by Magan Vernon
"Uh..."
I wanted to lie, say I was eating breadsticks or something, but I was a sucky liar.
"Yeah. Um. Sorry. I was talking to a friend, who, uh, wanted to meet up after work."
He furrowed his brows. "What did I tell you about being on your phone with Sofie all night? She's a nice girl, but she knows you're working."
I let out an internal sigh of relief. At least I didn't have to tell him who it really was.
"I know. Sorry, Dad."
"You can see her after work, and if she's going to keep trying to get your attention anyway, tell her to stop in. I could use another hostess."
"Oh, yeah, sure I'll tell her." I forced the biggest smile I could and went back to the dining area, staring at the clock and waiting for ten o'clock.
***
The temperature had dropped, but I was always told it was way colder in January in other parts of the country.
It still didn't stop me from speed walking like an old lady to the First Baptist church at the end of the street.
There weren't any lights on outside, but a few cars were parked around back. A single bulb hung over the back door that I only knew led to the basement because Sofie used to make me go to youth group with her so she could meet older boys.
Jay was standing against the building, rubbing his hands together.
"Hang out around old churches often?" I asked, trying to walk with a bit of swagger, but realized I looked like I had a problem, so I went back to walking normal.
"Just when I'm waiting for beautiful girls to meet up with me."
I bit my lip, trying to think of a good response, but I wasn't used to compliments like that, even though Jay seemed to be handing a lot of them out.
"Come on. Let's go." He took my hand in his and then opened the door to the church basement with the other.
"We're going to church?" I raised an eyebrow.
He just smiled, looking over his shoulder. "Not quite."
I followed the old cement steps and kept my hand on the wall. Most places in Texas didn't have basements, but older homes with root cellars were sometimes converted.
The faint sounds of a bass hit my ears and it wasn't until we were at the bottom of the stairs that I saw the entire room light up. The walls were plain white with white linoleum floors and in the middle of all of that white was a black drum set and two guys on a guitar and a bass, strumming along to the beat of the music.
The guy behind the guitar I would have recognized anywhere, Eddie Justice. The country music star had some kind of big falling out with his fiancee and was rumored to be staying at his parents' ranch. Of course that was what Sofie told me she read online and I hadn't actually seen him. But now here he was in the flesh, in the church basement.
And next to him on bass was Joey Bianchi. My last boyfriend. If you could really call a week relationship with some groping, a boyfriend.
Even weirder, on drums was Noah Riley.
Noah was a year younger than me, but in a small town everyone knew everyone. Especially when he was the deaf kid in class.
He lost his hearing in kindergarten after doctors discovered a brain tumor the size of a softball, and when it was removed it damaged some of his nerves, I guess. He was definitely an attractive guy with his longer brown hair that curled around his ears so you couldn't see his hearing aids and he had dimples that made every girl melt, but I wasn't focused on his looks.
I was focused on the fact that this was the weirdest mix of people I'd ever seen playing music together.
Eddie stopped playing and signaled to the other guys, flashing a big grin in our direction. "Hey, Jay, wasn't sure you'd show up," he said with his slight twang.
All the guys bumped fists and then Jay came back to me, putting his arm around my waist. "Lia, this is Eddie, Noah, and I think you know Joey."
"Hey, y'all," I said, doing a pathetic little wave.
"So this is the girl you won't stop talking about?" Eddie asked.
I looked down at the floor, trying to keep from showing the cheesy grin that spread across my face.
"Yeah. This is her. She's the one who has better taste in music than you."
"Whatever you say, man." Eddie laughed.
"So...how did this all happen?" I asked, pointing between the three guys.
Eddie smiled, pointing at Noah. "Well, Noah cleans my pool and plays piano here, so I asked him if he ever wanted to accompany me on something. He told me that he also plays drums and his friend Joey plays bass, so a few months ago we started getting together, here, where Noah's drums are, and jamming at least once a week. It helps to try something different."
