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Julie hurried back to the music room for her sheet music. She couldn't believe she'd left it behind, but she'd been in such a rush that she'd barely remembered to grab her backpack when she left. Being able to walk home was saving her now, because otherwise, she'd have to hope that no one threw it out in the course of the day tomorrow. The janitors probably hadn't made it to the music room yet, so even if someone had thrown it away today, she'd have time to save it.
Her steps sounded twice as loud echoing against the empty hallways and rows of lockers. She wondered if anyone would notice if she started running. Getting there twenty seconds earlier wouldn't save her sheet music, but she felt anxious enough that it seemed like a reasonable risk to take.
She ended up not doing it, but that's because she was still thinking it over when she turned into the hallway that the music room was on. Her steps slowed when she heard something. Someone was talking? No, they were singing. They didn't have a musical accompaniment that she could hear. She walked closer, wondering who it was. She could make out the words now, but she didn't recognize his voice.
"Cause it's been years. Woah-oh-oh, this band is back," he sang.
She peeked around the doorway, not wanting to interrupt whoever it was if they were busy. It was a janitor, which made her worry that she was too late. He was wiping at the whiteboard while he sang, a paper towel in one hand, and a spray bottle in the other. She took a quick glance at the trashcan and saw that it hadn't been emptied yet.
She glanced at the janitor again. Her first thought was that he was kind of young. The other janitors at their school that she'd met were more middle aged. Granted, she'd only met two of them-- Miguel and Carlotta, they were both super nice to her-- but this guy was closer to her age than theirs. Her second thought was that he was cute, but that wasn't helpful at all.
She knocked on the door rather than going straight to the trashcan and rummaging through it like she was a raccoon.
He stopped singing and looked over with a smile. "Hi."
"Hi. Look, I'm sorry to bother you, but I left something here. Would I be in your way if I grabbed it?"
"Nah, you're fine."
"Great," Julie said, grinning in relief. She stepped into the room, wondering where she could start. It wouldn't be on the piano still, but there was no harm in checking there first.
"Can I ask you something real quick?" he asked.
"Sure." Nope, not on the piano. She could see it from here, but she continued to walk to it anyways, on the off chance that it was sitting on top.
"I found someone's sheet music earlier, but I'm not supposed to leave anything on the teacher's desk. Would you be willing to take a look and see if you know whose it is? Or maybe you can give it to your teacher tomorrow or something."
Julie straightened from where she was hunched over at the piano and saw him holding some very familiar papers. "Oh thank god, that's mine. It's what I came back for," she explained.
"Awesome," he said, holding it out to her as she rounded the piano.
"Thank you so much," she said.
"It's a good piece. Did you write it yourself?"
"Not this one, no. My mom wrote it for me."
"She's very talented."
"She is," Julie agreed. She stuck her free hand out to him. "I'm Julie."
He hesitated for a split second, then shook her hand. "Reggie."
"I heard you singing before. You've got a nice voice."
"Thanks," he said, getting a little pink in the cheeks.
"Do you play? Like, on your own or anything?" she elaborated, then felt like a dork. She could've just left it at 'do you play' and been cool. Super cool, like ice.
"Bass guitar with some friends. You?"
"On my own, mostly. Do you guys perform anywhere?" she asked, before she could stop herself. He was trying to work, and she was distracting him. And after he'd been so nice to her by saving her music! This was no way to thank him for that.
"Yeah, we've actually got a gig for this Saturday. You know the bar on the south side of town, Twenty-first Amendment?"
She'd seen it in passing a couple times, but she'd never been inside, for obvious reasons. It wasn't a club, so they wouldn't card her when she walked in, only if she tried to buy a drink. Still, she hadn't seen the point in it. "Yeah."
"They let local bands perform every once in a while, so we signed up," he said with a shrug.
"Cool, maybe I'll swing by." Twenty-first Amendment, she repeated to herself so she wouldn't forget it. "Well, I'll stop bothering you now. Thanks again for saving my sheet music," she said.
"You're very welcome," he said, and his smile made her feel a little warm.
She smiled back and gave a small nod, then left. Well. She could've made a bigger fool of herself, but it wouldn't have happened by accident the way this had. She tucked her music under her arm and fished her phone out of her pocket to text Flynn.
From Julie: Hey, do you want to go see a local band perform this Saturday?
From Flynn: ALWAYS.
From Flynn: What do they play?
From Julie: ...
From Flynn: You don't know?
From Flynn: How do you not know?
