Unfamiliar (19 page)

“I'll be right back.”

I had to go find him. Maybe he was uncomfortable being here with me because he didn't know that I had ended things with Braxton. He didn't know how I felt about him and I had to tell him. I stood as William C. Lancaster sat down and the spotlight illuminated him.

Only it wasn't William.

It was Chase.

I was frozen in place.

What the hell was he doing? I looked at Jonathan who was shaking in a quiet fit of laughter. I turned back to the stage to look at Chase. He seemed to be looking for someone in the audience. His eyes found me easily even in the dim room. After all, I was the only one standing up like an idiot. He smiled at me nervously as he adjusted his tie.

Everything was suddenly in slow motion.

I watched as Chase put on a pair of glasses and turned his focus to the white and black keys.

It was like I was in a lucid dream, I felt that what I was seeing couldn't possibly be real.

Then my mouth dropped as he started to play and I knew that it was really happening.

I heard Tessa gasp but I couldn't take my eyes off of Chase, or should I say William C. Lancaster?

How was it that I never knew Chase's last name? Of course it really shouldn't have been a surprise at all now that I thought about it. He’d never once told me anything about himself and any time I would ask any questions he shut down.

Oh God, this whole time—
the whole time
—he knew I had a crush on William C. Lancaster. Was this some huge elaborate joke? Was he trying to make a fool out of me? This whole time he'd been lying to me like it was some sort of game. I was humiliated—and angry. I didn’t think I’d ever been this embarrassed in my entire life.

I had really thought something was wrong. I’d been worried about him and the whole time he’d been lying to me about who he really was. I couldn't believe that I ever wanted to be friends with Chase—let alone toyed with the idea of something more. Right then I hated him.

Braxton was right, we belonged together. He was familiar and trustworthy and I knew I could always count on him. He never lied to me. I knew him. I knew everything about him. He didn’t have some secret identity and he certainly wouldn’t play such a mean joke on me.

If this is what it was like, taking a leap of faith and trying to experience new things— then forget that shit. I wanted nothing to do with it. I just wanted to go home— to my real home. The only home I’ve ever known.

I realized I was still standing. Tessa pulled gently at my hand trying to get me to sit down but I couldn’t be there anymore. I stormed out, ignoring the whispered pleas from our friends to stop.

As soon as I was outside the auditorium I realized that I hadn't really thought this through. I didn't want to see Chase—I didn't actually want to see any of them.

I heard someone call my name behind me but I didn't stop walking. I had to get away from there. The only problem was that I was effectively stranded. I had ridden here in Chase's car.

I got out my cell phone and sent Braxton a text, not trusting myself to actually talk.

I need to see you.

This had been a good lesson. It reinforced what I’d already known my whole life; when you stuck with what was familiar, you didn’t get hurt.

Chase

It was one of those days where not a lot was going on. Jonathan and I were sitting around the apartment talking about Hailey and what had happened at the
concert.

I knew Hailey was mad at me and I was trying to figure out what the big deal was. Sure, I’d kept a part of myself from her, but how could she judge me when she kept things bottled in too?

I knew I wasn’t perfect and there were things about me that could be better, but at least I’d been putting myself out there. Even though I hadn’t wanted to get into a relationship after my previous disastrous one, I’d still put myself on the line because there was something about Hailey that I couldn’t stay away from.

“But you kinda gotta understand why she’s pissed at you, man.” Jonathan was lying back against the couch, gnawing on some beef jerky. “She was going on and on about how much she loved William C. Lancaster, not even realizing it was you.”

I let out a sigh of frustration. “Did Tessa say anything about it?”

“Tessa’s pissed at me because she thinks I was in on it the whole time.”

“It’s not like I was playing her or something.” I threw my hands up in the air. “Why do girls overreact about everything?”

Jonathan shrugged. “Just from being with Tessa, I’ve learned that it’s easier just to let the girl win. Just nod your head and go along with what she’s saying because it’s not worth the shit she’ll give you if you disagree about something.”

Well, that wasn’t me. It was hard for me to back down when I was really set on something. Which was probably why Hailey and I had locked horns so many times. I’d known Jonathan for a long time and I’d never seen him act this way over a girl either. Obviously he was really into Tessa.

“Dude, it’s called having balls.”

“Nope.” Jonathan shook his head. “You gotta lose the balls. That’s the only way. I mean, did you even call Hailey and apologize?”

“I don’t even know what I’m supposed to apologize for.”

And, I really didn’t. Yeah, I guess it was probably embarrassing for Hailey to find out that she’d actually been crushing on me the entire time, but I also thought it would impress her once she found out who I really was.

The reason why I hadn’t told her wasn’t because I was trying to be a jerk or trying to embarrass her—it was because I’d wanted to surprise her. Well, now I knew I sucked at surprising people.

“Just say you made a mistake. That usually works.”

As I thought about this, my phone began ringing in my pocket. When I pulled it out, I saw that it was Zach..

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Is Jonathan with you?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Because I need both of you to hear this. Can you put the phone on speaker?”

Uh, what the hell was going on? I’d never heard Zach sound so serious before. Had something bad happened?

“Yeah, sure.” I did as he said and then waited for him to speak.

“Okay, so I know that we have a big show coming up and I know what a big deal it is.” Zach paused as though he wasn’t sure whether or not he should continue. “But, see, the thing is that I’ve kind of met someone.”

Well, that was great news. I didn’t understand why he sounded so nervous. What did him meeting someone have to do with our show? Why was he making such a big deal out of it?

“And we’re going to get married.”

“WHAT?” Jonathan and I said in unison.

