him, and she turns to face the bass cabinet to try to hide it. Julia misses a major change, she doesn’t make it to the bridge but hops to the chorus, and the song sounds really fucked up. And oh shit, she’s losing it up there, really losing it. Dan tries to catch her attention and get her back on top of the riff, but she’s not even paying attention anymore. The song falls all the way apart when she just stops playing altogether, puts the bass in the stand, and Dan stops playing and jams his sticks into the stick bag.
But Matt, determined to get a record deal with spinART, keeps going all by himself, like anyone gives a shit now. Like anyone in the crowd even wants to hear his lying ass. He finishes the song with the rest of us looking at him incredulous, like what a dick, seriously. When he’s done, Julia steps up to her mic and announces she quits, that’s the end of Circle Time. She thanks the rest of us for all of our support, but she can’t do it.
Nobody claps. Nobody knows what the hell to do. Matt is appalled. He quick jumps on the mic and says that’s not true, Circle Time is not disbanding, they’re just having personnel issues. Really, Matt? Jesus. And now spinART guy is not entertained, nor amused.
“This is exactly why I will never be in a band with a couple,” Joey says. “It’s so not worth the drama.”
Travis keeps his eyes on Julia as she makes her way through the crowd in a mess of tears and broken dreams. He doesn’t respond to Joey’s comment at all. But my heart freezes and shatters inside of me.
“What’s wrong?” Joey asks.
“Just . . . poor Julia,” I say, shaking my head.
“Shit, I know,” he says, wrapping his arm around me. “Let’s go see if she wants to hit the diner with us. She looks like she really needs a plate of chili fries.”
***
In Jersey, diners are where you go for fries and coffee after the bars close when you’re not done hanging out at three a.m., and on a night like this, nobody is done hanging out. Tonight, we go to the Edison Diner. It’s me, Travis, Joey, Cole, Julia and Dan, and Millie and Bailey, and then in the lobby as we’re waiting for them to put a few tables together for us, we run into Billy, Ron, and Darah Jordan, who isn’t a musician but some marketing major who is fucking Ron. This week.
You might be surprised at how crowded the Edison Diner is at three a.m. on Friday night/Saturday morning. But probably not if you’ve ever been there at that time. Half of the folks from the Court are here, which makes Julia want to hide under the table, but aside from a few pathetic looks and sideways glances, she gets several pats on the back and a few hugs. We are finally sitting, and this feels pretty much like being in a Rutgers dining hall at school except everybody here is in a band or was just out watching a band, if not Circle Time and Buttcrack at the Court, then they were at the hardcore show at the Melody. We run into the Holy Hobbies, the male pop masters of New Brunswick. They’re stopping for pancakes on their way home from playing a gig in the city.
“Dude.” Joey is leaning forward in his chair. His arm is on the back of Julia’s chair as he talks to her. “Next time I see Matt? I’m going to Taekwondo his ass. You have my word.”
“Sure, if I don’t do it myself first,” Julia says. “Maybe you can show me some moves.”
“Trap can,” Joey says. “He did competitive martial arts all through high school.”
“You did?” I say. There’s something I don’t know about Travis? Travis shakes his head at Joey.
“Taekwondo is for self-defense,” he says. “Not vendettas. For that you just want a good old-fashioned fist to the mouth.”
“I can handle that,” Joey says.
“It’s all right,” Julia says. “I’ve already done that.”
“You have? That’s so badass.” Joey is wide-eyed with admiration, and I can’t believe I never saw it before now, but Joey is into Julia. I must have been too wrapped up in my own shit to notice this last weekend at Carolier Lanes. Oh shit, what if they start dating and then he leaves Soft to start a band with Julia? I’m such an