Sing to Me

by Michelle Pennington

  He must have had the same idea because his expression was full of purpose as he took several steps in my direction. Butterflies took wing in my stomach and I held my breath as I went to meet him.

  “Rylie! Oh my gosh, I’m so glad I caught you before we started. Mr. Grisom gets so livid if we talk in class, but I’m leaving early today for a dentist appointment and I just had to talk to you!”

  I looked blankly at Olivia as she stepped in front of me out of nowhere. We were really good friends, but at the moment I didn’t want to stop and talk to her. I looked over her shoulder at Colby and caught the disappointment on his face as he turned around and headed for his assigned place in the choir as the class filled in.

  Resigned, I said to Olivia, “Ok. What’s up?”

  “Well, you know how I’m singing at prom?” I nodded and she continued. “Well, I’m supposed to be here to rehearse tonight. Parker was supposed to come with me, but something came up and he can’t. I don’t want to come by myself because I’m kind of nervous about it since this is my first practice with the band they hired to play. So, I was wondering if you would come with me.”

  I smiled. Olivia was an incredible singer and she was so passionate about her music that she had self-released an actual album. It was really popular at the school and was starting to build a good base of internet sales as well. Somehow though, she was still a little shaky about live performances. “Sure. You know I’m here for you, girl.”

  “Great. I’ll pick you up at about 6:30, ok?”

  I nodded as Mr. Grisom came in and called us to order. Olivia and I rushed to find our places. The choir room was built with round, rising steps that swept the room in a semi-circle around Mr. Grisom’s piano and music stand. The steps were deep enough to accommodate the chairs we sat in, and because of the curve, I could see Colby in the baritone section. I kept glancing over to him. I couldn’t help it. I wanted to see his face. He must have felt my eyes on him, because he turned my direction. Then he actually winked at me and nodded toward Mr. Grisom.

  Catching on, I paid attention to what the music teacher was saying.

  “So, now I’ll announce the three female soloists for this year’s spring concert: Stella Henery, Dawn Porrello, and Rylie Butcher. And I trust Rylie won’t Butcher her solo.”

  There was a little forced laughter from the choir, but Mr. Grisom was laughing heartily at his own joke. I stared at him in disbelief. Then, I looked over at Colby and saw that he was trying really hard not to bust up laughing – though he almost lost it when he saw my face.

  I rolled my eyes and shook my head. Great. It was the lamest joke ever, but it seemed I couldn’t escape it.

  Mr. Grisom finally stopped laughing, took a few deep breaths and said. “Well, now. Ok. I’m sure you will do a beautiful job, Rylie, as usual. Now, let’s run through our warm up exercises.”

  So, I lalala’d and hummed with the rest of the class, but the whole hour, I kept wondering what Colby would have said to me if we could have talked earlier. I wondered what I would have said. I hated that I’d never know, but I felt warm and shimmery inside because I was pretty certain he had feelings for me. And that was a good thing since I was starting to have feelings for him too.

  Oh, who am I kidding?

  I was crushing big time.

  *****

  “I hate running late,” Olivia said as we pulled into the parking lot behind the school a few minutes after 7:00 that evening.

  I smiled, knowing it wasn’t my fault. I’d been ready to go at 6:30, but Olivia hadn’t pulled into my driveway until 6:40. For her, that was a good time. She was usually either really early or really late for everything. Tonight, she was running late, especially since she’d stopped at a drive-through after picking me up.

  As I got out of the car, I saw Olivia trying to grab her purse, her phone, a binder of music, her giant bottle of water and the enormous salad she’d gotten for dinner. Then she looked at her guitar case with a bewildered expression.

  “Don’t worry, I’ve got it,” I said, grabbing the handle. Luckily I had all my stuff in my backpack so my hands were free.

  I walked calmly inside, though an amused smile hovered on my lips. Olivia looked almost frantic. In my experience, rehearsals for anything usually started late anyway. Luckily I didn’t have to worry about this one. My only job was to give Olivia some moral support while I got some homework done.

