We hang out a bit. I mostly listen to JuneBug and Chad yack.
Concert time arrives, and we head to the roof by way of fire escape, feeling all James Bondish. I pay our fees at the entrance.
I shiver as the night air hits me. “I’m heading into the crowd. It’s cold up here.”
JuneBug grabs Chad’s arm. “Come on, let’s go find a drink.”
I remember what my mother said and head off in a slightly different direction to pour my own drink at the long table of snack food and refreshments. Soon enough, Ty is back. He sidles up to me slowly, leaning in. I instinctively lean the other direction. He laughs and throws up his hands. “Hey, relax. I’m just trying to talk where you can hear me, and I don’t want to shout. I don’t want to sound stuffy, but this really is more of Chad’s scene.”
His words relax me. “Same here! I mean, it’s more of JuneBug’s scene.” Ty’s eyes widen a little and he laughs some more.
“So you aren’t like groupies then?”
“Definitely not. The thought alone is mortifying.”
He smiles. “I didn’t think you looked the type.”
“Um, thanks?” I lean in and talk near his ear, as it is rather noisy. “We’re on the way to get a dog. He’s at a shelter in Buffalo and we’re picking him up tomorrow.”
He nods his head. “That’s cool. Right on. We’re in town for, um, a reading by my favorite author, um, J.R.”
I smack him in my excitement. “You gotta be kidding me! I so love his stuff.”
He shakes his head and laughs again and starts up again. “I’m not kidding. He’s like the bomb for me, in a straight literature appreciation type of way. Oh wow. This is not coming out like I wanted.”
I laugh and nod. “I totally get you. Queen of awkward situations right here.” I really like this guy. Not like-like him, of course, but we like totally mesh. “Are you on twitter? I could like talk literature—all day long.”
He holds out his phone to show me his handle. We exchange information. The crowd shifts, and I glance across the room. Everything slows down all slo-mo, like a movie. There, standing in the corner is J.R.! Noooo Wayyyyy. I reach out to Ty in my celebrity-crush stupor, like The Matrix. He’s in his phone! I keep reaching for him, but I’m starstruck. It’s like I’m dragging dead limbs against the current. Finally, I’m capable of a nudge before jerking him toward me, knocking our heads together in the process. “Dude! Get out of your phone” I shout-whisper.
He looks at me. “What?”
I can only stupidly point across the roof into the throng of people- as the night sky grows darker. “J.R. is here.”
He looks at me like I’m nuts. “You’re hilarious. That’s a really crappy joke to pull.”
I look him in the eye. “I wouldn’t kid about this. Straight up. I saw him across the room. Right here. Right now.” I grab Ty’s shirt collar and drag him through the crowd, searching. I start to think it was a hallucination, but then I spot J.R. dancing on the edge of the crowd. I pull on Ty, not letting go, even as his hands wrap around my wrist, tugging, but my fingers remain locked on his shirt collar. I finally slow down as we get near. I turn back to Ty. “Dance with me.”
“What? He’s right over there!”
“I know. Dance me over there.” I grab Ty’s hand, stride/dancing, knocking my knees into his.
He pulls me close and squeezes my waist. “Stop. This is so weird. At least let me lead. I’ll get us there.” I will myself to feel something for Ty, anything remotely close to what I feel when I dance with Oliver, but there’s nothing. It’s so unfair.
I take a deep breath and slow myself down as Ty pulls me closer. We tango/fight until we are like right next to J.R.! I almost bump into him! I’m breathing J.R.’s air!
Once again, JuneBug saves me from my own awkwardness. She dances/crashes into me. “Hey, have you seen Chad? Like we were dancing and things were great and then all of a sudden, he’s just gone.” I hear her, but I cannot turn my face away from J.R. She grabs my arm, and yanks on it. “Hello? I asked you a question. Have you seen Chad?”
I snap out of my J.R. trance and look at her long enough to answer. “No. I’m sorry, I haven’t seen Chad. Ty?”
Ty is in the same trance as me. I pinch his bicep kind of hard. “Ouch! What the heck?”
“JuneBug here is looking for your brother. It sounds like he took off on her. Do you know anything about that?”
Ty looks annoyed with the distraction. “Nope. Sorry. Maybe try the refreshment table.” JuneBug looks at me and Ty. She shakes her head and stomps off.
We resume our staring/trying not to stare/but stand as close as possible to the poetic Legend. Ty breaks our imaginary bubble as he walks three steps closer to J.R. He clears his throat. “Hey. Can we buy you a coffee, some pie, Anything?”
J.R. smiles at us. “Nah man, I’m good.”
Ty answers again. “I’m sorry man, I don’t want to like crowd your space or anything, but can we just like hang out on your edges for a bit then?”
