Discovering Benton Read online

  “Awesome. Thanks.” He pauses, considering something. “And I know you hate lying, but can you hold off on telling your family about this for a little bit? I think we need to come up with a good story for you to tell them that’s not the total truth but not entirely a lie either.”

  “I can do that, but my family… They’re not the kind of people that would out your secret,” I feel the need to say

  “Maybe, but…” He rakes his fingers through his hair. “Sorry, but I just have trust issues.”

  I wonder why. Because of what he does? It seems like a possibility.

  Still, I have a feeling there’s more to Benton than just the intense guy I’ve observed from afar.

  “Mum’s the word.” I drag my fingers across my lips, pretending to zip them up.

  He smiles but seems a bit worried. "They are going to be okay with you doing this, right?"

  When I hesitate, he frowns.

  “I’m not sure,” I tell him truthfully. “I think, as long as there’s a way to assure Loki that I won’t be getting into trouble, he’ll probably be okay with it.” And maybe he will.

  Loki has always been pretty chill and everything. Honestly, what I’m most worried about is whether or not my family will be able to handle all the chores and errands without me around.

  Although, he might be a bit wary of me pretending to be a rock star’s girlfriend and going on the road with a band.

  Crap, I have no idea how this is going to go, and it's something I'm not used to. For most of my life, everything has always been so planned out, and now everything's so open.

  Benton considers something again. “We’ll find a way.”

  I nod. “Okay.”

  “If I don’t talk to you before then, I’ll see you on Monday,” he tells me, slipping on a pair of sunglasses.

  Nodding, I shut the door and head inside, feeling like I’m in a daze.

  I just met a bunch of rock stars.

  I just agreed to be Benton’s girlfriend.

  A rock star's girlfriend.

  The second I get inside the house, I receive a text.

  Digging my phone out of my pocket, I tap open the message.

  Unknown: This is Benton. Just thought you should have my number too.

  “What’re you smiling about?” Alexis says as she wanders into the foyer.

  I put my phone away and shrug. “I didn’t realize I was smiling.”

  She eyes me over dubiously. “Something’s up. I can tell. My twin vibe feels weird right now.”

  I shrug. “Nothing’s going on. I swear.” I feel awful for lying to her.

  I’m really going to have to learn to get over that.

  She stares me down so intensely that I start to squirm.

  “I need to clean my room,” I mumble then hurry upstairs and into my room.

  Once I’m inside, I lock the door then pull out my diary from underneath my pillow.

  Most of the pages are filled with lyrics I’ve scribbled down that are probably awful, but today I decide to write about what happened. Because I need to let it out somehow.

  Dear Diary,

  Today was an interesting day. Exciting even. I’m not so sure if I’m doing the right thing, though, but I’m actually excited about the future. It’s the first time I’ve felt this way in forever…

  I trail off, realizing how true my words are. How I’ve never felt excited about the future before. It’s sad to think about. Depressing even. All these years, I felt like I was drifting, walking toward a future I didn’t want.

  Not that I’m completely changing everything.

  I’m sure as soon as I get back from this tour, I’ll end up right back on that path and go back to drifting. But at least I’ll have some memories and experiences I can think about when the days start to blend in with one another again.

  Tears start to burn in my eyes as I think about how much I don’t want that to happen. Then I start to cry as I think about how upset my mom would be with me right now if she knew what I was thinking and what I was planning to do.

  In fact, I can pretty much guess what she’d say to me. That there’s no way I’m doing this fake girlfriend thing with Benton. That it’ll ruin my future. That I’m too good of a girl.

  Good.

  Good.

  Good.

  On the outside, that's what I am. But on the inside, I feel like my thoughts don't match up with my image

  Who am I?

  Will I ever know?

  Will I ever get to try to find out?

  Part of me wants to, while the other part wants to latch onto the past, wants to go back and erase those terrible words I said to my mom that day.

  Sucking back the tears, I return to my diary, my hand trembling a bit.

  I feel guilty for writing this, but I need to get it out somehow. My life, I think it’s about to change. I’m going to take this new opportunity and really experience life. I just hope it works out for me.

  I just hope I don’t mess things up.

  I’m going to try my hardest not to.

  Try my hardest to live life to the fullest from now on.

  XOXO,

  Zhara

  I put my diary away and flop onto my bed, wiping the tears away with the back of my hand. I’m feeling pretty good at the moment. Of course, eventually, I’ll have to tell my family something and actually leave my home to go on the road with Benton and his band…

  Reality crashes up with me.

