Virtually in Love

by A. Destiny

  Kaz and Vanessa joined me. “This is fun, isn’t it?” Kaz exclaimed.

  Vanessa laughed and plucked at his hair, which had escaped from its gel and was sticking up at odd angles. “Definitely,” she said.

  He smiled down at her, and I averted my eyes, suddenly feeling awkward. They really were an adorable couple . . . .

  Kaz glanced at me. “So, where is he?”

  I didn’t need to ask who he meant. I took another gulp of water before answering. “He can’t make it after all. Family stuff or whatever.”

  “Really? Sorry, Chloe.” Vanessa squeezed my arm, looking sympathetic.

  Kaz shrugged. “Yeah, bummer, Chloe,” he said. “I know you were all excited.” He actually sounded sincere, which I appreciated. I wasn’t sure I could take any more teasing about my imaginary almost-boyfriend right then.

  “Yeah. Well, whatever, thanks. Let’s not talk about it anymore, okay?” I shot a look around. “Can you believe how many people are here?”

  It seemed as if everyone in town had turned out for the marathon. I spotted several of my neighbors, my bus driver, and one of the hair stylists from the salon my mom and I went to, along with Vanessa’s parents and little sister, who was giggling as one of the cheerleaders twirled her around. My own family had promised to stop by after Timothy’s soccer scrimmage.

  “Look, I see my dentist over there!” Vanessa exclaimed. She grinned widely. “Do my teeth look okay?”

  I laughed. “Chill. I doubt he’s planning to give you an exam right here and now.”

  Maya rushed over just then, flinging her arms around Kaz and hugging him so hard, his eyes practically bugged out. “Dude, you’re a genius!” she exclaimed. “We’re already more than halfway to our money goal, and it’s only, like, one o’clock! Can you believe it?”

  “Definitely,” I said. “We already knew Kaz was a genius.”

  Kaz laughed breathlessly. “Did we? Someone should tell Ms. Farley. She gave me a C plus on my last test.”

  Maya ignored that, letting go of her cousin and racing off to hug one of the other cheerleaders who was sucking down lemonade nearby.

  “She seems happy,” Vanessa said with a giggle.

  I smiled, deciding not to fret over no-show Trevor anymore. Why let his stupid family and their last-minute change of plans ruin my fun? Besides, he was here all week—I was sure we’d have plenty of time together. Not to mention the school dance next Saturday. Maybe it was better if today was about the kids and my friends and having fun. After all, not everything had to be about true romance.

  “Come on. Let’s get back to our seats,” I told my friends. “I’m ready to keep this party going!”

  • • •

  Two hours later the dance marathon was still in full swing. Some of the early guests had left by then, though plenty of other people had turned up to replace them. My family had come and gone, but only after I’d guilted my dad into writing a huge donation check so he didn’t have to actually dance. My mom had danced once with Carlos and once with Aidan, and Timothy had taken a turn with Toni the cheerleader.

  It was nice to see our hard work paying off. So nice that I didn’t think about Trevor at all. Well, hardly at all, anyway. Seriously. I was way too busy having a great time.

  When the conductor called for another break, Vanessa bolted from her seat. “Be right back,” she called over her shoulder. “I think I drank too much water on the last break.”

  As she disappeared in the direction of the restrooms, I wandered over to join Kaz at the drinks table. “Running out of breath yet?” I asked, and gave him a poke in the arm. “We’ve got some pretty brass-heavy numbers coming up, so I hope you can handle it.”

  “Don’t worry. I can handle anything.” He grinned and struck a bodybuilder pose. Then he grabbed a bottle of water. “I just hope those poor cheerleaders’ legs don’t fall off from trying to keep up with all those hyper little kids.”

  “Hey, if they do, we can take over,” I said. “We’ll just have to play and dance at the same time!”

  Kaz laughed. “Sounds like fun. Maybe we should suggest that for next year’s fund-raiser.”

