Page 65 of Before We’re More Than Friends (When We Faced the Music #1)
Raina
S aturday marked exactly a week until Battle of the Bands. We had so much to catch up on, but if we spent the next week composing and rehearsing every free moment we had, we’d be ready. Hopefully.
I couldn’t contain my excitement as Arielle and I skipped our way into Oliver’s garage. We were practicing from one to six today, which meant we had so much time to go over “Disaster.”
Gosh, I still couldn’t wrap my head around the fact Dallas and I had written a song. A full song, one that over a hundred people would hear in just a week’s time.
We spent the entire practice playing around with melodies before settling on something we liked.
Caleb wrote the music down, and we recorded ourselves playing several times until we felt comfortable with the song.
Nerves fluttered inside me when I thought about how late we’d waited to stick to a song.
We had to make it work.
At the end of this practice, we ran through the final version of the song, happy with it.
I said goodbye to everyone and kissed Dallas before leaving the practice, but I needed to talk to Sienna.
I used lunch period yesterday to catch up on homework in the library, so I hadn’t gotten the chance to talk to her and Gracelynn alone.
When Sienna left the garage, I pulled her aside. “Hey, is Gracelynn still mad at me?” I asked. Gosh, this reminded me of how our moms would ask about each other instead of speaking directly. But Gracelynn hadn’t answered any of my texts or calls, other than hoping my mom would recover well.
“I don’t think she’s too mad at you,” Sienna said as she strapped her purse over her shoulder. “She’s been in a bad mood because her mom doesn’t want her to go to New York. Her dad thinks it’s a good idea, but her mom wants her to stay in April Springs until college.”
Guilt weighed in my chest. Despite being friends since sixth grade and knowing her my entire life, I’d barely been to Gracelynn’s house. Had her desire to go to New York increased the tension? Were her parents fighting about their different stances?
“You need to talk to each other,” Sienna said. “In person.”
I bit my lip. “Do you think she could come over tomorrow evening? I can text her, but I don’t know if she’ll answer.”
“I’ll talk to her about it,” Sienna said with a small smile. “Also, are the two of us good? I know you were upset I didn’t tell you what was going on with the band. I wanted to tell you, but the boys begged me not to. I shouldn’t have listened to them.”
“Of course they’d do that.” I traced my finger along the bracelets I’d made for her on her wrist. “But don’t worry. We’re good.”
“Thank you.” She pulled me into a hug. “Good luck with Gracelynn.”
“Thanks,” I said, hopeful that I could fix things. As happy as I was with my boyfriend—gosh, that was still so freaking wild—and the rest of my friends, it wouldn’t be complete without Gracelynn .
Every person I loved was just as important.
On Sunday, I was still worn out from yesterday’s band practice.
The soup Mom and Nonno had made for dinner didn’t help with my sleepiness either.
Still, I had business to do. Gracelynn had agreed to come over after dinner, but I needed to get through our morning band practice and volunteering at the shelter first.
Our band practice consisted of rehearsing the song and making tweaks to some of the melodies. It seemed like I wasn’t the only one tired from yesterday, but we gave it our all. I couldn’t help but give Dallas flirty looks as we sang, emotion bursting in my chest.
When I arrived at the animal shelter after lunch, I stopped by Leanne’s office. I opened the door to see her grinning while doing computer work, her nails making a nice symphony on the keyboard.
“Good afternoon,” I said, realizing she hadn’t noticed I was in here.
“Oh, sorry.” Leanne looked up at me with sparkling eyes. “Good afternoon, Raina. I haven’t seen you since Monday. I’m sorry about what happened with your mom.”
“Thank you. It was horrible.” I sat in front of her desk, noticing a lot of her pictures were back up on the walls. “But things have been getting better. And Dallas told me that things also are getting better with you.”
“Slowly but surely.” Her gaze went back to her computer. “I’m just filling in some information for Moonlight and Sunshine after giving them check-ups today.” Her smile turned into a cheeky grin. “Moonlight has some stuff coming up.”
My heart jolted. “Oh my gosh, is she getting adopted? ”
“Yes!” Her smile widened. “A family of four is adopting her. They’re going to pick her up on Saturday.”
“That’s great!” I fought the urge to jump around the office and squeal. “Is Sunshine getting adopted, too?”
Leanne’s smile fell. “Still nothing for her.”
My heart sank. “She’s getting separated from her sister?”
“I guess the new owners didn’t think about that.” Leanne let out a dramatic sigh. “But I’m still hopeful that Sunshine will find her new home. There’s someone out there for her.”