  “Holy crap,” I breathe out. “I think I’m about to go on the road with a band.”

  As anxiety takes me over, I reach for my guitar and start to play, letting all of my emotions pour out for a moment. But the moment I stop plucking those strings, I bottle them right back up.

  Author’s Note

  Dear Reader!

  Thanks for reading Discovering Benton (My Life with the Band, #1). Please note that this is a serial series that follows the life of Zhara. There are also stories available that follow the lives of her siblings, so make sure to check those out.

  * * *

  Thanks for reading!

  Jessica Sorensen

  About the Author

  Jessica Sorensen is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who lives in the snowy mountains of Wyoming. When she’s not writing, she spends her time reading and hanging out with her family.

  Also by Jessica Sorensen

  My Life with the Band Series:

  Discovering Benton

  Accepting the Deal (coming soon)

  * * *

  Alexis, The Baker Family Series

  Signed With a Kiss

  Untitled (coming soon)

  * * *

  The Heartbreaker Society:

  The Opposite of Ordinary

  The Simplicity in Ordinary

  Untitled (coming soon)

  * * *

  Chasing Hadley Harlyton:

  Chasing Hadley

  Falling for Hadley

  Holding onto Hadley

  Holding onto Hadley: The Deal

  Untitled (coming soon)

  * * *

  Enchanted Chaos Series:

  Enchanted Chaos

  Shimmering Chaos

  Iridescent Chaos

  Untitled (coming soon)

  * * *

  The Breathing Undead Series

  Breathing Lies

  Shadowed Whisperers (coming 2019)

  * * *

  My Cursed Superhero Life:

  Grim

  Untitled (coming soon)

  * * *

  Capturing Magic:

  Chasing Wishes

  Chasing Magic

  Untitled (coming soon)

  * * *

  Cursed Hadley:

  Cursed Hadley

  Enchanting Hadley (coming soon)

  * * *

  Tangled Realms:

  Forever Violet

  Untitled (coming soon)

  * * *

  Curse of the Vampire Queen:<
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  Tempting Raven

  Enchanting Raven

  Alluring Raven

  Untitled (coming soon)

  * * *

  Unraveling You Series:

  Unraveling You

  Raveling You

  Awakening You

  Inspiring You

  Fated by Darkness

  Untitled (coming soon)

  * * *

  Unexpected Series:

  The Unexpected Way of Falling

  The Unpredictable Way of Falling

  Untitled (coming soon)

  * * *

  Shadow Cove Series:

  What Lies in the Darkness

  What Lies in the Dark

  Untitled (coming soon)

  * * *

  Mystic Willow Bay Series:

  The Secret Life of a Witch

  Broken Magic

  Untitled (coming soon)

  * * *

  Standalones:

  The Forgotten Girl

  * * *

  Honeyton Series:

  The Illusion of Annabella

  Untitled

  * * *

  Rebels & Misfits Series:

  Confessions of a Kleptomaniac

  Rules of a Rebel and a Shy Girl

  The Secrets We Carry

  Untitled

  * * *

  Broken City Series:

  Nameless

  Forsaken

  Oblivion

  Forbidden (coming soon)

  * * *

  Guardian Academy Series:

  Entranced

  Entangled

  Enchanted

  Entice (coming soon)

  * * *

  Sunnyvale Series:

  The Year I Became Isabella Anders

  The Year of Falling in Love

  The Year of Second Chances

  * * *

  The Coincidence Series:

  The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden

  The Redemption of Callie and Kayden

  The Destiny of Violet and Luke

  The Probability of Violet and Luke

  The Certainty of Violet and Luke

  The Resolution of Callie and Kayden

  Seth & Greyson

  * * *

  The Secret Series:

  The Prelude of Ella and Micha

  The Secret of Ella and Micha

  The Forever of Ella and Micha

  The Temptation of Lila and Ethan

  The Ever After of Ella and Micha

  Lila and Ethan: Forever and Always

  Ella and Micha: Infinitely and Always

  * * *

  The Shattered Promises Series:

  Shattered Promises

  Fractured Souls

  Unbroken

  Broken Visions

  Scattered Ashes

  * * *

  Breaking Nova Series:

  Breaking Nova

  Saving Quinton

  Delilah: The Making of Red