October 13th, 2016

Kinsky, California, USA

Concert

“Hey, Lukas! Time to get up!”

Lukas groaned under his sheets. He took his quilt and covered his head with it.

Mrs. Schrodden was not pleased. She walked away for a second, grabbed a yardstick from her office, and walked back over to Lukas’. He was still in bed.

Gently, she poked at him with the yardstick. “Lukas, honey, up.”

“I know, I know!” He waved his hand under the quilt, but his mother didn’t let up until he was completely out of bed, his blanket draped over his head. 

“Get dressed and come down for breakfast.”

He took the blanket off of his head. “You got it…” he replied drowsily.

…

Sara Schrodden had long wavy blonde hair. It was clear she was aging, but her dimples were still there. She wore a light blue dress and a pearl necklace. She watched her son as they both ate Lucky Charms at the small kitchen table.

“Do you know what I overheard one of my 4th graders say at recess the other day?” She finally asked.

Lukas looked up, cereal still in his mouth. “Hmm?”

“Okay, well, there were these two boys having an argument. I don’t know what it was about, I think one of them had taken the other’s ball or something. But I heard one of them say, ‘This is why you’re such a dummy!’. And the other boy, the one with the ball, turns around and yells at the top of his lungs, ‘Well, at least my mother doesn’t have a yeast infection!’”

Lukas had to stop himself from spitting out his cereal. He laughed, keeping his mouth from opening with his hand. His mother laughed, too.

“Well, anyway… that’s why I think kids shouldn’t be using the internet so much. They learn about all sorts of things they shouldn’t know until they’re older.”

Lukas finally swallowed his cereal. “I mean, I used the internet all the time, and I turned out just fine.”

“Yeah. For now.” She continued to smile, turning back to her cereal. The two took a couple of more bites, before Mrs. Schrodden spoke up again.

“Today is Kat’s concert, right?”

The subject change turned Lukas nervous. “Yeah, it is. I’m going with Cole and Maria.”

“Yeah, well, I’m sorry again I couldn’t make it. But let Kat know I’m proud of her, alright?”

“I will.”

They took a few more bites. Mrs. Schrodden once again interrupted.

“Speaking of which, when are you going to invite Kat over again? It’s been awhile since I’ve seen her.”

“Oh, um… I will. It’s just, you know, she’s been so busy with the concert and all… she hasn’t really had any time in her schedule, and-”

“Lukas.” 

The boy looked up. His mother looked him in the eyes, in a manner delicate yet striking. 

“That might work for other people, but it won’t work for me.”

Lukas turned his head down, trying to hide his embarrassment.

“I know you like her. Just… be nice to her, alright?”

Lukas tried to brush it off. “I am. I will.”

The two continued to finish up their breakfast, then headed out on their separate ways.

…

It was lunch now. Lukas and Ash came with their lunch trays and sat with the others. The group soon noticed Aaron and Rodrigo staring at the table opposite of them.

“Look! She is over there now!” Rodrigo pointed over at Sadja, who now sat with Kat and the rest of the football team.

Aaron shook his head, his mouth full of potato chips. “I knew we couldn’t trust her,” he said, only partially sarcastic.

Rose gave the two a look. “Is the only thing you two do anymore gossip about the football team?”

Aaron crinkled up the now empty bag in his hands. “Well, I was going to talk about the Clash of Clans group we made. But you were opposed to that.”

His girlfriend put her hand to her head. “God, that’s even worse.”

“Well, what did you want to talk about, then?”

Lukas interjected, pointing his thumb over to the artist who sat next to him. “Well, I heard somebody here just passed the first round to get into Alto.”

Rose’s eyes widened. “Wait, seriously? You did?”

Ash, who didn’t want the sudden attention, began to blush. “Well, um, I… yeah.”

“Isn’t Alto Design School like… the top 20 schools in the US?” Cole inquired.

“Yeah. It’s like MIT, but for artists or some shit,” Rodrigo intelligently added.

