Kissing Ted Callahan (and Other Guys)(29)

There are actually six new emails in my inbox. One is from Nathan, three are just mailing lists from music venues (the Satellite, the Smell, and Bootleg), one is from MY DAD, who could just talk to me if he wanted, but the sixth is from exactly who I want it to be.


to: [email protected]

from: [email protected]

subject: Tonight

Hi Riley,

Your show was great tonight. Maybe we can hang out this week.

—Ted





I know it doesn’t sound romantic, and I know it’s just two sentences plus our names and a hi, but I can feel that this is happening. I turn on my best late-night playlist (lots of fuzzy lo-fi and dream pop) and curl up in my pajamas with nothing but thoughts of Ted as I drift off to sleep.

*

There’s a flurry of texts between the Gold Diggers the next morning, which results in the four of us meeting up at Modern Eats for breakfast. I picture us ten years in the future after some amazing gig at the Troubadour.

“Reid, stop it,” Lucy says. I’m not really paying attention to the conversation because my brain is full of Ted, but I’ve heard enough to know that Reid is talking about Jane. Again.

“I’m just saying, if I were her, why would I pick me either?”

“Lots of reasons,” Lucy says with hardly any impatience creeping into her tone.

“You could do better,” Nathan says, with lots more creeping into his.

“I obviously couldn’t!” Reid says.

I know that it’s my turn to say something at least vaguely supportive, but my phone beeps, and I grab for it because it could be Ted texting me.

But then I remember that Ted doesn’t have my number.

“Who is it?” Reid asks.

I check my phone’s screen.

“Milo.” I shrug, even though I’m not sure Reid’s totally over how I now have a fake ID and he doesn’t.

“Cool,” Reid says, and he sounds like he means it.

Lucy is looking at me and Reid like she wants to ask who Milo is, but she doesn’t.

“I’m working on lining up some more gigs,” Nathan says, changing the topic. “I think it’s time to make the band our priority, guys.”

“It’s been my priority,” I say, because who the heck says it hasn’t been? “It has been for all of us.”

“We should book more shows,” Nathan says, “and record more demo tracks. Something bigger.”

“Nathan’s right,” Lucy pipes up right away of course.

“We need money for more demo tracks,” I say. “It took a while to save up for the three we did record.”

“True,” Reid says. “But we can pool our money again.”

“I used my birthday money last time,” I say. “I can’t magically have another birthday until April.”

“I can cover it,” Nathan says, and we all stare at him because that’s weird. Even Lucy is giving him a WTF? look. Yes, we all know Nathan lives in a big house in Franklin Hills, but it’s truly never been some kind of dividing line before. “What? I can. It’s no big deal.”

“We know you can,” I say.

“I just save my money.” Nathan shrugs like he’s just better at allowance than we are and not that his parents don’t have their own TV production company. “It’s not a big deal. It’ll be good to cut more demo tracks, maybe find a way to do a whole EP.”

It’s not that anything Nathan’s doing is bad, but this has always been about the four of us, and I don’t like it that he seems to be taking control just because he has more money than we do.

“Let’s think about it,” Lucy says. “Focus on more shows for now, maybe?”

“Yeah,” Reid says, and I’m glad no one apparently wants to take Nathan’s money and run. “More gigs would be good.”

“Okay.” It’s clear from his deep sigh, Nathan knows he’s defeated. “We do need to think about recording more, though.”

“We know,” Lucy says in her sweet but teasing tone, and I can’t help but grin at her because, duh, Nathan, we get it.

Afterward I can tell Reid is hoping we’ll all hang out longer, dissecting all the ways the Jane situation sucks, but we all have or are pretending to have plans that don’t allow for more of that. My plans are literally going home to email Ted, but I still don’t quite know how to present this information to Reid without crushing him even more.

So I just say nothing. And at home I respond to Ted’s email from last night. I also finally respond to Milo, and we make plans to hang out on Sunday. Even after the dance, I’m not certain Ted’s a sure thing yet, and there’s no reason not to see Milo in the meantime.





CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN



Ways Milo Is Amazing, by Riley (OBVIOUSLY)


Has fake ID and the ability to get more fake IDs!

Has the confidence to pull off the tuba.

Apparently has some kind of magical ability to always know about upcoming shows, even ones that aren’t publicized.

Says his favorite shake at the Oinkster is the ube, so he has good taste and isn’t afraid of unique flavors/colors.

Acts really casual but never like he’s too good for stuff.