I'll Be

Chapter Four: Me

Jules shot me a look of surprise.

            “And you said yes, right?” She prompted, popping a wedge of tangerine in her mouth. When I’d finally managed to get everyone together, we were halfway through the day and I explained the situation.

            I pulled out the flier and slid it to the middle of the table.

            “Holy shit.” Bree whispered, looking over the paper “We’re doing this. Oh my God.”

            While they were freaking, I saw the guys walk through the doors to the cafeteria, catching sight of us immediately. Reeve approached, and I was tempted to remove the earbud that was playing ‘High Regard’ by The Story So Far, but I couldn’t let go of that first stanza of chords and lyrics.

            Fuck an apology, I’m not sorry for anything.

            I couldn’t see it the way it was set; it was about not being afraid to say what you think. But I could see it as something else. In my head, I could hear Parker Cannon saying more, about regrets that he didn’t have, and taking chances on things that were worth something greater.

            Sawyer nudged me, and I smiled at him as he pulled up a chair next to me. I handed him my other headphone, and he fit it into his ear.

            “Sorry, I just can’t get over this one…” I stopped, waiting for it. The riff came, Sawyer stopped, zoned in on it. When he reached for my phone, he hesitated, but I nodded and let him have it.

            He closed his eyes, focused.

            “Sick.” He said, smiling “It totally goes both ways, you know? A phrase like that.”

            My eyes went wide; “I know.” I agreed, “I’m kind of in love with it.”

            He looked up, “Hey, Rob. I found something we should cover. I mean, if we ever get around to it.”

            I groaned, “No!”

            “Teddy,” Liv snapped, “Be nice.”

            I shook my head and informed Sawyer, “You will lose all of my respect for you if you are going to just go tab this and learn to play.”

            Sawyer smiled, and I could hear Reeve laughing in the background softly. Jules looked around at us, Bree’s confusion bubbling to the surface.

            “What?” She asked, her eyes moving from Robbie to Dustin. I looked over at Sawyer, who smiled and put his head down in embarrassment. The table slowly began to quiet, and I could see that Jules and Caia were trying to get Reeve to spill whatever the truth was. I figured that this was the big secret; that the band was a total hoax, or they couldn’t play for shit, at the very least.

            Dustin took a swig of soda, and smiled.

            Robbie nudged Sawyer, “Tell them.”

            We hovered, waiting for the big reveal.

            And of course, they laughed at us. Reeve chuckled, “Can’t give fellow rockers the secret formula.”

            Caia scoffed, “It’s not a fucking Krabby Patty. You either have the talent, or you don’t, and you fake it. Which is it?”

            “Well,” Sawyer laughed, “I’ve been known to fake other things…”

            Caia shut her eyes tightly and grinned, “You are pigs. The lot of you are just pigs.”