Time And I

Thirty-Seven

Nate showed up late for rehearsals because of his car stalling, so the three of us continued to talk until he came. I tried to lean off the love conversation, but the subject quickly changed as James explained his point of view when meeting Lucy, which was basically the same thing. They got along really well. There was no doubt they were really close friends. Reminded me of Buddy and I.

Once Nate arrived, we played them the song we wrote. Lucy ad-libbed her own bass line, and James figured out the melody quickly. It needed some more polishing before we would perform it, but it was something everyone liked. The gratification was an instant relief. My first contribution to the band was a success.

We then worked on the original songs. We played a few covers meant to get the crowd involved (until an album came out, it was better to use covers so the audience would feel included and not isolated for not knowing our music), but I knew most of them already, so it was a quick run through before working deeper into the original tracks. Next week would be a full run through of our first concert. In the meantime, we had to make sure we all had chemistry for the original tracks.

It was 7:42 when we finally finished. I was exhausted but riled up at the same time. I was proud of the work I'd done. The band seemed to be, too. I was relieved. First rehearsal, success.

For the rest of the week, I intended to practice my ass off. I wanted to be perfect next week for our first concert. If I had to spend an exceedingly long time drumming to get it all right, I would. It wasn't like I ever did anything else in my spare time besides drum, anyway. But now that I had a boyfriend to juggle with my friends and family, how much time would that leave me for everything?

Lucy followed Nate out of the shed, leaving James and I alone. He strolled behind the shield up to me and said, "Hey, Mel, let's get some dinner."

I jerked my head up to him. "All of us?"

"No. Just you and me."

"I don't know. I should probably get home. It is a school night."

"Yeah, but I haven't seen you eat since I got here. You shouldn't go to bed without eating something."

"I'll eat something at home-"

"Come on. It'll be my treat."

I wouldn't have minded getting dinner with James, but my only concern was Petula. While she knew I had no interest in James and that I was dating Devon, I didn't want to rub her the wrong way. I wanted to keep my relationship with James friendly, professional and platonic. That meant not getting dinner without the band. No talking about personal things via text. No getting too close for comfort. But if I was going to be in the band, I needed to become friends with James. I just didn't want to risk upsetting Petula.

James tilted his head as his smile softened. "Petula will not be upset if we get dinner. It's just dinner."

"Yeah, but dinner can mean a lot of things to different people."

"Are you thinking of this as anything except two friends getting dinner?"

"No."

"Neither do I. And neither will Petula. Please trust me when I say that she is not the jealous type. I get clobbered at shows all the time, and she never gets jealous. She knows that no matter who comes up to me, I am devoted to her and her alone. She's not going to find any harm in going to Denny's to get some late night breakfast food and talk."

I still wasn't sure. People could say a million things and feel the polar opposite inside. No matter how much she may not be jealous, that didn't mean she wouldn't be upset. And I didn't want getting dinner with her boyfriend to be upsetting.