Kylie Cantrall's Arc

Chapter 32 of 78

One day left before the ship reached the port. Kylie stood at the rail of the colorful liner, watching the gold trim shine on the water. The plan was set. They would walk off together, no hiding. But a new worry hit her. Arianna had never faced a wall of reporters. Kylie had done it for years. Arianna had only written letters from her bedroom. If the crowd swarmed her at the dock, she might freeze. She might run. "I have to show you something," Kylie said. She led Arianna to the closed lounge below deck. "When we walk off tomorrow, they'll all shout at once. Cameras in your face. People yelling your name. I can't stop it. But I can teach you." Arianna sat on the piano bench. "Teach me what?" "How to survive it." Kylie pulled two chairs close. She stood in front of Arianna. "I'll be the reporters. Don't answer everything. Pick one calm thing to say. Say it and keep walking." Arianna nodded, but her hands were tight in her lap. Kylie leaned in and fired questions fast. "Arianna, how long were you two hiding? Did you break up Kylie and Malachi? Are you using her for fame? Look here! Over here!" She snapped her fingers like a shutter. Arianna's breath went short. Her eyes darted. She stood up too fast and knocked the bench. "I can't. I don't know what to—" She stopped at the door, one hand on the frame. Kylie went quiet. She did not chase her. "That's the freeze," she said softly. "I did the same thing my first time. I forgot my own name." Arianna turned around. "How did you stop?" "I found one true thing and held it. Something they couldn't twist." Kylie held out her hand. "Try again. But this time, don't answer them. Answer me. Tell me why you're here." Arianna came back to the bench. Kylie fired the questions again, louder, meaner. This time Arianna kept her eyes on Kylie's face. She breathed slow. When Kylie shouted, "Are you using her?" Arianna said, clear and low, "I wrote her letters for a year. I'm not going anywhere." Kylie stopped. The lounge went still. "That's it," she said. "That's the line. You don't fight them. You just hold that." They ran it ten more times. Kylie threw every ugly question she knew. Arianna stopped flinching. Her voice stayed steady. By the last round she even reached for Kylie's hand while she spoke, and the shutters in Kylie's fingers could not break her. "You're ready," Kylie said. Arianna almost smiled. "Say it again. The mean way. So I know it stuck." Kylie laughed, then sobered. Tomorrow the ship docked. The crowd would be real, and Malia would be in it with her unanswered question. But Arianna would not freeze now. She had her one true line, and she would walk through the door beside Kylie.