Rose turned back to Ash. “How many more rounds are there again?” 

“Oh, well… there’s three. The next one is a virtual interview, with the letters of recommendation… and then after that, you get flown out to Rhode Island, and do a panel interview on campus…”

“You’ll kill it, girl. Don’t even sweat.” Rose smiled. “If you ever need someone to practice with, feel free to hit me up.”

Aaron tapped the table a few times. “That reminds me, how’s our Dartmouth woman doing?”

Eyes turned towards Emily. She shrugged.

“Oh, you know. It’s going.”

“Can we get a few more specifics?” Lukas investigated. 

“Well, uh… I sent my app over to Dartmouth, Northwestern, and Yale. Those are my top three picks. And I have my North Cal already accepted, as a backup.”

Rodrigo put his fingers to his temples. “Yale is in your top three preferences. What the hell was I doing?” 

“Guys like us took the easy route,” Lukas replied, a half-eaten Uncrustable in his hand. “There’s strengths and weaknesses to that, you know.”

“Guys like you are the reason girls will run the world in ten years,” Rose responded, eating some salad out of a bento box.

Lukas looked up at her, and smiled. “We’ll let you, as long as we get to relax in the background.”

Rose leaned in, turning her head to the side. “Oh, you’ll let us, huh?”

The kids continued their discussion, laughing amongst each other, forgetting about the group of friends who sat away from them. This away group had their own conversation flowing, and Sadja watched and listened, though it was somewhat in annoyance. 

“…anyway, after that, fuck physics.” Isaac finished up his story to the crowd of boys around him. “Mrs. Hawkins can suck my ass.”

The boys chuckled in response, including Maurice and Russell. Kat tried laughing as well, though she didn’t understand the story at all. 

“Yo, we really need to get together sometime, during the bye weekend,” one of the other footballers commented. “It’s been awhile since we’ve gotten together.”

“You forgettin’ the party at Corbin?” The teen next to him mentioned. “Or were you just not invited?”

Isaac leaned in. “No shit, there’s a party in Corbin?”

Kat looked at Isaac, beginning to feel confused.

“Yeah man, tonight at 8. Ravendale and Oasis guys will be there, but it’s all chill. It’s at some mansion on the hill, wild shit.”

“God damn, that sounds preem.” Isaac smiled. Kat, whose face turned from confusion to annoyance, continued to look at her boyfriend. But she felt too uncomfortable to speak, and so remained silent.

“So, you gonna be hittin’ it?” The football player responded.

“Yeah man, I’ll be sure to check it out.”

At this point Russell, who sat across from the quarterback and the two girls, gave a loud and noticeable cough. “Think you’ve got an appointment, chief,” his deep voice mentioned.

“Oh, shit!” Isaac suddenly snapped out of it. “Shit, that’s right. No, I can’t. Maybe next time, though.”

The other player seemed disappointed, and for a separate reason so did Kat. Sadja mentioned nothing, looking down and spinning her spoon through a small pack of yogurt.

…

It was night now. Maria sat on the steps of her porch, scrolling through her feed. She recognized an image of a new sketch that Ash had done. Another picture was of Kat and Sadja, posing in front of the practice room mirror. The third image, which Maria froze on, was of Rose and Aaron. It was a selfie that Rose had taken of the two at Vicky Mountain, a smaller hike close to Kinsky’s more famous Mount Oswald. Something about the image made Maria feel queasy. She closed out of the app. 

Her home screen was of her and Anita in Mexico, from a trip a year or so back. She didn’t know how long she looked at that screen, but the next thing she noticed was a car pulling up to the dirt path in front of the house.

Maria entered the back seat. The car was loudly playing some rap song, which Lukas (the driver, this time around) lowered the volume of as the girl came in. Cole sat in the passenger. 

“Hey, Maria.”

“Hi Lukas.”

The group drove in silence for a little while longer. Maria watched the trees and houses go by through the window.

“So, you guys big choir fans then?” She finally asked.