"Cool. I can dig that." I winced at my own weird wording. Why couldn't I be normal and say normal things?
Eddie raised an eyebrow, turning toward Jay. "So are you going to play or what?"
Jay squeezed my hand and smiled. "You okay with that?"
"Oh. Uh. Yeah. Sure."
Great. Now I was going to be the girl that just sat and watched a guy hang out with his friends. I knew this had to be too good to be true.
Jay whispered a few things to Joey and then Joey handed him the bass before Joey sauntered over to me.
"Hey."
"Uh...hey." I didn't directly look at the guy. Last time I saw him he wasn't exactly the nicest.
"So...you and the swimmer?" he asked.
I shrugged. "Yeah. I guess."
"That's good. You deserve a good guy."
"Hey, quit hitting on Jay's woman, Bianchi!" Eddie said with a laugh.
My eyes trailed to Jay, with the bass slung over him. Was there anything this guy couldn't do?
Eddie strummed a few chords and turned to Noah who joined in with the drums then Jay with the bass.
I immediately recognized the beat and then Eddie's smooth voice started to croon the words to "Stay With Me" by The Dictators. It wasn't the exact punk rock version, but more of country vibe.
Jay's eyes met mine and never left.
The guy I’d been staring at on TV and on the Internet for months was now real and he was playing one of my favorite songs. The song we talked about the night we met.
I didn't want the song to end and I wanted it to play on repeat forever.
When the guys were done playing, Jay gave Joey back his bass, and we stayed for a few more songs before Jay finally said he had to be home for early practice.
We said our goodbyes to the guys and I walked with Jay to the parking lot.
"That was not what I expected tonight," I admitted, standing under the single light bulb near the door to the basement.
"I know. It was lame, you can say it."
I shook my head. "No. Not in the least. It was actually really cool. I had no idea you played an instrument."
"I'm not very good. I'm better with things in the water."
"I disagree. I thought that was awesome. I've never had a guy play a country rendition of The Dictators for me."
He stepped closer, leaning in so his words were a whisper on my lips. "There's a first time for everything."
Without thinking, I pressed my lips to his, feeling his warm tongue against mine and an involuntary moan escaped low in my throat.
He smiled, only breaking the kiss slightly to kiss me again and again.
I wanted to stay in that moment forever with him, but then the door opened and I gasped, jumping back a foot.
Eddie appeared in the doorway first, smiling and looking between us. "I guess you two had other motives for leaving."
"We were just saying goodbye." I tried to remain calm, but my swollen lips and red face probably gave everything away.
"Whatever you two say." Eddie smiled.
Jay leaned in and gave me one more small kiss. "See you soon?"
"Oh, yeah."
***
"So what's it like being the girlfriend of a celebrity?"
Sofie swept a second coat of lime green nail polish on her big toe. It was our usual Saturday afternoon routine: sitting on my bedroom fl
oor, painting our nails, and gossiping.
Our life was very glam.
I shrugged, wiping the side of my pinky toe. "I haven't really had a boyfriend, aside from whatever Joey was, and I don't know if this thing with Jay counts. Or what we are."
I’d stayed up late the past two nights talking to Jay on FaceTime. I was dragging ass at work and school, but it was worth it. I wasn't even sure what we talked about half of the time. Usually it was nonsense, but I always found myself falling asleep with a smile on my face.
I wiggled my toes, hoping that I wouldn't get the polish all over my carpet. It probably wasn't our smartest idea to paint our toenails on carpet, but it was something we had done since we were practically in diapers, so there was really no point in changing it up now.
"So are you going to keep that poster of him up?" She nodded toward the poster above my twin size bed, nestled between a picture of Sicily and another of my high school diploma. Jay had commented on the poster more than once and I kept meaning to take it down.
"Doesn't it feel weird having someone that you're kind of dating plastered on your wall? Or does that like make it even better?" She wiggled her eyebrows.
