Page 17 of Before We’re More Than Friends (When We Faced the Music #1)
Dallas
Chloe
How was your evening? I’ve been thinking about you.
N erves fluttered in my chest when the message from Chloe popped up. No crap that she would think about me tonight. Because I literally collided with her. I sat there and talked to her about my life face-to-face.
I’d finally met her.
Had she already put the pieces together? If she hadn’t, would it be better to tell her than keep it to myself? I didn’t need any more reasons for my head and stomach to hurt.
Alex
My evening was pretty eventful. How about yours?
It took me a few moments to strike the nerve to send a second message.
Alex
Also, I’ve been thinking about you too.
A minute later, my notifications went off, sending my pulse jumping.
Chloe
Happy that we’ve been thinking about each other.
My evening was eventful, too. Like I told you this morning, there was no way Mom would’ve been well enough to go out with us after being so hungover.
Arielle forced me come with her to an event at our school, and it sucked.
Ever had sushi, pizza, fondue, and whatever else slammed into your chest? A pretty interesting combo to wear.
My heart plummeted to my stomach. All the denial I’d danced around with throughout the night vanished.
It really had been her.
Chloe
This guy slammed into me with a plate full of food when neither one of us was looking, and I lashed out at him and started a fight.
It triggered my anxiety and OCD, and Sienna made me the shirt I was wearing to match Arielle.
Why wouldn’t I be pissed off? I almost died of embarrassment thanks to him.
My hands were frozen on my keyboard. Thanks to me.
Chloe
Apparently, he ended up being a guy Hayden and Oliver had told me about. He’s one of the new volunteers at the shelter who starts tomorrow, and now he probably thinks I’m the biggest brat on the planet .
Trust me, I thought you were way more than a brat. And now the thought of you makes me sick.
Chloe
Oh, and guess what his name is?
I don’t have to.
Chloe
Alex? Are you AFK?
Alexxxx. Still there?
Hello?
Shoot, I was still staring at my laptop screen with my fingers on the keyboard.
Alex
Sorry, my stomach’s hurting.
I wished I were lying.
Chloe
Oh, I’m sorry. Did your dad make those wings again?
Alex
Let’s not rehash that traumatic experience.
Keep going, I’m reading everything.
Chloe
Okay, his name was Dallas. Get it? And he’s from Dallas, like you!
His sister’s name is Kami also, but I’m not sure if it’s spelled the same way or if it stands for something different, like Camilla or Camille.
If I hadn’t known you lived in Boulder Valley, I would’ve thought you were the same person!
Yeah, my heart was on the floor. In the garage below.
Chloe
Isn’t that funny?
She probably expected me to see this as an awesome coincidence, but it just made me want to puke all over my keyboard.
Alex
Ha
Chloe
***
Alex
***
Chloe
What’s wrong? Is your stomach still hurting? You seem off.
Tell me about it. I met my pen pal in real life in one of the worst ways possible, and I have no idea where I stand with her.
I mean, I could ask you, because you are her.
I could legit drive over to your freaking house and show up on your doorstep with stupid flowers and confess my feelings for you.
And I’m not doing any of that.
Chloe
Alex, you’re worrying me. Please tell me what’s wrong.
Alex
I think I’m sick. Gtg.
With that, I slammed my laptop shut and flopped onto my bed. A tear spilled onto my cheek, and I wiped it away in frustration.
Houston looked at me from the floor as if he were asking me, What’s wrong ?
“I met Chloe. In real life.” I lay on my back, putting my hands on my stomach. “And it’s nothing how I wanted it to be.”
He crossed one front paw over the other one. You just got crushed by a crush.
I shot a glare at him. “It’s not a crush. It’s a special connection.” That was now beginning to crush me.
He actually shook his head. Uh-huh.
“Man’s best friend,” I muttered.
After lying there for two minutes, I connected my phone to my Bluetooth speakers and put on my “only the best chemicals” playlist. When in middle school, I used to blast music for me and Houston to dance to, but it usually came with a complaint from Kami.
But I didn’t care tonight. I needed to dance every thought of Chloe away.
