Blue Souls

Chapter 16: The Performance

Tonight is the night. Am I prepared for this? Definitely not. Am I worried about what will happen? Absolutely.

*knock*

"You ready?" he asked as he entered the room.

"Almost. Just nervous."

"Don't sweat it. You'll do great."

"I know."

I turn to face him to see if our outfits match. As I expected, our clothes do look together, even with the color of the guitar.

"You look cute," he says.

"Thanks. You're not so bad yourself."

"Come on, is that the best compliment you can give?"

"Okay, fine. You look handsome. There I said it."

Something about our conversation made the atmosphere around us feel like a safe space. Too safe, in fact, that I let my guard down.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah sure," I answered.

"The other day, you said 'parent'. Did something happen to one of them?"

I hesitated a bit before answering his question. "Um, not everyone knows about this. But, a while back, I lost my mom. She had an accident that cost her her life."

"Oh, I'm so sorry about that. And I'm sorry for asking, it was just my stupid curiosity."

"No, it's fine. I just feel like it's my fault. If only I paid more attention to her, she wouldn't have died."

"Don't say that. Accidents are beyond our control."

"I guess so. I just can't handle losing another loved one. It hurts too much the first time, who knows how the succeeding ones would feel?"

From that moment on, he stayed awfully silent, like he had said something wrong.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"No. Sorry, would you mind if I went ahead of you? I'll meet you there at the event place."

"Okay. Are you sure you don't want to go together?"

"I'm sure. I mean, I just need to handle something first."

I nod to him while he walks out the door in a hurry.

He's been trying to get out of my sight quickly as of lately. Something must be up.

***

Where the hell is he? He said he'd be here first, and yet he's missing in action!

"Any luck?" Jessica asked.

"Nope. He's not answering his phone."

"He obviously bailed. I knew he wasn't to be trusted."

"You don't know that. He's probably caught up with something."

"Yeah, something stupid. You better have a backup song in case he decides to not show up."

"Wait, a backup song? I don't have one prepared!"

Jessica rolls her eyes. "Oh, please. You're the gold medalist of preparations. You're never not prepared, especially with backup plans."

"True, but all I wanted to sing an original song, and all the other ones aren't fit for an open mic performance."

"What about the one you were currently working on? The one you let me listen to. That was amazing."