The Stage (Phoenix Rising #1) Read Online Free Page B

some pizza from the food service table, and she and I play ro-sham-bo. That gets old, though, and I’m getting anxious.
    “Excuse me,” I say to a production assistant lady walking by. “Why is our group still waiting?”
    “Kolton Royce isn’t here yet,” she says. “He’s running late.”
    “Oh, okay. Thank you.” I wonder what he’s doing. And it’s funny how we all call him by his first and last name. Do I do that with all celebrities? Yeah, I guess I do.
    Riley, sick of playing her Pokémon game on my phone, lies down on the couch and falls asleep. I’ve been writing lyrics. It’s actually been a productive day for me, three songs.
    Green eyes with a red fleck keep passing along my thoughts.
    “You need to head over to the stage in fifteen for group shots.” When I look up, one of the production assistants is standing in front of me. I’d completely zoned out.
    “Is there anyone who can stay with Riley?” I ask.
    “No. The staff sitter leaves at five pm. Don’t you have any family here?”
    “She’s my only family,” I say. To be honest, the thought of how competing on this show is going to impact Riley makes me panic again. There’s no one to take care of her, just me. I start to shake. What if I have to drop out?
    An older woman comes over and whispers to the production assistant, who turns and walks off. “Hello,” she says to me. “I’m Deloris Taylor. Mr. Royce has sent me to help you with your sister,” she says, warmly.
    “I’m sorry?” I say. “Mr. Royce? Oh! Kolton Royce.”
    “Yes, I’m a credentialed, multiple subject teacher, fully background checked,” she says, as she hands me a folder. I look over everything and she’s got an amazing resume. I’m not very good at math, but it looks like she’s got nearly thirty-years experience.
    “So, you’ll be, like, a nanny?” I ask.
    “Yes, exactly,” she says, and smiles.
    “Does he do this for all of his team, or—?”
    “No, actually. I was surprised to get the call from his assistant this afternoon. Usually I’m hired by the production company, but he took care of this personally.”
    “Oh—um, okay. Well, thank you,” I say. Why is he doing this? Did he find out about my parents already? Does he feel sorry for me? I feel bare all of the sudden, vulnerable. My feet start itching inside my boots.
    “No problem. We can go over her schedule when you get back. I’m going to keep her very busy.”
    “I know we’re going back to Sacramento for the break between the taped and live shows. We’ll figure that out once we get there, I guess.”
    “I believe you’ll still need my help then, right? I can travel with you.”
    “Sure. I mean, I can’t think that far ahead. But, for now, she loves going to the park,” I say, looking at Deloris’ round glasses and her short blonde hair. She reminds me of a grandmother, all soft and gentle—if I’d ever had one. I’d never met my mom’s mom. She’d died when I was a baby. And they’d never let us around Dad’s mom.
    He’d told me later that she was a bad alcoholic and a hoarder. Child Protective Services checked her out after the fire. It was found that: “ The home environment of the only living grandparent is insufficient, unhealthy, and unsafe for a child occupant .”
    That’s why she was given to me, or allowed to stay with me, I should say. I was eighteen, after all, just by a few months. I run my fingers over Riley’s temple, lean down and kiss her. I straighten the jacket I’d laid over her before standing up and walking toward the stage again.
    “Thank you, Deloris,” I say, as she sits down on the couch next to Riley.
    “She’ll be fine,” she says, as she pulls a book out from her nanny bag. I idly wonder what she has in there. My make-up is touched up and I’m sent to stage right. I know there are sixty-four of us and four teams. How many of us are in each team?
    After counting twice, I’m the sixteenth on Team Kolton. Everyone is