  “Maybe we should.” I chugged some lemonade, watching Kaz out of the corner of my eye. Today was a huge success, and it never would have happened without him. He was such an amazing guy. “We could start planning it at Aesop’s after the marathon—just the three of us.” Suddenly realizing what I’d said, I coughed. “I mean, if you and Vanessa don’t already have plans, that is. You know—just the two of you. I mean, I wouldn’t want to—”

  “No, it’s fine,” he cut me off. “I mean, we hadn’t really talked about it, so . . .”

  Whatever he said after that, I didn’t hear it. Because I glanced in the direction of the door just in time to see Trevor walk in—carrying his guitar case and looking impossibly hot.

  Chapter Thirteen

  I was stunned, but I recovered quickly. “Trevor!” I yelled, waving my hands over my head. “Over here!”

  Pushing through the crowd, I reached him before he’d made it more than a few steps into the gym. He flipped his hair back and smiled when he saw me.

  “Chloe,” he said. “Hey. Surprise! I made it after all.”

  “Awesome! But what happened?” I asked, hardly daring to believe he was really here. “I thought you were coming, and then I got your text . . . .”

  “Yeah, sorry about that.” He reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. I was so distracted by the feeling of his calloused fingers on my cheek, I got a little lost and missed what he said next.

  “Uh, um, what?” I burbled, realizing he was looking at me as if expecting a response.

  “I said the band called to say hi,” he said. “Zoe had some ideas about our playlist they wanted to run by me, and I kind of lost track of time, and then my aunt was talking about maybe getting some food . . . .” He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I decided I couldn’t let you down, so I talked Jon into bringing me.”

  “I’m glad.” I smiled up at him, imagining what everyone would say when they heard him play. But wait—I didn’t have to imagine it. Grabbing his hand, I pulled him after me. “Come on. You’re just in time—we’re about to start our next set.”

  “Cool.” He let me drag him over to the bandstand. Vanessa had returned by now, and she and Kaz were standing by her seat.

  “Guys!” I exclaimed. “Check it out—come meet Trevor!”

  Vanessa’s jaw dropped, but Kaz hardly twitched. “So this is the famous Trevor, huh?” he said, stepping over and holding out his hand. “Kazuo Aratani, at your service.”

  Trevor blinked at him, then reached out his hand to shake Kaz’s. “Um, hi. Chloe’s told me all about you.”

  “All about me? Oh dear,” Kaz said. “Then it seems I’ll have to ask you to sign a confidentiality agreement.”

  “Ignore him. He’s just being silly,” I told Trevor, seeing the confusion in his eyes. Most people didn’t know what to make of Kaz at first. I grabbed Vanessa and pulled her closer. She was staring at Trevor as if he were some fascinating but slightly terrifying alien species. “This is Van. Vanessa Bennett, I mean. My other best friend.”

  “Hi, Vanessa.” Trevor smiled at her and flipped his hair back again. “Chloe’s told me about you, too. It’s really great to meet you.”

  “Hi.” Vanessa was doing that shy thing again, peeking out at him from behind a curtain of blond hair. It made her look extra adorable, and I sort of wanted to hug her.

  Okay, I sort of wanted to hug the world just then. Starting with a certain future rock god and almost-boyfriend whose arrival was the cherry on top of this amazing sundae of a day. Sundae—Sunday—get it?

  Yeah, I was feeling a little giddy. So sue me!

  Kaz was looking curiously at Trevor’s guitar case. “So, dude,” he said. “Chloe tells us you’re a pretty good axeman. Who do you like best, Townshend, Van Halen, or Page?”

  Trevor didn’t miss a beat. “Hen
drix,” he replied. “Those other guys are cool too, though.”

  Kaz nodded, looking impressed. “Nice.” He shot me a look. “I don’t know what you were talking about, Chloe. This guy is for real. Not imaginary at all.”

  Once again Trevor looked a little confused. But I smiled at Kaz. “Told ya so,” I said. “And thanks.”

  Then I grabbed Trevor by the hand, leading him over to introduce him to Maya and the current conductor, a junior French horn player named Sophie, who were huddled over the sheet music nearby. I quickly explained who he was and what he could do. Trevor helped by flashing them his cutest smile, then playing a few riffs on his guitar.

