Page 140 of Before We're More Than Friends
I held back a laugh. For someone who seemed so confident, I wasn’t used to seeing her this flustered.
“It doesn’t matter,” Sienna said. “He’s with Celia.” She nodded at Somewhere in the Sky’s bassist, Celia Vega, who rested her head on Ivan’s shoulder as they watched the performance.
“Still doesn’t mean you can’t be friends,” Arielle said.
Sienna rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. I bet Celia wouldlovethat.” She waved a hand, her bracelets jingling. “I wouldn’t do that to her.”
My gaze went to Hayden, who had been quiet the entire time. “Feeling better?” I asked him.
“Uh-huh,” he said, offering me a smile while he fiddled with his watch. I still wasn’t convinced.
After all the auditions were done, Ivan and his bandmates went backstage to discuss their decisions. After what felt like an eternity, they all came out with smiles—well, except for Everett, who barely smiled—before going on stage.
“All right, everyone,” Ivan said. “We’ve picked the ten bands we’d like to take to the final competition.” He went on about how we all did well before looking at the list in his hand. “The first band performing in Battle of the Bands is . . .” The drummer, Nick, did a drumroll. “Joker Avenue!”
Joker Avenue jumped out of their seats and shouted as if they’d just won the lottery, and everyone clapped for them. Out of habit, I clapped for them again before Hayden shot a glare at me and I lowered my hands.
“Sorry,” I said.
Ivan went through the list of the people who had gotten in.By the time he’d gotten to the seventh band name, we started exchanging worried looks.
“We can still get in,” Arielle said, though the hope in her voice was barely present. “Someone has to be last.”
Ivan called the ninth band name, and it still wasn’t us. Which meant that we would either get really lucky, or we were screwed. Hayden let out a deep breath, and I held his hand.
“We’ll be okay,” I told him. “It won’t be the last opportunity for us.”
Hayden only sighed.
“Okay, I know you’re all on edge to hear who the last band is, so I’ll end your suffering,” Ivan said as he glanced at the piece of paper in his hand. “And the last band is . . .”
Nick did another drumroll, loud enough to make the floor vibrate beneath us.
My blood pounded in my ears as I closed my eyes.
“Like Airplanes!”
The screams that we let out as we shot up from our seats pierced my ears. Everyone applauded us, but the people from the bands that hadn’t gotten in frowned.
I hugged Raina and kissed her cheek before hugging Hayden, who smiled more than he had all day.
“We did it!” Arielle shouted as she left the booth and bounced around in a circle. “We did it, we did it, we did it!”
Ivan laughed. “Congratulations, guys.” He smiled at us, and for a second, his eyes locked with Sienna’s before he winked at her again. Sienna gasped and smiled back, her cheeks redder than her lips. Ivan laughed again. “Thank you to everyone who auditioned today. For everyone who got in, meet here on Friday afternoon to test everything out!”
We were still hugging each other as everyone started to leave, and I had to fight back the happy tears. After a few minutes of celebrating, we got ready to leave. But whileeveryone headed out the door to talk outside, I noticed that Hayden still sat at the table, no longer looking as happy as before.
“Okay, what’s up?” I said, sliding back next to him. “We got in, and you’re still upset.”
“What do you mean?” he asked. “I’m happy. We deserved to get in. And you and Raina had alotof fun.” He smirked. “I can onlyimaginewhat happened backstage.”
My cheeks warmed. “Nothing as dirty as Caleb and Oliver think.”
He laughed. “I’m happy for you both. Really. Raina hasn’t smiled this much in a long time.” He swallowed. “She deserves someone like you.”
“Thanks, but I know something’s still wrong.”
“It’s a lot of things.” Hayden sighed. “Ready for it?”
