Page 63 of Before We’re More Than Friends (When We Faced the Music #1)
Dallas
M y eyes struggled to stay open as I stumbled my way downstairs Friday morning. Raina and I ended up staying at the dog park later than we were supposed to—and my parents had no problem blowing up my phone, demanding me to come home.
When I walked into the kitchen, Dad was making waffles. Kami sat at the table, sipping coffee while scrolling through her phone. It didn’t look like Mom was anywhere, which sadly wasn’t unusual anymore. Ever since Mom and Dad’s fight on Monday, Mom had avoided most family meals.
“Where’s Mom?” I asked Dad, grabbing orange juice from the fridge.
“She left for work early,” he said as he put the waffles onto the plate. “Wanted to get a head start.”
I nodded as I joined Kami at the table.
Dad sighed. “You want an update, do you?”
I gave him a small smile. “You know me almost as well as she does.”
A frown took shape on his lips. “Oh. ”
“I-I didn’t mean it as a bad thing,” I said, twisting the friendship bracelet on my wrist.
“That’s the thing.” Dad put the waffles on the table and sat down. “Your mom has always been your role model. Shoot, I’m the one who fell in love with her for how exceptional she is. But sometimes . . .” He stared at his plate. “I wish you looked up to me like that.”
My heart ached as I realized how much I didn’t know about Dad. I never asked questions about his job, rarely asked how his day was, and hadn’t hung out with him in months.
Had our closeness with Mom made him wish he had the same thing?
Kami put her phone down and exchanged a sympathetic look with me.
“I didn’t know you felt that way,” she said first, her voice barely audible. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too,” I said. “But we love you just as much as we love Mom.” I stared at my waffles, steam no longer rising from them. “It’s not too late to be closer to you.”
“I wouldn’t take away what you have with your mom. I just wish things were different.” Dad took a bite of his waffles. “I don’t know how to fix things with your mom while still having her see my point of view. I don’t want to lose her.”
I blinked back the tears that threatened to surface. “You won’t lose her, Dad. Couples go through rough patches. You’re just going through a harder one.”
“Mom doesn’t want to lose you, either,” Kami said as she ate her waffles. “She’s been crying at the shelter over things because she misses how things used to be.”
Dad’s face fell. “She . . . she’s been crying at work?” He rubbed his forehead, muttering to himself. “I thought she was having the time of her life there.”
Kami sighed. “She’s been trying. ”
“I didn’t know that you walked in on her crying, too,” I told her, the ache in my chest growing.
“Mrs. Landers actually told me to check on her one day.” Kami frowned. “I had no idea she was struggling so much.”
Dad groaned. “Gosh, I feel like an asshole.”
“This is where she’d tell you to watch your language,” I said with a small smile.
Dad laughed for the first time, his dimples appearing.
It felt like I hadn’t seen them for so long.
“I do feel like one, though. I hurt the woman I love the most. The mother of the children who mean everything to me.” He looked at us with a small smile, his eyes heavy.
“I love seeing her look back at me when I look at you.”
More tears burned behind my eyes. “We have the best of both you and Mom.”
Kami nodded, her own eyes glossy. “We love you, Dad. No matter what.” She got up to hug him, and I did the same.
“Thank you, kids. I’m so happy to have you in my life.” Dad gave a low sniffle as if he were about to cry. “But I still have to make things right with your mom.”
“You can call her,” Kami said, nodding to his phone on the table. “She’d want to hear your voice. Hear you say you love her.”
Dad squeezed our hands. “I’ll do that.”
We finished up our breakfast, updating each other about our lives.
Dad was getting along with his coworkers and had arrested a few drug dealers who’d been on the run.
Kami had become friends with Hayden’s sister, Lana, who invited her over for dinner.
I told them I’d made up with Hayden and gushed about my night with Raina—minus details that would give Dad a heart attack.
I couldn’t remember the last time we’d been so open about our lives at once. When we really saw each other.
It made our cold waffles a little warmer.
As I got ready for school in the bathroom, my phone pinged with a text in my band’s group chat. It was now named “Like Airplanes ” instead of “Oliver’s Garage Band ”. I’d thought someone had deleted the chat, but all our old conversations were still there.
Oliver
Meet in the break room at the animal shelter as soon as you arrive
I blinked, not sure what was happening. I’d been positive that everyone was done with Like Airplanes. Oliver had told us to take his instruments out of his garage. Even Hayden had admitted defeat. Had they changed their minds?
Hope rose in my chest, but I tried to squash it before something else would.
Caleb
Only if there will be snacks
Dallas
Wait what’s going on?
Hayden
Yeah what’s up?