From Flynn: I'm coming by. You're being weird, and that requires face to face conversation.
From Julie: I'm not home yet, I had to run back to school to grab my music, remember?
From Flynn: Oh crap, I'd forgotten about that. Text me when you're back, and THEN we'll have our face to face talk.
From Julie: I know one of them plays bass? I assume it's rock of some sort.
It hadn't occurred to her to ask! And if it had, she would be kicking herself now for bothering Reggie so much. Besides, playing bass? That was a traditional rock band set up, wasn't it? The only other option was like, metal, but he didn't have that kind of look.
It's possible that she'd been so distracted by his smile that she hadn't been thinking clearly, but uh, she already knew that about herself.
Flynn had called her crazy no less than three times, and they went to the gig. They'd had to get permission to stay out late, but they were seniors now, so their parents had agreed without too much fuss. They might not have mentioned that it was happening at a bar, but it's not like they had fake ID's or anything. They were going for the music, and that was the complete and total truth. Julie had told her parents that it was on the south side of town, and they'd nodded and said that as long as she kept her phone on her and stayed with Flynn, it was fine. She hadn't even had a chance to tell them that it was at a bar, but she didn't know if it had been the same for Flynn.
"So, how cute is he?" Flynn asked as they walked from the bus stop to to the bar.
"Flynn," Julie groaned.
"It's a valid question! The last guy you crushed on was Nick, and he's adorable like a puppy. Is this the same?"
She thought of Reggie's smile and the way he'd slicked back his hair. It reminded her of the hairstyles from the fifties. She'd always thought that it was a horrible look for pretty much everyone, but on him, it had fit.
"Or is he more handsome than cute? You did say that he was older."
"No, he's um, definitely in the cute category."
"I'm very happy for you."
"Don't be," Julie said.
"I'm... sad for you?" Flynn tried, and Julie laughed.
"I meant, we're not dating. We're not anywhere close to dating. We didn't even flirt. Me blushing when I tried to talk to him doesn't count as anything romantic."
"As your best friend, I am going to count it as a something romantic. Especially since you never talked to Nick. Like ever. You talked more to this Reggie guy in one afternoon than you've talked to Nick in four years."
"Stop that, you're making me nervous," Julie whined. "We're going to watch their band because he saved my music. That's all."
"Mhm," Flynn said, unconvinced.
"Can't you let this go?"
"I will let it go if one of his bandmates is cute for me to crush on," Flynn said.
"Then we'll both be satisfied."
"You're that sure that his friends are cute?"
"Cute people have cute friends. It's a fact. Example: you and me."
"Mm, can't fight that logic," Flynn said with a grin.
They made it to the bar, and there was a large sign on the door promoting their performance. Julie figured that was a nice thought until she opened the door and saw how crowded it was.
"Wow, they must be pretty popular," Flynn said, voicing what Julie had been thinking.
"You want to get something to drink?"
Flynn nodded, and they weaved through the crowd to get to the bar.
They didn't talk as they waited, instead choosing to eavesdrop on the girls-- well, women, they looked like they'd outgrown being girls several years ago-- waiting at the bar next to them.
"I'm just saying," the one with curly hair said, "that Luke is, like, totally gorgeous, and there's no harm in putting out a feeler! Girl, you don't even know that he's dating someone, but if you wait too long, he will be."
"She's right," the one with electric blue highlights said, nodding. "Of all the girls here, someone's going to get the cojones to ask him out before you if you keep waiting. They always stick around afterwards, so it's not like you'd be stalking him or something."
Curly hair nodded. "Totally cazh."
"You go up, compliment them on their set 'cause it's totally gonna rock, and then you ask him out for a drink next week! Totally cazh," blue highlights said.
Flynn leaned into Julie and said, very quietly, "Totally cazh."
Julie snickered, then looked at the menu. "Do you know what you're getting?"
"Do I know what any of these are?" Flynn asked, waving a hand vaguely. "Like, a cosmopolitan. What's in that? I thought it was just that magazine house wives read that was about sex. I had no idea it was a drink."
"Yeah," Julie agreed, because she was looking at the lists, and most of them didn't have a description. A few had local names, so she assumed this bar had designed them, but everything else was a question mark. "Maybe we should just ask for something fruity."
"Sounds good to me," Flynn said.
She glanced back towards the small stage. She saw a blonde guy working on the drums, and someone with brown hair checking their speakers. When she didn't see Reggie, she turned back towards the menu. "I wonder how long their set is," she said.
