The Middle | ✔️

Chapter 9

Jamie

"Hey, girl!" Before I even have time to turn around, Aubrey's arms are around my neck and she's kissing me on the cheek. I'm not a big fan of this level of affection, however I am feeling slightly irritated with life after my brief exchange with Will just now. If I hadn't just talked to him, I'd still be feeling beyond happy with how our performance just went. I need to cut back to that feeling. Come on. 

"You guys were so fucking good!" Kim exclaims, as I turn around to see Aubrey, Kim, Zach and John standing smiling at me and Joel. 

"That song was amazing." Zach says coolly. 

"Unbelievable, you guys! Honestly, that was just fantastic!" John says, smiling at me from ear to ear. 

"Thanks." Joel smiles at them, and I do too. I need to forget about Will. What happened between me and Will has absolutely nothing to do with these guys, I need to forget about him and be nice to my friends right now. 

"What's the plan now?" Aubrey asks Joel and me, "we're gonna head over to one of the clubs now, you guys should come! Celebrate your awesome debut!" 

"Yeah, I really wanna hear some normal music, this band is totally killing my buzz." Kim says, glaring back towards Incubator on stage. 

"Where's the other half of The Middle?" John asks. 

"They're down by the stage, probably getting elbowed in the ribs by all the hardcore Incubator fans." Joel says, and I laugh. He's not wrong. 

"We better wait and see what they wanna do." I say to Joel. This night is about all of us, no one is getting ditched. 

Joel nods his head in agreement, and Aubrey tells me they'll be in Club T if we wanna join them. I don't really wanna go to a club, and I'm sure the guys won't either, but I tell her we'll maybe see them there, and they leave. I watch them as they go, wondering why Noah isn't with his friends right now. As Aubrey and the others ascend the stairs up to the top level, I spot Noah standing by the top level bar, talking to some girl. Zach grabs his arm and says something as they pass, and Noah nods at him, says something to the girl, then leaves with Zach and the others. Yeah, I really don't wanna go to Club T now. Will Archibald was enough, I don't need Noah Adams ruining my night too. 

"So, did Will say why he didn't go to Harvard?" Joel asks me with concern. 

"No, I didn't give him a chance though." I tell him. "Listen, can we do this with Jay and Patrick? I don't wanna have to tell this story more than once. I don't wanna waste more breath on Will than I need to."

Joel gives me a small laugh and nods at me, before fixing his gaze on Incubator. We stand together by the bar and watch the rest of their set (they do another two songs before they finish, Jesus, Reggie must be really taken with them) and as soon as they start gathering up their instruments from the stage, the crowd begins to thin out. This isn't unusual on Thursdays, I'm told. As soon as the Open Mic is over, people usually tend to move on to other bars or clubs or frat parties or whatever it is college kids like to do. I'm kinda hoping my boys will just wanna stay here for another drink, or go back to my place for some privacy. I could take off this fucking skirt and throw on some comfy pyjamas and fluffy socks. I really hope they wanna go back to my house. 

We see Jay approaching us from the crowd by the stage, he's pushing his blonde hair out of his face and he looks breathless. Joel and I laugh at him as he shrugs his shoulders playfully and smiles at us. 

"Fun?" I ask with a smile.

"Fucking awesome, those guys are unreal live." Jay says, looking back towards Incubator clearing up their shit from the stage. The drummer, Dale Forbes, is crouching down at the front of the stage talking to Patrick on the floor. Dale is holding up the drum sticks he just used and they're both laughing. I bet there's barely any wood left on those things.