I almost tripped over my platform sandals, but Christos caught me in his arms and stood me up.

He hollered, “Me and Jake are going to get some drinks! Do you guys want anything?”

“We told those bouncers we wouldn’t drink!” I hollered uncertainly. I mean, I’d be happy to have a drink or two. I didn’t plan on getting drunk. But I didn’t want to get anyone in trouble.

“You’re such a good girl!” Christos quipped.

“I can be bad!” I grinned.

“Now?! Or do I have to wait until later?!”

“Uh…” I didn’t know how to respond to that. I hadn’t been thinking of getting down and dirty on the dance floor. “Maybe you can have Romeo twerk for you?!”

Christos took one look at Romeo, who was in a jerky twerking trance, and blurted laughter. “No!” Christos shouted. He kissed my cheek and said, “You can show me how bad you are later!” He squeezed my butt and I jumped. “Me and Jake will get you guys some waters! And you can share my drink, if you want!”

“Okay!” I smiled as the two of them squeezed through the crowd toward the bar.

The next song the band played was a slow, heart wrenching ballad. The lights on stage faded to a mellow blue to match the mood of the music. Lucas sang on the mic at the front of the stage while playing his bass guitar. He had a smooth, sexy voice. I’d already thought he was cute with his surfer good looks and blue eyes, but hearing him sing, I had no doubt drooling packs of women chased him everywhere he went.

Based on what I could make out of the lyrics, I think the song was about a guy whose girlfriend had died or had left him. I wasn’t sure which.

Lucas and Logan sang the heartfelt chorus together, in perfect harmony:

“When I awoke

You did fall asleep

Now your eyes are closed, and

I can only weep.”


“Why did you go, girl

I just found myself

Now I’m all alone, and

I really need your love.”


The brother’s voices blended fluidly, expressing a sorrowful sense of loss perfectly. They were both total heart throbs.

After Lucas and Logan sang the chorus a second time, the spotlight shifted away from them toward the other side of the stage. It stopped on the guitar player, who I finally noticed was a young woman with long flowing hair. If I had to guess, she was about my age, maybe a little older.

She had been hiding toward the side of the stage for most of the show, not really calling much attention to herself. She was acting so shy, she almost seemed fragile. But when it was time for her guitar solo, she stood at the front of the stage, inches from the crowd.

The spotlight glimmered blue diamonds off her guitar. I saw arms from the crowd reaching up to touch her like she was a pagan shaman performing a magical ritual. Maybe she was. I thought she might be distracted by the reaching hands, but she was in her own world, totally focused. She played her heart out.

The sound of her electric guitar poured out of the speakers like a human wail, the gut wrenching sound of tears and heartbreak and it swept me away. This mystery girl seemed like she was so full of sadness that she couldn’t contain it any longer, and the only way she could release it was through playing her guitar.

I was in total awe of her ability to grab my emotions and connect mine to hers with such immediacy.

As her guitar solo built to a crescendo, she threw her head back, her long hair dangling behind her, her eyes closed, her face overwhelmed with pure emotion. She wasn’t fragile at all. She had to be strong and courageous to channel all the emotion inside her and project it through her guitar with such honesty and vulnerability.

 I felt chills coursing through my body and my eyes were suddenly hot and brimming with tears.

This young woman was amazing.

After she finished her guitar solo, Lucas and Logan sang the chorus again, but with new words.

“Now it’s time to heal

Time for me to live,

But it’s hard for me to say…”

Then Lucas sang a line by himself,

“It’s time to let you go…”

followed by Logan singing,

“I’ll never let you go…”

Together, they sang,

“Again. No, not again.”

Based on the lyrics, I wondered if Lucas had lost a girlfriend and Logan was trying to hold onto the one he had? It was all so mysterious.

The only thing I knew for sure was that I was crying and laughing when the song ended. I couldn’t get over how much the band had moved me with their music.

Everyone in the bar cheered and clapped.

A second later, the band ripped into a new song, totally upbeat, and everyone was dancing to the steady, rocking groove. The girl on guitar did another guitar solo toward the end of the song, playing a million miles an hour. People cheered the whole time she played.