J.R. laughs. He leans in. (He Leans In!) “It’s all good. I’ll do you one better. I’m taking off in about fifteen—gonna head to the coffee shop on the corner—do some free verse—you guys want to come along?”
Super Sonic jumping jacks go off inside my brain. I slap Ty on the back, which results in an awkward coughing fit, but no words. I unswallow my tongue. “Yes. We would definitely like to tag along. Sounds stellar.”
J.R. fist bumps me. I’ll never wash this hand again!
“Solid.” He turns away and steps toward his entourage.
I squeeze Ty’s arm. “I’m going to find JuneBug.” I shove my way through the crowd. “JuneBug! Oh holy cat tails. You’ll never believe what just happened to me and Ty. We are like both huge book worms, and he came here to see a famous author. And that author is here. And that author invited us to a coffee shop down on the corner. Can you believe it? I’m like totally beside myself and so excited that I can hardly breathe. I mean, like I’ve never seen anyone famous, and especially not someone that I like am in half in love with—strictly on an academic level, of course. I just can’t believe this is happening to me. So, are you in or out?”
JuneBug doesn’t answer. She’s too busy staring past my right ear. I turn around. Chad’s talking to another girl. I clap my hands in her face. “JuneBug. I’m going to get Ty. I’m leaving. You’re coming with me.”
I take her arm and lead her over to Chad. I tap him on the shoulder. “Hey. Your brother and I found the famous author and we are going to the coffee shop. Are you going?”
Chad looks at me. “What’s that now?” I repeat myself.
“Well, if Ty’s in, I’m in. That guy’s all Ty has been talking about since we left Oklahoma to drive up here. I don’t get it, but that’s cool.” His answer surprises me.
I don’t hesitate. “Well, come on then.”
By the time we get through the crowd and back to Ty, he’s pacing. “There you are! We need to go now. J.R. just left, like five minutes ago.”
We rush down the fire escape and frantically scan the sidewalks. I spy his entourage walking six blocks over. “There they are!” We race after them. We slow down once we’re a block behind.
We follow him into the Corner Cafe. Ty and I try not to stare as J.R. takes a seat at a table in the back. JuneBug glares at Chad who pointedly ignores her. She stands. “I’m going to get something to drink.”
Chad clears his throat. “I could use a drink.”
Ty and I keep our table close to the stage.
Chad and JuneBug find a table near the back by themselves. Ty and I sit here in silence, thrilled to listen to the conversation of J.R. Soon enough, he sits on a stool right in front of us.
“Hello everyone. My name is J.R. I’m an author. I’m going to drop a few poetry lines if that’s okay.” He reads some from his best seller. He pauses to talk a little about his childhood, and when he first started writing. Then he reads some unpublished work. I fixate on his hi-tops while I let his words sink in.
After a while, he opens the floor. Of course, none of us go up. I mean, who wants to follow J.R.?
The shop fills with mellow music. Ty and I shamelessly crush over the few pictures we snapped of J.R. I almost fall out of my seat when I look up to see J.R. standing over our table. He sits down on a chair at the end, and just starts chatting.
Ty’s cool as a cucumber as he slides into the conversation, while I hang back all tongue-tied. I’m impressed at how much Ty knows about J.R. by the questions he asks. Time flies, and soon J.R. stands up. “Gotta head back. We’re on the road first thing tomorrow. You keep writing, Ty. You never know what might turn into something.”
Ty grins. “Yeah. I will.”
J.R. turns and gives me a wink. “You too, baller-girl.”
I about choke on my spit. Did he just reference my twitter and blog handle? No freaking way. “How?” I manage a one-word answer.
J.R. laughs. “You followed me on Twitter, I followed you back.”
Knock this Fangirl over with a feather. “Thanks,” I manage to get out while trying to breathe.
J.R. gives us his winning smile. “Ain’t no thang. Thanks for the love.” It’s cheesy, but my hands form a heart, and he does one back before turning away to walk out with his entourage. I think I feel faint.
Chad and JuneBug rush J.R. at the store door. JuneBug touches his arm. “Hey, can we have like a selfie with you? I mean, would that be cool?”
He smiles. “Yeah, that’d be alright.” She waves wildly to me, and I yank Ty from the booth. We all jump in to crowd J.R. before he can change his mind.
As soon as the shop door closes, I squeal. “Best Night Ever!” I Instagram the heck out of our selfie.
Ty laughs. “We should probably stay here at least a few minutes. Wouldn’t want J.R. to think we’re a bunch of stalkers.”
JuneBug nods and grabs Chad’s hand. “Let’s go back to our table.”
Ty and I slide into a booth. “So Ty, what do you write?” I ask.
“Mostly short stories.”
“Cool. I’m more of a blogger.”
He gives me a wink. “So I heard.” I blush all over again at the thought of J.R. reading my words!!