"I guess I can take it down…" I stood up, wiping my hands on my purple velour sweat pants.
"Do you think that he has a giant poster of you in your work apron plastered on his wall?" she questioned as I stepped onto my bed.
"No…" I tried to balance, but felt like my feet were slipping on the pink polyester comforter. "He didn’t have any pictures of me up when I was at his place and I haven't seen any when we FaceTime."
I gripped onto the poster and started to slowly peel it back, taking the tape with it.
"Oh em gee!" Sofie jumped up off the floor.
"What?" I yanked the last piece of tape off as I turned toward Sofie.
"You've been in his bedroom? And Facetiming him every night?" Her mouth gaped open as she flopped down at the end of my bed.
"Yeah, I thought I told you that." I rolled up the poster and tossed it beside my desk before jumping down next to Sofie.
"Uh, no, and I think being in the bedroom of your dream guy is a pretty important thing that you should have told your best friend." She fiddled with the multiple bangles on her arms, twirling them around and around.
"Well it's not like we did anything. I mean Dana called like almost right after I got there and I ran out like an idiot," I reasoned. She didn't need to know all of the details. I hadn't told her about watching Eddie Justice play in the basement and Jay learning the song for me.
I mean, I should have, she was my best friend, but it was a memory I wanted to keep. Something that was just between Jay and me.
I also wasn't sure if she would go to the church basement looking for Eddie.
"Do your parents know you were in his bedroom?" She was overly eager. I could almost see the spit gathering in the rubber bands that engulfed her metal mouth.
"Sofie, I don't tell my parents everything! I'm an adult." I hit her in the arm with one of my throw pillows.
An adult that still lives with her parents and listens to their rules.
"Ow." She rubbed her arm. "Do they know you're talking to him?"
I shrugged. "I'm sure I'll have to tell them sometime. I do live under their roof for at least another six months then hopefully California."
She snorted. "I could just imagine what your Nonna has to say about him!" She scrunched her face and puffed out her bottom lip. "Mother Mary, Rosalia!" she cried in an over exaggerated Italian accent.
I covered my mouth to try and muffle my laughter. She actually sounded like Nonna.
At one point, Sofie and I talked about getting an apartment together in Dallas when we graduated high school. But an apartment required funds and we were both lacking those at the time since I wasn’t very good about saving tip money and used it on music and comic books.
When I brought up the idea to my parents, Ma cried, and Dad gave me a lecture about financial responsibility and basically shut the whole thing down. Thus, I still hadn’t moved out and hopefully California would be my first time living away from home.
"What are you doing to me, Rosalia? Bringing a boy with tattoos and spiky hair into the restaurant?" Sofie held her hands out and furrowed her brow like my dad does. "Mama Mia."
I actually snorted I was laughing so hard. "Okay, you need to stop hanging out with me so much because you're actually starting to sound like my family!"
"Want me to do Sonny next?" She wiggled her eyebrows.
My phone started vibrating against the hard plastic of my desk. I reached over and grabbed the phone, looking down at the screen as I leaned back into my mountain of throw pillows.
"Who is it?" Sofie curled up next to me, trying to look over my shoulder at the screen.
I didn't recognize the number, so my plan was to ignore it, but Sofie was not having it. She grabbed the phone from my hand and quickly put it up to her ear.
"Hello, Joe's bar, you kill 'em we grill 'em," she said in an overly done southern accent. If it wasn't obvious, Sofie wanted to be an actress and sometimes tried a little too hard.
"Oh, hey, Jay!" She grinned like a Cheshire cat.
"Give me the phone." I reached my hand out, but she already jumped off the bed as fast as her bare feet could carry her.
"Yeah, Lia's here but she just got out of the shower and all wet and naked, so it's going to take her a minute before she can get into something more comfortable." She winked at me before I leaped across the room and almost knocked her over.
