His grin stretched from ear to ear. “Wasn’t it? We killed it up there. That was for sure one of our best shows ever. Did you see how we opened? Man, it was boss.”
I just smiled at him. I hadn’t seen how they opened, but he didn’t need to know that.
“That’s awesome.”
“There was a scout here tonight,” he went on. “I haven’t seen him yet, but Cory and Mel saw him earlier. I think he’s gonna come talk to me. I mean, he better come talk to me. We rocked the shit out of this place tonight.”
I glanced over at my shoulder, anxious to find Troy. But he wasn’t there anymore. Either was Mikey. They’d both disappeared.
Panic started to billow inside of me. I didn’t want Troy to think this was what I wanted or that I went backstage with Jake. He needed to know that I wasn’t into Jake anymore.
And maybe that was the craziest thing of all—that after my entire life of wanting this one thing all it had taken was one night for me to see that what I wanted was someone else.
Who I needed was someone else.
Jake kept talking about the band and the scout and the night, but all I could think about was Troy and how I was about to let him leave without knowing anything I felt.
I stumbled forward, anxious to end this conversation and this ridiculous idea of Jake and me. “I have to go,” I blurted.
Jake stuttered to a stop and raised his eyebrows. “What?”
“I—I… I have to go. My friend just left and he’s my ride.”
Jake cocked his head to the side, obviously confused. “I thought we were going to hang out tonight?” The innuendo in his words wasn’t lost on me and it hit me once again how different Troy and Jake were.
Troy had been right. This would be a onetime thing for Jake. He didn’t know me. He didn’t care about me. He lived next door to me and didn’t know shit about my parents.
Troy sat by me in one class and had figured it out from the start.
“We’re not going to,” I told him honestly. “Not tonight. Not any night.”
“What the hell, Cass?” Jake’s eyebrows scrunched down, but his voice lacked any real disappointment. There were plenty of girls he could take “backstage” if I wasn’t willing.
“Sorry, Jake. I have to go. For real. But hey, good luck with the band and stuff!”
I had already started walking away when I heard him ask, “The band and stuff?”
But I didn’t have the time or the patience to deal with his wounded ego. I picked up speed, pushing through the lingering crowd.
Gina appeared at my side, “That was frickin’ awesome! Holy shit, Cass! That was righteous!”
I smiled at her, feeling very righteous. “I know!”
We shared a laugh, but it only lasted a second. “Where’d they go?” she asked.
We burst from the building, sucking in the clean, cool air from outside. My hands skated down the front of me and I realized I was still wearing Troy’s jacket.
“I don’t know,” I mumbled. “But we have to find them.”
We looked around the parking lot, growing more desperate as every second passed. Finally we neared the highway and Gina pointed, “There!”
They stood on the side of the road with their thumbs hitched. Cars drove by but nobody had stopped for them yet.
We started running toward them. I was so afraid a car was going to stop and I’d miss my opportunity. And be stranded at Graffiti’s at the same time.
“Troy!” I shouted when I was close enough. “Troy!”
His thumb dropped and he slowly turned toward us. He shoved both hands into his pockets and stood there while we hurried over to them.