A man on their other side answered, and Julie looked over at him. "They usually do about an hour here."
"Cool, thanks," she said, and he gave her a nod before grabbing a bunch of beer bottles by their necks and walking away. An hour. That wasn't so long that she’d get tired.
They spent a little while longer listening to the women next to them; they were still trying to convince their one friend to ask out Luke, whoever that might be in the band.
By the time Julie and Flynn ordered their drinks-- after assuring the bartender that no, they didn't need to show him ID because they weren't going to order anything with alcohol-- the woman had decided to try her luck with Luke at the end of tonight's show. Julie almost wanted to congratulate her on taking the risk and putting herself out there, but she'd definitely get shit for eavesdropping, so she kept it to herself.
It wasn't until they had their own drinks in hand-- pink, and there was pineapple on a stick in her drink, she was dubious about trying it-- that Julie caught sight of Reggie. She'd kind of assumed that he always slicked back his hair, but it was hanging loose over his forehead now. He had on a leather jacket, which was a far cry from the coveralls that she'd seen him in last-- not that he'd looked bad in them, she should point out. The band didn't have a unified look, she noticed. Reggie was in a leather jacket and skinny jeans, another guy was in a shirt that he'd cut the sleeves off of and worn denim jeans, the drummer was wearing a bright pink shirt, and the last one was wearing a vest over a striped polo.
Julie knew that she shouldn't judge because she'd want to dress completely in her own style if she was performing, but it did feel a little disjointed. She had to remind herself that this wasn't a professional show. They were all here to have a good time, and if you're just jamming with your friends, then why not wear whatever you want? She'd gotten too used to Carrie's performances at the school, where all of them were wearing outfits in one color with the same silhouette and the group's name on the back. It was very... YouTube famous of them, now that she thought about it. This felt more genuine.
"Which one's Reggie?" Flynn asked, having to put her mouth near Julie's ear so she could hear her.
"Leather jacket."
Flynn leaned back into her own space, looking him over. She gave Julie an enthusiastic thumbs up, and Julie tried not to blush. They weren't dating! They hadn't even flirted. Reggie had made polite conversation, answering her questions when she asked. That's it. It would be a lot easier to convince herself that that's all it was if her heart wasn't a traitor-- all it had to do was sit there doing its job, and not speed up.
Julie brought the straw to her lips and took a sip, feeling her cheeks warm. In her defense, it was a little hot in here. With how many people were packed in, she figured it would only get worse as the night went on.
The band finished getting set up, and the audience quieted for a moment. The lead singer-- so labeled because there were three mics and he was standing at the middle one-- said, "We're Sunset Curve," and everyone cheered. The happiness on his face was a tangible thing, and the drummer snapped his sticks together and they were off with their first song of the night.
They were good. Surprisingly good, actually. Not to sound like a snob, but a lot of people that made bands with their friends weren’t exactly talented-- if they had fun, then all the more power to them! She hadn't been expecting very much from this, but Sunset Curve was awesome.
It was after they finished their set that she put this together in her head, swiftly followed by the realization that however small her chances had been with Reggie before, they'd just plummeted. He was at least of legal drinking age, and she was still in high school. Even if she wasn't, Sunset Curve was popular enough that he had good chances with any of his fans.
She wasn't going to focus on that though, because it had been a good show and she'd had a good time. She'd heard Flynn cheering next to her and knew that she didn't regret coming either. She tugged on Flynn's arm so she turned to face her. "Do you think they sell CD's?"
"I'm sure they do," Flynn said. She glanced around. "I don't know where, though. Let's go look." She looped her arm through Julie's, and they started wading through the different groups of people around them.
Before they could find out if they were right or not, they ran into Reggie. He grinned when he saw Julie, snapped the fingers on one hand and made a finger gun at her. "Julie!"
She made a finger gun back. "Reggie." Then she felt like an idiot, not that Reggie seemed to agree if the way his smile widened was any indication.
"You came."
"I said I would," she said, blush returning like it was going out of style. "You guys are really good."
"Thanks."
"We were- oh," Julie said with a start. She'd forgotten that Flynn was standing next to her until now, which was so not like her-- they were best friends! "This is my friend, Flynn. Flynn, this is Reggie."
"Nice to meet you," she said, smiling. It was the sort of smile that meant she found something funny, but Julie was going to be thankful that she didn't say it in front of Reggie.
"Likewise," Reggie said. God, he sounded so genuine. Was he really this nice all the time?
