Authors: Melanie Matthews
She was so angry, she wanted to tear it to shreds, but her curiosity took hold of her—as well as common sense—and she flipped it over. In black ink and practiced penmanship, it read:
MEET ME AT THE BALCONY. MIDNIGHT.
No signature.
She looked around, desperate to know who had sent it, but no one was looking at her, enjoying their own gifts, drinking spiked punch.
Was this a joke?
She looked around again, waiting for someone to point at her and laugh, but everyone ignored her. That felt even worse.
“Hey! Who got me this hat?!” Liam shouted, wearing Eva’s gift on his head, looking even more handsome. “It’s supposed to be a
Secret
Santa, dumb ass!” Lucas shouted, sitting behind his drums.
Why did he have to be so mean?
“I know that, you jackass! I just want to thank whoever gave it!” Liam shouted back at him, standing in the middle of the Commons Area with Corrine by his side.
She held a small trampoline in her hands—Meg’s gift. Corrine had wanted one for some time, desiring to jump and down in her room for “mental clarity” she called it, and her friend had listened.
Eva stuffed the note in her jeans pocket. “It was me!” She waved at him, smiling.
“New girl!” He jogged over to her, swept her off her feet, and held her at his waist, planting a kiss smack dab on her lips.
She giggled, but felt embarrassed, and motioned for him to stand her back up. Then she looked over to Corrine and saw her smiling. Eva was glad that she wasn’t angry with her, and with Liam’s more-than-friendly thank you.
They must be solid in their relationship. She wished that she could say the same about her and Lucas.
Liam tipped the brim of his new black cowboy hat at Eva. “Thank you kindly, ma’am.”
“My pleasure, sir,” she said in a southern accent.
He smiled again and gave her a quick hug before he ran off, back to Corrine, where he dipped her low, and gave her a passionate kiss in front of everyone.
“All right, let’s get this party started!” Lucas boomed into his microphone, sitting impatiently on his seat behind the drums.
Chairs and tables had been brought in from the cafeteria. Someone dimmed the chandelier lights, unplugged the Christmas tree, and shut off the music from the CD player. Eva watched Finn and Liam fix some lights in each corner of the performance area, and when they were finished, alternating red and green flashes traveled up to the ceiling.
All the band members of the Four Leaf Clovers were finally ready to entertain. Eva sat at a table with her almost full cup of Vodka punch, with Meg and Corrine seated beside her.
Bree strolled over, giving an unexpected smile. “All of our guys are up on stage.” Then she focused Eva and frowned. “Except for you, of course.”
Eva wanted to tell Bree that it wasn’t certain her and Devin were even together, given their less than passionate embraces of late, but she just shrugged. She didn’t want to get into a fight, and she didn’t want Bree to bitch out, when everyone wanted to have fun. Bree shrugged back too, and sat down with them.
Eva was supposed to be investigating, but right now she was a normal teenage girl at a rock concert and wanted to have fun.
Liam wore his black cowboy hat, and Eva was proud. He began first, strumming on his guitar, followed by Finn, and then Lucas started beating on the drums. It was loud and they hadn’t even begun all together yet. She wondered why the performance wasn’t outside, but then she remembered it was snowing. Devin went last, expertly strumming along, but with his own unique style, and then he opened his beautiful mouth, and starting singing.
It wasn’t scream-in-your-face kind of rock music, but more like alternative metal, with occasional shouts. Everyone clapped and hooted. Bree stood up, clapping wildly, whistling. Then Meg and Corrine stood up and did the same. Meg was jumping up and down, her curly red hair bouncing with her. Eva stayed seated. She didn’t really have anyone to hoot for. She could’ve for Liam and Finn—they were her friends—but she didn’t want to move. The cryptic Secret Santa present she had received was still in her pocket, still in her mind, still a disappointment.
She listened to every word Devin sang. This was the first time she had ever heard him speak, but in song, and he sounded great. She was almost in a trance, listening to him, feeling his eyes on her, scanning her, penetrating her. He had never looked at her for this long, and it was sexy and threatening at the same time. She didn’t want to believe that he was being controlled by a warlock, but as she listened to him, and the power he had over his audience, especially her, it was a high probability. And as the ghost sisters had said, Eva had affection for him—an affection that was driving her mad.
She took another sip of spiked punch. It calmed her…or at least she thought it did. Now she just wanted to enjoy the show, and not think about evil.
Sometimes Devin could be loud, other times soft. Liam, Finn, and Lucas would sometimes provide backup vocals. The songs were mostly about life and how much it sucked. But he was mesmerizing on stage. He could be famous if he wanted with the way he sang, the way he looked. She could see him play in concerts around the world. Girls would cheer from below the stage, throwing their panties up at his face, flashing their breasts, in hope that he’d look their way, acknowledge them, and treat them like someone special, someone who was worthy of a rocker’s attention and backstage passes.
She wanted him to pay attention to her, but she wasn’t about to bear skin or throw her undergarments at him. Well…not in front of everyone.
Finally, they ended, but there was one more song. Liam and Finn put their guitars up and left the stage, joining Meg and Corrine at Eva’s table. The girls welcomed their guys back with a kiss. Bree was now seated, and she leaned forward, staring at Devin, wondering like the rest of the students, what he was about to sing—the secret song. He took off his red electrical guitar, and replaced it with a black classical one.
