“You know, the power struggles?”
It was such a strange observation, but after she’d said it, it did make sense. “I guess so. He’s kind of a dick sometimes.”
“Yeah, I got that impression.”
“But he means well.” I shouldn’t be talking shit about my boyfriend. “He just gets a little bossy sometimes, especially when it comes to his music.”
And me, I silently added.
“You think they’ll take me?” Sabrina asked, having already moved on.
I glanced back to where the five of them were in a huddle. I doubted they were even talking about Sabrina. Seth had already made up his mind. I knew it shortly after their first song. Sabrina raised their game to the next level, and there weren’t exactly drummers banging down the door to join some unknown high school garage rock band.
“I think they will. Play it cool and make some demands. Seth will respect you more for it.”
Sabrina nodded. “I’ve always wanted to be in a band. At school, they only let you play one beat at a time. I much prefer having my own set.” She smiled and pumped her fist. “What a rush.”
We finished our sodas, and I used the heel of my shoe to crush our cans. Seth’s eyes lifted from the huddle, and I gave him a warning look. I didn’t want him jerking Sabrina around. He motioned for us to rejoin them.
“After much deliberation and consideration, the band has come to a conclusion...” Seth glanced to Mitchell, then me. “Sabrina Hamilton, we’d like for you to join our band.” Seth paused and looked a little sheepish. “We’re still working out a name.”
Sabrina didn’t answer right away, just stared at Seth with her stubborn chin jutting outward to the point that Seth followed it up with, “So, you in?”
“There are a few things you should know about me,” she said with a defiant look. Classic Sabrina. “I like to play loud. I don’t want you telling me how to dress or do my hair. If you hit on me, I will punch you in the face, and whatever money the band brings in, I want my fair share.”
Seth’s eyebrows rose, and Mitchell chuckled. Sasha smiled smugly and threw her arm around Sabrina. “I like this one. She’s got grit.”
“How do you feel about creative control?” Seth asked.
“You do your job, and I’ll do mine.”
Seth nodded and held out his hand. “I think we’re going to get along fine.”
The band wanted to continue practicing, and Sabrina needed to get home, so I walked her to her house before continuing on to my own. Later that night I was FaceTiming with Seth when he asked if I could sneak out because his mom was staying the night at her boyfriend’s, and he was lonely. My parents had already gone to bed, but Mai was still awake and studying. I told Seth I couldn’t because of the aforementioned reason, but he begged and pleaded until I finally told him I’d try.
I popped over to Mai’s room and told her I had to run an errand.
“Where would you need to go at this hour?” she asked. It was after ten o’clock.
“I need more…supplies,” I told her, which wasn’t a lie. She rolled her eyes and made a face at me, then told me to be back by midnight or she was waking up our parents. I stopped by the gas station for more condoms then biked over to Seth’s house. When I got there, he greeted me with an exuberant kiss. Then we raced each other up the stairs to his bedroom, tore away our clothes like they were made of tissue paper, and went at it.
Afterward, we were lying naked in his bed with the covers off because it was hot in his room even with the ceiling fan on. Seth’s house always had a cloying heat about it because their air conditioner was broken, and his mother couldn’t afford or didn’t want to fix it or buy a new one. I’d already promised myself to buy Seth a window unit for Christmas—a gift to the both of us.
As I was lying there, I began thinking again about Sabrina—what she’d said about our power struggles and how tough she’d been with Seth earlier that day, how well he’d responded. I started to worry I was too submissive and that Seth might be taking advantage of my compliant, eager-to-please nature by making increasingly impossible demands. Even worse was the fear that if I was too much of a pushover, he’d get tired of me and move on.
“We can’t do that stuff at school anymore,” I said to him. I was lying on my back with my arms splayed outward like a bat.
“What stuff?” Seth asked, playing dumb. I turned my head to give him a look. His eyes narrowed, not appreciating the attitude in my expression. “Did you tell someone about it?”
I didn’t answer him, so Seth rolled up to a cross-legged position beside me. He drew his thumbnail down the center of my chest, from my sternum to my navel, like a medical examiner performing an autopsy.
“Did you tell Sabrina?” His tone was gentle, but I sensed a warning lurking there.
“No, she followed us the other day during lunch.”
“That’s creepy.”
I looked upward and tracked the lethargic path of the ceiling fan, so he couldn’t read my expression. “Anyway, it can’t happen again.”
