by Nikki Carter
“Yeah, guys have pretty fragile egos. He’s just hurt right now, I guess.”
“But why the double standard? I didn’t trip about his groupie chicks.”
Mystique chuckles. “From what I heard, you did trip! You danced with Truth? Girl, you know that was messy.”
“It was messy, wasn’t it?”
“Just talk to Sam. Admit you were wrong, and then maybe y’all can get back to being friends again.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah, but I need you to do it quickly, so we can record this single.”
Sam walks back into the studio and says over the mic, “You ready, Sunday?”
I glance at Mystique, and she nods. “Sam, I need to make a phone call. Can you hold on a sec?” she asks.
She winks at me on the way out of the booth and mouths, “Talk to him.”
I bite my lip as I try to get up the courage to talk to Sam. He seems to be deep in thought as he plays what sounds like random notes on the keyboard. I know him, though, so it’s not random. He’s got a melody in his head.
I step out of the booth and ask, “Working on something new?”
“What? Oh, naw. Not feeling inspired too much.”
“Lost your muse?” I ask.
That was an inside joke, but Sam doesn’t laugh. We worked together so well writing the songs on Dreya’s album that he’d started calling me his muse. “Yeah, I guess so,” he replies.
I clear my throat, trying to think of a way to start this conversation. “Y’all video got twenty thousand hits on YouTube.”
Sam gives me a crazy look. Why in the world did I say that? OMG! Open mouth and insert foot.
“Twenty thousand people saw me puttin’ work in on Truth. Sweet.”
“You’re such a guy.”
“Yeah. I am.”
“You did kinda put a beat down on him, though.”
Sam frowns. “Wish I hadn’t done it, though. It wasn’t worth it.”
“I wasn’t worth fighting for?” I ask. “Wow.”
“Well, why should I be fighting over a girl who doesn’t want to be with me? That doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
“Sam, I never said I didn’t want to be your girl.”
“You never said you did.”
This conversation is going in circles. “So, are we not friends anymore now? ’Cause I still want us to be friends, Sam.”
“I guess we can be friends, but you’re gonna have to give me a while to get over the whole thing with Truth. When I see him, I just want to punch him again.”
“You can’t do that! I need…I mean, we need you on the tour.”
“Y’all don’t need me. I’m the studio engineer and producer. I can stay here over the summer.”
I touch Sam’s shoulder and feel him flinch. “Sam, can you imagine how crazy that’s gonna be for me if I have to be on tour with Dreya, Truth, and Bethany without you? As a matter of fact, I’m gonna pull out if you don’t go.”
“Are you crazy? You can’t pull out of the tour. Mystique and Epsilon Records would trip.”
“I’m not going unless you go.”
“It’s not that serious, Sunday.”
“Yes, it is.”
He sighs. “All right, cool. I’ll go.”
“Yay!” I kiss Sam on the cheek, and he flinches again.
“Don’t…”
“Friends don’t kiss each other on the cheek?”
“I don’t want your lips on me.”
I give him a smart-aleck smirk. “That’s not true. You soooo want my lips on you.”
“Sunday, don’t play with my emotions.”
“Okay, I’ll stop. But can I ask you one more thing?”
“What?”
“Are we still going to prom together?”
Sam puffs his cheeks with air and taps a few notes on the keyboard. I can tell he’s trying to think of an answer.
“I mean, it’s okay if you don’t…,” I say.
“It’s not that I don’t want to, but I got so angry with you that I asked another girl at my school to go to my prom.”
“Oh.”
“You didn’t ask someone else?” he asks.
“No. I thought we’d make up by the time prom came.”
“Do you still want me to go to your prom with you?”
I shrug. “If you want to, I guess. I don’t have a date.”
Sam flashes a bright smile. “Okay. We can go as friends.”
“Right. As friends.”
Mystique comes back into the recording room. “Are we ready to record now?”
“Yes,” I reply. “Let’s do this.”
DAFINA BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2010 by Nikki Carter
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
Dafina and the Dafina logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
ISBN: 978-0-7582-6174-8
