"Oh, yeah? And how did that go? Did he fall in love with your sound? Did he refuse to leave before signing you to hislabel?”
“I don’t know. I left right aftertheshow.”
Sarah snorted. “Exactly. You think you played it for the band, but I think you just don’t want to admit what’s going on here. You’re head over heels for that girl, and even your subconscious is trying to tell you whattodo.”
“And what’s that, oh wise one?” My voice was sarcastic, even though I was dying to know what she thought. So often she saw what Icouldn’t.
“You need to give this thing with Michelleashot.”
"Whateveryousay."
"You know I'm right," she argued. "It's just a matter of whether or not you're going to act like a completeidiot."
“I’ll think about it,” I said, walking down tomyroom.
It only took me a few minutes to get ready for bed. Once I'd finished, I laid down in my bed, staring at theceiling.
I didn’t know how Sarah could treat this relationship with Michelle the way she did. She acted like it wouldn’t be a big deal to stop going to college to date her. Wasn’t that how every sappy, back-hills romance started? Only inreverse.
What would our future look like if we went down that path? If I went to Michelle and asked her for another chance and she somehow said yes. Would we date? Get married? Have kids? Michelle had expensive taste. I certainly wouldn’t be able to support her lifestyle. In just a couple of days, I’d be unemployed. I still hadn’t found a new job with school so close. She deserved better than that. I deserved betterthanthat.
My phone buzzed pulling me from my thoughts. Looking at my screen, I could see I’d gotten a few texts from Matt, even one from Jenny. I hadn’t felt my phone buzz and hadn’t seen them until this latest camethrough.
Matt: Whereareyou?
Matt: Tell me you didn’tleave.
Matt: You left??? I don’t seeyourcar.
Jenny: Matt just said you left. You’re never going to guess whathappened!
Matt: The guy picked up Chasing Sunsets. Norm asked us to headlinenextweek!
Matt: Rainier. This could be HUGE. We needtotalk.
Matt: If you don’t come to the door in the next five minutes, I’m ringing the doorbell and waking yourparents.
Me: I’m comingrightnow.
“Are you freaking kidding me?” Matt said as soon as I opened the door. I shushed him before walking out into the night air. I sat down on my front porch step, and he didthesame.
The night was still. The evenings were beginning to cool down as we got closer to fall. The sky was clear making the stars shine brightly in the darkness. It was the perfect scene for contemplating difficultdecisions.
“Rainier, that guy from the label is taking Aaron and the guys to L.A. this weekend. I'm pretty sure they're going to record analbum.”
“That’sgreat.”
“Which means we're playing again next week. Only this time we will be theopener.”
“I saw your text.” Ideadpanned.
“Then why aren’t you more excited? Come on, man. This could be our break. Just look what happened to Chasing Sunsets. They were the headliner at The Imperial and are getting their shot at the big time. That could happentous.”
“I'm leaving in a couple ofweeks.”
“Don’t.”
“Matt,I–”