"We were hoping you guys had a CD around here," Flynn said.
"Yeah, absolutely. Table should be to the left of the bar," he said, pointing in the appropriate direction.
"Great, thanks. I'll go get you one," Flynn said with a bright smile to Julie before ducking away.
Julie had to fight the urge to throw an arm around her and drag her back.
"So, you have a fake ID?" Reggie asked.
She looked at him in confusion. When he pointed down, she glanced and saw her drink, mostly empty, clasped in one hand. "Oh, um, no. Virgin. I mean- uh, the drink. There's- there's no alcohol in it."
"Yeah, I got it," Reggie said, and Julie would've been more embarrassed by the situation if Reggie didn't also look a little flustered. "So you uh, enjoyed the show?"
"Yeah, you guys rock. How long have you been playing together?"
"Must be... seven years? Got together when we all met in high school and been together ever since."
"That's so cool," Julie said, and she was aware that it sounded fake, but she genuinely meant it. She'd love to have that kind of history-- instead of what she did have, which was a minor tragedy in the form of her and Carrie's deteriorated friendship. "Do you guys write the songs together?"
"Eh, mostly it's Luke," Reggie said, swiping a hand through his hair to push it back. It fell back over his forehead a second later. "Oh, Luke, he's our lead singer. We all help out of course, but the lyrics are usually him."
"Well, he's got talent. And I liked your voice, what little of it I got to hear."
Reggie laughed. "Believe me, I'm better off in backup. Besides, have you ever seen someone sing lead that was playing bass?"
"Can't say I have."
"There you go," Reggie said, gesturing towards her like that was all the proof he needed that his voice wasn't as good as she thought.
"Hey, Reggie!" someone called, coming up to them. Julie recognized him as the other guitarist. "Luke's looking for you."
"What for?"
"To be honest, man, I didn't ask."
"Alright," Reggie said, shaking his head with a fond smile. He turned back to Julie. "Sorry, that's my cue. I'm glad you enjoyed the show. It was great to see you, Julie."
"Yeah, you too," Julie said, raising her hand in an awkward half wave, and then he was leaving.
Flynn came back a minute later, with a CD and one of the band's t-shirts. "-because I know we're going to keep coming to their shows, so I figured why not. Oh, and they have a twitter, so we'll know when their next show is."
"Awesome," Julie said, because that was good news.
"How was your boy?"
"He's not my boy," Julie said, rolling her eyes, "but we… made small talk."
"Just small talk? Jules, you got to turn on the charm! This is music, you can talk all day about this and win him over."
"I was getting there," she said, shifting her weight. "He got called away by someone else in the band. Besides, he probably thinks I'm too young. It's no big deal! We'll keep coming to shows and have fun."
When all Flynn did was continue to look at her, Julie sighed.
"Thanks for the shirt. You're right, I would've bought one if I'd gone with you."
"You're welcome," Flynn said, and it was obvious that she had to make the conscious decision to let it go.
"Ready to go home?"
She nodded, and Julie put an arm around her shoulders for a second in gratitude.
Sunset Curve had another show a month later at the same bar, and Julie and Flynn went.
She talked to Reggie some more, but-- much to Flynn's disappointment-- it didn't go anywhere. She complimented him, he seemed excited that she was there, and then they made conversation about something that Julie enjoyed but Flynn described as 'a barrier to flirting'. Flynn had helpfully come along to all the shows with Julie-- "Not just because of you; I like their music too"-- and while she tried to make herself scarce so Julie and Reggie could talk in private, there were only so many good excuses she could come up with that would keep her gone the entire time. Julie hardly wanted to run her best friend off, and Reggie seemed plenty happy to talk to Flynn too.
Rinse repeat. Rinse repeat.
The next time that she saw Reggie when it wasn't at a gig of his, was when she was walking around the school after classes were done for the day. Mrs. Harrison had made extra copies of a flyer for Julie-- there were perks to being a teacher's favorite student-- and she said that she could swing by her classroom at the end of the day to grab them.
Julie did, thanked Mrs. Harrison profusely, then headed for the exit. It was in a hallway that she saw him, mopping the floor and humming to himself. "Let me guess, you've got the music in you?" she asked.
Reggie looked back at her with a smile. "I think so." He glanced down a little, smile widening. "Nice shirt."
She glanced down, not remembering what shirt she was wearing, then pinked. It was her Sunset Curve shirt. "Well. You already knew I was a fan."