  The prom committee had decided to feature some of the local talent with live music at the prom - mostly, I suspected, because they would be cheap. I wasn’t surprised that they’d asked Olivia, but I hadn’t ever heard of the band they’d also hired. I couldn’t even remember the name of it.

  Just as I thought, when we got to the music room, people were milling around, hooking up microphones, tuning instruments, and talking. I saw Olivia’s shoulders relax as we went inside. She put her stuff down on a table, and went over to talk to a guy I didn’t know. He looked to be in is early twenties and seemed to be the man in charge.

  I turned and sat Olivia’s guitar down on the table next to her stuff so she could find it easily and looked around for a corner to sit in and crack open my Physics book.

  “Rylie? What are you doing here?”

  I turned quickly, knowing there was only one voice that could make my heart skid to a stop like that. Colby stood a few feet behind me looking surprised, but there was a warm glint in his eye that was easy to interpret.

  “I came with Olivia. What are you…?” But before I even finished the question, my brain supplied the answer. “Oh. Is this your band?”

  A half-smile turned up one corner of his mouth. “Well, it’s not my band. If anything, it’s Micah’s – that guy Olivia’s talking to over there. He’s kind of our frontman and the one who got us together. But yeah, this is the band I play with.”

  “Oh. Wow. I thought you meant something more like…”

  “Like a bunch of wannabe’s playing in their parents’ garage?”

  “Yeah. Something like that.”

  “Well, we kind of were until Micah came along and recognized that we had something. After a few jam sessions, Blacktop Rising was born.”

  “Oh, so that’s what the band is called. I couldn’t remember it.”

  “Not what Micah had in mind when he came up with it. He’s trying to create our brand, you know? Obviously we have some work to do.”

  I looked up into his brown eyes, feeling shy but unable to resist their pull on mine. He was close to me now, close enough that I could feel his warmth and catch the scent that was uniquely his. “Well. I’m excited for you,” I said. “That’s really cool that you’ll be playing at prom.”

  “Yeah, well, I might as well play since the girl I like is already going with someone else.”

  I didn’t know where to look because the expression in his eyes was so intense, so I focused on the hollow at the base of his throat. “I bet she wishes she wasn’t,” I said softly.

  His chest rose as he took a deep, quick breath. “Rylie…”

  “Hey Colby. We’re ready to start. Get over here,” the guy he’d called Micah demanded.

  I saw Colby’s jaw clench as he bit down on his frustration. “Darn. Hey look, Rylie -will you hang out till I’m done here so we can talk?”

  “I’ll try to, but I rode with Olivia so I don’t know how long she’s staying.”

  He glanced over at Olivia. He was obviously torn between needing to go and wanting to settle things with me. “I know, but, if she wants to leave before I can, will you stay? I’ll take you home.”

  “Um, ok. Sure. I’ll wait for you.”

  “Great. I’ve got to go,” he said, almost like he was apologizing.

  I watched him jog over to where the rest of the band stood waiting. He picked up an electric guitar and settled the strap over his shoulder, then glanced towards me one more time before he nodded to Micah to signal he was ready.

  Instead of starting them off, Micah grinned and said, “So that�
��s the reason you’ve been so moody lately. Well, I can see why. She’s smokin’ hot. Good thing for you she’s jail bait though.”

  My eyes widened in shock. Micah’s microphone was on so everyone in the place heard him. Colby looked furious and Olivia’s eyes were as big as mine. She looked back and forth between Colby and I, obviously trying to figure out what was going on. It must have clicked pretty quickly because she shot me a look that clearly said “I can’t believe you haven’t told me about this, but you’re going to.”

  Colby almost growled at Micah. “Look man, cut the crap and let’s get playing.”

  “Sure, man.” Micah said. He looked over his shoulder at the rest of the band and said, “Let’s start with Journey Home and lead straight into One Night With You to get things going. Then we’ll get Olivia up here and see what she can do.”

