Page 33 of Before We’re More Than Friends (When We Faced the Music #1)
Raina
N ot being voted for the lead singer of Oliver’s Garage Band stung a little, but I’d fulfilled my mission of getting Dallas to perform. Part of me had thought I’d have more confidence trying if he tried too, but the other part of me just wanted to hear him sing for real.
The connection I had with him made no freaking sense.
Monday afternoon, Hayden added me to a group chat called “Oliver’s Garage Band .”
Hayden
MEET IN THE brEAK ROOM AS SOON AS YOU GET TO THE SHELTER.
Raina
Gosh, did someone die?
What’s so important?
Hayden
Shut up
You don’t want to miss this
Arielle
I’M SO EXCITED
Hayden
ME TOO
Raina
Caps, sheesh
Caleb
Who’s bringing snacks?
Oliver
How about you buy your own snacks for once?
Caleb
Hayden will bring the snacks
Hayden
I sure won’t
Caleb
Sienna?
She never replies
Loser
Sienna
UNO reverse
Raina
Leave her alone
Caleb
But who tf is bringing snacks?
Dallas?
Is he a loser too?
Raina
Now that is a good question
Dallas
Sorry
Was trying to find the middle finger emoji
Arielle
LMAO
Caleb
You’re still a loser
Oliver
Jeez stop bullying people over text
Caleb
Isn’t that what texting’s for?
Any group chat involving Caleb automatically became chaotic.
When Arielle and I arrived at the shelter, everyone but Sienna was already in the break room. Caleb was eating a bag of chips, of course.
“Who brought the snacks?” I asked as I sat beside Dallas, who was invested in scrolling on his phone.
He looked up from his screen. “Oliver found some in the cabinets.”
Oliver shook his head. “How do you eat that much junk without breaking out?”
“I have the skin of a goddess.” Caleb rubbed his hand along the fair skin on his face.
“You’re a girl?” Sienna asked as she walked in, holding her signature cup of coffee from our school’s café. “A goddess is a girl.”
“Girls have amazing skin.”
Hayden rolled his eyes. “Are we ready or what?”
“I’m not sure what we’re ready for,” I said, my brows drawing together. “Why couldn’t we wait until Saturday? ”
“Because Dallas came up with this yesterday, and we talked it through during lunch.” Hayden nodded at Dallas, who put his phone away in his pocket, cheeks already flushing. It was cute how he was bashful all the time.
Wait, did I just think Dallas Friar was cute?
That came out of left field.
“As we know, Dallas won the sing-off between him and Raina.” Hayden gestured toward me.
“I think the system was rigged.” I smiled at Dallas.
He only gave a small chuckle before averting his gaze, the red in his cheeks deepening. Freaking adorable .
Okay, these thoughts needed to stop.
“Dallas and I were brainstorming future plans when he brought you up,” Hayden said, standing in the middle of the room. “He suggested something, and it was actually a great idea.”
Arielle let out a little squeal before covering her mouth.
“Am I going to be the pretty girl who stands in the back?” I asked. “I don’t even play an instrument, so that would throw people off when performing.”
“Yeah, because your beauty would just blind them,” Dallas said sarcastically with a grin.
I laughed, though my own cheeks filled with heat. “That’s not what I meant.”
“It won’t matter that you’re not playing an instrument,” Hayden said. “Because you’re going to be the second lead singer.”
I blinked, the words not registering in my brain for a good five seconds. “You mean the backup singer? Or Dallas’s stand-in?”
“I mean you’re going to be the other lead singer, along with Dallas.” Hayden beamed, his face practically glowing. “Like a duo, but with a band behind you. ”
“Yay!” Arielle shot up and clapped so loudly it hurt my ears, the others following.
More blood rushed to my cheeks. “But . . . but . . .” I put a hand to my hammering heart. “Y-You don’t need to do that.” I faced Dallas, who was grinning bashfully, his dimples on full display. He was the only one still sitting. “You could’ve had the spotlight to yourself.”
“But I don’t want to.” His melty brown eyes locked with mine. “If I’m going to start making music again, I want it to be fun. And I want you to be a part of it.”
Something about the way he stared into my soul, like each word was coming from his, melted me from the inside out. I tried to speak, but nothing came out. What’s happening to me?
“Aw, she’s speechless,” Arielle said, folding her hands over her chest.
“This is too cute,” Sienna said as she sipped her coffee, giving me a wink. Was she talking about something else?
“Sorry, I—” I wasn’t able to stop looking at Dallas, who was still grinning just as wide as everyone else was, cheeks as scarlet as Sienna’s lips. “It’s just that I didn’t expect this. I mean, I had fun singing and didn’t realize how much I enjoyed it until then?—”
“That’s why we want you to be in the band,” Dallas said. “Plus, you wanted to go to the meeting more than I did, and I only came because of you.” He let out a small gasp. “I mean?—”
Yeah, my insides were melted to the ground. “I’m glad.” I reached for his hand, which still had the bandage on it from Friday. “Really.”