  “This is good,” Maya announced. “Annamaria is getting blisters from the harp, and I don’t dare let Kaz take over since every time he gets near that thing, he starts playing the theme from Deliverance. Anyway, we could stand to mix things up a little in the stringed-instrument department. So find a place to sit, Trevor, and welcome to the chaos.”

  He chuckled. “Thanks.”

  “I think there’s a free seat over there by the other guitar people.” Sophie waved at a chair off to one side, where various band members had been taking turn strumming the guitars and banjos and other instruments people had brought.

  Trevor thanked her and immediately headed that way. I was a little disappointed he hadn’t even said anything to me before going—at least until I saw him nod at the other guitarists, grab the free chair, and start back toward me, dragging it behind him.

  “Hey, mind scooting over?” he asked the clarinetist next to me, wearing a charming smile.

  Said clarinetist was a quiet freshman whose name I was pretty sure was Rachel, though it was hard to be certain since she barely spoke. Decent musician, though. At Trevor’s request she looked up from the book she’d been reading while waiting to get started again.

  “Um . . .” she said. “Okay?”

  “Cool.” Trevor waited until she’d scooted over a bit, and then he wedged his chair in between hers and mine. It was kind of a tight squeeze, and when he sat down, our thighs touched. Romantic!

  He looked up at Sophie, who’d just taken her place in front of the band. “Ready when you are, boss,” he called to her.

  She nodded and raised her hands. “In one . . . two . . . three . . .”

  I was so distracted by having Trevor right there next to me that I forgot to play for a second. But I caught myself quickly, blowing out my part for all I was worth. How long had it been since Trevor and I had made music together?

  Five years, I thought. Actually, five years, eight months, and six days. But who’s counting?

  Okay, I was getting distracted again. I realized I’d lost my place in the song. But who cared? Music didn’t have to be perfect to work. I kept the clarinet to my lips but stopped playing for a moment, instead listening to Trevor strumming softly along with the rest of the band. There was no guitar part on the music in front of us, but that didn’t stop him from improvising his part. Just like a real pro, I thought proudly.

  The next song was a recent pop-rock hit. Trevor smiled when I flipped to the music.

  “This is more like it,” he murmured, winking at me.

  “Yeah. Hold that thought.” I hopped up and stepped over to Sophie. “Hey, maybe Trev can do a guitar solo on this one?” I said softly. “Could be cool, right?”

  She shrugged. “Sure, why not? Tell him to go for it.”

  “Thanks.” I returned to my seat, grinning. “Okay, Mr. Hendrix,” I said quietly. “You up for a rocking solo?”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Always.”

  Sophie started the song then, so we had to stop talking. When we reached the part where the guitarist took over in the recorded version of the song, Trevor jumped to his feet and stepped to the front of the band as he wailed up and down the frets. A few people whooped and stomped their feet or clapped. One of the percussionists tapped his sticks together to keep the beat. But mostly all eyes and ears were on Trevor as he did his thing.

  I wasn’t sure whether to close my eyes to better soak up the sound, or keep them open to enjoy the view. I settled for some of each. It was amazing! The solo went on . . . and on . . . and then on some more. Once or twice I saw some of the other musicians raise their instruments as if thinking it was time to jump in again. But I could read Trevor’s body language as easily as an ABC book, and I could tell he was so into it that he wasn’t planning on stopping anytime soon. Which was fine with me. I could have watched him play all night.

  But finally Sophie raised her hands. “Okay, guys!” she said over the sound of the wailing guitar. The band started playing the chorus again, and Trevor finished up and sat down.

  He was breathing hard, but he looked happy. “Okay, that was fun,” he told me. “How’d I sound?”

  “Incredible!” I said, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. “I wish I’d thought to record it on my phone.”

  He grinned. “That’s okay. Maybe I’ll play it for you again later.”

  I blushed but didn’t say anything, mostly because the song had just ended. Reaching for my stand, I switched to the next piece of music, a lively number from Guys and Dolls that had brought the house down at our last concert.

  Trevor wrinkled his nose when he saw it. “I think I blew my wad on that solo just now,” he said. “Come on, let’s go dance for a while.”

  “Huh?” I was too surprised to react as he yanked me to my feet. Handing off my clarinet to Rachel on my way past, I followed him out toward the dance floor.

