Unfamiliar (8 page)

Parker glanced behind me to the other guys in the band before his eyes went back to me. “I thought you guys were great and you really got the crowd going. But the thing is, I’ve said that to a lot of bands. What our management company is looking for is a band that really wants to make it big and is committed to doing all the hard work involved in making it happen.”

I nodded as he spoke, even though in the back of my mind all I could think about was Deuce and how he kept skipping practices. But Parker didn’t need to know that. He needed to be reassured that our band was one he could invest in.

“Oh, yeah, we’re all completely dedicated to this and wanting to go all the way. We’d love to get on a few tours and record another album with some new material we’ve been working on.”

Parker seemed satisfied with my response. “Well, those are the things we like to hear, Chase. I’ll tell you what, I’m going to go ahead and tell Brent to come along to your next show. He’s usually the one who makes decisions about which bands we sign with. Play some of your new songs and perform like you did tonight, and I have no doubt Brent will want to work with you guys.”

The excitement magnified in my belly. I couldn’t believe that someone was actually interested in managing our band and working to get us on tours. This also meant that Deuce had to be committed to the band one hundred percent. He hadn’t exactly messed up tonight, but I knew he could play way better than he had.

“Well, thanks for taking an interest in us. This is definitely what we want and I really hope we get a chance to work with your management company.”

Parker grinned. “I’ll be in touch, Chase, and we can talk about this more.”

“Sure thing,” I said, and watched as he walked away.

When I turned back to help pack up our equipment, I noticed the other guys watching me. Jonathan raised his eyebrows in question.

“That was the management guy? Parker?”

“Yeah, that was him. He said they might be interested in signing with us, but they’re looking for a band that is totally committed and really wants this.” I looked at Deuce pointedly but his expression was blank as he listened. Obviously the dude wasn’t getting the message. “Parker said he’d let this other guy, Brent, know that he was impressed with us. Brent’s the one who has the final say on who they decide to sign. He’s gonna come out and see us play, but they want to see some new stuff.”

“That’s cool, man,” Zach said. “You and Jonathan better get to writing some awesome shit then.”

Before I could say anything, Jonathan’s eyes widened and he motioned his head to something behind me. “That’s the hot freshman I ran into last week! She actually made it!”

He pushed by me, almost knocking me on my ass and when I turned to see where he was headed, I saw a tall, slim girl with auburn curls walking in our direction. She was cute, but not my type. As I began to follow after Jonathan, my eyes fell on the girl who was also with her.

No freaking way. Tessa was friends with Librarian Girl?

“Hey, guys!” Tessa said, a grin spreading across her face as Jonathan gave her a quick hug. She motioned to Hailey. “This is my roommate, Hailey. She’s into indie bands so I thought it would be fun for her to come along too.”

“Oh, that’s cool,” Jonathan said, with absolutely no idea that Hailey was the stuck up girl I’d been telling him about all week. “What did you think of our music?”

Hailey pursed her lips as she tried her hardest not to look at me. Try being the operative word. Her eyes flickered over to me for the briefest second—I knew this because the corner of her mouth twitched slightly, like something had irritated her.

“It’s not really my thing.”

Irritation immediately flared up within me at her bluntness. This girl was such a snob; I was surprised Tessa had even convinced her to come along to a bar like this.

“Then what are you doing here?” I snapped, not in the mood for Hailey’s superior attitude.

Hailey turned her green eyes on me, her mouth set in a tight line. “Oh, trust me, I’m not here voluntarily.”

“Did you take the music class voluntarily then? Because you kinda don’t fit in there, either.”

I could tell that my frankness was rubbing Hailey the wrong way. This girl could dish it out but she sure couldn’t take it. Well, that just gave me more incentive to get under her skin, and for some reason I found it amusing to see her uncomfortable.

“Wait! You two know each other?” Tessa asked, looking back at Hailey in confusion.

Hailey nodded reluctantly, as it would lower her social status if she admitted that she was connected to me somehow. She was rich girl for sure. “Yes, Chase is in my Music Composition class.”

It was the first time I’d heard Hailey say my name, and I was surprised to find myself mesmerized by the way her lips formed my name. She had nice lips—they were round and shaped like a rosebud. Actually, she had nice features all round, and up close there was no denying how attractive she was. Too bad she had such an uptight personality.

“That’s cool!” Jonathan said from behind me. “Then you probably know the stuck up girl Chase is partnered with. Is she really as annoying as he says she is?”

Fuck. I wanted to kick Jonathan in the phalange. He and his big mouth always got me into trouble somehow.

“Tessa, why don’t you go hang out with Jonathan?” Hailey scrunched up her face and pressed her lips together. “I’m going to get a drink.”

Jeez. Was Librarian Girl secretly a closet alcoholic?

As soon as Hailey was out of sight, I turned on Jonathan. “Dude! She is my freakin’ partner!”

Jonathan’s face fell so fast, it was like he’d been hit with a bowling ball. “Oh, shit! I had no idea! Why didn’t you say something?”
  

Exasperation crept into me and I flung my hands out to the side in question. “What did you want me to say without making it obvious?”

Tessa peered at me, frowning. “She’s had a bad day. I should go talk to her.”

Great. Now I felt like even more of an asshole.

“No,” I said, shaking my head at her. “I’ll go talk to her. It was my fault.”

All of a sudden, Tessa reached out and grabbed a fistful of my shirt. “Do not mess around with her, do you understand me?” She narrowed her eyes at me.

Taking a step back, I put my hands up in surrender. Tessa was a little scary. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll behave myself.”

Turning into the crowd, I made my way toward the bar, leaving Tessa and Jonathan behind. Jonathan would be thrilled to be left alone with Tessa since all he’d done all week was talk about her.