Lukas shook his head vigorously. “God no, I hate choir concerts.”

Cole agreed. “Oh, absolutely. Not exactly the place I’d choose for a Friday night, but… you know.”

Maria looked at the two in the front, and smiled. “So you just go for Kat, then?”

“Well… Sadja, too,” Cole continued. “But yeah. We’ve been going to Kat’s stuff since she started doing it.”

Maria leaned back into her seat, watching the scenery move outside the window. “You guys are good friends. I wish I knew people like you when I was growing up.”

“You didn’t have any friends when you were a kid?” Lukas asked with concern, keeping his eyes on the road.

“Not close ones. People here and there, but we moved so much that… really the only person I got close to was Anita.”

Lukas nodded solemnly. “Yeah, I can get that. For a long time it was just Cole, Kat, and I. It wasn’t until we met Rose in middle school that we got along with anyone else.”

Cole had his elbow on the car window, resting his head on his hand. “We were the problem kids, too. So the others knew to stay away from us.”

Lukas shrugged. “I mean, that was mostly you.”

Cole looked at him. “Oh, come on. Don’t pretend like you were some sort of angel.”

The two friends continued to banter with each other, and Maria let them. She watched the trees give way to civilization, as the car rocked her to calmness. 

…

The car rolled up to the front of the auditorium. On the steps to the entrance they saw Ash, Emily, and Maurice standing around. Emily waved at them as they approached.

“Hey, guys.”

Maria smiled, and waved back. Cole looked over Emily, who was wearing a neat pleated black dress and her long gold earrings. 

“Well, you’re well-dressed.” Cole commented.

Emily looked over Cole, who wore a graphic t-shirt and a pair of shorts. She smiled.

“I can tell you opted for casual.”

Cole shrugged. “Didn’t know there was a dress code.”

Emily smirked at him. “There isn’t. Just wanted an excuse to bust this thing out.”

Lukas felt something come up behind him. It was a hand, gentle, which touched him on the back of the shoulder. He turned around. It was Kat.

She wore a silver satin dress which was just short enough to keep her flexible. Her hair was done up with her signature high ponytail. The blue from her eyes was accentuated by a subtle brush of eyeliner that extended outwards towards the eye’s edge. She put her hands on her hips and gave him a friendly look. Lukas tried to greet her, but no words left his lips.

“So, your mom couldn’t make it?” Kat spoke first.

“Uh… no, no she couldn’t. But she says she’s proud of you, you know. Like always.”

She smiled. “I get it. Parent-teacher conferences. Sara is a real trooper, you know.”

Lukas couldn’t help but smirk. “Yeah, I know.”

Kat looked up at the glass-laden entrance of the Kinsky High auditorium. “They’re still doing the fundraiser right now, so we got a little time…” she began. “You wanna come with me and check out backstage? I’ll give you the VIP tour.”

Lukas was caught off guard by the offer. He stumbled over his words. 

“Um… I… well…” He turned around to look at the others, only to realize there were no others to look at. The rest of the group was gone now, a swinging entrance door the only sign of their previous presence.

“Come on, it’ll be fun!” Kat continued. “I promise.”

Lukas turned back to her. He got caught in her eyes, and began getting that feeling again. 

“Are you… are you sure I’m, allowed back there?”

“Well, I hear that friends of the captain can come for free.” She winked at him, grabbing his arm as she did so.

That wink was enough to do him in. He felt his heart pitter-patter, and despite the cold of the night air a strange warmth hung over him, embraced him, and he began to react automatically to its kindling.

“Alright, sure.” he finally responded.

Kat let go of his arm and beckoned for him to follow. She led him through the front door, past the ticket booth, down into the auditorium itself — where a few people stopped them to greet Kat — and finally through a door that led them into the music building hallways. A door at the end of the hall was opened, and Kat led Lukas inside.

There was a group of girls, scattered across the room. All the girls wore the same type of dress Kat did, in either silver or dark blue. Sadja, who wore the blue variant, sat atop a tall stack of chairs, talking to another girl. When she saw the two come in, she waved and called out from her spot.

