Page 156 of Call Me Baby 2: Side B

“And that’s not a pitch.

“That’s fact.”

When the green room door shuts behind me, it’s only me and the empty hall—black paint, carpet sticky, EXIT sign buzzing, bass pounding through the walls, muffled like a heartbeat in the next room.

At first, I stand.

Just stand.

Too shocked to let the good out.

And then I melt.

“Yes,” I choke out,

the word clawing out of me,

part laugh, part cry.

“Yes. Yes.”

I clap a hand over my mouth,

laugh inside it, shaking my head.

But the laugh dies wet behind my palm.

Then the tears come,

hot, stinging,

rolling fast down my face.

My back slides down the wall,

legs folding under me,

lungs pulling in shallow, shaky breaths.

My body’s all nerves,

all sparks,

all stupid happiness.

And I can’t stop shaking,

covering my smile with both hands.

“I fucking pulled it off,” I whisper into my palms. “Dad, can you hear me?… I can fucking do this…”

I tip my head back against the wall,

vision blurry.

The tears keep sliding.

First time in years something’s gone right, and my body doesn’t know how to react.