Lucas had left his drum set and was at Devin’s microphone. “Well, that’s it for the Four Leaf Clovers tonight,”—students grumbled—“
but
my man here Devin”—he motioned to his friend, who held his head down, nervous, his guitar clutched to his chest—“is going to entertain you with a song, something that he’s been working on so secretly,
I
didn’t even know about.” He clapped Devin on the shoulder. “And I’m your best friend!” Devin looked up at him, gave a slight smile, and then turned away, plucking a few strings on his guitar—a melancholy sound. Lucas turned back to the audience, unaware of his best friend’s mood. “Give it up for DEV-IN MOR-AN!”
Everyone erupted in applause, along with whistles, shouts, and fist bumps against the table tops. Eva couldn’t help it and clapped too. Devin looked at her and unexpectedly smiled, but he seemed nervous. Even from this distance, she could see him blush or feel his anxiety—she wasn’t sure—but they had a connection in this moment. She was the first to stop clapping, sensing something extraordinary was about to happen.
Lucas left the stage after he’d shut off the red and green lights, but he didn’t sit at Eva’s table with the rest of their friends. With a Vodka punch in his hand, he went to a wall switch, and shut off all the chandelier lights, except for one that shined down on the solitary singer.
Everyone was quiet, waiting.
Devin leaned forward, his mouth close to the microphone. “This one’s called ‘Hey, Girl.’”
She heard him speak, actually speak, and for some reason, she sensed that he was speaking only to her. It was a silly thought, but it made her happy, and she stopped viewing him as a suspect. No, he wasn’t being controlled by a warlock! How could she love someone who was evil?
There was another round of applause and whistles, but when Devin’s fingers went to the guitar strings, it died down.
Silence, again.
He kept the tempo slow, staring only at Eva.
When I first saw you
I wanted to speak
But my throat clenched
My words were benched
Instead I took off
And as the days passed
I kept running from you
The black-haired beauty that was new
If you haven’t guessed by now
I wrote this song for you
And now I can finally say
Hey, girl
Hey, girl
Hey, girl, how are you?
I need you to know
How much you crushed my soul
When you kissed his lips
I couldn’t come to grips
He held you so close
I watched as you gave in
Right before my eyes
Oh, how I wanted to die
If you haven’t guessed by now
I wrote this song for you
And now I can finally say
Hey, girl
Hey, girl
Hey, girl, how are you?
At midnight, join me up high
And we’ll talk the night away
Words won’t fail me and I won’t flee
Of this you must believe
Give me a chance
Don’t leave me in despair
I’ll wait for you above
I won’t fall out of love
If you haven’t guessed by now
I wrote this song for you
And now I can finally say
Hey, girl
Hey, girl
Hey, girl, how are you?
Hey, girl
Hey, girl
Hey, girl, how are you?
Silence.
“WHAT THE FUCK?!”
Two people had shouted that in unison: Lucas and Bree.
Bree bolted off her chair, pointing at Eva. “You choose
her
over
me
?!” she screamed at Devin.
But that wasn’t the biggest attraction. Lucas threw his drink down to the floor, barreling to Devin. Eva knew what was going to happen next: they were going to fight. And it was all over her—the black-haired beauty.
Hey, girl, you’re in deep shit.
19
Confessions
Devin tossed away his guitar and it landed with a crash to the floor. His fists were raised, ready to fight his best friend, as Lucas charged forward, shouting.
“You motherfucker! All this fucking time! I’m gonna kill you!”
Lucas swung first. Devin blocked the attack with his arm and gave Lucas a slam across his jaw. Lucas’ head wobbled and it seemed like he was about to fall, but then he straightened up, and took Devin by surprise, landing a punch right to his eye. It was so fast and hard that Devin fell to the floor. Lucas jumped on top of him, slamming his fists wildly like a madman at Devin’s face, over and over. Devin held his arms up, trying to block his punches, but Lucas threw them apart, hitting him again and again. Then he leapt up and started kicking Devin in his side, over and over. Devin tried to block Lucas’ kicks, but he was weakened, dizzy.
At first, many of the students (the boys) had been excited.
“FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!” they chanted.
But now that it seemed that Devin could get seriously hurt, all the Leprechauns rushed up to the stage, with Liam and Finn at the front, ready to break it up.
Lucas wasn’t ready to back down. “I knew something was up with you!”
Devin tried to move, to get away from the assault, but Lucas pounced on him like an animal.
He grabbed Devin by his neck with both hands, shaking him. “You fucking piece of shit! In love with my girl! Eva’s mine!
MINE
!”
Finally, Liam and Finn, along with a bunch of other guys, pulled Lucas off of Devin. He kept kicking, punching, and cursing at anyone around him. The girls were screaming, with half of them already bolting up to their rooms. Soon, the headmaster, along with the professors and the staff, came barreling down the stairs. Obviously, they heard more than just a simple rock concert.
Eva sat at the table, frozen. Bree had already stormed off, but Meg and Corrine were by her side. They were speaking to her, but she didn’t hear them. She was too absorbed at the scene in front of her.
Sara Brogan, the nurse, sat on her knees beside Devin. He was still on the floor, clutching his side, spitting out blood. Eva wanted to run to him, to hold his hand, but she couldn’t will herself to move, clutching her hands to her legs.