It Started with a Kiss

Chapter 20

We finally arrived at The Red Room at around ten, having gotten stuck in traffic on the way, much to Toby's dismay. He didn't even wait for the car to stop before jumping out of it, grabbing his guitar and slinging it over his back in the process. Apparently fifteen minutes wasn't nearly enough time to prepare for going on stage, which just caused me to roll my eyes. My brother really did worry too much.

"Best of luck!" I called out, but only the frigid night air greeted me in reply. I hated when he ignored me like that.

I pulled in to the nearest parking space and killed the engine, grabbing my bag and checking I had everything I needed. After a few seconds of deep breathing, I opened the car door and stepped out, locking it behind me. I kept reminding myself that I just needed to be calm about the entire situa-tion, that things would all work out okay as I stepped into the club, having entered from backstage with some of the other guys. The security was pretty lax here when it came to checking IDs, fortu-nately for me. Immediately I was able to pick out Aaron's frame, and I was hoping that with any luck I might just get a minute to warn Aaron before Grace arrived. I then realized that luck didn't really work like that when I saw who he was talking to.

Grace.

Luck really must hate me.

Not sure what I was supposed to do now, I turned around and headed towards the stage, trying to get myself a decent spot so I'd be able to video Toby and the guys playing. It was probably a dumb idea on my part, but I thought that their first big gig should be remembered digitally. Also, I was thinking that I could probably stick up on the internet too and it might just get them a little more recognition. Anything was worth a shot if it came to making my brother happy. And on the plus side, it gave me a distraction from the whole 'Grace declaring her love for Aaron' situation.

After I'd found an alcove that was close enough to the stage to give me a respectable view, but far enough away that I didn't get pushed around too much by the crowd that now completely covered the floor space of the club, I looked up to find my brother and the guys making their way out onto the stage. I cheered, probably a little too loudly judging by the few people that had turned to look at me when I did, but I didn't care. Everyone else would be cheering soon enough, I was sure of it. Flipping open the recorder on my phone, I pressed the red button and the timer went off at the top left hand side of the screen, telling me I was now filming. Noah introduced the band before stepping back and taking a seat at the piano and within minutes, my brother's hard work was finally being appreciated by the masses. Well, either that or the people around me were so drunk already that they'd clap at cats mating, but I'd like to think it was the former option. Basically, there was a lot of rather happy people dancing or singing along to my brother's band, and I couldn't help the feeling of pride swell in my chest.

After the first five songs, I heard someone calling my name repeatedly, the voice becoming louder and louder. Switching off the recording before putting my phone back into my bag, I craned my neck to try and see someone I knew nearby. My face fell when I saw the sad disappointed look on Grace's face as she approached me, pushing through the hordes of people as she did so. As she came closer, I noticed that her mascara was beginning to run as tears started to trickle down her face and my face paled at the sight. Oh Aaron, what did you do?

"What's wrong Grace?" I asked, my voice laced with concern for one of my closest friends, de-spite the fact that secretly I was a tad relieved. This meant she hadn't hooked up with Aaron, right? It was terrible of me to actually see that as a positive, but I did. I should have really been focusing on being a good friend for once.

"I'm such a terrible person Tara, I'm so, so sorry." Grace sobbed as she reached me, the tears now flowing in earnest.

"What are you talking about Grace?" I asked, slightly puzzled as to what was going on. She thought she was the terrible friend? I think she was mixing the two of us up here, but I wasn't going to correct her.