“Of course.” He squeezed my hand.
“Oh my gosh!” Arielle exclaimed as she jumped up and down like a bunny. “Stop it, that’s so freaking cute.”
It took me a moment to realize that holding hands with Dallas looked completely different from what it actually was.
The burning in my face shot through my veins. “It’s not what it looks like.”
“People only say that when it is what it looks like,” Caleb said, being no help whatsoever.
Hayden smirked at Dallas.
“It’s really not what it looks like,” Dallas said, letting go of my hand. I knew it wasn’t personal, but my heart dipped anyway. “You guys all probably hold hands and don’t go around making out afterward.”
Hayden and Arielle exchanged a look before turning away from each other.
“BS,” Sienna said, sipping her coffee.
“Leave them alone, guys,” Oliver said, tiredness in his voice as if we’d been arguing forever. His excited demeanor had changed almost completely. “Maybe they don’t want it on display.”
Caleb scoffed. “I’m terrible at relationships, but I know when people are into each other.”
“We are not into each other,” I said, defense growing in my voice. “For crying out loud, we’ve known each other for what”—I looked at Dallas, who was suddenly interested in his watch—“two weeks?”
Dallas nodded. “You can’t fall in love in two weeks.” The way he said it made it sound like he was hiding something, but there was nothing to hide. He was just very sweet and shy. There were way better girls to crush on.
Girls who didn’t have intrusive thoughts or a family that kept collapsing before everyone’s eyes.
“Who’s not convinced?” Caleb asked, raising his hand.
“You guys are losers,” Dallas muttered before anyone could agree with Caleb .
“Still looking for the middle finger emoji?”
Dallas flipped him off.
Caleb mock-gasped. “Oh my gosh, I didn’t know he had it in him.”
“Yeah, I’m leaving.” He got up from his chair and gave me one last smile. “I hope you’ll enjoy singing with me, though.” He shot a glare at everyone in the room. “As friends .”
“Yes,” I said, smiling back. “We’re friends .”
But the word didn’t feel the same as it had before.
When Arielle and I got home, the aroma of garlic filled the house. I kicked off my flats and walked into the kitchen, where Mom was stirring a bowl of pasta.
“First breakfast, and now a full meal?” I asked. “What’s the occasion?”
“Wanted to end the first day of a long week strong,” Mom said with a smile. “Even though we have Francesca, I hope this becomes a normal thing again. For the three of us.” She swallowed, her eyes traveling to the counter on the other side of the kitchen. “You both have mail.”
“Did one of my packages come?” I’d finally had the motivation to order more supplies for Raining Gems. Because I’d fallen off the face of social media—other than looking at how everyone else had a much better life than me—I hadn’t been getting as many orders.
It wasn’t a big deal, but it hurt my heart a little.
Mom shook her head. “Just look at it when you’re done eating.”
“Don’t tell me it’s from Dad,” Arielle said, already shuffling through the heaps of mail. She grunted after picking up an envelope with her name on it. “Of course it is. ”
“Please have a better attitude about it, okay?” Mom asked, her voice already tightening. “At least through dinner. I don’t want to deal with any stress while we’re spending time together.”
Arielle’s face pinched. “Of course.” She sat at the kitchen table and pulled out her phone, her fingers flying across the screen.
“Thank you for dinner, Mom,” I said as I sat beside Arielle. I glanced over at her screen, but I couldn’t make out who she was texting, but they were already replying to her.
Arielle caught me looking at her screen. “Nosy much?”
“Rude much?” I muttered back.
“Girls, please.” Mom faced us, her face stern. “We’re not doing this.”
“Sorry,” we both said, but mine sounded more sincere than Arielle’s did.
“I won’t lie, this took me a few tries,” Mom said as she poured the pasta onto three plates.
“But I hated that I had to cancel our night out, so I wanted to surprise you a day I got home from work early.” She beamed as she brought two of the plates over to the table and sat them down in front of us.
“I also have garlic bread. I know it’s nothing like I used to make, but I hope it’s enough. ”
I smiled, my heart warming as I took in the aroma of the pasta decked out in sauce. “This looks delicious, Mom.”
Arielle sniffed like she was a dog, closing her eyes. “It does. Thank you.”
“Anything for you girls.” Mom brought over the last plate of pasta and a plate of garlic bread. “Let me just get the drinks, and then we can dive in.”
Penrose came into the kitchen, her tail wagging, and sat beside my feet, looking at me with her big eyes .
“You forgot to make a plate for Penrose,” I said as I leaned down to rub behind Penrose’s ears.