  Relieved that everyone’s focus had shifted from me to their music, I looked around for somewhere to sit while I waited. The chairs had all been stacked up along the back wall so the janitor could vacuum. The band had set up on one side of the choir tiers, the drums at the top, a guy with a guitar and another with a bass were on the next step, and Colby and Micah were on the bottom. They’d brought microphones and another guy was going around checking them and messing with the wires that now covered the floor. Most of the lights were off in the room except one row of fluorescent lights in the back and the dim glow from Mr. Grisom’s office.

  In the shadows behind the piano, I could see a few chairs that had been left out so I headed over there. Sitting down, I leaned back and put my feet up on another chair. Realizing I needed light to do my homework, I stood and angled the chairs so that when I spread my physics book open over my knees, the light from the office behind me fell over my shoulder so I could see. I got out my notebook, told myself to get to work, and didn’t think about it again.

  You see, I couldn’t drag my eyes away from the band. Ok, well, mostly from Colby.

  He’d rolled up the sleeves of the red plaid shirt he was wearing unbuttoned over a black t-shirt. I could see the muscles working in his right arm as he played his guitar and the fingers on his left hand moved with confidence through the changing chords of the song. He was completely focused, absorbed in the music, his head nodding slightly to the beat of the song. After the opening verse, he began singing harmony, blending perfectly with Micah’s voice.

  I couldn’t quite figure out if they were singing country or rock. Somehow they were straddling the line between the two and blurring the edges like it was easy. I knew it wasn’t.

  Micah had a great voice and was very charismatic, even if his personality had already rubbed me the wrong way. He was really good looking too. I wouldn’t be surprised if all the girls at prom fell in love with him. But as the practice went on, it was clear that Colby was the better musician.

  He was the one who really seemed to feel the music. It was Colby who would suggest a change in tempo or rework the chords of the bridge to be less discordant. When something wasn’t going right, he was the first one to put his finger on the problem. All this time, I’d had no idea he was so talented.

  I was fascinated as I watched his confident tweaking of their first two songs until they satisfied his critical ear. Micah, who had seemed to be so dominating, almost faded into the background and let Colby take the lead in working out the kinks in their performance.

  Olivia had been tuning her guitar and warming up her voice in another room. She came back in and sat down beside me on the floor as the band went through their second song for the last time.

  “So, are you and Colby an item or something? When did this happen?”

  “No, we’re not. At least, I don’t think we are. Yet.”

  Olivia raised her eyebrow at me and I could tell she didn’t believe me. “Yeah, right. You know he likes you though, right?

  I looked at her, hoping to keep my emotions under control, but when I saw her face, I couldn’t help but grin and say, “Yeah. I think he does.”

  “Wow. But I thought you hated Colby?”

  “I never said I hated him. He just drove me crazy. But I’ve been babysitting his little sister to earn money for prom, and I’ve seen him a few times. He’s been different. And, um, he apologized for giving me a hard time and said he only did it to get my attention. And because he was jealous of Brian.”

  “Wow. That’s crazy. Why didn’t he try flirting or something normal like that?”

  “I don’t have a clue.”

  “He probably thought he didn’t have a chance with you. So what about Brian? I thought you were so in love with him.”

  “I thought so too. I’ve kind of realized that I’m not though. I mean, I think I really like Colby. He’s pretty exciting to be around, you know? He’s kind of intense, but in a good way. I’m all stirred up inside over him.”

  “What are you going to do about prom?”

  I sighed. “I don’t know. I kind of have to go with Brian, don’t I? I mean, how could I get out of it at this point?”

  “By telling him that you have a boyfriend now, so you’re very sorry but you can’t go with him.”

  “But I don’t have a boyfriend. I mean, we haven’t even talked about it, so it’s not like we’re a couple or anything. And Brian already rented a tux to match my dress and ordered my corsage to match.”

  “I didn’t know you got your dress.”

  “Yeah. On Saturday. The money I earned babysitting was the last bit I needed. It’s perfect, but I don’t even feel like going now.”

