o 7ea25cca660315b4 by Unknown Read Free Book Online Page B

auditorium. That’s the good news.
    Things go downhill from there.
    035
    I’m ready to call it quits and head home.
    Meanwhile kids are starting to arrive. Are they supposed to arrive. Are they supposed to be here? No. are my door people telling them they should wait till 8:00? No.
    Christina is stepping in now. Both of us are running around, solving problems, signing papers, giving orders. Bossing kids around.
    “Out! Out!” I’m shouting, herding kids away like cattle.
    No one’s listening.
    My fuse is burning short. I’m about to say things I wouldn’t write on your clean pages, Nbook.
    And then the crowd opens up, and he’s standing there.
    Smiling.
    It’s a direct smile. Open. Not off to the side. Not shy.
    And it changes him.
    Then I notice the outfit. A gorgeous dark-patterned shirt and baggy black pants.
    Hardly any of the other guys have dressed up for this party.
    Brendan had. And he looks totally cool.
    But my eyes fix on a flower he’s
    holding. A long-stemmed rose.
    Now, roses are boring. But I’ve never seen a colour like this. A kind of peach, with hints of red and pink and amber.
    It’s stunning.
    I know I’m supposed to shoo him out. But I can’t.
    “Nice,” I say.
    Then I see the rose coming closer. And I realise he’s giving it to me.
    036
    He remembered what I said at lunch yesterday. About flowers.
    I’m speechless.
    People are not stamping into the gym. Christina’s running around doing all the work herself. Vanish is warming up fiercely. I know I have to be in a million other places.
    But all I see is the rose and the smile, and they’re both so beautiful, and I’m thinking, what does this mean? But I know what it means, it’s obvious, an I realise everyone else had known it all along and why haven’t I seen it in him before? And it’s all so strange ad confusing and exciting, I can’t think of a word to say. So I just look at him.
    Nbook, it’s like I’m seeing someone new, someone I’ve never met, and I’m
    thinking:
    Brendan?
    Brendan?
    What now? If I take the rose does that make me his date? I think, is this going to be like the ankle bracelet James gave me? Like, once I wear it, I become is property?
    No. Brendan is not James. Brendan is sweet.
    But James was sweet when I first met him too.
    “AMALIA!”
    Rico’s voice shocks me into reality. I have a concert to run.
    “I have to go,” I say.
    I turn and race toward the band. I feel the blood rushing to my face.
    “WHERE’S MAGGIE?” Bruce is shouting.
    Maggie.
    Maggie should be at the keyboard but her seat is empty.
    Patti is near the door, pointing into the hallway.
    I’m out there in a second. Room 134 is open. Our dressing room.
    Maggie’s inside. Staring into the mirror. She’s plastered her face with a pale shade of pancake.
    When I’m closer, I realise she doesn’t have any makeup on. That’s the colour of her skin.
    “What’s up?” I’m trying to sound loose and calm, but my voice is tight and edgy.
    037
    No.
    This is not happening.
    Maggie is a wreck.
    I try to give her a shoulder rub. I tell her she’s going to be great.
    But she’s stiff and silent. Which makes me panic.
    That’s all she needs. A frantic manager pummelling her shoulders.
    Easy, Vargas, I say to myself. You’re supposed to be the calm one.
    I let go of her poor back. I could to 10. And then I sit down next to her.
    She’s staring at me. She looks like she’s about to cry. “Amalia, I can’t do this.”
    I’m searching my brain for the right thing to say. Trying to remember pearls of wisdom from Dr. Fuentes. anything that might work.
    And then I remember one thing that did. Something that Justin had said.
    I tell her to let the music take control.
    She turns away. She’s in some other world. I don’t know if she’s even heard me.
    Outside, the band’s warm-up had stopped.
    We hear Christina’s voice over the gym loudspeaker. She’s quieting the crowd.
    Rico peeks into the room and asks if everything’s