Page 41 of Down Beat
SIXTEEN
Tabitha
“Face Everything and Rise” – Papa Roach
“We totally could have hung around.” Kendall shrugs her coat a little higher as we wait on the cab. “It’s not too late to go back inside.”
“No.” I shift from foot to foot to try and keep warm, eyes on the road for any sign of our ride. “They’re busy with fans. I’m sure if they want to say anything, they can get my email address, or some shit.”
Kendall reaches into her purse as the cab emerges in the traffic. “I’m totally messaging Toby your details.”
“No!” I slam my hand down on her wrist. “No, please. Just… ugh.” I sigh. Just what? Don’t make me seem so desperate to ride their coattails?
“Fine. But if you change your mind, just say the word.”
I open the car door for her. “Trust me, I won’t.”
She slides across the back seat, giving the driver our address as I get in and shut the door behind me.
“When do you go back for your stuff?”
I stare out at Dark Tide’s name all lit up above the ticket box and frown. “Their roadies are packing everything up tonight because they need it all at the next venue by 2:00 A.M. to have it all set up again in time, so apparently I can come get my things tomorrow.”
“It would have fit in the back, don’t you think?”
I shrug. Probably. It was only my violin and small road case. But I guess deep down I had hoped that leaving it behind would give me an opportunity to “run into” the band again.
That was, until I learned Rey and the guys will be shackled to the next venue so they can be prepared for tomorrow night’s much larger, much flashier show. You know, no big deal, just five thousand fucking people. Jesus. What would it even feel like to face an audience that huge?
“Get out of your head,” Kendall grumbles, eyes narrowed.
“Sorry, hon.” I slouch in my seat and roll my head her way. “Did you enjoy yourself?”
Her wicked smile says yes. “You do realize where I was while you did all that preshow stuff, right?”
“I can guess.” Involves a guy that’s six-foot-plus and pierced. Realization hits me like a slap to the face with a wet fish. “You didn’t want to hang around to see if, you know…?”
She tosses a hand through the air between us. “No, don’t be silly. Toby’s busy with their VIPs, and besides, I’m sure they have all that special band stuff to do before they play tomorrow.”
“Like sleep?”
“Do rock stars even sleep?”
She plays it cool, but I can see the disappointment in the set of her lips as she stares straight ahead.
“I’m sorry for being melodramatic.”
“Pfft.” The cab enters our neighborhood. “You’ve had a real roller coaster the last few days. It’s okay.”
I reach across and take her hand. “No, it’s not.”
Kendall looks down at the contact before she squeezes her fingers around mine. I’m not often the touchy feely type of friend, so for me to do this tells her how sorry I am.
“Look at it this way,” she appeases. “Without you and your drama I would be doing something lame like binging Netflix at home and I never would have got to meet Dark Tide one-on-one. So I guess for that, I can put up with your shit a little.”
She chuckles as I squeeze her hand and rest my head against her shoulder. “Love you.”
We stay like that the rest of the cab ride, each lost in our own thoughts of the past couple of days. Midweek I thought I’d be playing a quiet concert to my loyal followers, hoping against hope that maybe, just maybe, there would be somebody influential out there in the audience. Now here I am, stepping out of the cab at home after not only playing to those same people, but opening for one of the hottest up-and-coming rock bands right now.