Kissing Ted Callahan (and Other Guys)(59)

The club’s getting loud, and when we walk onstage, it’s like our dreams are coming true, but also we earned this. We’ve worked so hard and somehow didn’t kill each other, and standing here in a place I love makes a whole lot of sense.

We open with “Tease,” and even though I’m sure 90 percent of the crowd is here to see Murphy-Gomez, people are jumping around and dancing and acting exactly how people should act at a show. We roll right into “Longer Days,” and then Nathan introduces us and thanks the crowd for being there. But then he gives Lucy a chance to talk, too! Nathan is clearly becoming a better person, or at least pretending, which is good enough for me.

It’s a shorter set than we had at the dance, but we manage to get in a bunch of originals, plus our pretty fantastic (if I’m handing us compliments) cover of Andrew Mothereffing Jackson’s “Never Gonna (Love Me).” After that I don’t need to look at my set list to know what’s next, but I still quadruple check it to see it’s going to happen AND I DON’T EVEN KNOW IF TED’S HERE TO HEAR IT. But it’s okay because Lucy wrote an amazing song that sounds like it’s from me and not her, and I’m glad we’re playing it.


About that time I called you names

Or that other time when we were playing games

I know I’m young and kind of insecure

But that was dumb; I was in the wrong for sure




No, I don’t think that you should cut your hair

I like the way you always seem to care

About the world; oh hell, what do I know

I’m just a girl, a girl who wants to show you




Everything I could ever offer

Everything that you could ever want

Everything you could ever dream of

I want to show you everything




About that time I almost caused a scene

Or that other time you fed me jelly beans

I never thought that this would ever grow

I never believed that I would get to show you




Everything I could ever offer

Everything that you could ever want

Everything you could ever dream of

I want to show you everything




The reason that I couldn’t let you see

All the good and bad and ugly of me

The reason that I didn’t think this was real

Is you’re the only one who’s ever made me feel




About that time when we were in my car

Or that other time we kissed under the stars

Or that other time… we didn’t make a sound




I want to show you

Everything I could ever offer

Everything that you could ever want

Everything you could ever dream of

I want to show you

I want to know you

I want to be your

Everything



After our set, I focus on packing up my drums as quickly as I can while hanging on to how the crowd screamed for us. We are Rock Stars. We did something big and right. I just want to enjoy this.

A small man with Elvis Costello hair and glasses walks over to us as we leave our stuff backstage and emerge into the crowd. This must be Nathan’s dude because he’s, like, the only adult here besides the owner.

“Hey, guys,” he says. “Nice set. Very Best Coast, a little Smith Westerns. You’re not signed, yeah?”

I feel like he’s complimented us and pointed out our biggest failing all at once.

Nathan introduces us. “This is Melvin Bernstein.”

“How about we meet next week to talk?” he asks. “I have Nathan’s info. Maybe grab dinner at FOODLAB on Sunset?”

We’re down with that, so we each get his business card like professionals and manage to look chill and respectable until he heads off. That only lasts for a few moments because people we know start flying in at us. Both of my sort-of ex-boyfriends are there, but it’s fine. Milo is alone, and Garrick brought Sydney Jacobs. She is as adorable and blond as I imagined she’d be, and dressed better than me, but it makes me happy that she’s smiling and Garrick is smiling, and clearly they are the happiest ever. I hug them all, even Madison—who’s standing really close to Reid and shooting him looks like he’s the biggest rock star of us all—and Sydney, and bask in the warmth of a billion compliments.

“Hey, look who’s here.” Lucy walks over, her hand clutched around Ted’s sleeve. I’m not crazy about the fact that he had to be LITERALLY PHYSICALLY DRAGGED to me, but he’s here!

“Ted, you’re here!” Yikes. I accidentally say this part aloud.

Luckily, Ted laughs. Then he glances at Milo, and I make a face like, no, gross, which is not nice to Milo but very necessary in this all-important moment. I’m sure Milo will understand when I tell him later.

“Great show, Riley,” Ted says.

“I’m so glad you came.” I want to believe it means something big and romantic.

“I, uh, I wanted to say something to you.” He gestures a few feet away from everyone, so we separate from the pack.

“I wanted to ask you to be my girlfriend,” he says. “But I didn’t, I was nervous and… so, I’m not saying everything you did was cool, but we weren’t official.”