addresses,” I said. “Your place. Her place. Everything. Please.”
“Yeah, no problem,” Mia said.
The call ended and I walked down the hallway.
I turned the corner and saw the band was waiting for me.
“Did you just have phone sex?” Jay asked.
“No, that’s not his come face,” Reed said.
“You know what his come face looks like?” Dex asked.
“I have to go,” I said.
“Wait, what’s wrong?” Nash asked.
“I have to take the car and leave,” I said.
“What are you talking about?” Jay asked.
“I have to call Toby… I have to…”
“Sab, look at me,” Nash said. He snapped his fingers. “Talk to me.”
“I have to fly back to my hometown right now.”
I had a bag with a change of clothes and my guitar.
That was it.
I looked like a poor rock star… as I walked to the private jet.
The pilot was waiting for me.
I thanked him for showing up on short notice even though he was getting paid a lot to be available for us.
The band was going to take care of things in the city.
My only focus was getting to Bree.
The flight was only going to be a couple hours.
The longest couple hours of my life.
I got on the plane, alone, and stared out the window.
When the plane took off, I just kept staring out the window.
Watching the city turn into a flat surface, then finally losing sight of all land.
We were tucked up in the clouds, and I was on my way to see Bree…
“I’m going to be famous, babe. I know it.”
“I know you are. Do you ever regret quitting marching band? I heard you could have gotten a scholarship to a really good college.”
“College? What am I going to do with college, Bree? I’m not meant for that. I know what I want to do.”
“Tell me again.”
“I’m going to pack up some stuff and move to Los Angeles. That’s the plan. I’m going to get a band together and we’re going to tour the world. We’re going to be famous. I know to say something like that here is dumb. This kind of town just holds you close and not a lot of people leave. But I’m going to make it, babe.”
“I believe in you, Sebastian.”
“I need a good name though. I can’t be Sebastian.”
“Oh? You want, what? A rock star name?”
“Exactly.”
“So… like… Vicious? Scumbag? Dirty? Something like that?”
I laugh.
Bree laughs too.
She’s in a bikini.
And she’s beautiful. Everything about her is beautiful. And maybe I’m being a little bit of a jerk as I casually look at her top and think about how different she is now. That just a few years ago she had braces, pimples and her chest was way flatter than it is now.
But she’s my friend.
Maybe even my best friend.
“I think you’ll do it,” she says. “You never give up.”
“I have no choice. If I don’t make it in LA then I’ll come back here. And if I do that, I’ll be miserable.”
“Is it that bad here?”
“For me it is. I know you like it here. Have you ever thought about leaving?”
Bree smiles at me. “It’s getting cool out. I’m kind of cold.”
“Shit. I didn’t bring anything extra…”
I wrap my arm around her and pull her close to me.
We’re sitting next to the river.
On the really hot nights, the river sometimes smells.
But tonight it’s perfect.
She hugs me.
I hug her.
I’m just keeping her warm.
Nothing more than that… right?
I slowly turn my head.
I mean, if she looks up at me… I’m looking at her… why can’t… we… kiss…
I wait a few seconds.
She doesn’t move.
Her eyes are shut.
I slowly lean back, holding her, her head on my chest.
She falls asleep.
I look at the stars.
I’m going to be a famous rock star someday.
And maybe if things work out, Bree will be by my side.
There were ten thousand of those moments I could have replayed in my mind.
I didn’t want to do that to myself.
Or Bree.
I looked at my phone.
We were going to be landing soon.
As long as Toby had done his job, a car would be waiting for me.
Yeah, I was going to be that guy… the douchebag famous person driving a rental car through his old hometown. Hating every second I was there. Fighting off old memories.
But if it got me to Bree…
It was well worth it.
4
BREE
I couldn’t stop shaking.
It didn’t help that I had been drinking coffee like it was water.
Ted took Gabby out for something to eat to get her out of the house.
So on top of my mother dying unexpectedly, I now felt like I was in the