of us wanted to do long distance, though that was only sort of accurate, because there’d been a period of time in which I would have done anything to keep her. I could say Ruby and I never quite made it off the ground and I didn’t know why, but that wasn’t quite true either. I did know why. We didn’t love each other. As it happened, I loved someone else. I’d never really stopped.
The air around me grew thick and charged. Maybe Ronni felt it too, and that’s why she changed the subject.
“Look,” she said, pointing over my shoulder. I turned and saw a small horde of juniors parking and climbing out of their cars, the freshman trio slipping in just behind them.
“Thank God,” I whispered.
I felt my phone vibrate and pulled it from my back pocket: a text from Ruby.
We’re here! Just parking
“Um. Ruby’s here, so—”
“Should we go help?” said Jamie.
“You and me?” I asked dumbly.
“Y-yeah?”
“Yeah, okay,” I said. “They’re parking out back. Make sure everyone pays,” I told Ronni and Alexis, and handed them the large plastic Cheez Balls bucket we’d converted for tonight’s event. Unlike the first show, for which Dee and Gaby had handled the money, we claimed treasurer duties this time around, wanting the amount we collected to be a surprise.
“Yes, sir,” said Ronni, and we laughed to see Alexis, hugging the bucket close to her body, eyes gleaming with power.
Jamie and I went out through the back entrance and found Mikey and Ben unloading equipment from the back of David’s van. Ruby stood behind them, supervising. When she saw us, she rushed over to give me a hug, and then Jamie.
“Sorry we’re late,” she said. “Someone couldn’t find his ‘lucky pick.’?” She rolled her eyes.
“You’re fine.” Jamie’s voice, cheerful and reassuring, surprised me. “People are just starting to get here.”
“Good,” said Ruby. “Or…bad?”
My face must have conveyed my concern. “No, it’s good,” I said. “I’m just nervous.”
“How do you think I feel?” Ruby gave me a playful shove. Maybe it was my imagination, but I thought I could feel Jamie bristling beside me.
“You’ll be great,” I said.
Ruby grinned. “I know.”
* * *
—
When we shuffled into the shop minutes later, all of us struggling under the weight of guitars and guitar stands and various pieces of electronic drum kit, Jamie and me bringing up the rear, we were not prepared for what we saw. My mouth fell open, and Jamie and I exchanged a look of wide-eyed excitement. The place was very nearly full, and by a quick mathematical estimate I deduced there were fifty-five people or more. We sped up, rushing to deposit Sweets’s equipment on the stage, and I yelled “Break a leg!” to Ruby. She waved her thanks, but she was already in rock-star mode, surveying her crowd of adoring fans. Jamie and I weaved our way through them back to Ronni, at our table by the counter.
“What happened?” I marveled.
“Where’s Alexis?” asked Jamie.
Ronni held up her hand to calm us.
“Alexis is doing her job ruthlessly,” she said, pointing to the door. Alexis stood outside, half bouncer, half bodyguard. No one got past her without dropping cash in the bucket. “As for how it got this packed, I do not know. I swear I looked at my phone for two seconds, and when I looked up it was like this.”
I held up my hand for Jamie to high-five, which I regretted as soon as her hand met mine. I felt hot and sick and alive with nerves. It was a horrible kind of ecstasy, being in love and not knowing what exactly was going to happen, or when, but certain something would. And there I was, feeling it again, for someone I’d already loved and lost.
Ronni, perhaps sensing the vibe, or just as embarrassed by our awkward high five as I was, stood up. “I see Janelle and Kate,” she said. “I’m gonna go say hi.”