Risking it All

11

I lied in bed that night, thinking of Nick. I wondered what his room looked like. I wondered if he has trouble falling asleep at night like I did. I wondered about everything. I also wondered why Nick would love me. I lied awake for hours thinking about it, wishing he was with me so I wouldn't sleep alone.
The next morning, Nick didn't text me at all. I knew it was because he and his band members were at the club preparing for tonight. But I was patient. I remodeled my room a little, waiting for Nick to text me back. I checked my phone at least 23 times in an hour. Finally, at around 4 o'clock, my phone rang. I ran to answer it, but I waited until the third ring, so it didn't sound like I was waiting by the phone. "Hey," I said when I picked up.
"Hey," he said. "I'll be at your house in like ten minutes." Oh, well, okay. When he hung up, I changed out of my pajamas, threw on some clothes and ran down the stairs. I opened the door as Nick walked in. "Nick!" Mom cried happily. She threw her arms around him, which clearly surprised him. "Hello, Mrs. Marsh," he said. Embarrassed, I grabbed Nick and pulled him down the hall to my room. "Sorry about that," I told him. Nick shrugged. "It's fine," he said. "So," I said as we sat down on my bed. "Tell me about your band."
"Okay," Nick said. "So we're going on at seven thirty. We're getting paid four hundred bucks." My mouth dropped open in shock. "Four hundred dollars?! Oh my God!" Nick nodded. "But we have to split it between the four of us. So really, I'm just getting one hundred." I nodded. "Right. So tell me who else is in your band."
"Liza is our other guitarist and backup singer and Dan plays drums." He said that four people were performing. "That's only three," I told him. A smile came across his face and he said, "I know. Mackenzie, you can sing. And we sound awesome when we play together. I want you to come play with us tonight." What? I can't play with him. No, I wouldn't. I shook my head. "I'm not playing with your band Nick," I said. "Why not?" Nick said roughly. The tone of his voice was firm, which made me stiffen a little. "I just can't," I told him. "Give me a real answer," Nick said, his voice crescendoing as he stood up from the bed. Was he mad at me? How could he be mad at me just because I didn't want to play in his band?
"Why do you care?" I fired back. "I don't know any of your songs or anyone in your band. I don't know anything and you think I can just go with it? I'm not perfect, Nick." Nick came closer to me. "I'm not saying you are," he said, his voice softer. I looked up at him. "Don't worry about our songs," he said. "I was thinking you and I could just sing Royals again." There was something about just singing that one song with Nick that didn't feel right. I loved singing that one song on stage with him and being done with it. But if I sang one song with him and then walked down, I would look and feel like an idiot. I shook my head. "I'm sorry, Nick. I just can't." Nick seemed disappointed in me. "Look," Nick said. "I gotta go to the club now. Text me if you decide if you want to or not. Here's the address." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper with an address written on it. All I could so was nod. He walked to my door and started to walk out. He stopped before he said, "Mackenzie." I looked up at him. "Try to live like you did yesterday," and he walked out of the house.