Something Real Read Online Free Page B

show—” I start, but Lex’s voice cuts through me.
    “Because someone had to go all drama queen and eat half the medicine cabinet.”
    Then, “ Lexie ™.” It’s just her name, but Benny’s stacked a serious threat behind it.
    For a second, it’s just this heavy silence with the Mamas and the Papas’ “California Dreamin’” playing on the oldies station which, you have to admit, is pretty ironic.
    When I can’t take it anymore, I adopt an I’m-going-to-be-the-bigger-person tone and say, “Lex, we can’t go back until we give Benny a chance to sober up. Maybe we can grab some food or, I don’t know, but I told you that on the phone—”
    “My car. My rules. I didn’t agree to anything,” she says. “Besides, don’t you think filming will be that much better with a little booze in you?”
    Benny throws up his hands and starts laughing maniacally. Maybe I’m overreacting, but I think it’s safe to say day one of filming is going to be a total disaster.

 
     
    SEASON 17, EPISODE 3
    (The One with the Retake)
     
    As soon as Lex pulls up to the front door, it swings open, spilling a rectangle of light onto the driveway. My little brothers and sisters—all ten of them—press their faces against the front window and crowd in the doorway as Mom rushes down the stairs, arms outstretched. I guess I have to open my door now. The blood rushes to my head as I step out of the car—that extra swig of bourbon was probably a mistake.
    “Bonnie™! Benton™! Are you guys okay? I’ve been worried sick.”
    I take one look at her perfectly coiffed hair and fresh coat of lipstick and think, Uh-huh.
    “We’re fine.”
    My tone is borderline don’t-screw-with-me, but all it gets from Mom is a twitch of her lips. The word fine covers up a multitude of sins, doesn’t it?
    A cameraman steps through the doorway and swoops down on us. I avoid him like he’s a boy I seriously regret making out with. I keep my eyes down, hair pulled forward. Then I duck past Mom to dodge the smothering hug she really wants America to see. I’m sure the doting mother angle would be great for book sales, but I’m not interested in being part of her PR machine again.
    “No, you’re not okay, Bon-Bon. It’s been a long day for all of us.” Lex bestows her sweet-as-sugar smile on me. “C’mon, sis. Let’s get you upstairs.”
    She puts her hand up to block my face from the camera and wraps her other arm around my shoulder in the sort of protective embrace you see in tabloid pictures of stars walking out of courthouses or rehab.
    I shrug her off. “Lexie™, what was that you were saying about not wanting to be my chauffeur?”
    Cue evil glare from my oh-so-concerned sister.
    Benny stumbles on the stairs, but he’s able to grasp the railing just in time. Mom flutters around him, making maternal-sounding clucks and coos.
    “I’m al-all right. I just gotta … uh…’scuse me.” He pushes past the cameraman who’s suddenly in his face and grabs my hand, pulling me away from Lex and Mom.
    As we make our way into the house, I stop in the hall, blinking. When I’d left this morning, there’d been a wall along the right side of the narrow hallway, sectioning off the kitchen. The wall is gone.
    “Whoa.” Benny stares with equal surprise at the lack of wall.
    I hear a duet of giggling behind me. Farrow™ (fifteen, from Ethiopia) and Riley™ (fourteen, from Cambodia) grin at our shock. Back when the show was filming, the two of them were labeled the “bookworms.” Quiet and withdrawn, they’ve been able to weather the storms by escaping into other worlds. Sometimes at night I still hear them whispering in their bedroom, reading aloud to each other.
    “You should see your face right now, Bon,” Farrow™ says. Her eyes are sparkling, and I’m pretty sure she’s wearing makeup, which bothers me for some reason.
    Riley™ socks Benny on the arm. “Crazy, huh?”
    Benny just nods, still shell-shocked. A pointed look from