Page 46 of Next to Everything We Wanted

Dad beamed. “Aw, my Siennadoeshave a little crush.”

I waved a hand. “We’ve had a few personal conversations, but we’re not close yet. The bassist is his girlfriend, and I’m scared she’s going to be upset if we start talking.”

“Oh, man.” Dad frowned. “That can get really messy.”

“I know. I even chickened out when I tried to ask for her permission last night.” I grimaced at my phone. “I don’t think the other guitarist likes me, either. He’s kind of rude.”

“That doesn’t sound good.” Dad’s frown deepened, his face crinkling. “Be careful, Sienna. I don’t want you to get into trouble.”

“I know, Dad.” I let out a heavy sigh, worried I was falling down a slippery slope. “I’ll be careful.”

“We shouldn’t have accepted this as our first real gig.” Hayden adjusted the gray bunny ears on his head. “If anyone from school sees us, we’re never going to live this down.”

“Rest in peace to your street cred,” I said, smoothing down my Golden Retriever suit. “And rest in peace to my sense of fashion.”

We’d really tried our best with our costumes, but while we were adorable, it wasn’t the image we wanted to be remembered by. It reminded me of an episode fromVictoriouswhen they had to dress up as foods.

Hayden was right—we’d never live this down if someone recognized us. Game over for Like Airplanes.

“It’s not that bad,” Dallas said, shaking his head so the ears on his black Lab Retriever costume flopped. “I always wondered what it’d be like to have floppy ears like Houston.”

Hayden snorted. “Yeah, because you’re weird.”

Dallas put a hand to his chest. “And you’re hurtful.”

Hayden rolled his eyes, leaning against the lobby’s wall. “Why do the twins always show up last?”

“Yeah, I’m dying to see how Raina looks in her black cat costume,” Dallas said. “Maybe I should’ve dressed up as my cat to match her.”

“Please, you weredyingto try those floppy ears instead,” Hayden teased.

“Hey!”

I giggled, leaning against the wall. Oliver and Caleb sat not too far from us. Caleb, dressed up as his orange cat, was telling two kids interesting facts about cats while Oliver hid his face with his phone, clearly humiliated to be dressed up as his Saint Bernard.

My phone buzzed in my purse, causing my pulse to skip. It was only a spam text. Of course. Gavin didn’t havemynumber. I had his. It sat in my phone, waiting to be used. For the entire car ride, I’d daydreamed about it, but as soon as I’d walked into the building and received strange looks, my confidence shriveled.

Now, if he saw me dressed up as Bailey, I’d die.

Out of habit, I opened my contact for Gavin. I’d saved his name as Ivan, to keep his identity safe, and put a blue heart emoji next to it. I’d read somewhere that a blue heart represented admiration, happiness, and excitement, so I thought it’d be perfect. People put heart emojis in their friends’ contact names, right? I even had a picture I’d taken of him performing “Sky Opens Up” as his contact photo. His bright eyes looked into my camera lenses, that show-stopping smile on his face.

Gosh, I could look at that picture all day.

And I still wouldn’t send a single text.

What could I say other than “Hey” or “Happy Saturday”? Was he busy right now? Was he spending the day with Celia? What if she saw me message him and demand answers?

That thought was enough to make me put my phone back in my purse. My overthinking, starstruck mind was never going tolet me win this battle. “Where the heck are Raina and Arielle?” I asked the boys.

As if my words had summoned her, Arielle burst through the front door, nearly tripping over the tail of her German Shepard costume. “We’re here!”

Raina trailed after her sister, looking like she had better things to do. “Sorry we took so long. Arielle had a bigemergency.”

“Gross, don’t tell them!” Arielle’s cheeks flushed as she crossed her arms.

Caleb chuckled. “Congrats on not being pregnant.”

“Thank you.” Arielle smiled. “Are you guys ready for the party?”