“I don’t know why I thought I could just come over here.” Her eyes are glued to her feet. “It was silly to think we could just—”
“Act like nothing happened?”
“I guess.”
“Why did youcome over here?”
Her eyes meet mine, but there’s a sadness in them I’ve never seen. Not even when our friendship was falling apart earlier this year.
“I just wanted to see my best friend.” Her tongue runs against her lips, and her eyes glaze over with tears. “I got some amazing news, and the first thing I wanted to do was tell you. And a part of me thought coming over here after what happened last night would be stupid, but you’ve always been the first person I go to when I have big news, and I guess I was hoping that wouldn’t have to change.”
She brushes her hand under her nose, hiding a sniffle.
“But if it does, I understand. Whether it needs to change for now...” Tate’s eyes meet the ground again, “or forever. I’d rather have you in my life in some capacity, no matter how small, than not at all.”
It hurts me to see her like this.
I suppose when I got home last night, I assumed she had gone home and just moved on with her life while I was left to pick up the pieces of mine.
But she’s trying to piece everything back together, too.
Just because she ended things doesn’t mean she doesn’t care about me.
Perhaps she cares about me so much that she felt it was the only thing she could do.
“What’s your news?” I try to keep my voice steady.
“Gracie Dunn.”
It’s all she says, and my face twists with confusion.
“That country singer you’re obsessed with?”
She was all Tate listened to in high school.
Okay, maybe not all she listened to, but she definitely inspired her writing.
“Pop-country,” she corrects, a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth for the first time since she got here. “And yeah, that Gracie Dunn.”
“What about her?”
“She wants me to go on tour with her.”
Tate’s eyes light up as she finishes her sentence.
“Tour?” My eyes widen. “Like, to perform?”
The smile is small but so genuine, so beautiful.
She nods.
“Oh my god!” I can’t help myself; I wrap my arms around her and spin her around the hallway. “You’re going on tour? But how, I mean, obviously, I’m so proud of you, but—”
As her feet meet the ground again, our eyes lock, taking me out of my previous thoughts. My arms fall to my sides, but her smile doesn’t falter. She continues as if nothing happened.
“She saw my videos on Instagram or maybe another one of my platforms, but she reached out to me on Instagram. According to her Instagram, I’ll be touring with both her and Colson Young this summer. If I accept, that is. It’s a lot to think about.”
“You’re going to accept, Tate. This is everything you’ve ever wanted and more. You were looking for internships to work behind the scenes at top record labels with the hope of finally getting your big shot.” I find her hand and give it a squeeze. “This could be that shot.”
