Dallen - The Man, The Myth, The Nerd: High School Billionaires #3

T ieg

D aisy L. Whittaker.

The name at the bottom of the email stared back at me. It was weird to see her name typed out like that. I stared at the text on the screen, but in my head, I could see that same name scrawled on the bottom of a Valentines day card or scribbled on the front of her notebooks. When it was handwritten, the i in Daisy always sported a little heart over it .

Or it did back then .

Probably not anymore .

Shed be eighteen now, and shed likely outgrown little hearts just like shed have outgrown me .

The air was too thin in this hotel room. I couldnt quite catch my breath. I should say something, I should do somethingbut instead I sat where Id collapsed at the sight of her email on my screen .

The email wasnt addressed to me. It hadnt been meant for me at all .

The cursor blinking on the tablet and the whir of the air conditioner in my hotel room the only reminders that I was here. Now. In a London hotel and far, far away from my hometown .

Far, far away from Daisy .

And yet, some part of me was spinning out of control. I was barreling into that Twilight Zone spiral, and any second now Id open my eyes and realize that no time had gone by at all. It was just another day in Jordan Springs, Montana, and the last three years of rock stardom had been just a dream .

So? My best friends voice broke the stifling silence in my room, and I stiffened. Id almost forgotten she was still on speakerphone. Will you do it? Jamie asked .

I could hear her urgency, mixed with breathlessness. She sounded like she was walkinghurrying. It was morning in New York and, if I had to guess, shed either be running to her private school on the Upper East Side, running off to run her new nonprofit organization, running to see our mutual friends Liv and Oliver, or running to meet up with her boyfriendwho was, in fact, a runner .

My best friend was always busy, which meant she was always on the run. Right now, that was a relief. She sounded distracted and frazzled, maybe she wouldnt even notice that I was freaking out over here .

Tieg? she said, her voice less distracted and far more alert .

I let out an exhale. She sounded concerned .

Are you okay? she asked .

Nope. No. Not even a little bit. Yeah. Of course .

I hate to even ask, she said. I know how busy youve been with the tour this year, but Travis Malcolm was supposed to do it

I think I shocked us both with the growl that slipped out. Travis Malcolm. Id spotted his name, too, about halfway through the first email in this chain that Jamie had forwarded along .

Id love it if Travis Malcolm could take part in our fundraising concert

Travis Malcolm. Since when was Daisy a fan of Travis Malcolm? She didnt even like country music .

I thought you liked Travis, Jamie said .

Travis was to the country world what I was to rock. A young up-and-coming star whod taken the scene by storm. Wed paired up on a couple projects over the years. Id been the one whod introduced him to Jamie and her nonprofit since I knew he was always looking for ways to give back. Performing at benefit concerts seemed right up his alley .

Tieg? Jamie prompted .

I did like him. I gave my head a little shake. I mean, I do .

But Daisy doesnt. Or, at least, she hadnt back then. But that was three years ago. A lot could have changed since then. Shed been fourteen when Id left, maybe shed turned into a country fan since then. Maybe posters of Travis Malcolm had replaced The Beatles nostalgia she used to collect .

I stared blankly at the screen as a million emotions threatened to drown me. Guilt. Regret .

Longing.

I let out another weird sound, but this one was half sigh, half moan, and one hundred percent pathetic. I scrubbed a hand over my face. Get a grip, man .

I wouldnt be asking if Travis hadnt come down with the flu, Jamie said. And then it just seemed so fortuitous since youre getting a break from the tour anyways, and

I barely heard the rest of her explanation. I was too busy staring at the L in Daisy L. Whittaker. Despite all the nasty emotions swimming beneath the surface, the sight of that L initial made my lips twitch up with amusement .

The L stood for Lou. Daisy Lou. She used to hate it when I called her that .

Id bet Travis-pretty boy-Malcolm didnt know her middle name. Bet she would never have even told him .

But shed asked for him .

The thought really shouldnt have made my chest hurt like this. What had I expected? That after three years she was still pining away for me? She probably hadnt pined for a whole day after Id left. Not after the way Id ended things. Not after the things Id said, or the

Tieg? Jamies voice cut into my trip down memory lane. You dont have to do the concert if you dont have the time. I just thought, wellyou grew up around there, didnt you ?

Her voice was tentative. Sweet. Concerned. I didnt talk much about my childhood in Montana, not even to Jamie, and I told her just about everything .

But I never told her this .

She had no idea what she was asking of me .

I didnt grow up around there. I grew up there, in Jordan Springs. With Daisy .

Jamie was asking me to go back home .

If you dont have time

I could make the time. The words just sort of slipped out. What was I doing? I should stay away. Id promised myself Id stay away. Id spent three years staying away .

Oh, Jamie sounded surprised. Well, great. So, does that mean She hesitated, understandably since Id probably been sounding super weird during this whole conversation. Does that mean you want to go ?

I opened my mouth and shut it. My BFF had no way of knowing how loaded that question was. Did I want to go ?

Yes! No .

I wanted to, but I shouldnt. Curiosity was just about to kill me as I tried to imagine what she looked like now, what she was into, how shed turned outwhat she thought of me .

Funny. Every day I was surrounded by girls who told me they loved me, but not a single one knew me. There was only one girl whod said shed loved me and meant it .

But shed been just a kid .

Wed been little more than children .

And now ?

Well, now three years had passed and Id turned eighteen but when it came to Daisy? I was just as mixed up as the day Id left .

All I knew was that her pretty green eyes had never once stopped haunting me. No amount of fans or fancy hotels or crazy paydays could erase the look in her eyes when Id said I didnt need her anymore, that she was holding me back right before Id walked away .

Regret was a nasty thing. It had been eating at me for years, and now here was a chance

Fortuitous, that was the word Jamie had used. Maybe it was fate giving me a chance to say Im sorry. I scanned the words on the screen for the millionth time. Better yet, this would be a chance to help her. To be there for her the way shed been there for me back when we were kids .

Jamie sighed on the other end of the line. Look, I really hate to ask you to do this since youre so busy and all, but this girl is kind of desperate and

Ill do it .

Her silence lasted a beat too long. Yeah? Are you sure? And then, as if realizing she shouldnt give me a chance to back out, she added quickly, Cool. Thanks, Tieg .

I didnt respond, just listened with half an ear as she rattled off the details of this concert that was supposed to raise money for the schools in my hometown. It shouldnt surprise me that Daisy had organized something like this. In fact, it didnt surprise me at all. When Jamie had first told me about her idea of creating a nonprofit that revolved around teens helping teens, my first thought had been of Daisy .