“Me too.” Dallas and Sunshine had been so happy to see each other yesterday. We’d played with so many cats, and I’d never seen him connect to one like he connected with her.
And that was when the idea hit me like a truck.
“Oh my gosh,” I said out loud, resisting the urge to jump out of my seat again.
“What?” Leanne asked, her eyes widening. “What’s wrong?”
“D-Does your husband still not want any more pets?” I asked her.
“Why?” She blinked. “You want us to adopt Sunshine?”
I grinned, my blood humming. “Maybe something like that.”
Leanne bit her lip, lost in thought for a few pulse-pounding moments. Finally, she grinned back and said, “That’s not a bad idea.” She picked up her phone and started typing. “Let me see what I can do.”
This time, I did squeal. “Thank you so much. I really hope this goes well.”
“Me too.” She put her phone down. “I have a feeling it’s going to be a great weekend.”
“It will,” I agreed, though I couldn’t help but notice the cheeky glint in her eyes that made me think I was missing something. I pushed the thought away and said, “It really will be.”
For tonight’s dinner, Mom and Nonno made homemade pizza.
From the way they kept exchanging looks as they prepared the table, I knew that another big was on the horizon.
It was crazy to think that weeks ago, making dinner and having it together would be an occasion. Now it was part of our daily routine.
As soon as Mom finished praying for our food in Italian, I couldn’t keep my thoughts to myself any longer. “Just tell us what you’re thinking,” I said before blowing the steam off my pizza.
“You know us so well,” Nonno said with a smile. It nearly rocked me how much he and Mom looked alike, especially sitting next to each other. The same chocolate brown eyes, the same high cheekbones, the same grin. I was convinced she had none of Nonna’s genes.
“Your nonno and I have been discussing what we can do to help me with my problem,” Mom said, holding Nonno’s hand underneath the table.
Arielle and I exchanged a concerned look.
“And I decided that . . .” Mom swallowed, her gaze returning to Nonno, who nodded at her. “I think I need to go to a rehab center. And stay there.”
Arielle dropped her pizza like it had burned her hand. “What?”
I wanted to say the same thing, but the words were stuck in my throat.
I knew it would come to this point again—Dad had tried to send Mom to a rehab facility before, but she only went there for therapy instead, which she soon dropped.
Would she try to follow through this time?
Or would this turn into the thing at the day group?
Would I be able to trust her again ?
“I know we didn’t want it to come to this point,” Mom said, the heaviness growing in her eyes. “And I hope I don’t sound like your dad, but I think it’s the step we need to take. I’ll stay for two weeks to see if I like it, and we’ll go from there.”
“Mom,” Arielle said, her voice wobbling.
“I know.” Mom reached across the table for her hand.
“I don’t want to leave you guys. And I know money is important right now because your dad has lost a lot.
But I talked about it with my bosses, and I can work on my devices at the center.
The details aren’t all final, but we’re trying to figure them out.
I’m going to start attending April fifth, right after Easter. ”
“But who’s taking care of us?” I asked, though I already had a feeling what the answer would be.
“I’ll be moving in to take care of you guys,” Nonno said. “I know you could hire a nanny, but let’s be honest—no almost seventeen-year-old wants a nanny. That would be embarrassing if word got out at school.”
Arielle and I laughed.
“On the other hand, it’s not embarrassing to live with your grandpa. And I know I make better meals than Francesca ever could.” Nonno winked at us. “I’ll stay as long as I need to.”
“I’m happy you’re taking extra steps to get help,” Arielle said to Mom, looking her in the eye. “But I’m going to miss you. It’s not . . .” She sniffled. “It won’t be the same.”
“Aw, sweetie, I’m going to miss you, too,” Mom said. “I hope you’ll be able to visit me.” She swallowed. “That reminds me, we’re going to visit your dad the Saturday before Easter. I’m scared I might fall apart like last time.”
“You can do this,” I said, tears burning in my eyes. I took a bite of my pizza since it was getting cold.
Arielle nodded, hope shining in her gaze. “I believe in you.”
“Thank you, girls.” Mom smiled. “I’m so blessed to have two loving daughters who constantly fight for me when I’m weak. ”
“I’m sorry I haven’t been the nicest to you about it,” Arielle said. “I shouldn’t have acted the way I did in some situations.”
“No, sweetie, I understand.” Mom sighed. “You’re supposed to have a mom, not be my mom. It’s already bad enough that you lost your dad.” She sniffled, looking away from us. “I’m sorry for the hell I’ve put this family through.”