"True enough. What were you doing here so late?"
"My music teacher agreed to make some copies for me," she said, lifting the stack of purple papers slightly.
"Awfully nice of them."
"I thought so." Then, in a burst of confidence that would make Flynn proud, she grabbed one and held it out to him. "I'm performing a couple songs at this show. It's nothing like what you guys do, but, y'know, a piano's a lot more mellow."
He shifted where the handle of the mop was so that he could take it. His eyes flitted over the words quickly, and he looked up at her with another smile. "You're playing, that's awesome."
"Thanks," she said, her blush deepening. Her hair was down today, and she nervously tucked an errant strand behind her ear. "I'd really like it if you could come."
"Yeah, definitely. I don't think I have plans, but I'll double check."
"Well, if you can make it, say hi or something. Um, I'm going to get going. Got to pass these out," she said for an explanation, giving another gesture of the flyers.
"Yeah, I'll see you soon. And good luck," he said, looking at the flyers.
"Thanks."
Julie was nervous. She'd performed before, but she'd been younger then. Not to mention, the last time she got in front of a crowd, she'd totally panicked and run off when the music started playing. This was going to be different though. It wasn't a recorded piece, it was something she was going to be playing. The crowd here would be considerably smaller. Her mom would be here, and Flynn would be here. Last time, her mom hadn't been able to make it, and she'd been completely off all night. She didn't think it was because her mom wasn't there that she'd gotten stage fright, but it had definitely hurt that she hadn't been able to look out in the audience and know she was there.
She played three songs, starting with Flying Solo since Flynn said it was sure to make the audience warm up to her, and ending with Wake Up since it took the most out of her vocally.
After she finished, she sat down next to her mom, who put an arm around her shoulder in a hug and told her how proud she was of her. She would've said that even if Julie had run off stage again, but it made her feel better all the same, almost like she was floating she was so happy.
"Seriously, Jules," Flynn said, sliding a cup over to her from across the table, "that was amazing."
"You have to say that, you're my best friend," Julie said, but she was pleased by the praise and all three of them knew it.
Later, when the rest of the performances were finished, Reggie and one of the guys from Sunset Curve came up to their table. Julie knew he was the lead singer, and she knew that his name was Luke, but it felt weird to think of him as Luke when she'd never really met him, just seen him on stage and heard Reggie mention him a few times.
"Hey," Reggie said with his usual smile. "You were amazing up there."
"Thanks," Julie said. She'd finally built up a resistance and no longer blushed at every little thing Reggie said to her, which was coming in handy now.
"You have a voice like a wrecking ball," his friend said.
A pause, and then Reggie assured her, "He means that in a good way."
"Definitely a good way," his friend agreed. "I mean, that was one of the best voices I've ever heard, you're amazing."
"Do I get to be introduced?" Mom asked.
"Oh, sorry. Mom, this is Reggie and his friend Luke. They're in that band that me and Flynn have been going to see."
"Right," Reggie said, like he was remembering that he, too, should be making introductions, "Luke, this is Julie, her friend Flynn, and I've never met her before, but this must be Mrs. Molina. Nice to meet you, ma'am," he said, holding out his hand to her.
"Oh, that's Julie," Luke said, not loudly and probably not meant to be heard, but Julie caught it all the same as her mom and Reggie shook hands and exchanged pleasantries.
Julie thought about the "Oh, that's Julie," more than she should have. What had Reggie said about her? How had Reggie convinced him to come along to watch her sing without mentioning her by name beforehand? Had it been intentional on Reggie's part, to not let Luke know in advance that who they were there to see wasn't the same Julie he'd talked about?
She'd never felt so much like a typical teenage girl until now, thinking about her crush to the point of distraction. She was overanalyzing everything about the guy she liked and what he'd said about her. Obviously, whatever he'd said had been good, because Luke had had a strange smirk on his face for the rest of the time they talked. Not that Reggie seemed like the type of person to talk bad about someone, but still. It was a good sign. It kept her from worrying, even if it didn't stop her from thinking about it.
"Would you like to go on a date with me?" Reggie asked, twisting his hands together nervously.
Nervously. Like he actually thought that she would say no, or hadn't been two seconds away from asking him the same question. To be fair, they'd been dancing around each other like this for over a year, now. Going to each other's shows, exchanging numbers so they could text for the times inbetween. Flynn had despaired of them ever getting together, but now she could stop worrying.
Julie smiled so wide she felt like her cheeks were going to crack. "I'd love to."