She threw the phone at me as I scrambled with it in my hands before finally getting it to my ear. "Don’t listen to a word she says…"
"Aw." I could hear him laugh into the phone. "And it was just starting to get interesting."
There was a mumbling of other voices in the background.
"Um, shouldn't you be doing something like swimming? And since when did you get a phone?"
Sofie tried to lean against the other end of the phone so she could hear the conversation, but I kept darting my head.
"I just got done with practice. We're here in Rockwall. I picked up my new phone today and finally got the chance to actually call you."
"That is so hot," Sofie mouthed.
I rolled my eyes and put the phone to my other ear. "That's cool…I guess."
"Anyway…" I could hear him moving, his shallow breathing and some kind of background noise. "I was seeing what you were doing later today."
"Well I have to work later this afternoon until whenever my mom says that I'm done. What about you?"
Sofie unraveled my poster and held it besides herself, pawing at it and making kissy faces. "Oh, Lia I just want your hot Sicilian body," she mocked in a low voice that sounded nothing like Jay's.
"Stop it," I mouthed.
"Well I was hoping that we could hang out later. Go to a movie or something?" There was uncertainty in his voice. Was the great Jay Morningstar nervous to ask me out?
"Yeah, um, let me figure out my work schedule. I can try and switch tonight with another waitress," I stammered.
"What?" Sofie dropped the poster and ran back over to the phone.
I covered the mouthpiece with my hand. "He wants to hang out tonight…."
While I was distracted, Sofie grabbed the phone, putting it to her ear. "We would love to hang out tonight!" Sofie squealed.
"SOFIE!" I lunged toward her, but she slid back and I came up short.
"Pick us up at Lia's parents' house." She looked up at me. "Uh huh, seven o'clock. One Twelve Meadow Drive. See you then, bye." She hung up the phone and looked at me, licking her lips. "Rosalia we have a date!"
"SOFIE!" I screeched again.
"What?" She put her hands on her hips. "You don't want to hang out with your man candy and help your best friend meet some other hottie swimmers?"
"Well it’s not that…" I struggled for words as I shoved my hands into my pockets, dragging my feet on the carpet. "I'm just no
t completely sure as to what my parents will say about Jay coming around..."
"Well you better tell them soon." She marched over to my closet and threw open the doors. "We only have nine hours to figure out what to wear!"
Chapter 7
Luckily, I was able to persuade Dana to take my dinner shift as long as I covered for her the next two Saturdays. Of course that was worth it for Sofie who spent all day prancing around my bedroom, plucking her eyebrows, and trying on everything she could in my closet.
Sofie's dad was a catering manager at one of the hotels near Dallas so he was always working late on the weekends. It gave me the perfect excuse to say I was spending the night at Sofie's, since her dad wouldn't realize when we left or came back.
Most girls my age were away at college. Had the freedom to do what they wanted.
I'd never had that my entire life.
As the youngest in a larger Sicilian family, and the only girl, I was always watched. Always had an abundance of rules that I usually never messed with.
Jay Morningstar was the first rule I ever broke.
"Do you think it could get any colder out here?" Sofie's whole body shook as she looked over at me.
Jay said that he was on his way, so we stood at the end of my driveway, waiting for his car to pull into my neighborhood. Nonna was inside, but she usually passed out after Wheel of Fortune and it would take a massive earthquake to wake her up.
I could have told my family that I was going out with friends, maybe include Jay’s name casually.
But I didn't.
I chickened out like I always did.
I just didn't want it to be ruined. The moment. My time with Jay. My parents wouldn't exactly "forbid me" from going out with him, but they could make it really hard for me to do so.
"Maybe if you had on a skirt that was bigger than your fist, then you wouldn't be freezing." I looked down at her barely there skirt and black boots that still couldn't hide the goose bumps parading up her pale legs.
She pulled her cheetah print pea coat tightly around herself as she curled her upper lip at me. "Well, at least I dressed for the occasion."
"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"