“Hey Lukas!”

Lukas gave her a shy wave back. Kat walked around the room, pointing at different areas now and again.

“Anyway, there’s the supply room… Here’s the steps, where we all get up and practice. There’s the whiteboard, yadda yadda. Man, it’s crazy… I don’t think you’ve ever been in here, have you?”

Lukas thought for a moment, looking around at the various stacks of boxes and equipment thrown around the room. “Uh… I think once, to pick you up. But beyond that, no.”

“Well, me and Sadj practically live in here by this point.”

Kat continued around the room, while Lukas awkwardly followed along. There was an Indian girl sitting on one of the chairs, scrolling through her phone. Kat sat beside her.

“Hey Sasha, you feeling excited?”

Sasha wore a silver dress like Kat, but in her hair were also two big silver ribbons that hung on her pigtails.

“Oh, um… yeah.”

Kat gave her a comforting look. “Feeling nervous?”

Sasha looked up at her, and a smile came across her face. “Yeah,” she said softly.

“Listen, I’ll give you my secret,” Kat leaned in. “I’m always nervous. I just don’t let people know.”

She patted Sasha on the shoulder, only for her to get up and see another boy at the entrance to the room. He had Filipino heritage, and two small rhinestone earrings sparkled off his ears. He was dressed up — a silver vest, similar in material to the one the girls wore, was snug over a white dress shirt. He walked over to Kat, a clipboard in his hand.

“Hey, Kat. I think we’re all ready on our end.” He handed the clipboard to Kat, and she took it.

“Thanks, Tony.” 

As Kat read off the paper, Tony looked over at the guy hanging close by her. A glimmer of remembrance hit his eyes.

“Hey… you must be Luke, right?” Tony asked.

“Lukas,” the boy corrected.

Kat handed Tony back the clipboard, and nodded. Tony walked back out of the room, and Kat turned towards Lukas.

“Think we’re just about ready to start. You should go back up and find the others.”

Lukas nodded. “Yeah, sounds good.”

“You’ll be in the front row, right? Smiling at me so I don’t freak out?”

Lukas thought about it for a moment, a smirk crossing his lips. “I’ll be right smack-dab in the center, so you can’t avoid me.”

Kat giggled. “That works, too. I’ll see you then.”

Lukas began to walk out when he heard Sadja call out to him once more from the top of the chairs.

“Hey, is Isaac here yet?”

Lukas didn’t quite hear her the first time. “What?”

“Is Isaac here yet?”

“I dunno, maybe. I haven’t seen him.”

Sadja looked somewhat irritated, but she waved her hand back at Lukas and the boy took that as his turn to leave.

…

Cole and Maria sat down next to each other. The fundraiser had just ended, and a winner was announced on stage. Neither of the two paid particularly close attention to it.

“You know, Kat once told me something interesting about the funds for the music groups.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. So, basically, you have one fund that they dedicate to choir, theater, and band. The money has to be split up somehow, and there’s a rumor that the way it’s set up is that they have a ‘reviewer’ come in to every show and decide how good it was. At the end of each year they then average the scores and whoever gets the highest gets the most money.”

Maria looked at him skeptically. “Is that true?”

“I doubt it. But Kat’s been paranoid about that ‘reviewer’ ever since.”

A sound from their right sparked their attention. They saw two familiar people move their way past the chairs, heading in their direction. It was Rose and Aaron.

“Hi, are these seats taken?” Rose pointed to the two seats next to Maria.

“Oh, no. I don’t think so,” Cole replied.

Aaron sat down first. Maria didn’t speak but she could feel the tension build in her body. The Aaron she saw now wasn’t the same as the Aaron she saw before, even with his guilt not being clear. Sadja was someone Maria could forgive — she knew Sadja well. She trusted her. But she barely knew Aaron. She realized that made him the number one suspect.

