Free Spiral by Jacqueline Levine

tragedy.
    Vans and cameras follow us back to the house. I’m lucky to be able to pull into the garage since Jim and Mom are still out. As the door folds down to hide us from their prying eyes, I turn off the engine and stare forward.
    Cherie notices my trembling fingers, my wide,
what-the-hell-just-happened? eyes.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers. I see her eyes shine with looming tears.
    I look over to her and shake my head. “It’s not your fault. I’ve just never seen something like that before.” I try to let the adrenaline melt away.
    Her eyes gloss over, like tears are making their way out of hiding. I don’t want her to be upset. I’ll do anything to keep her from crying.
    “Let’s go inside. Britney wants you to put makeup on her.”
    “Yay!” Britney squeals from the back, and Cherie shakes her head.
    But she’s smiling.

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    DIRTERAZZI.COM
    CHERIE BELLE RETIRING FROM ACTING?
    Rumors are circulating around pop TV star, Cherie Belle, again! This time, sources close to Cherie say she is considering stepping away from acting and Hollywood for good. It seems the starlet needs more than just a little healing time after the deaths of both her parents in December. “She just wants to be a kid, you know?” says our source, who asked to remain anonymous, about Cherie’s top secret plans. “She’s been acting for over five years, and now she wants a break so she can focus on herself and her healing.”
    Carl Schwartz, Cherie’s manager, insists this is hogwash and claims his client is merely taking a few weeks off after promoting her movie, “This Side of Sunny,” to clear her head. We’re pretty sure Carl, who was spotted recently enjoying a lavish dinner with Cherie and other members of her entourage at the swanky Manhattan restaurant, Curve, would have the 411 on Cherie’s true plans.
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CHAPTER 9
    “I just don’t get it; why does she sleep with him every night?”
    I wake up, but I don’t open my eyes. I fell asleep on the couch after eating my pizza, and now I can’t be sure what’s going on around me. I feel Britney curled up on top of my chest, and she doesn’t stir. The conversation is behind me, spoken in hushed whispers.
    I can definitely make out Claudia’s voice. “Oh, I know, it’s so weird,” she moans.
    Someone replies, “I think it’s cute actually. But why does she do that? Is she just super-attached to him?”
    It’s Cherie. My heartbeat stills.
    Claudia’s quiet for a moment. She lowers her voice even more, but I can make out most of what she’s saying. “They’re… all messed up. Dad said… their dad left…she went on sleeping pills…couldn’t hear Britney crying at night. Jack had to take care of her.”
    Rage ignites in my chest. I could kill Claudia right now. How dare she tell Cherie that? Even worse, how could Jim tell his daughters all of that? I want to jump up and scream at her, but I stay put, waiting to hear what else the little weasel has to say about my family’s secrets.
    “So she just neglected them?”
    Claudia’s quick to say, “No, it’s not like that. She was just really, really depressed, and she needed the meds to sleep at night.”
    “Does she still take them?”
    “I don’t think so.”
    “So Jack had to take care of Britney? What about Brenton?”
    Claudia snickers. “He made an imaginary friend, remember? They’re the total textbook example of dysfunctional products of divorce.”
    Leave my brother alone. Leave all of us alone.
    Cherie says, “I don’t know; Jack seems pretty normal to me.” Her words come just in time to keep the steam that is building inside of me from whistling out of my ears.
    Claudia continues on her mean marathon. “He’s not. He’s a super narcissist; always hogging the mirror and fixing his hair and stuff.
Loves
his hair.”
    “He doesn’t strike me as that at all. I’ve met lots of conceited guys before, ones with way less to be conceited about than him.”
    “Well, trust me, he is the most