Girl Online: On Tour (23 page)

Forever girl

You changed my world

You are the one

I know for sure

That we will be together

Forever, girl

Chapter Thirty-Three

A flashing light catches my eye, and I realize it’s my phone, abandoned on silent mode on my bedside table. I stretch across the covers and grab it, still running over the conversation I just had with Noah in my mind. I turn on the phone and the screen shows that I have eleven messages waiting from Elliot. My stomach drops. Elliot never sends this many texts. Something must be seriously wrong. I open them up as fast as I can.

I text him back straightaway.

I don’t wait for him to answer, but flip open my laptop and Skype him. It dials for what seems like an age and my anticipation spirals. I feel a sense of panic, which is replaced with relief as I see Elliot’s face finally appear on the screen.

“Penny, FINALLY!” I can’t quite work out Elliot’s expression as he glares at me from above the green rim of his square glasses. It’s an expression that I don’t often see from Elliot.

“Elliot, if you’ve panicked me with nine desperate texts in
order to tell me off for the small amount of sightseeing on this tour then that isn’t funny. You got me worried.” I start searching Elliot’s face for any small signs of humour, and wait for him to ease up and laugh, but he doesn’t.

“Penny, what was the name of that stalker person you were worried about?”

My heart feels like it stops beating within my chest.

“You mean TheRealTruth?” I ask, willing it not to be true.

Elliot’s face falls.

“What? Why are you asking?”

“I don’t think they’re a fan,” says Elliot, looking miserable. “Not unless they’re
very
committed.”

I clutch at my temples, fearing the worst. “What’s happened?”

Elliot sighs. “On the train back from the magazine shoot, I got this weird email from an unknown address. I’ve forwarded it on to you.” He places his hands on his head and sinks into them.

I quickly open a browser window for my email and I can see that Elliot’s forwarded me a message from TheRealTruth. I don’t even want to open it, but I have to see what’s scaring Elliot so badly.

From: TheRealTruth

To: Elliot Wentworth

Subject: READ ME

Penny breaks up with Noah, or this goes viral.

ATTACHMENT: image1052.jpg

I click on the attached image, and my heart sinks even further. It’s the photo of Alex and Elliot kissing on the balcony at Noah’s concert. It’s a really lovely photo and I almost want to smile a little bit at how cute they are. They are so clearly in love, lit up by the stage lights and surrounded by other people who are all watching Noah in awe. Almost like, in that very moment, it was only the two of them in their own world.

But since Alex isn’t out to his friends or family yet, a picture like this . . . it could shake up his entire world.

“You took this photo, didn’t you? At the Brighton gig?” He crosses his hands and rests them on his knees.

“I did, but—”

“But you didn’t think to tell me about the fact that this was on your phone too when it was stolen, and now someone is threatening to make it public! Alex is going to be furious that we could be blackmailed this way. And of course you didn’t think there was anything incriminating on your phone because you didn’t think about me and my relationship at all.”

I’ve never seen Elliot like this before. He’s angry and sad and frustrated all at once.

But I’m angry too. “OK, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking straight when it happened. Elliot, I feel awful that you’re being dragged into this. I didn’t know exactly what this person’s intentions were then, but now I guess it’s pretty clear.
Penny breaks up with Noah.
Someone wants us apart, no matter what.”

“Penny, I don’t know what to do! I have to tell Alex. If this gets out . . .” Elliot lets out a huge sigh. He sounds defeated, like this has sucked all the energy out of him. “You know how he is about us, Penny. He isn’t confident about coming out to
his friends and family. Even when we’re away from Brighton, when there’s no one we know around, it’s rare that he holds my hand. That concert was one of the best moments in our whole relationship. And your house is our safe place. If he thinks we’re not even safe around you . . . he’s going to be so upset.”

Visions fill my mind of Alex’s absolute horror at knowing the photo exists full stop, let alone in the wrong hands. Although this sort of picture would be no big deal to lots of people, to Alex it will be a very huge step—one he certainly isn’t ready to take.

Yet I know too that Elliot secretly wishes he could have the photo as his profile pic. This is the happiest I’ve ever seen him in a relationship. The only thing that makes Elliot sad is being unable to express his feelings in the way he’d like. He’d love to be able to hold hands and cuddle up on a picnic blanket in the park in the summer, but Alex just isn’t in that place yet.