My phone alarm beeps at me. “Crappy cat balls. It’s 2AM. I gotta go.” I look at Ty one more time. “I’m really glad we met.”
“Me too. You’ll definitely be hearing more from me.”
I give him a side hug in all my leftover excitement. “I’ll hold you to that.” A thought comes to me. I turn to Ty. “Would you kiss me?”
He has a miniature coughing fit. “Excuse me?”
My face flames, and I try to explain myself. “There’s a guy chasing me at my high school. He’s a little out of my league, and I kind of told him I have an online boyfriend to keep him at arm’s length, and so I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind kissing me.”
Ty’s face turns red. “So you want to use me to make someone else jealous.”
I fiddle with a coffee straw. “May-be.”
Ty taps the table. “Sure, why not.” His big hand covers mine, and his other goes to the underside of my chin. He tilts my face toward his and we kiss. His lips are warm and welcoming and full of sincerity, and yet I feel no chemistry. There’s no spark. Dang it.
I pull away slowly. I look him in the eye. “How was it?”
He grins. “It was pleasant.”
I laugh. “Same here.” We shake hands. “Well, we gave it our best shot.” I smack my forehead. “I didn’t take a pic of our kiss.”
Ty throws his arm around me. “Lean in and look cozy. Let’s make a memory.”
I do as he says. We smile into our phones. I turn back to him again. “I’m really glad I met you.”
He laughs. “Same here.” He gives me a wink. “I’ll see ya around, Katie, or should I say baller.”
I hop up. “Either works! I gotta go.”
I run over to JuneBug’s table. “Sorry JuneBug, but it’s late. We need to get going.”
She sighs. “Alright, Well, Chad, it’s been clash.” She leans over and plants a parting-is-such-sweet-sorrow kiss on him. He’s a little stunned. She stands up and we walk out the door. She giggles as she leans into me, all confidence. “I like to leave them wanting more you know?” We start down the sidewalk. There’s a rush behind us and someone grabs JuneBug by the arm.
It’s Chad. He yanks her up against him and pins her to the wall of the cafe. He’s telling her goodbye, I think. It’s an awkward five minutes, and I have to turn around. About the time I think I’m going to have go back and drag her away, she staggers toward me. I look at Chad. He grins from ear-to-ear. He tips his imaginary hat. “And that is an Oklahoma good-bye.” He saunters back to the coffee shop.
I look back to JuneBug. She’s got swollen lips and glazed eyes. “JuneBug?”
“Yes?” she answers in a quiet dreamy voice.
“You alright?”
“I’ll be alright, just point home toward me.”
I thread an arm through hers and walk with her as she floats along.
We get back to the room and it’s 2:30 a.m.. “Tomorrow’s going to bite me in the butt time. But it was so worth it!”
JuneBug giggles. “Whatever you say.”
I’m barely awake. Mom buzzes around the room like a hummingbird. I want to plug my ears because I know what’s coming, her miss-merry-sunshine morning voice. “Alright girls! Haul those tired butts out of bed.”
“I will. I will. Please no more cheery volume,” I grumble.
I look over at JuneBug, who looks like she could eat little girls for breakfast and laugh while she does it. I look back at my mom while pointing at JuneBug. “I apologize in advance for it.”
Mom glances at JuneBug’s snarling face and laughs.
“Come on, growly, grumpy beast.”
JuneBug snarls. “Lean in and see if I bite…”
I think fast. “Come on, JuneBug. Maybe you’ll see Chad before we leave.”
“I’ll take three hours of sleep over that offer,” she growls.
I hit her with a pillow and jump backwards. “Not a choice. No reneging on our promises to be good girls today. Get up or miss free breakfast.”
JuneBug stirs. “I’m moving. I want food.”
I rush in the bathroom, rinse in five minutes, and throw on comfy clothes. I brush my teeth in 20 seconds. JuneBug gets dressed beside me. “You said there was food?”
As I predicted, JuneBug’s Oklahoma cowboy sits at the breakfast table in the hotel lobby. I glance at JuneBug. Her resting B face remains the same. Oh well. I’m all about the free food. “Stockpile time.”
JuneBug’s feet shuffle beside me. “You going to get every juice, Katie?” she mumbles in my direction.
“If it’s free, Yes.” I glance down the line and see Ty with his tray. His juices are lined up in front of him. I laugh, call out his name and hold my cup high. “Cheers.”
He holds one up in the air too. “Cheers.”
I go and sit with Ty at his table. “Last night happened, right?”
He laughs. “My thoughts exactly.”
JuneBug slams her tray down loudly. “You guys are too much.”
I look up at her. She’s still standing. “You can sit by yourself if you need space.”
JuneBug glares. “I think I can handle it.”