“Thanks,” Niall said, giving me another grin that didn’t meet his eyes and clapping Freddie on the back. “Come on, superstar. Let’s get ready.”
“I’ll see you after?” Freddie called, as Niall steered him away.
“Absolutely,” I called after him, crossing my fingers that this would turn out to be true. They disappeared into the greenroom, and I just stood in the hallway, trying to work out what was bothering me about Niall. But after nothing ?came to mind, I tried to shake it off.
I headed around the corner, where Violet was opening the equipment cases and starting to unpack them. I gave her a nod as I headed to the exit, but she straightened up and smiled at me. “Hey!” she said cheerfully. “Thanks for the tip about Van. Hewastotally bluffing. How did you know?”
“Oh,” I said, with a shrug, “I guess I’m just good at reading people? Have a good night.”
“You too,” she called after me, going back to work.
I took a deep breath, then pushed my way out the doors, heading off to find my best friend.
On my way to the stage, I stopped by a different bathroom than the one I knew that Tabitha Keith would soon be weeping in. There wasn’t anything I could do about that now—in this moment, I just wanted to find my best friend and spend as much time with her as possible.
I looked around the crowd that was starting to gather in front of the stage but didn’t see her and the Emmas anywhere. I was here earlier than I normally was—there were ten minutes on the countdown clock—so I wasn’t sure exactly when she’d be arriving. I looked down at my watch, to try and note the time, before I gave it up. I was already keeping so much in my head—where people were at any given moment, facts about Freddie, random poker players’ cards—I wasn’t sure I could add more to it without losing something. I pulled out my phone, figuring that maybe it would be better to text Bryony so that she wouldn’t be shocked to see me.
But just for a moment, I stared down at the picture on my lock screen—Oscar and Angelo and me. Freddie’s words were rattling around in my head, and I was trying my best to dismiss them. I wasn’t mad at them. Maybe I was mad at thesituation, but not at them. It wasn’t like they could have done anything different…right? I’d been working so hard to be part of our little unit, a team player, ?that these were questions I’d never asked.
I realized with a shock that I’d ?never once told them how I felt about it all. And suddenly, standing in the middle of a Grad Nite crowd, looking down at a picture of our smiling faces, I wished that I had.
“Cass?” It was a guy’s voice, and I felt my heart lift as I looked up, expecting to see Freddie standing in front of me. But a second later, I registered that the voice had been American, not British. Which made sense, because Bruce was standing in front of me, arms folded across his chest.
I inwardly sighed as I realized that I hadn’t accounted for him here, which I absolutely should have. I’d run into him twice before, after all. But constantly avoiding people, and having to keep ever-changing maps in my head, was truly starting to get exhausting.
“Hey, Bruce,” I said with a wave, as he stared in surprise at me. A second later, I remembered that I wasn’t supposed to be expecting to see him here. “I mean,” I said, scrambling. “Hey! Bruce? I’m so very surprised to see you here. Why are you so far from home here, in California?”
“We won an academic award,” Bruce said. His eyes were still wide as he looked at me, like he’d just seen a ghost—which was probably what this felt like for him. I’d seen him enough tonight that the shock was wearing off. He was even starting to look familiar—his light brown hair, black backpack,CerealT-shirt…
“Wait,” I said, taking a step closer. His Evergreen High sweatshirt was off, and now I could see that he was wearing a T-shirt touting Bryony’s favorite podcast. His readSNAP CRACKLE POP CULTUREunder theCereallogo. “You listen toCereal?”
“Uh, yes,” he said, looking a little discomfited. “Do you?”
“No,” I said immediately. “But I’ve heard a lot about it, believe me. In fact…” I turned away, scanning the crowd, which was getting steadily bigger. I could see the music manager taking her spot, I could see people jockeying for better positions. I could even see…“Bryony!” I yelled the second I spotted her, rising up on my toes and waving.
“Cass?” she called, then started to make her way over to me, Emma R. following behind her. The other two Emmas, as expected, were bickering together in low tones, both looking miserable. “When did you get here? Why didn’t you text me?”
“I was about to,” I said, holding up my phone like it was proof. “But I knew you’d be here soon.” She took a breath, and I continued on before she could ask a follow-up. “But I wanted you to meet Bruce.”
“Hi!” Emma R. said, striding forward to wave at him. “I’m Emma.”
“Hello,” Bruce said politely, even as he was looking increasingly confused.
“This is Bryony,” I said, gesturing to her, and noticing that she was playing with her ?bangs again, which was all the sign I needed. I knew now I hadn’t been imagining the sparks I’d felt between them earlier. “I just thought you should meet, since you’re bothCerealfans.” I saw them both clock the other’s shirt.
“Cereal, like for eating?” Emma R. asked, sounding baffled.
“It’s a podcast,” Bryony and Bruce said at the same time, then smiled at each other.
“Is it a murder podcast?” Emma R. asked. “Because those are the only ones I listen to.”
I turned to her. “Wait, really?”
She shrugged like this should have been obvious. “Of course.”
“How do you know Cass?” Bryony asked, looking up at Bruce and fussing with her bangs again.
“We knew each other in Seattle,” I said, jumping in before Bruce could. “We were neighbors. Friends. And then…I wrecked everything.” I didn’t know I was going to speak the truth before I was saying it, and it just reverberated between us for a moment, like when a tuning fork finds the correct pitch.
