“You’re not drinking?”
“I’m not.Haven’t been.Not that I won’t, but yeah.”
I nod slowly, not knowing what to make of it.
“So, when are you two going up there?”Callie says, reminding me of her existence again.
“Oh, I—”
“Now.”Levi stands, offering me a hand up.I take another sip of my drink before placing my hand in his.
The bar is full, but in no way as crowded as Chiefs.Left of the stage, Levi stops in front of a decrepit binder filled with plastic sleeves to the point of breaking its bind.He starts flipping rapidly, like he’s looking for something.Then he stops, his finger hovering over one song.It’s “Cowboy Take Me Away” by The Chicks.
“Let’s do it!”I say excitedly, bouncing in place.
Levi hands the man at the corner of the stage five dollars, and we make our way to its center.We’re the first act of the night, and I think both the bar patrons and I don’t know what happens next, but then the light dims.Levi plucks the mic from its stand and positions himself near me.A TV monitor as old as I am clicks to life above us counting us in.
Levi starts and I can’t help but teeter between then and now.There’s no camera this time, no pressure to win or be anything other than what we are.He’s on the last line of his verse, getting closer and closer to me, until the only thing between our lips is the microphone.I take it in a seamless transfer, walking back, keeping an arm’s length.When we come together for the end of the song, I feel every word as if I wrote it.As if it were our song.We don’t get to sing the last line because before it finishes, I barrel into him, lips crashing, microphone dropping to the floor in an amplified BOOM.He feels it too.The universal pull of our bodies.One hand is pulling on my lower back, keeping my body flush with his, the other is skating through my hair, and for a minute there’s a release.An outlet for the pent-up want and frustration.Followed by a standing ovation, and...are those camera flashes?He and I register it at the same time, scanning the crowd.Sure enough, paparazzi.
“Okay, to the left of the stage is a hallway with bathrooms.I’m going to grab Tim and Callie and meet you there.”
“Okay.”My voice is winded as we both make our way off stage, separating at the bottom.
The hallway is like every murder scene I have ever watched.A light flickers unsteadily above, shadows cross the walls, and there’s a weird, dank smell of sitting water, which would ultimately lead to a rotting corpse if it were a movie.I lean against the walls, doing my best to stop my nervous movements, when I hear the sound of footsteps approaching.I look up, hopeful it’s Levi with my sister, but it’s a middle-aged man.I smile politely and go back to staring at my feet.
“That was a great performance,” he says, stopping in front of me.
“Oh, thank you.That’s so nice.”
“Yeah, I never thought I would be able to see it live.”
Okay, so he’s seen the show.Don’t react.
“Though...he’s dating that Gabriella now, ain’t he?”
“Yeah, I guess he is.”I look back down that hall.Where is Levi?
“Do you normally go around kissing other people’s boyfriends?”
I cough a laugh.“Do you normally corner women in hallways before asking them personal questions?”
His smile slips to a full tilt.“I do, actually.I’m a reporter for The Sun.I like to get to the truth, and you, my dear, are full of lies.”
“Lies?!”I repeat back.
“Lies, yes.That’s what it’s called when you pretend to be something you’re not.”
“Excuse me.”I come off the wall, rolling my shoulders back.“I am 100 percent myself, so unless you have something specific you want to talk to me about, you need to back up and let me be.”I can tell my forwardness shocks him because he rears back ever so slightly.People have a misconception about “nice people.”I am a nice person, but I also know who I am, and I won’t stand here and be told differently.
“You know what I mean.The whole nice, Southern girl act.Drops out, hates Hollywood.”
“Never said that.”
“Comes home for a couple weeks and then comes up here and gets signed by the biggest Christian label in the country.”
“What’s your point?”
“My point, Tate, is I don’t know how your new label is going to feel about the press coming out with pictures of you locking lips with someone else’s boyfriend.”
