I giggled again, realizing how ridiculous my question had sounded.
�Sorry, stupid question.�
There was a comfortable silence between us as I sat down on the front steps of the audition hall.
�So� how are things going?�
Very strangely.
�No one has been killed yet, which is a positive.�
And Nick is back. I�m living in his house. I keep crying in front of him and being stupid.
�Brittney?�
�Terrorizing me as usual though she hasn�t joined forces with Mike yet, so� it�s bearable at least.�
No mention of this morning�s events is necessary. He�ll freak out and Mike will have a bloody nose within an hour of them being in the same room.
Glancing around me, I saw Mike walking out of the building, Angie, thankfully, a few steps behind.
�Tobe, I need to go. The �happy couple� is coming. I�ll see you tomorrow, all right? And tell the guys I say hi.�
�Will do, angel. I�ll see ya tomorrow night.�
Pressing �end� on my phone, I stood up, feeling surprisingly lighter just from the conversation with my best friend.
�Since Nick never came, Angie is going to take you by his house.�
Mike mumbled the words, looking everywhere but at me.
Fuck you.
You make me want to scream just by being near me.
Nodding, I walked towards Angie�s car while the two of them got mushy and started groping each other in public.
I rubbed my thumb over the rubber buttons of my phone, my mind instantly going into overdrive.
Angie has Nick�s phone number. Do I even want that? Would it be a good idea to have it? I�d probably end up calling him every fifteen minutes and hanging up the moment he picked up like some lovesick junior high school girl.
82346. Got to remember that. Can�t handle any other numbers.
�Getting in, Kara?�
Catching me off guard, I found Angie sitting in the driver�s seat of the car, looking up at me expectantly.
Back to Nick�s. I wonder if he�s even there�
Pulling open the door, I slipped in and closed my eyes, disappearing into daydreams where complete morons didn�t exist.
*
Howie feeds me and everything is okay again.
�So, do you have a clue what you�re going to do?�
Yes. I�m going to slam her against the wall and kiss her until she goes back to being herself.
So I might have had a few beers with lunch to calm me down.
�I think everything will be a little bit easier when Xander and Ryan show up. She�ll be more relaxed I think.�
He nodded, taking another swig of his own beer.
�But what are you going to do until then? That�s another twenty four hours at least.�
Love her?
�Whatever she wants me to do.�
�So just don�t piss her off again and you should be fine, right?�
I nodded and yawned.
That�s about the only plan I have.
Howie nodded his head towards the stairs.
�Go upstairs and sleep off your buzz. Then I�ll let you drive home.�
Sounds good to me.
*
�He gave me a key. I guess he wasn�t sure if he�d be back from whatever he went to do.�
Or he ran away and he wanted me to still have a place to stay. Or he went to burn Mike�s house down and he might get arrested.
Pulling into Nick�s driveway, it was empty of the navy blue SUV he drove.
�What about the alarm?�
�He gave me the code.�
I said it nonchalantly, pretending that knowing how to get into his very expensively furnished house wasn�t a big deal.
�He gave you the alarm code?�
Yes, that�s what I said. He knows I�m not going to sell it on Ebay.
Pushing open the car door, I stepped out and looked over the front of the still house.
�Will you be all right by yourself?�
�Yeah, I�m going to call my thug friends and clean him out.�
When I glanced over my shoulder, Angie was frowning at my back.
�Don�t get into any trouble, Kara. If you and Nick don�t meet up with everyone for dinner, I�ll just come pick you up around nine tomorrow morning so we can see the other musicians.�
As I reached to shut the door, she shot me a warning look.
�Be ready this time.�
Yes, mom.
Nodding, I slammed the door shut and walked towards the front porch, twirling the keys between my fingers as I tried to figure out what the other key went to. The wheels of the car Angie was driving crunched over the gravel as she backed out of the driveway while I pushed open the heavy front door. An annoying beeping met my entrance, instantly ending when I pressed the code into the keypad in the entryway.
Silence surrounded me, putting a slight amount of fear in my chest.
Noise. Need lots of noise before I get nosey and start investigating Nick�s house for dirty secrets.
�My head won�t hold you down no more
The path is clear to follow through
I stood too long in the way of the door
And now I�m giving up on you.