Now That I've Found You - Kristina Forest Page 0,70

all follow suit.

Milo leans over and whispers, “You can pretend to be our friend. Just for one night?”

I look around at their smiling faces, and I hear myself say, “All right, I’ll come.”

“Yes!” Raf says. “Let’s move out, troops.”

“It’ll be fun,” Milo assures me. “And when you’re ready to go, I’ll take you back home. Our friends are chill. No one will take pictures of you or be weird.”

I nod, suddenly feeling so strongly that I don’t want to go back to Gigi’s and be alone all night. I want to be around the boys, to be accepted into their fold. I do want to pretend that we’re all friends and that everything is okay.

Chapter Eighteen

Raf really did invite everyone. Within a matter of twenty minutes, their tiny apartment is brimming with people. Even Adrian is here, hanging out by the door with a scowl, like he’s still working. Raf directs everyone to the kitchen, promising food and drinks. Really, they just have three bags of family-size potato chips and two six-packs of beer. But no one seems to mind. Music is playing, and everyone is in a good mood since the boys performed so well.

I’m sitting next to Milo on the couch, and I’m sweating. That’s what happens when lots of people are in small places and there’s no AC. I lift up my baseball cap and scratch my scalp, and it feels so good I close my eyes and sigh.

“It’ll be cooler if you sit by the window,” Milo suggests.

I almost get up, but I feel a little silly moving from where I’m comfortable just because I don’t want to take off my stupid hat.

Slowly, I remove it and smooth back my hair, feeling my short curls spring through my fingers.

“What?” I say when I look over at Milo and see he’s watching me.

“Nothing,” he says, not breaking eye contact.

Then Vinny calls his name.

“Milo,” he says, standing in a group of three other boys, “come settle this argument, please. Dante here seems to think he knows everything there is to know about songwriting.”

“Be right back,” Milo says, rolling his eyes and walking over to Vinny.

There’s no reason for me to stay seated on the couch, talking to no one. And I’m hot and thirsty. I walk to the kitchen, where Raf is in the middle of telling a story to a boy and a girl. Every time Raf moves his arms, beer sloshes out of his cup onto the floor. The boy is tall with light-brown skin, and his curly hair is cut into a fade. He leans back against the kitchen counter, with his arm leisurely draped around the girl’s shoulders. She’s short and pretty, her hair pulled back in a tight bun. She’s wearing a purple leotard with cutoff shorts pulled over pink tights. She smiles at me when I enter the kitchen. She’s focusing so intently on my face that I wait for her to say something about knowing who I am.

“I love your hair” is what she says.

“Really?” I blink. “Thank you.”

She nods, still smiling. “I’ve been thinking about cutting mine, but I’m too chicken.”

The boy smirks and nudges her. “Imagine what your mom would say.”

“Evie,” Raf says, linking his arm through mine. “Meet my new friends Chloe and Eli. Eli is the one who designed the band logo. When he said he was in the city, I said, Bro, you’ve gotta come to the show.”

“Do you live in the city too?” I ask them.

“I do,” Chloe says. “I’m a student at the Avery Johnson Dance Conservatory.” She gestures at her outfit. “Eli’s just here visiting.”

“I go to school in San Francisco,” Eli says. “A much cooler city.”

Chloe narrows her eyes at him. “Oh, so we’re going to have this debate again?”

“You didn’t let me finish,” he says. “It’s only a cooler city when you’re there. See, look at you jumping to conclusions.”

She rolls her eyes, and he pulls her close, kissing her cheek.

“Dammit,” Raf says, watching them. “I need a girlfriend.”

I reach past him and grab a cup, filling it with tap water. “I don’t know, what if the band takes off? You don’t want any distractions, do you?” I say, smirking, leveling my eyes at him.

“Ha, well played, Jones.” He knocks his cup into mine.

“It was really nice to meet you,” I say to Chloe and Eli as I leave the kitchen.

“Same,” Chloe says, smiling. Eli just nods his head, too cool.

Milo is still deep in conversation with Vinny when I walk