Rule 11: Act distant but interested! Guys love a challenge!
Raven typed in the Web address Horace had given her earlier at Scrappe and hit ENTER. She sipped from the hot chai Horace had made her while she waited for the screen to load.
The audio played before the graphics popped up on the hot-pink background. Kay-J’s soft, syrupy sweet voice accompanied quick pop beats. A second later, a picture of her loaded, her wide, ultra-white smile matching her white tunic tank top.
Raven read the front-page text.
Hey! It’s Kay-J! Thanks for stopping by. If you’re here on the site, I assume you’ve heard about the new show I’m doing called Back Up Kay-J. We’re looking for one backup singer to accompany me on next summer’s tour.
Not only will the lucky winner get to travel the world, but she/he will also record one song for my new album, Rockin’ the Pink.
I’m excited to meet everyone and hear your voices!
Check out the auditions page for details!
XOXO
Kay-J
Raven turned down the volume on the computer to quiet the up-tempo beats.
So, okay, Kay-J was pretty good, and her music had that weird, infectious vibe to it that made even the laziest people get up and dance.
But that wasn’t Raven’s kind of music. Couldn’t Horace understand that?
Sighing, she clicked on the AUDITIONS link and brought up a new page.
She scanned the dates and locations. There was an audition next week in California. Way too far away. One week later, auditions were in New York. That was like a two-hour drive from Birch Falls. That was manageable.
If Raven even decided she wanted to try out, that is.
In the meantime, just in case she did go to the city and audition, Raven figured she’d better know the songs she would be asked to sing. She downloaded a few Kay-J tracks to her iPod and went for a walk.
As she headed down her driveway, sunglasses in place, she scanned Blake’s house, looking for any sign of life. She hadn’t seen him in the five days since she’d had the argument with Alexia out in front of his house.
The front windows of his house were dark now. The large upstairs window—the one Raven guessed had to be Blake’s room—was covered with dark curtains.
Had he jetted off to somewhere else? What if he didn’t come back?
Who cares? she thought. Not me.
She turned up the volume on her iPod when a few kids down the block screamed as they ran through a sprinkler.
Raven tried to focus on the music.
Kay-J’s music was undeniably pop commercial. There wasn’t a lot of depth to her lyrics. Probably she didn’t even write them herself. The first track Raven listened to was about a breakup that Kay-J blamed herself for.
The second track, with a speedier tempo, was about a beach party, if Raven was hearing the lyrics right.
She listened to the second track over and over again, memorizing the lyrics. The chorus was quick and catchy and Raven was singing it quietly by the third listen.
As she ambled down the sidewalk, a large, black SUV rolled to a stop at the curb. The passenger-side window came down and Raven glanced inside.
It was Blake.
She sucked in a breath. The corners of her mouth curved into a relieved smile. He was still around. He wasn’t leaving Birch Falls for some big city.
Pausing the iPod, Raven popped the earbuds from her ears and walked over to the SUV.
“Hey,” she said, trying to act uninterested. “You’re home.”
“I got in two days ago but…” He rubbed his puffy bottom lip with his index finger. “Well, let’s just say I was under the weather.”
Raven arched a brow. “Party too hard?”
“Something like that.”
Had he been out there hooking up with random girls? Jealousy wedged in her gut, and she scrambled for the Crush Code instinctively.
The only rule she could remember said to act distant but interested.
Who came up with that rule anyway?
How could you be distant but interested? Seriously.
Probably it was best for her just to act distant.
Especially after Alexia accused her of cheating on Horace with Blake. Keeping her distance would prove to Alexia that Raven was faithful, and then Raven could rub it in her face.
Raven pushed away from the SUV’s gleaming black body and blacked-out wheels. “Well, I’m sorta busy, so I’ll catch you later?”
He cleared his throat, pulled down his hat an inch. “Yeah. Okay.”
“Bye.” She waggled her fingers and smiled triumphantly.
Uh-oh, she thought as Blake grinned and waved back. I just acted distant but then threw him an interested departing gesture.
Great.