Free Evolution by Sam Kadence Page A

came from the other side of the line, like someone was shouting. “So lay the instrumental tracks today and do the vocals tomorrow.”
    Tracks? Vocals? Shit! The clock flipped to just before noon. I sat up and grabbed for the phone to beg and grovel my way back into my boss’s good graces. Kerstrande pushed me flat on the bed.
    “Just deal,” was the last thing he said before snapping the phone shut and tossing it aside. He gave me an irritated glance. “What?”
    “Was that Mr. Tokie?”
    “Yes.”
    I leapt for my cardboard dresser, only to be yanked back into bed with Kerstrande pinning me to the mattress. Now was not a good time to play. “He’ll drop our contract, and I’ll be stuck a nobody living off ramen forever. My friends need me to be there. Let me up, KC.”
    “No.”
    “Please.”
    “Three months is not enough time to complete a debut worth anything. Triple Flight took a whole year to produce Flat Line, which spent more than a year at number one. Besides, when was the last time you got more than four hours of sleep?”
    I pushed at him. “In case you haven’t noticed, I can’t afford to rest. When I’m not at the studio, I’m waiting tables and being groped by guys at a club to pay for this grand home of mine. But I guess not having money to eat and keep a roof over your head is something you’d never understand.”
    He let me go. I rolled out from under him and dug for clean clothes, then changed behind the screen. My heart pounded like some crazy hip-hop beat whenever he was around. There had to be more to my life than just Kerstrande Petterson. The sad thing was that everything else was just an obligation, not a desire. No one else treated me like I wasn’t a freak, touched me like I was really a person, and didn’t run away when they knew what I saw.
    Kerstrande stepped around the screen to glare at me, not caring that I was struggling into a shirt and not yet wearing pants. “I see. You’re worried you’ll be branded gay and the label won’t want you anymore? Didn’t have to worry about that with Saxon holding your leash, did you? Seeing as how he’s got quite the eye for men himself. But then you’re always aiming for the rich and powerful ones, like the model who visited you at the club the other night.”
    My heart stopped for a painful second. This was the judgment I’d been receiving my whole life. It hurt so much hearing it come from him. “You know nothing. They are my friends, that’s it. And as for being branded gay. I am gay and proud of it. It’s your fucking label that’s trying to shove it in the closet by bitchin’ about my hair and putting female pronouns in my songs. I’m not the one hiding what I am.”
    “When you traveled with Wild Park, no one took interest in your group because they assumed you were Saxon’s boy toy. You dropped him fast enough when you met me. You’ve chased me for weeks, not caring what you did to my reputation. The world thinks we’re lovers whether we are or not. They believe you were with Saxon before me, that he was your sugar daddy. Does any of that matter to you?”
    “Devon and I never—” He’d never even asked me on a date. I’d always sort of seen him as the older brother I’d never had.
    “Doesn’t matter, kid. The world sees what it wants to see.” He picked up his shirt and put it on, leaving his back to me. “You swim in the fishbowl and they craft your life for you.”
    I finished dressing, wiping annoying tears from my cheeks. Maybe that’s why Rob kept Devon and I apart. And now Kerstrande, who didn’t like me at all, felt trapped, forced to me by the media. “I’m sorry. All I ever wanted was to sing.” And maybe love a little. Why was that so much to ask? Why wasn’t it okay to just be me?
    He stood a few feet away, the light from the lamp shading him with a black silhouette, ominous but beautiful. He was so beautiful it made my heart hurt even more.
    “You’re pretty clueless. Probably the best