CHAPTER 4

"If you've lost your faith in love and music then the end won't belong."

☆

The waiters carried away the dishes of their main meal and the siblings waited in silence for dessert till Brianna decided to speak up.

"Riv, what the hell were you thinking?"

The popstar looked up from his phone. He and Skylar had been texting each other since the drive here.

"Umm, that I wanted a chocolate cake for my dessert?"

His confused tone made the sentence come out in a question.

Anna mumbled something inaudible before she spoke more clearly. "I can't believe you would run off and offer to help some random student with her career."

River arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow. "What's wrong with what I did?"

"You didn't think it through," Anna complained. "And I know you. You always think things through. What if she isn't a good songwriter or if she's got stage fright? You didn't even stop to consider how much of your time this could take."

With a sigh, the pop star returned his attention to his phone and typed in a text for Skylar. "You know, I'm not complaining."

Anna rolled her eyes as the waiter returned with their deserts. "Not yet. You're not complaining yet."

The popstar ignored his sister and shook his head at the waiter's question of other requests.

Anna let out a sigh and dug into her fruit cake. River was as stubborn and persistent as gossip magazine's article writers. And besides, she didn't take her daily dose of caffeine this morning so she didn't have any energy to spare. She barely had any more energy to help her tread through the rest of the day and she wasn't doing to waste it on an argument with her brick headed brother.

"Say hi to Sky for me," Anna said as she reached out for her drink.

River nodded distractedly as he typed frantically on his phone.

River Crowns

Anna says hi.

Skylar Crowns

Don't try 2 change

d subject🙄

River Crowns

I'm not but I thought

we were done talking

about this.

Skylar Crowns

U can't get rid of

me dat easily, Riv.

Hear me out, she's really

Pretty.

River Crowns

You know the rules,

Sky. No getting really

close to fans and btw, she's

not my type.

Cute but nope.

I like blondes.

Skylar Crowns

Ugh! Like eww!😷

Does hair color matter

that much?😤😤

River Crowns

No, but I find blondes

a lot more attractive than brunettes.

Skylar Crowns

Fine. I give up. Send

hugs and kisses from me

to Anna. Gtg.

River Crowns

Will do. Laters.

As the popstar placed his phone on the table, his eyes met his sister's watching him.

"What?"

"Nothing," Anna shrugged as she feigned hurt. "Just how you and Sky make me feel like a third wheel even when she's miles away."

River smiled. His lips kicked up at the sides and showed off a set of perfect white teeth. "It's not our fault you're uptight all the time."

Anna rolled her grey eyes at him. "Someone has to be the responsible one."

River signaled for the check. "And how's that going for you."

"Great," Anna huffed. "It's going great."

"Good to know."

Sure the pop star had a thing for blondes but his sister, Anna was an exception. The truth was, River went out with who he liked. Blonde, brunette, hair color didn't matter. It was just that he's only ever gone on dates with blondes. Most of them understood it was a no-strings-attached situation and that's all he needed.

☆

The sound of the alarm clock filled the popstar's bedroom. It slipped into his subconscious and he let out a groan as it pulled him away from Dreamland.

River let out an annoyed groan before he turned off the device with more force than necessary.

He laid back on his bed with the sheets wrapped around him from his waist down. His washboard abs were in view, his eyelids hid his bright green orbs and his black hair resembled a bird's nest.

River got out of bed in the black pair of basketball shorts he had worn to bed low enough to show of the two tattoos he had at his hip bone. Both were significant dates to him. The first was 15·6·2007, the day he lost his parents and the second was 6·12·2004, Skylar's birthday. In a spot, higher on his torso was her middle name, Dream.

His beddings were in shades of grey, white and black which matched the colors around him. The door to his walk-in was black, the shelves were white, the walls were grey and the tiles were white.

Classic River Crowns.

River crossed the room to his closet where designer clothes were hung. He grabbed a clean pair of boxers, a plain white long-sleeved T-shirt, brown ragged jeans, and a matching leather jacket before he left for his built-in shower. He didn't have one yesterday so the feel of heated water against his skin was just what he needed to start the day and coffee. Never forget the warm, steamy beverage.

He bounded the stairs of the modern-style house they had rented with one goal in mind– breakfast.

As he reached the landing of the staircase, Anna stepped in through the front doors.

