I Was Already Gone novel · Chapter 15 of 24
Chapter 15: No Phone, No Notebook
By Thursday the doctored clip had two hundred thousand views, and a stranger on the bus had moved seats away from me.
I stood at the back of the Kettle and Spoon with my hood up.
Roxie had stopped the open mic twice to tell people to put their phones down.
The room was packed anyway.
Everyone wanted to see the stalker.
"They came for a show," Gus said, eating a muffin beside me. "Give them one."
"I'm not here to give them anything."
"That's the spirit. Terrible, but the spirit."
The door chimed at half past eight.
Brecken walked in with Laney beside him, and behind them came his friend with the phone, already filming.
Brecken lifted a hand to the room, easy and sad.
"Don't mind us," he said. "We just wanted to support the community."
A few people clapped.
Laney stood next to him with her arms wrapped around herself.
She didn't look at me.
Then the door chimed again, and the woman in the dark blazer came in.
The room felt it before it saw her.
She walked straight to the little wooden stage, took the mic off the stand, and waited until nobody was talking.
"My name doesn't matter," she said. "I work for the label that's been courting two songwriters in this town."
Brecken's smile stayed where it was.
"I've seen a clip tonight that says one of them is a stalker. I've also heard a recording that says the song everyone loves was sung first by somebody else."
Phones rose all over the room, and she watched them go up.
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