The Freshman (College Years 1)

Oh, I know where he’s going with this. “Do you think he’s performed yet?”

Tony tilts his head. “How’d you know Jackson’s performing tonight?”

“Gracie told me. She headed over there a while ago,” I admit.

“Caleb’s there too, with everyone else.”

I grab hold of his T-shirt, giving it a gentle shake. “Let’s go.”

“You sure?”

“Yes. Oh my God, it’ll be so much fun, and it definitely won’t suck.” I laugh, thinking of Robin and Bat’s Cave.

“All right, let’s go then.”

I grab my phone, leaving my purse behind so I don’t have to take it into the bar. I slip on a jacket and when we climb into Tony’s car, I’m hit with the delicious scent of rich leather.

“Did you wear that jacket in anticipation of going to watch Jackson?” I ask him.

“Maybe,” he says sheepishly. “It’s the closest thing I’ve got to a rocker look.”

“I love it.”

Someday, I just know I’m going to blurt out, “I love you,” to Tony. And I’m okay with it.

Perfectly okay.

Twenty-Seven

Tony

The club is packed. There’s another shitty band on the stage, the jangle of guitars and nonsense being spit into a mic filling the room, and I grimace as we make our way through the throng of teenaged girls everywhere. I’m holding Hayden’s hand, leading her into the crowd that surrounds the small stage, when I spot my friends, standing head and shoulders taller than pretty much anyone else in the building.

Much like last time, there aren’t a lot of guys here tonight.

As we approach, I see the shocked expressions on my friends’ faces, save for Caleb and Gracie, who’ve both experienced this chaos before. Diego, Jocelyn, Eli and Ava all appear in a daze. Like they can’t believe this is happening.

Exactly how I felt when we were here last time. Actually, it was worse because we had no idea Jackson was going to perform. That was even more shocking.

“You guys made it!” Caleb roars when he spots us, his grin taking up half his face. He looks pleased. “And just in time. These assholes are going to wrap it up soon.”

I give Caleb a bro shake and he does the same. He then hugs Hayden, who laughs nervously.

“Thanks for giving Tony such good advice,” she tells him.

Caleb is still grinning. “Any time. I’m glad to see you two are together.”

“Told ya,” Gracie says, slugging Caleb in the forearm. “You owe me.”

“Tell me you didn’t bet on it,” Hayden says.

Gracie’s expression turns innocent. “We didn’t bet on it.”

She’s lying, I can tell. Hayden can too.

The lead singer shouts into the microphone, “Thank you everyone, and good night!” and the stage lights go down. The girls start hopping up and down, screaming their heads off.

“They’re all yelling for Jackson?” Eli turns to look at us, his eyes wide. “Right? They don’t give a shit about the band that just finished.”