This time, instead of looking like she was going to explode with sadness, she had a look of primal rage on her face. At the end of her solo, she hit this one long note that sounded like a scream. She held her free hand up in the air while the note vibrated endlessly.

I couldn’t help myself. I cheered as loud as I could, “Yeah!!”

It was incredibly exciting.

When the song came to a close, the band made a ton of noise, strumming their guitars and hammering the drums at the same time. The stage lights flashed through every color of the rainbow. Then, on cue, the girl and Lucas both jumped in the air. They strummed their instruments a final time when they landed back on the stage. The drums stopped at the exact same moment, the band went silent, and the stage lights went dark.

Everyone in the bar roared their approval.

When white stage lights came back on, illuminating the band, Lucas Summer shouted over the mic and pointed at the guitar player, “Victory Payne on lead guitar, everybody!” He clapped his hands over his head, applauding her while his bass guitar dangled from his shoulder strap. People whistled and screamed. “We’re Lucas and Logan Summer! We’ll be back in a half hour for some more music! All right!!!”

The crowd cheered again as the band walked off the stage.

I turned to Madison and said, “That girl was incredible! I’ve never seen anyone play guitar like that before!”

“Me neither,” Madison said.

“And she’s a girl!” I cheered.

“I think I’ve got a girl crush,” Romeo said genuinely.

Kamiko said, “I thought I was your girl crush.”

“What did they say her name was again?” Romeo asked.

“Victory Payne,” Madison said.

“That’s her name?” I scoffed. “It sounds fake.”

“I think her real name is Victoria,” Madison said thoughtfully. “Victoria Payne.”

“Do you know her?”

“I’ve met her through Lucas and Logan once before. She’s really nice. You’d like her.”

* * *

CHRISTOS


The bar was so busy, I was still waiting for our drinks when the band took a break.

“I’ll be right back,” Jake said. “I’m gonna take a piss.”

I nodded.

A minute later, someone tapped me on the back. I turned around and Tiffany Kingston-Whitehouse stood right behind me.

“Hey, stranger,” she smiled. She wore standard Tiffany garb, which meant a tight top and tighter skirt. She loved to show off her body whenever she had the chance. I couldn’t blame her.

As usual, she seemed happy to see me. “Hey, Tiff.” Had it been a month ago, I would’ve given her a quick brush off, but after the way she’d told Samantha’s tribunal the truth about her ‘stolen credit card’ I was inclined to be nice. “How they hangin?” I grinned.

“Perky as ever,” Tiffany winked, subtly thrusting her chest at me. She wasn’t exaggerating. She did have an amazing rack, which I knew was the real deal. But she didn’t need anyone reminding her how good she looked. Her ego was plenty big enough already.

Changing the subject, I said, “I saw your mom and dad at my solo show tonight. How come you didn’t come? You usually do.”

“Oh,” she glanced awkwardly away, “I, uh, sort of thought maybe I should leave you alone. So you could, you know, enjoy the show. With, uh, Samantha,” she rolled her eyes like it took everything she had to talk nicely about Samantha.

That was progress. Sounded like Tiff was turning over a new leaf.

“What happened to you calling her Scumantha?” I grinned. “She told me about that, you know.”

Tiffany shrugged. For once, she didn’t have her hands all over me. She just stood a foot away, holding a girl drink in her hand, which was half gone.

I decided to be polite and let her off the hook for past transgressions. “Can I buy you another drink, Tiff?”

“I’m good for now,” she smiled. “How were sales tonight? Did you clean up?”

I nodded cockily, “Hells yeah. We sold everything.”

“I heard your dad and your grandfather had paintings on sale tonight?”

“Yeah, their stuff sold too.”

“Congratulations,” she said sincerely, “you should be proud of yourself, Christos. I bet you made a ton of money.”

“I hope.” The next thing I knew, I was opening up to her like I used to. “I just hope it’ll cover the civil suit hanging over my head.”

“Civil suit?” She sipped her drink. “What civil suit?”

“Oh, some douche bag named Hunter Blakeley. Do you know him?”

She shrugged.

“Total prick,” I shook my head. “This guy Hunter Blakeley was harassing Samantha a few months back every time he ran into her. One day he does it in front of me. Tried to start a fight with me, but I tripped him into the dirt. So everything’s fine, right?”