Love In Music

Chapter Three

Three Days Before Concert

Zuri plopped herself on the queen sized bed in the hotel room five seconds after entering our room. She closed her eyes and grabbed one of the pillows just to hug it before I had the chance to sprawl out beside her. A gentle smile curled onto her lips before she buried her face into the pillow she was hugging. "Lays, can I ask a question?" 

I nodded in reply, but when I realized she couldn't see it, I replied with a simple " Yeah, sure." 

After a few seconds of silence, she slowly brought her face away from the pillow and looked up at the ceiling, completely avoiding my eyes. Maybe my mascara was dripping from sweating? No, that couldn't be it. Could it? Anyway, Zuri hesitantly opened her eyes and looked over at me with pink tinted cheeks. I tilted my head as she nervously opened her mouth, curious as to why she was blushing. She hardly ever blushed in front of me, unless it was about the band, but even then, she bit it down. 

"There was this guy at camp and-" 

"Ooo, a boy!" I grinned and wiggled my eyebrows, which increased the brightness of the blush that stole her cheeks.

"Shut up!" Zuri screeched after she forced her face back into the pillow she was squeezing to death, if that was even possible for a pillow. There was a silence that followed that, and after a minute or two, she slowly drew her face away from the pillow and looked up at the ceiling with a new calmness. "How do you know when you like someone, Lays?"

I gulped as I looked at her. The way her eyes sparkled when she brought up the boy caught me off guard. She had never once been obsessed or interested in a guy, while me on the other hand, had one boyfriend who broke it off with me after he started staring at other girls. I saw it coming, fortunately, and the heart break wasn't too dramatic. I just learnt to suck it up and move on, though I cried the night of the breakup. Zuri was the one who attempted to comfort me while mom was busy at work. Dad was alive at that point, and kept walking by my bedroom just to check in. 

I shook away the memories and turned to face the ceiling before answering. "I guess it just depends on the person. Sometimes, whenever you look at them, you feel butterflies and you can't stop the blush you feel running around your neck. But then, other times, you just feel calm and at home when they're around. And ultimately, you just think about the future with them and imagine them doing things that you wouldn't allow other people do. Like kissing you." There was a pause, but it was a comfortable sort of silence that broke out for a few seconds. Finally, I realized I had more to say. "How much do you like him, Zuri?"

"A lot," Zuri said without a second to spare, but she still looked calm. When I looked over to face her, her features were all relaxed and lost all tension. There was only the dullest of pinks left on her cheeks, which was hardly noticeable. "Third day at camp, we were chilling by the beach while everyone else was sleeping. We snuck out to see each other because we got along on the first day and just clicked. So, it was really dark and mosquitoes kept trying to eat us and we ended up sharing a blanket. Then, up in the sky, was a few shooting stars so we both made wishes, and after the last one went, we just kind of stared at each other before one of the leaders caught us there together. So we were brought back to our cabins after getting a warning." Zuri took a breath in and glanced over at me. "The last day, we almost kissed, but his friends called him away and the next thing I know, he's gone. But I got his house phone number, if that means anything."

"What about him do you like specifically?" I asked as I looked at her with careful eyes, worried she would think I was acting like how our mother used to. But when she only smiled, I realized I was in the clear.