I got up from my bed and sang along to “Classic” by MKTO. Houston’s ears stood up as he jumped around with me, wagging his tail and sticking his tongue out. Within minutes, I’d almost forgotten all about my awful night. Almost.
In the middle of our fun, the door opened. I jumped and tripped over Houston, crashing on top of him.
“I’m sorry!” Mom covered her mouth with her hands and helped me up. “I should’ve knocked.”
I rubbed my sides. “Remember next time.”
“Let me get you some ice.”
I shook my head. “I’m good, Mom. Really.”
She sighed, taking in the small room. There were still moving boxes piled in a corner, but most of my furniture was already out. “I’m just worried about you and Kami. She hasn’t left her room since you got home.” Her wide brown eyes met mine. “She told me you had an embarrassing time.”
If only it were just that.
“It’s fine,” I said as I turned my music off. “Worse things have happened to me.” Not really . Even my tragic fifth-grade relationship wasn’t this bad .
Mom nodded, though she didn’t look too convinced. “Are you mad at me?”
I plopped onto my bed. “Why would I be?”
“Never mind.” She planted a kiss on my forehead. “Good night, Dallas.”
I gave her a side hug. “Good night, Mom.”
She walked to the door and looked back at me with a pained expression before closing it.
An ache grew in my chest as I put my earbuds in. I tried to drown out my thoughts with my music, but it didn’t work. None of my ninety-one playlists could match how I felt right now.
For the first night since we’d left Dallas, I fell asleep before midnight. And even then, my dark thoughts still loomed over me.
“What’s wrong?” Kami asked for the millionth time today after parking at April Springs Animal Shelter.
“Just tired,” I lied for the millionth time today.
“Yeah, you were out before midnight and woke up at ten to get cereal. Dallas Alexander Friar doesn’t sleep longer for six hours at a time.” She turned the music off. “Tell me what’s getting to you.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Why would I tell you about my feelings when you never tell me about yours?”
Her face hardened. “We already talked about this.”
“Your definition of talking about things is clearly different from mine.”
“Fine.” She leaned back in her seat. “What do you want me to say? ”
“Forget it.” I opened my door and slammed it shut. I’d wait to talk about things when she actually wanted to do it.
I speed-walked to the shelter, but Kami caught up with me by the time I made it inside.
Mrs. Landers took no time to walk over to us, holding a clipboard to her chest. “Good afternoon! I was just talking about your tasks with your mom.”
“How fun,” I said, absolutely no enthusiasm in my voice.
She laughed, adjusting her glasses. “Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”
“Tell me about it,” Kami muttered. “What are our tasks for today?”
“Since this is your first day here, I want you guys to take it easy this week and just get into our rhythm.” Mrs. Landers looked at her clipboard.
“Dallas, you’ll start off with cleaning the bunny cages and then feeding the bunnies, and, Kami, you’ll groom the dogs with Oliver. And I want no monkey business.”
Kami flipped her ponytail back, but her face pinched. “Don’t have to worry about it.”
“They might be the ones who need to be groomed,” I said to lighten the mood.
Kami elbowed me in the ribs, and I elbowed her back.
Mrs. Landers glanced at us from above her glasses, and we went our separate ways to start our task. I grabbed the bunny and hamster food from the food pantry and walked to the bunny and hamster section.
I headed over to the first bunny cage that belonged to Fluffs, and I gagged.
Whatever they were feeding her, she was not digesting it well.
Manning up, I hummed along to a song playing in the background as I did the labor of cleaning her messy and stinky cage, my confidence lifting with every area of uncleanness disappearing.
Disgusting animals were no match for me.
By the time I made it to the last bunny cage, sweat ran down my forehead. It didn’t help that Biscuit’s cage hadn’t been cleaned in a while and most of the mess was stuck to it. Holding back a gag, I pulled out a new wipe and put my left hand back in the cage.
My wipe, however, decided to fall out of my hand, making my hand land on a bunch of bunny poop.
“Crap!” I lifted my hand up and quickly wiped it with a new wipe, hoping the uncleanness would wear off fast enough.
“You look like you’re having fun, huh?”
The blood drained from my face as my stomach turned over, my eyes daring to look up at the person in front of me.
Raina crossed her arms and gave me a cheeky grin. “Need some help?”