Side Effects May Vary had another gig at the Black Opal and Raven had asked me to go with her. The place was packed. There were a lot of girls in the audience. A lot of cute girls.
Nurse Phillips wore a bright pink wig, six-inch platform shoes, and a white plastic dress.
“Your aunt is amazing,” I told Raven as I watched Nurse Phillips strum her guitar.
Dominic’s outfit was a little more low-key than his aunt’s. Tight black jeans and an orange T-shirt that made his eyes look even bluer. When he came onstage, the squeals from the girls were nearly deafening. He saw us in the front row and gave a little wave before he started the first song.
A strange look crossed his face and then he went glassy-eyed.
“He’s doing it again,” Raven said under her breath.
Dominic usually focused on the audience, but his gaze was centered somewhere above their heads, at a distant point on some imaginary horizon. He looked seriously zoned out. I swear I saw his eyes go back in his head, just for a second.
And then he started to sing. I didn’t recognize the song, but Raven identified it for me. “Oh, no. He’s singing ‘Love Potion Number Nine.’”
“What do you think it means?” I asked.
“Maybe Dominic will talk to you about it. It seems like you two have become close lately.”
“Does that bother you?” I wanted to know because Raven was supposed to have my back in the event of a big fight and I didn’t want her mad at me.
“Of course not,” she said. “I want him to be happy. It’s just that . . .” She didn’t finish her sentence. “He’s been acting weird lately.”
Dominic had been acting weird. I knew girls blamed other girls all the time, but something wasn’t right with him. He claimed to not remember going out with Selena in the first place. Dominic was a star in Nightshade. He could have any girl he wanted. Sometimes it was clear to me that he’d chosen Selena, but other times, I felt that he really might like me. Either I was completely wrong about him and he was playing us, or there was something fishy going on.
I turned my attention back to the stage. The band was struggling to keep up with him. The crowd didn’t seem to notice, but I’d overheard their band practice enough to know that the song wasn’t on the set list. When the song ended, the crowd let out a roar of approval.
Dominic could do no wrong with his fans, but his band mates were another matter. As soon as the song ended, Nurse Phillips announced a short break. Before she’d even finished, Vinnie had stalked offstage.
Katrina went up to Dominic and put a comforting arm on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off and made his own stormy exit.
“I’ll be right back,” I told Raven. “I’m going to go talk to him.”
I found him outside, sitting on a low wall behind the back door.
“I don’t know why it happens!” he burst out when he saw me. “So don’t bug me about it.”
“I wasn’t going to bug you,” I said. “I was going to see if I could help, but you obviously don’t want my help.” I turned around and started to march off.
“Wait, Jessica,” he said, but I kept moving. “Please?” he added.
I stopped and faced him. “I don’t need a jerk in my life,” I said. “I thought you were different.”
“I apologize,” he said. “I’m upset and I took it out on you.”
“Apology accepted,” I replied. “But this moody rock-star stuff that may work with other girls doesn’t work with me. I’m trying to be your friend.”
“I know,” he said, and took my hand.
I tried to ignore the way my heartbeat accelerated. “So you don’t have any idea why it happens?” I asked.
“None,” he said. “It’s driving the other band members crazy, and I don’t blame them.”
“Do the songs mean something to you?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I don’t think so. It’s only happened a few times, but that’s too often as far as Jeff’s concerned. He didn’t want me in the band even before this started to happen.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“I’m just a kid, at least according to him,” Dominic replied. “Aunt Katrina convinced him to give me a chance, and now this.”
“Did it ever happen before you moved to Nightshade?”
He shook his head. “The first time it happened was a few weeks ago. Out of nowhere, I started to sing ‘Ant Music.’”
“‘Ant Music’? By Adam and the Ants?” I asked.
He raised his eyebrows. “You know that song?”
“My brother, Sean, dressed like Adam Ant for an ’eighties night dance once,” I explained.
“Well, we don’t do covers of Adam and the Ants,” he said flatly. “And the night we met—let’s just say ‘Crazy for You’ isn’t in the band’s repertoire.”
“Is that why you were such a . . .” My voice trailed off. No sense in kicking him when he was down.
“Jerk?” He finished my sentence. “Yep. I was freaked out and I took it out on you. Sorry.”
“Nightshade does bring out the strange in people,” I said. “Look, I think you should talk to the band and let them know you’re not trying to—”
“Be an egomaniacal pain in the butt?” he finished for me. “I can do that.”
“And that we’re trying to figure it out,” I said. “Maybe they could learn a few more songs.”
He nodded. “It’s better than anything I’ve come up with on my own.”
We walked back to the club. There wasn’t much else I could say to him. The band finished their performance without any more random songs, but I could tell Jeff Cool wasn’t cool about it.
At lunch the next day, I grabbed my tray and looked for someone to sit with. Eva was already at a table with Shannon and the rest of Edgar’s Lovelies.
To their left, Dominic sat by himself. He was wearing a Nightshade High hooded sweatshirt, with the hood up. He was obviously avoiding his fans. His whole body screamed, “Leave me alone.”
I spotted Raven and Andy and went to sit with them instead.
“Avoiding my brother?” Raven asked.
I shrugged. “He seems to want to be alone.”
“You should go talk to him,” Raven said softly.
I glanced back at him. “I’ll be right back,” I said.
I went to Dominic’s table and sat next to him. “Is this seat taken?”
“I thought you might be avoiding me,” he said.
“Why would I avoid you?”
“Because I’m a freak,” he said.
“You’re not a freak,” I replied. “You’re just . . . different.”
“Yeah, and we both know how well different goes over in high school.”
“Nightshade High isn’t like most high schools,” I told him.
“What do you mean?”
I hesitated. I didn’t want to sound like a complete loon, but maybe it could help him. “The city of Nightshade is home to several paranormals,” I finally said.
“You mean witches and vampires and stuff?” he asked. “I know.”
“You know?” I repeated.
“Aunt Katrina told us all about it before we came to live with her,” he said. “She wanted us to be prepared.”
“I’m not sure there is a way to prepare for living in Nightshade,” I told him. “But I’m glad you’re here.”
“I’m glad I’m here, too,” he said. “Especially now that I’ve met you.”
We smiled at each other, for once in perfect harmony.