Gina and I looked at each other and laughed at the bands antics as they soaked in the massive praise.
We were trapped where we were. The crowd pressed even closer now that the music was over and someone would be crowned king of the night.
One of Mad Dog’s bartenders ran on stage and motioned for the other bands to come out. The stage filled with goth, punk and hairband rockers all grouped together with their own.
The crowd still hadn’t given up its Fresh Suicide chant and it took the MC several minutes to calm down.
“I hear ya!” he shouted at them. “But let me do my frickin’ job!”
Eventually it got quiet enough he could talk. “Besides,” he continued, flashing an amused smile, “We still gotta pick a second place.”
The crowd erupted again, totally insane with cheers. The MC gave up and tossed the microphone on the stage. He walked over to Jake and the drummer, a kid named Cory with a legit Mohawk. He grabbed both of their hands and raised them high into the air. Both Cory and Jake jumped and shouted their approval. Cory took one of his drumsticks and flung it into the crowd. The crowd screamed louder.
The whole thing was beyond outrageous. I loved every second of it.
Eventually things calmed down and the people around me stopped crushing me. One of the older, regular bands took the stage and now that the competition was over, everyone started to just hang out.
Jake and his band cleaned up their stuff around the band performing. Gina and I hung out off to the side. I should have gone straight to find Troy, but it wasn’t that simple.
And I was nervous.
“Jake’s coming over here,” Gina shouted over the music.
I followed her gaze and saw that he was looking at us, but stuck in a conversation with some fans. He waved when he caught my eye and nodded his head toward the back.
When all I did was wave back at him, Gina nudged me with her elbow. “I’ve never liked him,” she admitted in my ear.
My eyes bugged and I stared at her. She had never been anything but supportive of my crazy infatuation. “What?”
She smiled unapologetically. “Like Troy said, he should have noticed you sooner. You’ve known him forever, Cass. What’s he been waiting for?”
I shrugged, feeling like an idiot. It was hard to face this truth. I didn’t want to think that it was me, or even that it was him. In my head and all the other times I’d thought about it, I blamed me being too shy or him being too wild. I dressed like a skank, but we both knew I wasn’t one.
My entire life I’d been a good girl and Jake knew that.
It wasn’t until my parents fell apart publically that I gave up on what people thought of me altogether.
“So what are you saying?” I asked her.
She pointed towards the bar. Looking over my shoulder, I found Troy and Mikey at a tall table, looking thoroughly rejected. Even Mikey had his head on his arm. They weren’t talking to each other. They were just sitting together like a bunch of depressed losers.
It made me smile.
“He likes you, Cass.” She had to shout over the music, but I could still tell by her tone that she approved of him. “He’s not totally lame either.”
I thought about the whole day and how much effort he’d gone through to hang out with me. He’d been trying to get my attention the whole year and I’d been too self-absorbed to notice.
God, I was such an airhead.
“So what are you going to do?” Gina asked but before I could answer her I was forced to decide.
Troy sat up straight and tall, all his attention had returned to me. But he wasn’t looking at me. He was staring behind me.
That was how I knew Jake had finally caught up with me. I hadn’t felt Jake appear or noticed that he was near. And even when I turned to him, my body didn’t react in any way. I didn’t get tingles or heart flutters or anything.
And I didn’t see the man of my dreams standing in front of me. I just saw Jake. An old acquaintance and sometimes friend.
“Great show,” I told Jake before he could mention backstage.
