Page 86 of Betting on the Best Friend
Watch killer live band/Tired
Stare at creepy sound guy/WIRED
Meet there?
Yeah
Pixie Luna is killing it. Mike pretends he doesn’t see us or Josh, Joey, and Oliver keeping tabs on him, but he also makes a point of not staring at Sami as she tears up the stage in her combat boots, prairie skirt, and shiny red leather corset.
Katie and Sydney came too. Sydney had texted me a heads-up that Katie invited her, which I have no problem with. If Ruby had a problem with, it would have to be between Ruby and Katie, not me. But when Katie and Sydney found us in the crowd, Ruby wagged her finger at Sydney, Sydney gave her an unrepentant shrug, and Ruby grinned and gave her a smacking kiss on the cheek.
The band is mid-set, the crowd pulsing with the driving bass, feeding off Sami’s Lady Mantha energy as her eyes snap and flash behind her mask.
Ruby jumps with the beat; Madison feeds off it, dancing; and Sydney surprises me by being more Ruby-style, jumping and singing along. Ava, Katie, and I all stand around them like the shy periphery kids at every high school party, cool enough to be there but not cool enough to dance when everyone’s watching or nerdy and free enough to dance like no one’s watching.
When the guitarist, Jules, hits the opening chords for “Dumb Boy,” the energy in the crowd kicks up a notch. It’s about a sixty percent female audience, and this song has become an anthem for a lot of girls.
Sami finishes the song to raucous cheers. Ruby grins at me, sweat-plastered strands of hair sticking to her forehead, her red going-out lipstick bright, her eyes brighter.
I’ve had days over the last month apart from her where loving her felt like the worst thing because she makes it so easy to do, and I have no power to undo it. But I catch her contagious joy and smile back, accepting that loving her for the rest of my life is my reality. There was never going to be another way.
“Thank you, girls and boys!” Sami calls into the mic. “Based on how many of you know all the words to that one, seems like we have a house full of true fans tonight!”
The crowd roars a deafening confirmation. It’s a sold-out show, but considering the venue capacity is only five hundred people, they’re making an impressive amount of noise.
“We love you too! I’m thinking a way to show you is by trying out a new song we’ve been working on.” Sami glances at the rest of the band as the crowd calls for more. “What do you think, boys?”
Her drummer, Rodney, answers by banging out a rhythm while her guitarist Jules smiles and strums a chord.
“They said yes, y’all,” Sami says to the crowd which responds predictably. “We’re going to slow it down a bit. It doesn’t even have an official title yet, but we’ve been calling it ‘Long Time Coming’ at practice.”
Jules moves into the melody, and I like it. It has a longing vibe instead of Sami’s usual done-me-wrong one. I dig that vibe too because their music is so good. But this grabs my ears in a different way.
And then it stabs me right in the heart as Sami comes in with the lyrics.
“Maybe I don’t want to only be just the friend you see in me.”
Wait.
“Can you look past how it’s always been to take a risk and let me in?”
Uhhhh . . .
“Every time you look my way, I’m full of words I want to say,” Sami sings. “Would you listen if I asked you to? Want from me what I want from you?”
Sami . . .
She hits the chorus with peak-Gwen Stefani syncopation. “Confession. Admission. It comes with a condition.”
What’s the condition, Sami?
“Things are going to change but it’s a long time coming!” The last three words are each a punch that makes the crowd roar.
When Sami gets to the second chorus, I know what to expect this time. Hundreds of fists punch the air as the crowd sing-yells, “Long. Time. Coming.”
I don’t look at Ruby. I can imagine a few possible expressions on her face, one of them probably murderous and aimed in Sami’s direction.
Sami finishes, the crowd cheers their approval of the song, and there’s no question this one will push them to a new level when they release it.
