Ignite (The Disciples #4) - Cassandra Robbins Page 0,16
my tennis shoes.
“Bella, hold on. I can barely hear you.” Standing up, I grab my bag and make sure all my stuff is not on the floor as I head toward the door.
Thank God I have good news to tell her. If not, I might have let it go to voice mail. The humiliation about my lack of progress has become like an elephant in the room with Bella and me.
“Holy shit,” she screams through the phone. “I swear to God I’ve been calling you for days. Why didn’t you call me back?”
“I’m so sorry.” Squinting, I adjust to the bright sun after leaving the darkness of the club. “Don’t kill me… but shit is going on and I didn’t want to bum you out.”
Silence greets me. I look around at my options for getting home. Besides a couple of Harley Davidsons, there’s not much in the parking lot.
I guess I have to take the bus. I start to run across the street to catch it. See, this is when I wish I had extra cash and could Uber home.
“Bella?” I look both ways as I wave my arms at the driver to wait. I’ve found waving and jumping in front of bus drivers tends to make them stop. He opens the door and I smile as I dart in and sit.
“I’m still here.”
Thankfully the bus is almost empty and the few who are here are wearing earbuds and staring out the window.
“So, here’s the deal. Heather decided out of the blue to move in with her loser boyfriend.” I lower my voice as I heave my dance bag onto the empty seat next to me.
“She told me a couple of days ago. Wait—that’s not true. I happened to come home early and found her and a creepy guy moving her shit out. That’s why I was avoiding your calls because I know money is tight. But I think I might have saved us and we don’t have to get another roomie.”
Again silence. I look down at my phone to see if I’ve lost her.
“Um, Toni?”
“Yeah?”
“I have some news that… sucks.” She sighs and that sliver of dread goes up my spine. I
know what’s coming, but I’m praying it’s not.
“Oh God. What?”
She sighs.
“Just say it. You’re freakin’ me out.” I close my eyes as I let my head rest on the back of the seat.
“So, our landlord called me and said if we don’t have the last two months’ rent, he’s
evicting us.”
I blink my eyes open and sit up.
“What?” I scream and wave at some woman who shoots me a dirty look from the front of the bus. “We paid. I paid,” I whisper.
“Apparently Heather was taking the rent that we gave her and instead of paying the
landlord, she was keeping it for herself and the shitty boyfriend.”
The bus shifts and I realize I’m almost back in Hollywood as we pass Beverly Boulevard. A moment of sheer terror comes over me. This can’t be happening.
“She wouldn’t. I mean, we paid her…”
A deep sigh comes over the phone. “She did, Toni, and now we owe close to three thousand six hundred dollars. I’m so sorry, but I don’t have it.”
A car horn startles me as the bus driver curses and honks back. I need to get off at the next stop. The colorful shops selling clothes of all sizes and shades flash by. But my mind is still trying to process what she’s told me.
The bus swerves and I stand, tossing my dance bag over my shoulder as I get off the bus and look around.
I hate Hollywood. At least I did until now. Now, I love Hollywood along with my shithole apartment. I love it a lot.
“I’ll kill her. What are we going to do?” I’m screaming and panting as I run toward my
apartment. Seriously, what am I going to do?
“Bella, please tell me you can pay some. I just got a job and if it’s as good as I
hope, I can—”
“Toni. Stop.” She sighs and I do stop. I’m almost at our apartment, but her tone makes
everything in my body go cold.
“I’m not coming back to LA for a while. I got asked to stay on the tour. Remember that woman Georgia? I was telling you about her? Anyway, she knows everybody.” She clears her throat. “And she got me in—”
“Wait. You’re not seriously thinking of doing this to me, are you?” I drop my bag as sheer terror slaps me in the face. The truth that I’m alone,