Maria suddenly got up from her seat and walked out of the aisle. Cole caught on to this, and quickly followed after her. 

“Hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey!” Cole repeated, trying to get her to stop before she walked right out of the auditorium’s front doors. Finally Maria turned around to face him, a scowl crossing her face.

“Can we talk? Please?”

Maria didn’t respond. Cole looked around to see a door at the end of the room. He walked over. It was unlocked. He escorted himself and Maria inside.

It was the theater storage room, which had various props and costumes scattered across bags and boxes. Cole closed the door behind him, and looked back over at Maria.

“Listen, I get it. We’re in the middle of an investigation, and Aaron isn’t clean. This whole thing… it means a lot to you, and it means a lot to me too. But…” Cole took a deep breath, trying to think of the right words to say. “But we can’t just assume that people are guilty until we know for sure.”

Maria dismissed the advice. “I’m not accusing him. I just don’t want to be around him. There’s a big difference.”

“Sorry, sorry. What I’m trying to say is… if you just suddenly walk out like that, people are going to start guessing that something’s up. They’re going to turn it into a big deal.”

“It is a big deal, Cole!”

“I know! I know. But I was under the impression that we weren’t going to start making it obvious until after things were close to being settled! I don’t want to rip apart our friends for no good reasons other than… other than suspicion! So could you just… calm down, please?”

Maria looked at him with cold eyes. There was a fire burning inside her, and she slowly approached him. 

“Oh, I should calm down?” She asked harshly, her volume increasing with each word. “Cole, my baby sister was raped behind my back for a whole year! I don’t need to calm down!”

The last words were more of a scream than speech. Before the boy could even react, Maria pushed him out of the way, going towards the door and slamming it behind her. Cole was left in silence.

“Great job, Cole.” the boy muttered to himself, giving into a sigh. “Asshole.”

…

When Maria walked back into the auditorium, the concert had started. It was the men’s choir up on stage first. She wiped her eyes and walked down the edge of the last row of seats, trying to find an inconspicuous place to seat herself. Then, in the dark pocket of the auditorium’s corner, she found it.

Rodrigo looked up as he heard her approach. He smiled when she sat down next to him.

“You want some?” He leaned a bag of popcorn over in her direction.

Maria eyed the popcorn suspiciously.

“No weird shit in here, I promise,” Rodrigo clarified. “Just a regular old bag of popcorn. Got it from the lobby.”

Maria looked up at him, then back to the popcorn. She reached in and grabbed a small handful from the bag, which she then ate.

Rodrigo leaned back, watching the choir with passive eyes. “So, what brings you to el borde de la tierra?”

Maria looked over at where she sat before. “It’s just… I’m not feeling that great.”

Rodrigo nodded. “Tryna get away from it all. I get it.”

The two watched the concert in silence for a while. During a transition, Maria turned back to Rodrigo.

“You know, I’ve always wondered… Why don’t you sit with the rest of the group during things like this?”

Rodrigo considered the question, placing his hand in the popcorn and eating a handful. When he finished eating, he responded.

“I’m sure you feel it too sometimes. It just doesn’t feel right, I guess. Those guys have known each other for years. The two of us, we’re latecomers… different backgrounds, different culturas. I just don’t want to feel like I’m barging in on all that.”

“You aren’t barging in, Rodrigo. You’re one of them — just like I am.”

Rodrigo turned towards her. “You feel that way? Like you’re one of them?”

Maria thought for a moment. “Yeah… I think so.”

Rodrigo turned back to the concert. “I think you are, too.”

Another performance started. Then it ended. Rodrigo turned towards Maria again.

“Hey, you see the rant that Carmichael gave on Twitter last night?”

“Carmichael? Like the one Emily always complains about?”

“Yeah, like… the treasurer, or some shit. Here, you’re gonna love this.”

He leaned over to show Maria the messages. Their faces stealthily hid in the light of the phone screen, when suddenly they were interrupted by a new, albeit strange visitor.