  “Are you crazy? Just because you go with Brian doesn’t mean you have to stay with him the whole night. Colby won’t be playing the whole time, and every girl in the place will be willing to shave off their eyebrows to dance with someone from the band.”

  I laughed. “Well, I’m going so you can relax.”

  The band was playing the last chords of their song, letting them die away, so Olivia jumped up to get her guitar. Our girl talk was over for now.

  Micah stepped away, pulling his phone out of his pocket as he went. He wasn’t needed anyway. The rehearsal was now all about Olivia. After she and Colby had a quick discussion, the other guitarist and the drummer coming over to join them, they went right into “Breaking Even,” one of the more popular songs from her self-released album.

  Obviously, since she was my friend, I knew the song by heart, but I’d only heard her sing it to her own accompaniment before. Somehow, hearing her sing with a live band was a completely different experience. She was electrified with it and almost seemed to glow as she sang. Then, as they prepared to sing the next song, Colby asked if she’d like to sing a duet on the title song from her album, “Blown Away.” Olivia jumped all over the idea.

  They spent a few minutes going through the music, with Colby arranging it as they went, and then they ran through it from the beginning. Hearing Colby’s deep but almost sweet voice singing the melody on the second verse made my jaw drop. Olivia’s excited eyes jumped to mine, and I could tell she was about to blow a fuse she was so lit up. When she came back in on the chorus as Colby slipped effortlessly into the harmony, I knew that this song would be the hit of the night at prom.

  About thirty minutes later, they’d gone through about five of her songs, tweaking them until they were in pretty good shape, and Olivia was done. She put her guitar in its case and came towards me, almost floating off the floor with happiness.

  She grabbed her salad off the table and settled down next to me. “Oh, my gosh! Colby is amazing. I’m half-in-love with him myself.”

  “Should I warn Parker?”

  Olivia giggled and worked on opening her packet of Light Italian Dressing. “No. Music just gets my emotions all crazy, but I’m still a one guy kind of girl. Besides, I wouldn’t have a chance with him. He’s too far gone over you.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “Sure I do. Didn’t you see how often he glanced at you while I was up there?”

  “No.”

&n
bsp; “Well, he was trying to hide it, but I was watching him. I’ll tell you what though, you’d better grab him. That guy’s popularity is about to go through the roof.”

  “I know. He’s totally hot when he’s performing, huh? You know, Mr. Grisom will behead you if he catches you eating that in here.”

  “He’s in his office. Want a tomato?”

  “Sure,” I said, picking one out of her salad. “So, how long are you planning to stay?”

  “I don’t know. I want to eat this before it gets any warmer. And I kind of wanted to see a little more of their rehearsal, but we can go if you want to.”

  “No, um, actually, Colby asked if I could wait around so we could talk.” I felt strangely shy as I continued, “In fact, he said if you couldn’t wait, he’d give me a ride home.”

  Olivia froze with her fork halfway to her mouth and her eyebrows halfway to her hairline. “Really? Don’t worry, girl. I’m leaving right now.” She began putting her salad away and gathering up her stuff.

  Alarmed, I asked, “What are you doing?”

  “Um, hello? I’m getting out of here so he has to give you a ride home.”

  “Oh my gosh! But if you leave now, it’ll be obvious that I’m waiting for him. Everyone will know it.”

  “Including him. That should get the message across.”

  “What message?”

  “You know, that you’re interested. Now, can you help me get my guitar out to the car? We’ll see if we can give Colby a mini-heart attack when he thinks you’re leaving. Then watch his face when you come back in, and it should tell you everything you need to know.”

  Pulled along by Olivia’s determination, I carried her guitar out for her and waved her off as she drove away a minute later, rolling my eyes as she called out her window to me, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

  I walked slowly back inside, feeling my throat get dry and my palms get sweaty. What in the heck was I doing? But when I saw the eager way Colby’s eyes went to the door when I came in and the way he smiled as his shoulders relaxed, I knew.