Page 166 of Missed Notes (Rixon High 5)

I glanced at him and sighed. “No, she isn’t.”

“Shit, I didn’t realize. Are you sure you can handle this? I mean, if you need to go be with her—”

“I’m fine. Besides, she’ll kick my ass if I fuck this up.”

“She sounds like a keeper.”

“You have no idea.”

Aaron burst into the room “Holy shit. It’s wild out there.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. He’d been acting strange ever since he showed up forty minutes ago. I got the impression something had gone down at the hospital, but he assured me everything was fine and that I needed to focus on the gig. I’d asked Sofia via text, but she’d only confirmed his stance.

So here I was. Ready to perform in the biggest show of my music career to date.

Granted, Livewire was only a local music event, but it was invite only and everyone in the local circuit knew that talent scouts always came to spectate in hopes of spotting the next big thing.

“Are you drunk?” I asked.

“I may have had one or two drinks.”

“What is going on with you?”

“Nothing. I’m just feeling the pressure on your behalf.” He grinned but it was too wide, too fake.

“You’re lying.”

“Not tonight, yeah,” he murmured. “This is your big moment. You guys are going to rock it.”

“Fuck yeah, we are,” Travis whooped.

“You’re on after the next band, right?” Aaron asked.

“Yeah. We should be done by eight thirty at the latest.”

“But we need to stick around for a bit in case any of the talent scouts want to talk,” Mikey said, pinning me with a look that said, ‘please don’t fuck this up for us.’

“Relax, I know the drill.”

Except part of me didn’t want to be here. It wanted to be back in Allentown with Sofia. But she’d insisted I do this, and I’d give that girl anything she asked for.

“Hey,” I said to Aaron. “The girls know what time we’re on, right?”

“Yep.”

“And they’ll video call Sofe?”

“Yep, they’re on it.” He gripped my shoulder. “Don’t worry, she’ll get to see you in action.” An amused smile tugged at his mouth, but I saw the shadows in his eyes.

“What happened at the hospital earlier?” I whispered.

“We’ll talk about it later, okay? You need to focus on the task ahead. I’m proud of you, Kandon. You know that, right? And listen, I know I was a dick when I first found out about you and Sofia, but I really couldn’t think of a better guy for her.”

“Quick, someone pass me the bucket,” Travis fake retched.

“Asshole.” Aaron flipped him off. “Same goes for the rest of you,” he added. “You’re lucky to have my guy back with the band.”

“Aaron…”

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