Her short blonde hair was held back with a black headband. She was dressed in black stretch jogging pants which hugged her figure, a white turtle neck long sleeve of the same fabric, and grey running shoes.

"Hey, morning," River tossed a greeting her way as he made his way to the kitchen and tossed his jacket and phone onto the couch. "Coffee and PB pancakes, you in?"

"Get the coffee ready," Anna said as she hurried up the stairs and called out over her shoulders. "Five minutes!"

River moved around the kitchen, opening drawers and getting the things he would need till bowls, cups, eggs, sugar, pancake mix, milk, peanut butter, and instant coffee powder sat in front of him.

Anna had the kitchen stocked before their arrival yesterday.

River did the easy one first. He heated the milk. Then he poured it into two mugs, scooped in for coffee powder and sugar, and voila! Coffee.

He took a few sips from his mug before he set it down and got to work. He mixed his ingredients making sure to add in the egg yolk and white separately for a more fluffy pancake.

He knew all this from watching his birth mom do this for ten years. The memory would forever be imprinted on his brain.

Just as he dished out the last batch, Anna returned dressed in casual jeans and a t-shirt. She grabbed a plate, a fork, and a can of whipping cream.

A minute later, they both settled down to eat.

"Do you need me with you at the campus today?" Anna asked as unlocked her phone to go over her reminders and check her email.

"Anna, we talked about this."

"Answer the question, Riv."

"No, I don't. Go do your thing– whatever that is– I'll be fine."

"Wasn't asking for your permission but I'm sure," Anna said. "I was hoping to take a look around campus and learn about their admission system. Y'know, for Sky."

"I had the same plan in mind."

Skylar Crowns was only a year old when the Austins adopted her and River. Anna developed a love for the toddler that hasn't been severed till this day and River knew that he would forever be indebted to her for it.

Anna looked up from her food and her grey orbs met the star's green ones. She could tell exactly what was going on in his head.

"Don't say it, Riv."

"Anna, you're awesome."

His assistance manager gave him a smile that was often shared between family. The one that seemed to be teasing but sent love all the same. She blew on a loose strand of blonde that hung between her eyes.

"I know."

✧

River Crowns' car pulled into Genre Art Academy. Being a celebrity meant that he had gotten used to the idea of being driven around most of the time but boy, did he love to drive.

His garage back in La La Land was filled with sports cars which he rarely got the time to drive. He liked to call them his collection and he often lent them to his friends as far as they promised not to leave any scratches on them.

Just as River's foot touched the ground, a crowd of girls surrounded him with the main purpose of damaging his ears buds with their ear-piercing squeals.

A particular blonde latched onto his arm boldly. Her scent was of a fragrance River couldn't decide if he liked.

"Hi, River!" she said enthusiastically all while fluttering her false eyelashes up at him. "I'm like literally your biggest fan! I'm Leslie. I can show you around if you want."

River got a read of her immediately. Confident and sassy. Girls like her stuck to him like magnets and he knew he had to be wary of her.

The star turned back to his sister who was getting out of the black RangeRover. He could hear the sounds the male students were making which included whistling and a bunch of suggestive comments

Anna tucked her chin-length blonde hair behind her ear and showed off her eyes piercings. Her maroon pantsuit clung to her hips and showed off her dashing figure and her white designer top showed a bit of her cleavage.

She arched a brow at River's expression before she impassively scrutinized the other students. Her grey storms visibly relaxed and she made her way towards the entrance in black stilettos and her Gucci purse hung on her shoulders.

The pop star returned his attention to the girls that surrounded him. Anna was a boss. She had it all under control.

"Who's that?" a member of the crowd and the blonde on his arm visibly rolled her eyes.

"That's River's adoptive sister, Brianna," Leslie answered with an edge in her tone. "If you were even a fan, you'd know that."

She leaned in even closer to River and the expensive perfume scent filled his nostrils. River didn't have anything against fragrances but he had smelled so many different scents on a million different occasions that he just wanted something different and a lot simpler. The star felt Leslie pushed herself closer to him which caused her cleavage to rub against his arm.

"So River," she smiled up at him as she succeeded in convincing him she was the boldest amongst the group and the rest of them moved to follow her lead by struggling to latch themselves onto his other hand. "Where do you want to see first?"

River swallowed a groan.

Curse the idiot who drugged him.