“At this point, it’s only an hour and half until rehearsal. Unless I’d bother you, it makes sense for me to hang out here.” I didn’t analyze my reluctance to go home, though it absolutely had to do with the new tension between Max and me.
“If you don’t mind watching TV while I shower, make yourself at home.” Evan gestured for me to precede him into the house and I was surprised by how nice it was.
Wood floors contrasted beautifully with eggshell walls, more modern than I expected. The rooms were small but in all honesty, the house was cleaner than our apartment, a pleasant surprise from a guy living alone. Furniture was sparse, though, and there weren’t too many personal belongings spread around. I remembered him saying he was house-sitting.
“The living room’s through there. All the remotes are on the coffee table. Help yourself to a drink from the fridge if you want one.” He seemed really casual as he left me alone in his front room, heading down the hall toward what I presumed to be the bathroom.
My phone buzzed as I clicked the TV on, along with the cable box. I channel surfed for a couple of minutes before picking it up. A tremor went through me when I saw Max’s name. It was like I’d broken up with him even though we were never dating. Apart from Eli, I’d never felt this particular tightness in my chest.
You’re in love with him, Eli pointed out.
Am not.
Lie to yourself if you want. Don’t even try to fool me.
With a deep sigh, I touched the message. Where are you?
There had to be some way to get back to the old footing. Yeah, the trip had changed things, enforced a certain intimacy, but that didn’t have to ruin our friendship. Reminding myself not to be a dumbass, I ignored the ache in my sternum and sent back: Hanging out with a friend.
Jared? That came back so fast he might’ve sprained a thumb.
Nope. I don’t think that’s gonna work out. See you later.
I expected that to end the convo, but Max persisted. So who’re you with? He named a few people and I stared at my cell, wondering why he seemed obsessed with how I was spending my Saturday night. At that point I could’ve told him about the band, but I wasn’t ready to explain. If we sounded terrible together, if it didn’t work out, I’d rather my roomies didn’t know that I’d spent so much money on an impulse, like credit card debt could fill the hole in my life.
Nobody you know, I texted.
We know all the same people, he sent back immediately.
No. We don’t.
That silenced him. I was putting away my phone when Evan sauntered into the living room. His hair was so short, I could hardly tell he’d just showered, apart from the clean, soapy smell as he passed me and plopped onto the other end of the couch. He cocked a brow.
“Everything okay?”
“Huh? Why?”
“You look aggravated.”
“A little, maybe. Don’t worry, it’s nothing that’ll impact my musical aptitude.”
“Glad to hear it. Now give me the remote, I’m not watching Hoarders. That show is depressing as fuck.”
“I treat it as an object lesson. Like, this is what can happen if you get overly attached to crap you don’t need. It’s also kind of...aversion therapy.”
“What do you mean?”
“I have mild OCD and watching that show is—”
“Got it. You’re a weird girl, you know that, right?”
With a wry smile, I nodded. “It might have come up once or twice in conversation.”
Since it was his TV, I didn’t bitch when Evan turned on sports. Unfortunately the game didn’t hold my attention, so my mind turned to Max. Who was probably getting off work now. In the old days, before the trip, neither one of us went out on Saturday night; we just hung around the apartment, made dinner together, played video games or watched movies.
I miss him.
Evan startled me by speaking since he’d been wrapped up in the match for the past hour. “I have to go get the other two. Do you want to wait here or ride along?”
“I’ll go with you.” It seemed weird to do anything else.
“Come on, then.”
Dana and Ji Hoo were waiting outside their dorms when we rolled by. They piled in, and though I braced for questions, neither seemed particularly interested in why I was with Evan. We talked about the set list on the way back to his place, and it felt so good to have something besides classes and Max to focus on.
“I don’t know all of those songs by heart,” I warned them. “Do you have sheet music?”
“For most of them,” Dana answered.
Ji Hoo added, “The rest we can probably buy online and print at Evan’s place.”
We did that first. Well, Evan did. The rest of us went to the garage, where the magic happened. I could definitely tell it was a rehearsal space from the drum kit to the amps. With a determined nod, I set up my keyboard, though Ji Hoo had to help me.
He gave me a weird look as he showed me what to do. “If I hadn’t heard you, I’d swear you never touched a keyboard before.”
“To be honest, I haven’t. I’ve only played the regular piano. There may be a learning curve but I can figure it out. When’s the first show?”
Dana laughed. “Relax. We have to book one.”
“So there’s time. I’m relieved. I was afraid you’d tell me our first gig is next weekend.”
“It is,” Evan said, coming out of the house.
“Wait, what?” I gaped at him.
“Wow, you’re easy. I’m kidding. I thought I’d give us two weeks of rehearsal before calling any of our usual venues.”
Ji Hoo nodded. “Good idea. We might be able to play the Omega Chi Halloween party next month. That was okay last year.”
“It would be a good first show for Courtney,” Dana agreed.
“How come?” I glanced between them, wondering at the rationale.
Dana slung an arm around my shoulder. “They’re not a tough crowd. They drink a lot, not musically critical. The end.”
“But our usual set list won’t work,” Evan told me. “I’ll introduce you to the Greek party soundtrack later. For now, let’s work on the other stuff.”
“Sounds good to me.”
After a few false starts while I familiarized myself with the new keyboard, rehearsal kicked off. I wouldn’t call myself a pro but I didn’t screw up too badly in the first few songs. Four tunes later, Evan and Dana gave me notes while Ji Hoo practiced tossing his sticks. Since I wanted to improve, I didn’t mind the critique. The next three songs went smoothly, and it was way more fun than I expected, the way our individual instruments threaded together to form a coherent, beautiful sound. Evan had a great voice, husky and smoky. At first, I kept forgetting to sing and Dana yelled at me about shifting keys in the middle.