Reasons To Stay

THIRTEEN

The music started. The crowed roared. The band appeared. The concert begun.

It had been seven months since I had come back from New York, and a lot of things had changed.

For starters, Rae had come back and was still working with the band, only with a little more distance. That meant less hours and stress, too, but didn't mean she would be free of going back when they were ready to record a new album, though.

My sisters and I had become closer. I had finally learnt to act like a sister again, even if I did still worry to death when they were out later than they should have (Trish especially, of course). Trish had made big changes, too. Apparently, the day Lance and I found her alone in the dark street, she had just had a big fight with her best friends and they had left her behind. She had been heartbroken, and that had been the main reason she had snapped at me. I was still kind of glad, though, because if that hadn't happened, then nothing else would have either.

When school started, I made an effort to participate more, especially now that Lance and I were dating officially. To my surprise, all of his friends accepted me happily and I soon made some of my own, too. I still took some days off and sat in the garden to draw instead of on our table at lunchtime, though. Old habits die hard, I guess. Most of those times, Lance or Trish joined me, though, and I found that talking made drawing even more fun, especially when either of them was my model.

I still talked often with my two friends from Parsons and I often sent some of my work to our teacher, who seemed to almost be waiting for me to graduate and be on his class.

And the band. Well I talked very often with them. A lot more than I had expected to. And since they had met Lance during one of our Skype sessions, our chats became longer and longer. They all liked Lance a lot, even if they had threatened my boyfriend with all kinds of torture if he ever broke my heart.

Since they had began their tour, our talks had become less frequent, but they had made sure that between our city and the next there would be at least a five day gap that would allow them to hang out with us for a while.

And so there we were, standing with our friends and family on the first row of Roman Soldiers' concert.

Lance snaked his arms around my waist from behind me and I smiled and relaxed into him. "You having fun?" he whispered in my ear.

"You have no idea," I replied as I looked up to see Roderick with his guitar in hand, winking in our direction.

Lance leaned in to kiss the crook of my neck.

"Your song is next," I whispered and he tensed lightly. The band had somehow convinced him to play it with them, and he had been freaking out all week and practicing until late at night every single night.

No one from school except our friends knew that he had been the one who wrote one of the three most popular songs of the whole album. I guess not everyone read the full album booklet now that they could buy music digitally.

"Well, now, my friends, we would like to invite a special friend of ours to the stage," Kyle said as soon as they finished the song they had just been singing. "This friend is the one who wrote the song that made this album possible. So give Lance Jones a big welcoming applause," he said as he looked right at us.

"Good luck," I whispered on his ear before he had a chance to leave. "And save me your second interview."

He laughed and seemed to relax. Simon game him a soft slap on the back and soon he was up on stage with a guitar around his neck.

"Famous boyfriend, huh?" Trish joked as she placed her arm around my shoulders.

I shrugged, going on with her game. "I don't need a radio anymore."

My sister laughed, and so did my aunt and Lance's. Simon was too focused on trying not to cry as he saw his son greet the crowd. On my other side, my friends Joanna York, the prettiest girl in school, and Mark, who happened to be in my chemistry class again this year, were smiling goofily at each other. Next to them, my other new friends where yelling Lance's name to either make him more nervous or encourage him.

"I can't see," little Jenny cried as she jumped up and down, trying to get a glimpse of Lance.

I smiled at her. "Come here," I said as I took her in my arms.

When the band and Lance reached the chorus of their song, Lance's voice joined Kyle's and just like everybody else around me, I smiled.

The difference with everyone else in the stadium, though, was that the only person Lance seemed to be smiling to was me.