.

My dad also came in every once in a while and gave me death glares. He was completely furious with me. I didn't go for the audition in the movie after all, and if that didn't push his buttons, nothing should. He hadn't said a word to me since I came back. Everything he had to say was in the way he looked at me and treated me.

Every day was the same routine. Sometimes I would sleep, sometimes I wouldn't. But everything felt horrible, and there was nothing that made me want to move on.

I was stuck with this feeling that something was missing, and I knew exactly what it was. I was a prisoner in my own house--my own life.

I knew that day was going to be different when Rich came in, fully dressed in one of his suits. I hadn't been seeing much of him in the recent days either. He sometimes came to try to get me to work, but it always fell flat.

"Theresa is waiting for you upstairs in the guest room," he said, looking at his watch. "You have an hour to get ready, and by the looks of it--" he gave me a once over "--you're going to need a ton of time."

"I'm not going anywhere," I grumbled back.

"Yes you are," Rich said, as a matter of fact. "It's time you stop feeling sorry for yourself and get back out there. The meet-and-greet starts at two."

I glared at him. "What makes you think--"

"You have no choice as of now," he answered my unfinished question. "We all agreed on this--me, your parents, and Zak. We're doing this to help you."

I frowned. Thinking that even Zak was forcing me back into the life made me feel like I had been betrayed again. No one understood that I was done being told what I was going to do.

"When does this stop?" I asked. "All this 'people making decisions for me' deal?"

"This is your career and we care about you," he said simply. "Now go upstairs before I have to drag you up there myself."

"I can't do it right now," I said slowly.

"Then, when? When are you going to start functioning like a human again? I get it--you miss them. But the way you're acting is not healthy. You're not Jesse. This is your life. You can't just pretend it's not yours."

He let out a frustrated sigh when I didn't respond. "Just try?"

"Try," I scoffed. "Then what comes next?"

"One day at a time, Logan. Now go. You've wasted enough time."

I slowly removed myself from the couch.

"You've lost weight," Rich commented as he watched me stand. "What have you been eating?"

"Food," I snapped. "Just not a lot," a added more gingerly.

Rich muttered something about not being healthy under his breath, but I continued upstairs, as just to get away from him.

"Logan!" the familiar, chipper, voice of my stylist greeted me as I entered the guest room. Her white-blonde hair bounced as she wrapped me in a long hug.