“That might complicate things,” Kyle said calmly. “But we’ll find them. Don’t they play at nine tonight anyway?”
“Are you suggesting we just hang out and wait?” I hit send a few more times on my phone, but it was no use.
“That’s exactly what I’m suggesting.” Kyle put an arm around my shoulder. “Think of this as an eye-opening learning experience. You do work on a radio show now.”
I laughed. “Fair enough.”
The next act was another folk group. I liked them, but not as much as Love Doves. I decided it was a good sign that I was starting to distinguish between what groups I liked and didn’t like within a genre. Kyle was right. I did work on a radio show now, and it would be helpful to actually know the music we were talking about.
We listened for another hour, all the while I obsessively checked my phone, before three very familiar people walked on the stage.
“Whoo hoo! Pearberry!” Jade yelled. A bunch of people in the crowd turned to look at us.
I laughed and joined in with the cheering. It was really fun to know a band that almost no one had even heard of.
They didn’t start with an introduction. They did what a lot of artists had been doing and jumped right into one of their songs. I remembered it from when they opened for Maddox.
Afterwards, Ava started to talk. “Hey everyone! Hope you’re all enjoying yourself today—or really tonight.” She stopped for applause. “We’re Pearberry. I’m Ava, this is AJ, and Jimmy is our newest member.”
I expected her to break into a song, but instead it was Jimmy’s turn to talk. “Hey, everyone. It’s amazing to be here.” He also stopped for applause. “We’re going to play a new song next. It’s one I wrote about a girl I can’t have now, but will have later.”
Jade nudged me. “I wonder who he’s talking about.”
“Chase should be jealous.” Kyle teased.
I ignored them both.
Jimmy had a surprisingly good voice, and if the song was any indication, he was also a good song writer. I actually preferred it to the rest of the Pearberry music, although I wouldn’t have admitted that to Ava and AJ. As his intro explained, it was all about imagining being with someone you couldn’t have. There was an edge to it that left you wondering if the singer knew how inflated his dreams were, and that no one could live up to those imaginings. Maybe I didn’t give the guy enough credit.
He finished the song, and then he went and ruined it all. “Oh, and if anyone’s wondering, that’s called Cara’s Song.”
AJ took over and they finished off their set. The crowd seemed to love their sound, and I was so excited for them. As weird as Jimmy was, the girls were pretty cool.
I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket and grabbed it, picking up immediately when I saw Chase’s name. “Hi!”
“Hi! I’ve been trying you forever. Where are you?”
I glanced around, looking for some sort of telltale sign of where I was.
Noticing the confusion on my face, Kyle gestured for the phone, so I gave it to him. “Hey, it’s Kyle.” He paused and smiled. “Yes, that same one, and I’m holding you to those tickets.” He laughed. “Okay, we’ll be over there in a few.”
He hung up before handing me my phone back. “I know where he is.”
I bounced up on my toes. “Oh my gosh, I could kiss you right now.”
“Yeah… probably not the best time since we’re about to see your boyfriend, but if Jade here wants to do it for you.” He wriggled an eyebrow and laughed.
Jade kissed him on the cheek. “That’s the best you’re getting.”
“I’ll take it.”
I trailed behind Kyle as he meandered toward the stage. The crowd was dense, so it took some work to even stay together.
I saw Jessa first. She’d dyed a strip of her hair blue, and it was the kind of neon blue you couldn’t miss. As I picked up my pace to get closer, Chase looked up.
He made it over to me first, lifting me up by the waist and twirling me around. “Finally.”
I grinned. “I know! My phone’s getting lousy service.”