Page 16 of Down Beat
SIX
Tabitha
“Enemies” - Shinedown
The number displayed on my phone’s calculator taunts me with its three figures. I worked out what would be brought in from the ticket sales, took the expenses off, and then subtracted John’s share to find what I would have earned out of this show.
I couldn’t even make it into the thousands.
Fucking Dark Tide would probably be able to sell an empty toilet roll for a grand. Bastards. At least if they do what I’m guessing Rey plans to, it won’t put them out much to reimburse me lost earnings.
“What are you doing?” Kendall snatches my phone from my grasp, leaving it on the counter where she enters the kitchen. “Put this fucking thing away for a bit.”
“I could have been sending an important email, you know.” I reach for the device, only to have her slap my hand away.
“You were in the calculator. Again.”
“So?”
“So stop pining over the money you don’t have, and focus on earning the real thing.”
I glare at her as she pulls yoghurt from the fridge. She makes it sound so easy. “That concert would have been the real thing.”
“But it’s not, so face forward and work on the next gig.”
She means well, but, “Are you always this bitter in the morning, or is it just because you haven’t had coffee yet?”
Her lips curl on one side as she pours the yoghurt into a bowl. “I’m dishing out tough love, babe. You shouldn’t sulk about what you can’t change. Didn’t you tell me that John said he would have fixed things if it were possible? You had your fun with the rock star guy, now leave him to be an entitled douchebag and rise above.”
Fuck’s sake. She’s right, but I’m not ready to “rise above” yet. I want to wallow in my anger and bitterness a little longer.
“We’re going out today.” Kendall shovels a spoonful of creamy mixture in her mouth.
I lean over and replace the lid on the container, and then slide off the barstool to take it back to the fridge for her. “Where?”
“I dunno,” she mumbles around a mouthful before swallowing. “We’ll go sit at the mall and try to guess what people are there to buy.”
As much as the thought of our favorite cost-free pastime makes me smile, I shake my head and face her with a lifeless stare. “I’d rather hang out and binge whatever’s on TV.”
“Nope.” She finishes her last mouthful. “Not having it.”
“We’re broke, Kendall. What the fuck do you propose we do?”
Her eyes light up, and I just know it’s going to be insane, whatever she thinks.
“We’ll go stalk your band buddies.”
“Ugh. No. I did that yesterday, and it backfired.”
Her nose crinkles. “Then we do it better. I didn’t say we’d do it to get revenge on them like you wanted to, anyway. We’re doing it purely because we’re bored, you need to get out of the house, and I think they’re fucking sexy.” She bites her bottom lip before adding, “Especially that quiet one.”
“I think he’s socially stunted or something.” I drop my head back with a groan, staring up at the watermarked ceiling. “We’re not doing it, okay? The sight of them is liable to make me murderous. Besides, didn’t you just tell me, like a second ago, to leave them alone?”
“I said to leave that Rey guy alone, not all of them.” She rolls her eyes. “Fine. We can go see if that cute guy is working the panini stand at the park today.”
“Why does every plan of yours involve going out, and men?”
She looks at me wide-eyed as though the answer is obvious. “Vitamin D is good for you, babe. So is admiring hot guys.”