Chapter 13

“Thanks for listening to us tonight, folks. Y’all have a good night now,” I said into the microphone as we wrapped up our Sunday night gig at the Blue Ridge.

The scattered applause and whoops from the crowd made me smile as I unplugged my guitar. Even after playing here for several years, with most of the crowd being people who saw us once a week, it still felt good to know that people enjoyed our music.

I waved at and high-fived a few familiar kids from school and regulars as Seth, Lyla, and I made our way through the crowded restaurant toward the kitchen and the back door. Since we were getting back to our school year schedule, we stopped playing at eleven and turned the stage over to Dwight, who had been leading Willie’s band since Willie retired. We left the drum kit on the stage for them to use. A lot of the crowd left when we finished, but not everyone, and we didn’t want to tear down and ruin the rest of the show. It was what we’d done the previous year, and it worked pretty well.

Once we were out back, I said, “Well, that was great. A good way to end the summer shows, I guess.”

“It’s just another show,” Lyla said. “We’re playing here again next week. Don’t act like we’re done.”

“I know,” I nodded. “But it’s kind of the end of any chance that we’re going to tour or anything this summer. I’m sorry I couldn’t make that happen for us. I know I let you guys down.”

“I know you’re doing your best, Charlie,” Lyla said. “None of this is your fault. We all know how hard you’ve worked to get us more gigs.”

Seth nodded in agreement. “Yeah, man, you’ve done everything you could. The label screwed us, and going in we all knew this was going to be hard.”

I sighed and leaned against the side of the building. “I appreciate you guys saying that, but I made you promises I haven’t been able to keep. I told you we’d get off the ground this summer, start touring again, and get everything back to the way it was. Now the summer’s over, and we’re still exactly where we started. I also know you’re both having trouble, struggling to make enough living here and everything, not really able to support yourselves.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Seth said. “Things have been harder than any of us thought they would be. But it wasn’t exactly better before we joined up with you. Marco and I were only able to get gigs like once or twice a month, if we were lucky. And we were living in even worse conditions than I am now, couch surfing and stuff. It’s not glamorous, but at least now we have some steady income. It might not be enough to pay everything, but I, at least, am doing better than I was. Not as good as when we were with MAC, but we knew it was going to take a long time to get back to that.”

“I was struggling just as hard trying to make it on my own too. The odd gigs here and there were barely enough to pay the rent, let alone anything else,” Lyla chimed in. “I know Tabitha talked to you about all this. She told me she tried to get you to shut down the band, and I’m glad you didn’t listen to her, especially since it’s kind of my fault. I may have vented my frustrations to her once or twice, which doesn’t mean I think you’ve messed up or let us down. She just doesn’t really understand what it’s like, trying to make it as a working musician. It’s a hard life for most of us. I don’t think anyone outside of the business really understands what we go through, and I think there are a lot of people who’d be envious of the situation we have right now.”

“I appreciate that,” I said. “But I wanted you to know I’m aware that I haven’t lived up to what I promised. I just wanted to make sure you both know that, if something better comes along for you ... I’d understand.”

“Oh please, you know Seth and I are lifers,” Lyla said, waving a hand. “We’d follow you anywhere, playing dive bars, even busking on street corners if we have to. We’ve got your back.”

“What she said,” Seth said. “You’re kinda stuck with us, man.”

“Well, I really appreciate you guys saying all that. Seriously, it means the world to me that you’re sticking by me through this mess. Anyway, we’re still looking for a way to build up a fan base to the west, where MAC can’t mess with us. Nothing concrete yet, but we’re not giving up.”

“Yeah, just keep us posted. Whatever we need to do, we’ll make it work,” Lyla said.

“Okay then,” I said. “I just wanted to check in with you guys and make sure you knew you could get out if you thought you needed to. I don’t want to hold you guys hostage.”

“You’re not,” Seth said. “We want to be here. We’re with you.”

Monday was the first day of my senior year, and I was nervous pulling into the school parking lot. For good reason. Considering how the previous year had ended, with everything in my life basically going up in flames, followed by the firing of the principal and vice-principal, there was a huge question mark on how this year would go for me.

Theoretically, today was going to be a fresh start. There was a new principal, and one of the teachers from the previous year, who I never had problems with, had been promoted to vice-principal. I hoped that meant things would be better, who knew. Small towns had long memories, and I had burned a bunch of bridges with lawsuits at the end of the year.

This was also my first year without Hanna or Kat. I had friends here. Part of the lunch group, Cameron, a few others, but it wasn’t the same. My best friends were off at college, and I was still here, by myself.

I grabbed my backpack out of the backseat and headed inside. I was almost starting to feel like things might be back to normal when I pushed through the front door, only to feel a pit drop in my stomach as I almost ran into Mrs. Morgan, who was standing there. From the way her eyes locked on me, I intuitively knew she’d been waiting for me.

Giving me a look I recognized from my many previous trips to the principal’s office, she said, “Mr. Nelson, our new principal, Dr. Wallace, would like to see you in his office immediately.”

My shoulders slumped. Of course, he did. Because why wouldn’t I get summoned to the principal’s office on the very first day back? It was just like last year all over again.

“Right,” I muttered. “Lead the way, I guess.”

I knew where it was, but she was waiting for me, so she’d be heading back to her desk in the front office anyway. Mrs. Morgan gave a brisk nod and marched off down the hall, her heels clacking against the scuffed linoleum. I trailed glumly behind her, wondering what I could have possibly done to be in trouble already. I hadn’t even made it to homeroom yet.

We reached the main office, and Mrs. Morgan waved me toward the principal’s office. “Go on in. He’s expecting you.”

I knew the way, passing her desk and heading to the office I’d been in and out of so many times before. The door was ajar, so I rapped my knuckles against the frame.

“Come in,” a low voice called.

I stepped inside to see a middle-aged man in a crisp suit sitting behind the large wooden desk. He gave me an appraising look as I hovered uncertainly by the threshold.

“You must be Charlie,” he said. “I’m Dr. Wallace, your new principal. Please, come in and have a seat.”

He gestured to one of the chairs across from him. I sat down, dropping my backpack on the floor with a thud that seemed overly loud in the quiet office. Dr. Wallace just watched me, his hands folded on top of a neat stack of papers. His expression was steady, but not unkind.

“Don’t worry, you’re not in any kind of trouble,” he began, correctly interpreting the expression on my face. “I wanted to speak with you first thing this morning before you went to class. I only recently took over as principal here after the, shall we say, shake-up at the end of last year, and I wanted to make sure we started off on the right foot.”