Fall From Grace(75)

Her mouth fell open, “He said he was really mean to you, and that he...”

“Stop, Lea.  It doesn’t matter.  He doesn’t matter,” I said getting up.  “Come on and make me look like a rock star.”

We did our makeup in silence.  I didn’t have anything more to say about Shane, the subject was closed.  I needed a way out of here. I needed a way to find what I was looking for without being in Grace’s life.  Grace was supposed to die in the car accident ten years ago, so she shouldn’t be here any longer.  And my soul should not be in a body that was consumed with a hunger for some idiot who could kiss me so passionately that I could forget who I really was.

It was snowing again when we walked to the bar; big giant chunks of feathery ice.  Conner looked up at the sky, “Looks like the angels are having another pillow fight.”  The old expression warmed my heart.

The bar was packed again; I’d say five times the amount of people than the night before.  For the first time that day, I felt a smile creep across my face.

Again, I waited for someone to mention finding a dead body in the bathroom the night before, but no one did.  Maybe he wasn’t truly dead yet.

Ethan waved us over to a table filled with everyone.  Ethan sat next to a beautiful red headed girl named Vicki.  Brayden had a shorthaired girl on his lap and Alex was with Cara.  Tucker was also there and smiled a curt hello to me. Shane was nowhere to be found. I figured he was in the back room catching up on his sexual escapades.  Jealously burned through my body.  No way is this good.

Tucker pulled over a chair for me.

I must have given him a curious look, because he felt like he had to explain himself.

“Yes, I’m an *.  I have so much to apologize for.”  He patted the seat of the chair and handed me a beer.

I sat down, placing my guitar between Tucker and me, just to make sure he wouldn’t be able to touch me.

Tucker offered small talk after his apology, but I didn’t respond too often.

Everyone else chatted, but I heard nothing.  I searched around the bar for Shane, and then wanted to hurl myself off a building for doing it.  The more I thought about him with someone else the antsier my body felt.  As the minutes passed, it got worse.  I jumped up and lugged my guitar and myself into the bathroom.  Lea was too busy in some sort of heated discussion with one of the other girls to notice.

I half expected to see Carl sitting on one of the toilets, but the room was empty.  “Azazel?” I whispered.  No one answered.  If he knew how to get me out of this hellish punishment, then maybe I needed another talk with him, just for informational purposes.

I washed my hands and put on some more lipstick, and then made my way back through the crowds.  I glanced over to the stage and saw Shane sitting by himself in the back, just out of view.  I didn’t know if he was alone, but I jumped onto the stage anyway.

He sat on a metal folding chair with his legs up on another chair, playing his guitar.  He lifted his head only slightly when he noticed me, but he didn’t stop playing.

“Hey,” I said.  “What’s doing?” I brazenly pushed his legs off the second chair and sat down.

His expression was guarded.  “Oh, are you talking to me?  I thought we hated each other.”  His lips curled down, his sadness peeking through.

I wanted to kiss those lips desperately.  Shit!  This is getting worse!  I smiled at him. I didn’t even mean to, it just burst from my lips.  My cheeks burned.