“She’s amazing,” Zach hurried on. “Her name’s Danielle Monroe and she’s a British author, and I think I’m in love.”

Whoa. What the hell? Was I going deaf from too many years spent at loud concerts? Had Zach—THE Zach—just said he was in love? And getting MARRIED? To a British author. Dude, Zach didn’t even read.

“No way.” Jonathan was the first one to say anything. I could barely function, that’s how blown my mind was. “You’re screwing with us.”

“I’m dead serious.” His tone was dead serious, too. Zach was not messing around—he really had fallen in love and was getting married.

“But why can’t you play the show?” I asked, finally regrouping my thoughts.

“Because we’re getting married and I’m going back to England with her. I need time to get things planned and I won’t be able to play with you guys at the next show. I feel really bad, but I can’t let her go back without me. I need to give this a chance and see where it goes.”

Considering this was the first I’d heard about this Danielle person, I was willing to bet that Zach had only been dating her for a few weeks. It was crazy that he was giving up everything to be with someone he barely knew.

“Dude, that’s crazy!” Jonathan said.

I didn’t even know what to say. That’s how stunned I was. It was hard to believe that Zach was taking such a huge step. But there was nothing Jonathan and I could say or do to talk sense into him—Zach was just too stubborn.

“So we have to start looking for another guitarist,” Jonathan said after we got off the phone with Zach.

I pretty much had nothing to say. What could I say? My dreams for the band were quickly falling apart. How were we supposed to play a show without our bass player? Where were we going to find someone to replace Zach? I couldn’t hold it against the guy. He’d fallen in love. Maybe I’d do the same thing in a similar situation.

“Where are we going to find a new one? We are so screwed.”

Jonathan was quiet for a few seconds before glancing up at me. “Let’s go to Deuce’s apartment and tell him what’s going on. We’ll figure it out together.”

“Yeah, why not?” I said with a shrug.

As we headed to my car, Jonathan called Deuce a couple times but got no answer.

“Are you sure he’ll be at home?” I asked.

“He’s always at home,” Jonathan said, as we got into the car. “He has nothing better to do than play video games all day.”

I took Jonathan’s word for it since he knew Deuce a lot better than I did. I didn’t even know where the guy even lived so I had to follow Jonathan’s directions to a part of Overland Park that I wasn’t familiar with.

The apartment complex that Deuce lived in was actually pretty new. I could only assume that his parents were supporting him because he worked at a car wash place so it wasn’t like he was earning amazing money.

The door into the complex was unlocked, so we walked inside and I followed Jonathan up several flights of stairs to the third floor. We stopped outside apartment 312, and Jonathan gave the door two loud knocks.

Then we waited. And waited. And waited some more.

“He’s probably not home,” I said, thinking that this had all been a waste of time. Now I was even more stressed out.

Just as I said that, I heard the door being unlocked from the inside. A sense of déjà vu hit me hard as Deuce opened up the door and peered out at us. His hair was mussed, his shirt wasn’t buttoned all the way up, and there was an alarmed look in his eyes.

I couldn’t quite put my finger on where I’d seen that same look before and gnawed at the back of my mind.

“What are you guys doing here? This is a bad time.”

Deuce and I had never been close, but even I could tell from the look on his face that he seemed nervous, like we’d caught him doing something he shouldn’t be doing.

Jonathan glanced sideways at me, and I could tell he knew something was up too. He turned back to Deuce, giving him an easy smile. “We wanted to tell you that Zach-”

But before Jonathan could finish his sentence, someone called out from within the apartment.

“Baby, who is it?”

The woman’s voice sent shivers down my spine.

Even though I hadn’t heard that voice in months, it was so familiar to me. Not in a good way. Not in a Hailey way.

It was familiar in a way that I wanted to forget. It was a voice I’d wanted to erase from my mind for the rest of my life.

From the way Jonathan turned to me with wide eyes, I knew he recognized the voice too.

It belonged to Heather.

That bitch was here. With Deuce. What the fuck was going on?

When Heather appeared at the door, she seemed at ease. She was wearing an oversized shirt that obviously belonged to Deuce, and her long, dark hair was just as messy as his. I didn’t have to stretch my imagination too far to guess what they’d been doing.

The look of ease on Heather’s face lasted about two seconds. She caught sight of Jonathan, and then her eyes shot to me. She reached out and grasped Deuce’s arms, her expression resembling someone who’d just been slapped across the face.

And, then you know what happened next? Nothing. Not a damn thing. No one moved. No one said anything. I wasn’t even sure if anyone breathed.

Finally, I felt someone tug on my arm. It was Jonathan.

“Chase, come on, let’s get out of here.”

I shook my head. I wasn’t ready to leave just yet. “So, this is the guy?” I pointed at Deuce. “Out of all the guys you could’ve screwed, you chose to screw our bass player?”

My words seemed to jolt Heather out of her state of shock. She pursed her lips and took a step closer to me. “And why shouldn’t I screw him? What have you ever done for me, Chase?”

“We were together for three years! I was going to propose!”

She narrowed her eyes at me, and I wondered what I had ever found
attractive about this girl. “You really thought that was going to keep me around? You have no goals in life apart from your stupid band that’s never going to get anywhere! Why would I want to marry someone like you?”

It was weird, but a part of me wanted to burst out laughing as I looked over at Deuce. I’d be surprised if he could even tie his shoelaces. “And Deuce has goals?”

Heather flipped her hair over her shoulder in a snobby fashion. “Donald Worthington
the fourth
, actually has ambitions to start a chain of car washes in the next five years. That’s more than I can say for you.”