Oliver
Just meet at the shelter so we can talk things out there, all of us
If everyone else is down
Caleb
Like I said, only if there are snacks
Hayden
Don’t get my hopes up dude
Oliver
I’m not playing around
That’s Caleb’s job
Caleb
I never play around
Always serious
Oliver
Okay, Fresh Chips
Caleb
Still think it’s a bomb name
Hayden
Are you guys rethinking the whole Battle of the Bands thing?
You literally just told me yesterday that you’re still done with Like Airplanes
Oliver
Caleb, Sienna, and I talked about it while bathing the dogs at the shelter
Caleb
Apparently getting drenched in doggy bath water makes you reflect on things
Sienna
If that’s the case, you need doggy bath water splashed on you more often
Caleb
Shut up
You only talk in this chat to insult me
Sienna
Well you aren’t wrong
Caleb
See, I didn’t need doggy bath water for that
Dallas
I can come
Raina and I finished a song last night
Shoot, maybe Raina didn’t want to join the band again or share our song. I was about to tell them to forget what I said when her text came through.
Raina
Yeah we’d love to perform it
If that’s okay with you, Dallas
A smile spread across my cheeks.
Dallas
I’d love that
Hayden
Are you guys sure about this?
I don’t want you all to change your minds last minute
Arielle, what about you?
Raina
She’s doing her makeup right now
I can talk to her on the drive to school
Hayden
Ok
Let me know if anyone changes their minds
Oliver
KK
See you later
Dallas
See you
Can’t wait for this afternoon
Caleb
Can’t wait for the snacks
Sienna
Is that all you think about?
Caleb
At least I don’t depend on coffee to function at a human level
I wouldn’t be surprised if your blood cells have coffee in them
Sienna
I have no shame in it
I laughed, the hope lifting in my chest. Maybe it wasn’t over for us. Maybe I hadn’t lost what I loved so much about this new place I called home.
When I arrived at the shelter after school, everyone but Hayden was in the break room. Oliver, Caleb, and Sienna were playing UNO while Raina and Arielle scrolled on their phones at another table. Of course, Caleb had a can of potato chips open while Sienna had her coffee.
I smiled. This was how things were supposed to be.
“There’s our other lead singer,” Oliver said with a grin as he placed a card down.
“Hey.” I kissed Raina on the cheek before sitting beside her. “Where’s our drummer? ”
“I don’t know,” Oliver said. “He hasn’t answered any of my texts.”
“I think he’s just nervous,” Arielle said, twirling a lock of hair around her finger. She’d said earlier in Chemistry that she wanted to join the band again. Apparently, she and Hayden had worked through the fight they had.
“We’ll give him a few minutes,” Caleb said with a mouth full of chips. “He’ll be here.”
After Sienna won two UNO rounds, Hayden still hadn’t arrived. I was about to search for him when he finally walked in the door, his head of braids held high.
“Hey, guys,” he said with a smile. “Sorry I’m late.” He hung his backpack on the chair next to mine. “I left my notebook at my house and had to get it.”
“We were getting worried,” Oliver said, relaxing his muscles. “And Caleb was working his way through all the chips.”
Caleb tossed chips into his mouth. “Nothing like salty Pringles.”
Hayden laughed as he sat down. “I wouldn’t stand you guys up like that.” He gestured to Oliver. “Take the floor, Oliver.”
Oliver stood up from his chair. “So Caleb, Sienna, and I talked about our band yesterday, as you know. We decided it wouldn’t be fair of us to ditch Battle of the Bands when another band could’ve gotten the spot instead.
And we also didn’t want to let Hayden down, even though he can be a bit, um . . .”
“Haywire,” I said.
“ Haywire .” Oliver laughed. “We shouldn’t give up on our band. On Battle of the Bands, at least. We can focus on the future later, whether we win or not.” His golden-brown gaze went to Hayden. “What do you think?”
“I don’t want to be the one to call the shots this time,” Hayden said, looking around the room. “What do you guys think?”
“We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t down for it,” Raina said, and Arielle nodded.
“I really want to do it,” I said, excitement coursing through my veins. It was wild that months ago, the thought of performing in front of everyone would’ve made me hurl. Now, it would be a dream come true to perform what I’d written with Raina.
Agreements filled the room, and Hayden smiled. “Okay, I believe you now.”
“You came all the way to get your notebook when you didn’t believe us?” Sienna asked, raising an eyebrow.
Hayden bit his lip.
Oliver groaned. “Oh, gosh, don’t tell me you were lying.”
“Fine, I was going to back out,” Hayden confessed. “But I’m glad I motivated myself to come.”
Raina shook her head. “You have so much faith in us.”