Page 5 of Hinder
“You hire a drummer yet?” The grin on my lips takes over my face.
“Ah, fuck.” He shakes his head. “No way. No fucking way. Besides, I’ve already heard all about Julliard. Congrats, little man. You’ve got big plans.”
I shrug, expecting his initial refusal. “They’re not my plans.”
“Your mother would kill me.” His Adam’s apple moves as his jaw works back and forth. I’m wearing him down. “Besides, I found someone. You’re too late.”
“Then I guess I better get my phone. Or should I Googlegossip rag? Is that the best way to get in touch?”
He releases a sound of disgust. “You don’t know any of the music.”
Please.Fucking please.That’s the most offensive thing he’s ever said. I’m a musical protégé. Fucking brilliant. I raise my brows and meet his stare. “I can learn the repertoire in one day.”
He scoffs at my retort. His eyes narrow, and for the first time since the idea popped into my head I think he’s actually considering it. “But your look . . .” He shakes his head.
“I’ll get a tattoo.” I hold his stare but my lip ticks up with the thought. My mother truly would kill him for that. “Come on, Uncle Bedo. You know how my parents are. They won’t let me walk away from college for anything. But this, if I have your help? It’s possible.” When his glare doesn’t waver, I shrug and feign nonchalance. “I’ll delay my admission by a year and then go.” Or at least it’s what I’ll tell them. I never wanted to spend my life studying classical music, but I was never given the choice to do anything else. This is my chance at something big. Something that sets the blood in my veins on fire.
His brow lifts and maybe, just maybe, he’s considering my proposal.
“I’ve always wanted to be a rock star.” The minute the words slip through my mouth, the most honest thing I’ve said all day, his jaw loosens and his glare morphs into what I think is surrender.
“She’s going to kill me.” He groans as if it pains him when we both know he loves riling his sister.
My lips stretch across my face in a lazy grin. “So, it’s a deal?”
He points his finger in my face. “You open your mouth one time—once!—and your ass is on a plane back here.”
“You won’t regret this.” I hold my hand out and he stares a long moment before giving it a hesitant shake.
“I think I already do.”
3
Opal
“Be brave.”I clear my throat and try it again, into the mirrored glass of this airport bathroom wall. “I want to get to know you better, and if y’all don’t mind, I’d like to stay here for a while.” The words fall flat, even to my own ears. My pocket buzzes with the sound of an alarm. It’s time to head to my gate. Practice time is over.
I’m not sure whom I’m trying to convince more, my sister or myself. Because the truth is, I’m not brave at all. I’m running away. Away from my problems, sure, but also from the only life I’ve known. Lexi promised I could come to her for anything. I believe she means the words, truly, but there’s this tiny piece of doubt that wonders whether she’ll let me down. Maybe it’s why I don’t allow myself to get my hopes up, even as I hand the flight attendant my printed boarding pass for the ticket Lexi bought me, and step down the jetway to an airplane bound for sunny California.
I’ve spent the past few nights at a friend’s house, her parents taking pity and offering up their couch on a temporary basis. I couldn’t go back and face Gramps, not after the words he said. The names he called me were nothing I hadn’t heard before, but never from his lips. Grams never would have allowed it, but now I have to wonder, is it really how he felt all the years they raised me?
No matter now. I’m not going back. I made that promise to myself after packing up the few clothes and keepsakes I couldn’t bear to leave behind. Everything I own fit into two duffle bags. Convenient, if not plain sad.
Thankfully, Gramps was out, as I hoped, having his early morning coffee at the diner with his fellow vets from the Legion. Had he been home I would have demanded he allow me to gather my stuff. The box of keepsakes from my mother and photographs of me with Grams was worth going up against him, but it was easier to avoid the argument. Knowing news would travel fast, I left a short note along with the keys to my car, which wasn’t even mine, for Gramps to find. Then I called the only cab company in our little town and took one last look at the only place I’d ever called home.
Now, thousands of feet in the air, my thoughts are at war with the decision I made. For most of my life I never dreamed of leaving Destin. My mother died when I was born, and my grandparents were the only family I’ve known. The only ones I knew existed until I discovered the pale blue box hiding in the back of Grams’s sewing room. It was the one time I’d gone in there, looking for matching thread to mend my sundress before we had to leave for church. I don’t even know what caused me to lift the lid on the box, other than the natural curiosity any sixteen-year-old possesses.
That was just three years ago. The contents changed my life. Broke open my small world, shattered all I knew, and gave me insight into the woman my grandparents never spoke of. Inside the box were letters, and photos, and even a lock of hair. My mother’s. Grams must have hidden the items. Gramps would never have approved.
Oh, how I wish I could have thanked her for keeping those things before she passed. Because inside were photos and letters from my father, too. They’re ultimately what led me to my half-sister, Lexi Marx, the talented and now-famous rock star. We only met last year, but she’s been everything I need.
Especially now.
Am I crazy?Getting on a plane to live in a world I know nothing about? Probably. But it is a chance I am willing to take. Correction. I need to take a risk. Life in Destin always felt too conformed. Too simple. And mostly boring. As a young child I dreamed of leaving and moving to a big city, and gosh darn it, it’s what I’m doing.
The flight dips with an air pocket and sends my stomach and all the nerves with it into my throat.Oh!It happens again and my fingers clutch the metal seat dividers so tightly my knuckles turn as white as bone.
We’re gonna die. We’re gonna crash.