“I don’t know what to say, Elliot. I’m so sorry that I took the photo, and that they stole it from my phone. They must have had enough time to download the last lot of photos I had taken before I changed my passwords and everything. How do they even know that Alex is this private?”

It’s quickly occurring to me that TheRealTruth isn’t some obsessed fan. But what are the chances of my phone falling into the hands of someone who knows me, and has an agenda like this? It was an accident.

I start racking my brain for any evidence of who this could be? Maybe it was Megan? Was it too convenient that she found me in the crowd, just after my phone went missing? She would have been surprised at seeing the picture of Alex
and Elliot on my phone, since no one knew they were together. Could she still be annoyed about our confrontation and jealous of my relationship with Noah? Surely not, especially considering the conversation we had after the concert. It all seems too weird.

“I thought you understood, Penny. Taking a photo like that in the first place would have always unnerved Alex.” Elliot looks awkward.

“I know. I’m sorry, E. You know what I’m like—I take photos of everything. I didn’t think anyone would see it. And I would
never
have posted it anywhere without asking you first.” I continue to try to put Elliot’s mind at ease, but he remains downhearted and distant. “I can come home if you want? Try to make it right?”

“No, no, it’s OK, Pen. I’ll deal with this. And, whatever you do, don’t let it come between you and Noah—it’s just some stupid bully. I better go call Alex and let him know . . .” He ends the conversation, waving sadly at the camera.

For a few moments I stare at the blank screen, paralysed with indecision. But Elliot’s right: this is just a bully, and they can’t break us. I also decide that I can’t deal with this on my own now.

I pull up my email again and send a note to all my closest friends and family, warning them about the bully and potential stalker, and let them know that I am gathering all the evidence to go to the police. That way, if it really
is
Megan or someone else who knows me, they will also know that I mean business.

I am Ocean Strong, and no bully is going to threaten my friends or stop me from living my dream.

Chapter Thirty-Four

I’m just about packed and ready to leave Rome when a wave of sadness passes over me. Even though I got to do a little bit of exploring yesterday, I feel like I’ve hardly scraped the surface of this amazing city. I stare out of the window and make a vow to come back.

There’s a frantic knocking at my door, and for a moment I think I must be late—but there’s still lots of time left.

“Penny? Are you in there?”

“Coming!” I open the door for Noah. He’s got his backpack slung over his shoulder, and I can see a little tag with Dean’s details scrawled on the side. He’s so used to being ferried from one place to another that he doesn’t know where he’s staying in each destination or what time his planes are. Dean keeps track of all that life admin for him.

“I saw your email this morning—did that creep really strike again?”

I nod. “This time with Elliot.”

“I can’t believe that! Good idea to keep a note of all the
incidents—we can give it all to Dean and he can handle it with the police.”

“That sounds great,” I say, relieved that I can share the burden.

“Now,
ma chérie
, are you ready to go?”

“To Paris?” I pull a face, attempting to look sophisticated and Parisian. “
Mais oui!
I’ve never been more ready.”

•  •  •

Landing in Paris, I feel so excited I want to run about like a child at Disney World. As we drive from the airport to our hotel, I gawp like a fish in a tank at the sights we’re passing.

My mum has always loved Paris—especially as she thinks she is living in the film
Amélie
when she’s there. It’s her favourite place in the world to be, and when she was eighteen and a young, aspiring actress she ran away to live the bohemian life in the Latin Quarter for a few months. Now she and Dad make a special point of coming here for little breaks away, and now finally I’m able to see why they love it so much.

I’m in the city of love, with the guy I love. Could it get any more perfect?

“Paris is going to be the best, Penny. Tonight at the gig, all the top music journalists are going to be there, reviewing the show. We’re going to have to be better and play harder than ever,” Noah says, as we exit the car in front of the hotel. It’s the grandest hotel we’ve been to yet, with porters collecting our luggage and hauling it up a wide staircase. It’s exactly how I imagined our Paris hotel to be, and I know it’s going to be so romantic. I turn and look at Noah, his face eager with excitement, and I smile a big, toothy smile—the kind you only do when your grandparents ask you to pose for a photo
with your siblings. I’m not sure if it’s an attractive smile, but at this point I don’t care.