My gaze wandered from Nora to the ceiling. Black-painted metal pipes tried to blend in with the black plaster.
What was Alex doing right now? Was he stuck in a conversation with Darcy about bread? Or had he managed tosneak away and hide in his room, working on another song? Was he thinking about me the way I was thinking about him?
After the kitchen incident this morning, when he hugged me, we shared a moment where I was sure we both wanted to kiss, but couldn’t. If we had, it might have stirred up something that would cause a lot of trouble and heartache. Then again… what ifnotdoing it kept us from getting the closure we needed to accept that it was just a one-night thing?
Would it be weird to reach out?
I did promise to text him.
Maybe I should…
I fumbled my phone out of my pocket and sat up. I opened the camera app, turned around, and positioned myself so that Nora and the lyrics projected onto the wall were behind me. My screen flashed white as I took a selfie. My smile in the picture was friendly, but not in a way that made it obvious I was thinking about what it would be like if he were here.
A second later, I sent him the image.
Me
Guess where I am.
I think you would’ve liked it here.
It took five seconds for the image and words to go through. I stared at the screen as if Alex had only been waiting for me to text him and would read it right away.
Nora reached the end of the chorus, and as a guitar solo set in, she bent forward, whirling her long hair around so forcefully that her red hairband flew off and landed on Raul. He caught it, already applauding the show. I clapped along with him, but just as a second guitar joined the solo, my phone lit up with a message from Alex.
Karaoke Bar?
A beaming emoji with heart eyes followed.
I wish I were there to hear you sing.
But since you promised to keep your promise, I’ll be patient for now.
He sent another emoji, this time with a halo above the little yellow head. Three more dots appeared and faded, then reappeared.
Now you guess where I am.
A picture followed. The right half of Alex’s face protruded into the frame. His tongue was sticking out cheekily. His musical equipment sat on the floor of his bedroom behind him.
It’s probably not difficult to figure it out.
Alex sent a laughing emoji, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“I fucking know that smile,” Nora yelled, stopping in the middle of the chorus. The beat kept pumping, but all eyes were on me now. She rushed to the display. As she turned off the song, her hair fell into her face, no longer held back by her headband.
“You still could’ve finished your song.”
“No, no, no,thissmile!” She pointed at me. Her eyes flicked to Raul to make sure he could see it, too. “This means there’s someone on the other end of that phone he’s interested in.” She looked back at me… “Is that why you didn’t flirt back with the cute server?” …and then back to Raul. “He’s usually not shy about flirting.”
“I know,guapa.”
Nora climbed onto my bench, trapping me between her and Raul. “Tell us everything.”
“It’s nothing, really,” I said. But as the words left my mouth, my chest stung a little.
It wasn’tnothing. It was just something that couldn’t become anything more. Or at least not more than an online friendship with someone I might hook up with if I ever saw him again, and we’re both still single and into each other at the time.
My phone vibrated again, and I couldn’t resist peeking at it.