  “Hey,” Sophie called. “Where are you going?”

  “Dancing.” I laughed, loving Trevor’s impulsiveness. How romantic was it that he couldn’t control the urge to dance with me?

  Sophie shrugged and lifted her hands to begin the song. Most of the band started playing on cue, though a few people were watching us instead.

  “Hey,” one of the trombone players yelled out after a few bars. “My lips are numb. I want to dance too!”

  “Yeah,” a percussionist called out, dropping his sticks on the snare with a clatter. “Come on, people. Let’s boogie!”

  “What are you doing?” Maya let go of her dance partner and hurried toward us.

  “What does it look like?” I told her with a grin. “We’re dancing!”

  Within seconds there was a full-out riot from the band. People were setting down their instruments left and right, leaving only a handful of musicians still playing.

  “How are we going to dance without music?” one of the cheerleaders complained.

  Toni giggled. “Maybe we should play!” She ran over and grabbed someone’s saxophone, blowing into it and producing a loud squawk. Several other cheerleaders also headed for the bandstand. One of them started strumming randomly on the harp, while another crashed the cymbals together, and a third actually blared out a few notes on a trumpet. The people who’d come to dance or watch seemed a little confused, though most of them were still dancing through it all.

  “Dude!” Carlos cried. “You guys stink. I can play better than that!” He grabbed the drumsticks from a cheerleader, who, laughing, backed off and let him take over. Several other kids also took over various instruments. Despite all the music lessons we’d given them over the past year, the result was pure musical chaos.

  Trevor and I stood there watching the show. He chuckled as two little girls started arguing over the banjo. “Things suddenly got much more rock ’n’ roll around here,” he told me with a grin. “You’re welcome.”

  I laughed, though I felt slightly worried by the stormy expression on Maya’s face as she headed for the bandstand.

  Suddenly Kaz leaped into view in the middle of the dance floor. “Yo, I’m here to save the day!” he cried, holding up his phone. He punched a button, and music poured out—namely, a popular recent dance tune.

  “That’s more like it!” one of Vanessa’s fellow flutists cried, grooving to the beat.

  I relaxed against Trevor as everyone else started
dancing too—including Maya. “Hey, aren’t we supposed to be dancing?” I said, tilting my head up to smile at him.

  He took both of my hands and spun me around. “Your wish is my command.”

  The rest of the marathon was pure anarchic fun. People took turns playing their favorite songs on their phones and MP3 players, and someone even found a speaker to plug them into so everyone could hear better. The band members volunteered to dance with the paying customers right along with the kids and cheerleaders so everyone could get as many turns as they wanted.

  Well, most of the band volunteered, anyway. I wasn’t about to give up the super-awesome dance partner I already had. Trevor was almost as amazing a dancer as he was a guitarist. He spun me around, shook his hips, and generally seemed to be having just as much fun as I was. The only slight bummer was nobody seemed too interested in playing any slow songs, keeping things almost frenetically up-tempo.

  But I could live with that. We would be right back here in the gym next weekend at the big dance, and there were sure to be plenty of slow songs then. This taste of dancing with Trevor just made me look forward to the big night even more.

  Things were starting to wind down by ten of seven. Trevor and I took a break from dancing to grab some drinks. As we stood there watching Kaz do his usual goofy spaz dance in the middle of the floor, I glanced up at Trevor, still hardly believing he was really there.

  “This has been great,” I said. “I’m glad you made it after all.”

  “Yeah, me too.” He chugged some lemonade.

  I was about to invite him to join my friends and me at the diner after the marathon when someone shouted his name. Glancing toward the door, I saw that it was Jon. And he didn’t look happy.

  Trevor heard him too. “Oops,” he said, grabbing my arm to check my watch. “Lost track of the time. I’d better go.”

  He took off toward Jon before I could respond. I watched him go, a little disappointed . . . at least until he paused just long enough to smile and blow me a kiss.

  I shivered, wishing it were the real thing as he disappeared through the door. But that would come soon enough. After all the super-romantic moments with Trevor this weekend, I was sure of that. Spotting Carlos grooving to the beat nearby, I grinned and headed over to demand the dance he’d promised me.