Hailey was easy to spot. She was the one dressed like a librarian, after all. She was also the one standing awkwardly next to a bar stool and clutching a glass of clear liquid in her hand like it was a grenade.

“Vodka?” I asked, once I was close enough for her to hear me over the loud music.

“What?” she asked, raising her voice.

Okay, so I guess she couldn’t hear me.

I leaned in close enough that I could make out the few scattered freckles across her nose. “I asked if you were drinking vodka.”

Hailey narrowed her eyes at me as though I’d asked her if she was a prostitute. “It’s water, actually.”

Well, at least now I knew that Librarian Girl didn’t have a drinking problem.

“Why don’t you sit down?” I gestured at the empty stool beside her, racking my brain for something to talk about that wouldn’t offend her.

Hailey glanced at the stool and scrunched up her nose in disgust. “I’d rather stand.”

Uh, okay then. Somehow I’d managed to find something else that pissed her off. Stools. I guess I had a talent for getting on the wrong side of Hailey.

“Uh.” I ran a hand through my hair, wondering why the hell I felt so nervous all of a sudden. I mean, this was prissy Librarian Girl, after all. She had no right trying to make me feel like a douchebag. Still, I owed her an explanation. “What Jonathan said back there came out wrong.”

“Really?” Hailey eyed me in disbelief. “Because it sounded like you’d been complaining about a stuck up girl you were partnered with in your Music Composition class. Are
 you enrolled in more than one? What a coincidence.”

Oh, crap. Okay, so I couldn’t exactly talk my way out of this one.

Instead, I decided to level with her. “Let’s be straight about this. You haven’t exactly been easy to get to know.”

“Excuse me?” Hailey’s mouth dropped open. “I haven’t been easy to get to know? Who’s the one doing those ridiculous head nod things and sitting in the back of the room by himself avoiding eye contact with everyone?”

Okay, she had me there. I was guilty of being an anti-social jerk. Still, she wasn’t exactly Miss Sunshine.

“I don’t even get why you’re taking the class anyway. I mean, can you even play anything?”

“Yes, I can actually,” Hailey said, placing her drink down and folding her arms over her chest in a defensive stance. “I can play the guitar and I’m familiar with piano, and I can sing a little. Not that it's any of your business. I don't even know why I'm telling you this stuff.”

Surprise shot through me at hearing that Hailey and I actually had something in common when it came to music. Still, a stick-in-the-mud like her probably wasn’t very passionate about it.

“That’s all great and shit, but I bet you can’t create music that actually makes people feel something. If you’re so scared to try new things, how do you expect to live a full life? You won’t even sit on a freakin’ stool, probably because you’re scared of germs or something stupid like that.”

When Hailey stiffened and didn’t say anything, I stared at her in amazement. “Wow, you actually are a germaphobe, aren’t you?” Hailey was exactly the kind of girl my parents would want me to date. Well, it was never going to happen.

Hailey ignored my question. “It‘s still possible to be passionate about something even with limited experiences.”

“You wouldn’t know passion if it slapped you across the face.”

“This is turning out to be the worst apology ever,” Hailey said with no trace of humor in her voice.

“Maybe you just take everything the wrong way.”

With that, I turned away and headed back into the crowd to find my friends. Sure, I’d come out of that still looking like an asshole, but at least I was able to get away from Hailey and the hate-hate thing we had going on.

I was here to have fun and Hailey was not going to ruin my night.

Hailey

I could still smell the bar smoke in my hair when Monday rolled around. I had washed my hair at least eight times since the concert but it didn’t seem to have made any impact. I hated the smell of smoke; it made my stomach turn. I didn’t think I’d be attending any more concerts at
Duke’s
.

And not just because of the smoke either. Chase was a total dick and putting up with him in class a couple of hours a week was already enough. There was no way I was going to force myself to spend any more time with him than necessary. Girl Code or not, Tessa was going to have to find someone else to go with her to watch
Set the Flames
.

I was almost to class when I saw the flyer. William C. Lancaster would be playing nearby next month. I felt a rush of excitement and knew immediately that I had to go see my Piano Man. I remembered how much his music had impacted my emotions that night and I was anxious to see him perform again. Maybe this time I wouldn't be late and miss half of the concert. Which meant I most definitely would have to attend alone since Braxton probably wouldn’t be interested. That made me feel pretty lame. Maybe I should make Tessa come with me to pay her back for dragging me to that awful bar.

When I made it to class, Chase was already there with his feet propped up on the desk. He gave me one of his customary, obnoxious head nod things that boys did in lieu of an actual proper greeting. He was wearing a cut off shirt again. He must be really proud of the offensive tattoos covering his arms. There was a huge skeleton on his left forearm and to be honest, the thing gave me the creeps. Who the hell wanted a giant skeleton tattooed on their arm? Was he purposely trying to throw his rebellious nature in everybody's face?

I sat down in my usual chair and opened up my planner. I flipped to October and carefully wrote down the time on the date of the concert. And then because I was feeling particularly giddy about seeing him perform again, I bordered the date in little tiny hearts.

“What are you doing?” Chase asked, startling me. My pen and planner fell to the floor when I jumped, and I scrambled to pick it up while he just sat back and chuckled at me. Yeah, real gentleman-like.

“Nothing,” I said as I composed myself.

“What were the hearts for?”

“What hearts?” I played stupid but I was sure the heat I felt in my cheeks gave me away.

“The hearts you drew all around William C. Lancaster's name.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about.” I sat back down.

“Isn't he that gay pianist?” he asked rudely.

“Yes—I mean, no—I mean, yes he is a pianist but that doesn't make him gay,” I pointed out defensively.