by JL Bryan
Chapter Ten
Jason sat on the bleachers at school, watching the seniors assemble on the football field in their rented caps and gowns. He could see Mitch making practice tosses in the air with his square blue cap. Dred sat near him, looking bored.
“Hi, Jason,” Erin's voice said. She was on the row of bleachers behind him, but she stepped down beside him to talk.
“Hi.” Jason smiled at her.
“Are you here by yourself?” Erin asked, looking at the empty space beside him.
“Yep.”
“Oh.” Erin sat down beside him. “So…I didn't see you at prom.”
“I didn't go.”
“Yeah, it was pretty lame,” Erin said. “But my girlfriends, you know, Kennedy and Parker, they were nuts about it. So I had to do the whole dress thing, the whole make-up and hair thing. Zach was nice, got us the limo and everything.”
“Did you have a good time?”
“It wasn't what I expected it to be.” Erin shrugged. “But that's life, right?”
Jason nodded. If he had gone to prom with Erin, he thought, he would make sure she had the best night of her life.
Jason couldn't say that, though, so he moved to a subject that felt safer.
“Sorry I haven't been at band practice,” he said. “My parents are still mad at me for sneaking off for that audition.”
“It's okay,” Erin said. “The band's breaking up, anyway.”
“Really?” Jason hadn't heard anything about that.
“We kind of have to, don't we?” Erin asked. “Dred's been saying she'll move to the Cities after graduation. And Mitch is going off to Stout for college, in a few months. So that's pretty much it.”
“But we can still play together,” Jason said.
“I don't think that's very realistic, with everybody moving away.”
“I mean you and me. We could still hang out and play. Maybe get another band going. We're both still stuck at this school another year, right?”
“True. That could be fun.”
Jason wanted to keep talking to her—about anything, really—but he wasn't sure what to say. She still tied his tongue in knots. He noticed he was crumpling and uncrumpling the paper graduation program in his hand, and he made himself stop.
“There's something I haven't told anybody,” Jason said. “I thought it could make a big difference for the band...but then I thought it was kind of a stupid idea.”
“What is it?” Erin asked.
“That's pretty hard to explain. If you can come by my house, I'll show you.”
“Tell me what it is.”
“Yeah, it's not going to make any sense if I just tell you. Want to come by Monday? My parents will be gone, so it'll just be me and Katie.”
“And then you can show me this amazing thing that you can't possibly give me a clue about?”
“Yep.”
Erin smiled and looked at him for a long moment. “Okay, Jason Becker. I'll come to your house on Monday.”
Jason wondered if she thought he was just inviting her over to try and make out with her. He didn't want to give her the wrong idea...but then again, she'd already agreed. He felt scared and elated at the same time.
Then the principal began to speak, and Erin turned to watch. Jason looked at the side of her face for a few seconds more, and then he started to watch the graduation ceremony.
