Page 75 of Rock Out Together
Soon I found out why.
“It’s another cover, but I’ll let Jason tell you what’s up.”
Jason got up from his drum kit and Mark, removing his guitar and placing it in a case at the back of the platform, took the drumsticks from Jason and sat in his place. Meanwhile, Kage stepped over a bit to stand where Mark had been, freeing up the center stage mic. Jason stepped up to it and spoke softly—but, thanks to the mic, his words were loud and clear. “This song’s dedicated to my girl Allie.” Then he looked right at me and winked as the band started playing a song I’d never heard before.
It left me breathless.
Jason’s voice wasn’t bad. In fact, it was far sweeter than Kage’s. Kage had a strong, sometimes raspy, gruff voice that was perfectly paired with the music they played. Jason, on the other hand, could have sung in a choir—especially because of how sweet and earnest he sounded. I couldn’t make out all the words, but I thought maybe he was singing a love song.
Afterward, my cheeks were flushed, but I was smiling from ear to ear, even knowing other kids’, especially girls’, eyes were on me. The band returned to their usual placesand resumed playing the setlist I was familiar with, but all I wanted was to be alone with the young man who’d serenaded me. Emma said, “Oh, my God. Did you know he was going to do that?”
I shook my head, still buoyed by the act. “No clue.”
“Disturbed,” Cameron said. “I respect that.”
“That wasn’t disturbed at all,” Emma said. “It was sweet—and you could learn a thing?—”
“No,” Cameron said, laughing, and I could barely hear him over the music. “That song is bythe bandDisturbed. It’s called ‘You’re Mine’.”
Emma bit her bottom lip, grinning, and then kissed Cameron on the cheek. “Oops.”
“You’re Mine.” Was Jason trying to tell me something? Or was he trying to tell the world? Regardless, I felt warm and loved, bringing me back to my heavy thoughts of late.
Not just about this being my last school year…but of wanting to tell Jason how much I felt for him.
Of wanting to show him physically. Maybe I was ready now.
The show ended after a few more songs, and the crowd seemed to love it all. From the covers they could sing along with to the band’s original pieces they could bang their heads to, the audience of Pretty Little Lies was becoming their first fans.
Emma said, “Aren’t you gonna tackle your man for the song?”
The crowd was already pushing in on the band before they could even get off the platform—but Jason was alreadytaking his drums apart. That was probably a good idea, considering the party was probably going to get rowdier as kids started drinking more.
Me, though, I sipped on my discreet water bottle. If anyone tried to push a drink on me, I could tell them I already had one. They didn’t need to know I was only drinking water.
I said to Emma, “I’ll wait until they’re done packing up all their instruments.”
But no one else waited. In fact, most of the people who rushed on the stage were girls. A few of them already had boyfriends, but I supposed that had never stopped a groupie before. Fay and friends surrounded Kage, but each band member had a few people, mostly girls, around them. Walker made his way on stage and borrowed Kage’s mic. “Okay, guys, I hope you enjoyed the band. And thanks to the band for playing my little shindig.”
Little.I didn’t laugh although the word amused me.
Walker continued, “I’ll turn on some music but try not to get too loud—or else we’ll have to take it indoors.” There were a fewboosin the crowd. “That’s what I mean byloud, dicks.”
I turned to say something to Emma, but she and Cameron were getting a little cozy, so I shifted my attention back to the stage. There were a few girls around Jason, but one in particular I recognized.
She was one of the cheerleaders who had been at Mark’s house on Tuesday. Had she been the one talking about Jason? Although I couldn’t hear her over the voices and musicWalker had turned on, I could imagine the kinds of things she was saying. She was in full flirt mode, touching him on the chest with her fingertips, giggling and chattering at him.
He wasn’t flirting back—just acting almost shy and smiling modestly. But I would have been a liar if I’d said that hadn’t hurt. Never before had I felt this emotion so intensely, and it was like a monster in my chest, ready to burst out. If that girl had walked by me at that very moment, what could I have done to her?
I didn’t want to lose Jason. I’d grown far too attached to him. Still, there was that lingering question: Did he feel the same way about me?
Did he know I’d grown to love him?
As tears filled my eyes, I shifted my focus to the blue fairy lights just past the stage and concentrated on breathing. I thought about the way we’d snuggled in his car last night before I’d gone inside to my bedroom. Jason’s feelings might not have been as intense as mine, but he cared. I knew that much.
And that was when he pulled me into his arms unexpectedly. Fortunately, the tears had never fallen down my cheeks and I was calm again. As I gazed into his cool blue eyes that seemed to match the fairy lights, I was so tempted to confess the depth of my feelings to him. But was that coming from the sudden insecurity I’d been experiencing?
“After we get our shit put in Mark’s truck, I’m all yours.”
