Arianna Smith's Arc

Chapter 16 of 23

The press event was two days off, but Arianna pushed it out of her mind. Kylie had said yes to living here. Arianna wanted the first night to feel like home, not a problem. So she stood in the bedroom doorway and stared at the trouble she'd made. The canopy bed was cute, soft, covered in pink and cream. But it was small. One person could stretch out on it. Two would touch shoulders all night. "I told you I'd give you a home," Arianna said. "A home has a real bed. You had a whole mansion. Here you get half a mattress." Kylie leaned against the frame. Her black hair fell past her leather jacket, red at the tips. "You think I care about a big bed?" "I care," Arianna said. "I don't want you to wake up and miss what you left." Kylie crossed the room. She sat on the edge of the little bed and patted the space beside her. The kitten hopped up first. Coco was young, fluffy, marked in black and grey and tan. She circled a pillow and dropped into a ball. "Look," Kylie said. "Your cat already picked a side." Arianna laughed, but her chest stayed tight. She kept seeing the comments. Hanger-on. A fan who got too close. A big bed felt like proof she could match Kylie. A small one felt like proof she couldn't. "I could buy a bigger one," Arianna said. "I have some saved. I'll make room." Kylie caught her wrist. "Stop. You keep trying to prove you're enough. You already are." She looked around the warm room, the shelves, the striped banner by the window. "At the mansion I slept in a bed you could lose a person in. I never felt held. You want to know what a home is? It's small on purpose. It's close." Arianna sat down. Their shoulders touched, exactly like she'd feared. But it didn't feel like too little. It felt like being right next to her. "So we keep it," Arianna said. "We keep it." Kylie reached for the framed picture on the shelf. It showed the two of them in a playful pose, dressed up, leaning close. She set it where they'd both see it in the morning. "This is us now. Not a fan and a star. Two people in a small bed with a cat who takes the good pillow." Arianna felt the last of the doubt slip. She'd been trying to build a home big enough to silence strangers. She didn't need that. She needed this room, this bed, this girl. Then Kylie's phone lit on the shelf. The label's name again. "Friday," Kylie read aloud. "They sent the location. Cameras. A stage. They want a script." She set the phone down. "They want to tell the world who we are." Arianna looked at the small bed, then the bright screen. She'd made peace inside these walls. Outside, the story still wasn't hers.