“Okay, that'sgreat."
"This is gonnabe the bestshowever."
"Of course,itis."
He said something I couldn't entirely make out, but I thought it had something to do with him being better than the rest of the guys intheband.
"I’m going to see if that coffee is here," I said, beforewalkingaway.
I knew it wasn’t. It had only been a few minutes since I texted Sarah, but it was painful watching Owen try to carry on a conversation. I wondered if he’d be able to remember the lyrics to oursongs.
I found Matt and Carter sitting at the bar with soda talking to one another and pulled up a stoolbesidethem.
“What are we going to do,” Matt asked with the same panic-stricken expression on his face as when Iwalkedin.
“Sarah’s bringing coffee as we speak. Maybe he’ll be okay if we make sure he doesn’t drink anymore between now and the show except for thecoffee.”
“Are you kidding?” Carter asked. “There’s no way that’s goingtowork.”
“Probably not, but what other option do we have. Let’s try to make it through tonight the bestwecan.”
“And Sarah’s on her way?” Mattasked.
“She’s reliable, man. Probably the best person for the job, and not just because she’s my sister. We can do this. It’llbefine.”
We spent the next hour holding our collective breaths waiting to see what would happen. We had pulled the bartender on duty aside ask and asked him to cut Owen off. He had agreed without argument when he saw how drunkhewas.
Owen was currently drinking the coffee Sarah brought, and people were starting to fillthebar.
“Hey, Matt, I don’t even know what the new band name is.” At first, I’d been glued to my phone waiting to see what everyone came up with. But after a lack of anything inspiring, I’d stopped paying attention. As hard as it was to believe, I’d completely forgotten about the contest until I saw the larger than usual crowds tonight and tried to figure out why so many people were at Wild Bill’s for teennight.
“Please tell me you saw the poll we postedyesterday.”
“Whatpoll?”
“Rainier, you’re killing me. We had a few favorites and let the fansdecide.”
“So what’sourname?”
Matt and Carter exchanged a look and started laughing. Only laughing was too mild a word for it. They were howling. Matt was hunched over, and Carter had tears rolling down his cheeks. I was completely lost, and I wondered if Owen might not be the only intoxicated band member thatnight.
“I don’tgetit.”
Carter struggled to catch his breath but managed to clarify. “Rainier and the Go-Aways.”
Rainier and the Go-Aways.
“You know, like rain, rain go away?” Mattadded.
Tap,tap,tap.
There was only one person who would think that was funny. I stared at the guys sitting in front of me. Okay, maybe a couple of people thought it was funny. But there was only one person who would consider it to be a goodbandname.
I looked at the bar for her but didn’t see her. It was probably for the best. I needed to focus on our upcoming performance. It was sure to be stressful enough without worrying about Michelle and herteasing.
“Anyway,” Matt said, pulling me from my thoughts. “I think we’re about to sink or swim. It’s time for us to go on.” He nodded his chin in the direction of the stage where Owen was walking up to the microphone. I took a deep breath and made my way to the stage with theotherguys.
“Good evening, we’re Rainier and the Go-Aways,” Owen said into the microphone once we’d all made our way to the stage. He didn’t sound so good, and he lacked his usual charisma. I had expected a big reveal with the band name, but he said it like it wasn’t abigdeal.