“I wanna sit here. That okay?” Maurice pointed to the third seat from the end, next to Maria.

Rodrigo looked at him with confusion. “Oh, y-you don’t… you don’t gotta sit there, really.”

“I want to.” Maurice spoke quietly, as not to interrupt the starting performance by the girl’s choir.

“I mean… I-I don’t think…” Rodrigo stumbled out his words. He felt Maria slightly bump him on the shoulder.

“Come on, let him sit. We’ll be outcasts together.”

Rodrigo considered it, and let it pass. The three sat watching the rest of the concert.

…

While Maria was still looking for her seat in the back, Cole returned to his seat at the front. He saw that Lukas took a seat on the other end of the two empty spots. Cole took the seat next to Aaron, and patted Lukas on the shoulder.

“You can sit here, it’s not taken anymore.” He told the blond-haired boy.

Rose reached over and tapped Cole on the knee. “What happened?”

“Oh, she just… had some stuff come up, had to leave in a rush.”

“Is she okay?” Rose spoke with heavy concern.

“Yeah, yeah. She’ll be okay. Just had to head out early, is all.”

There was silence as Cole got acclimated to his seat. He looked around. “Where’s Ash and the sibs?”

“The three of them are sitting by some other friends, somewhere over there.” Aaron pointed a finger behind him and waved it around. “Just gonna be us for tonight.”

The remainder of the time the group mostly stayed silent. Lukas felt himself falling asleep, when suddenly his eyes shot back into focus.

The hour was winding down. One of the last performances was with the senior girls, with their leader, Kat Wilkins, taking the solo seat.

The song they performed was 1900 Yesterday. But that wasn’t what Lukas was focused on. He was more focused on the girl who sang it, the way her voice radiated softly through his eardrums, the way her soft ocean blue eyes were lit up by the spotlight. Every once in a while she’d hit a hard note and the crowd would cheer. Lukas thought back to what he said at the lake. 

She’s perfect.

Halfway through the song, she looked in his direction, a smile on her face. Without skipping a beat, he smiled back. A real big, cartoonish smile. He wasn’t sure how silly he looked, but he didn’t really care. Another thought passed his mind. 

She’s perfect, and I know her.

…

Rodrigo, Maurice, and Maria walked out of the lobby first. They hung near a light pole by the parking lot.

“Well, Kat’s performance was nice.” Maria commented.

“Yeah, it was. Already don’t remember the rest of it, though.” Rodrigo burped, looking out to the parking lot. The other two with him laughed.

“Alright, fine. I got a lot more enjoyment out of reading those Carmichael tweets than like, ninety percent of that concert.” Maria admitted.

“I mean, the Light My Fire cover from the dudes was pretty good.” Maurice interjected.

“Yeah, yeah. That one was aight, too. I think I might have just fallen asleep during the other ones.” This was Rodrigo speaking.

The three talked for a little bit longer until the others began to exit the building. Rose, seeing Maria among the boys, walked up in confusion.

“Maria? I thought you left.”

Maria turned around, seeing the girl with her worried expression. She stumbled over her words. 

“O-oh, I… um…”

Fortunately for her, Rodrigo put two-and-two together much more quickly. He took over, turning his gaze towards Rose.

“She came again, near the end. She didn’t want to disturb anything, so kept me company at the back.”

Maria quickly looked over at him, then back at Rose. “Yeah, exactly. Basically.”

Rose went from worry to contentment. She nodded. “Got it. Well then…”

Rose and the rest of the group stood talking on the sidewalk for a few minutes. Lukas stood off to the side, pretending to listen in but more so drifting in and out of his own world. He was in the midst of this when suddenly he felt a light punch at his shoulder. 

“So, how’d you guys like it?”

It was a familiar voice. The group turned to face Kat, who moved over to stand by Lukas.

“You killed it, girl!” Rose spoke excitedly. “So did Sadja. Where is she, any- oh, I see her!” Sadja walked up a bit later than Kat, but took a stand by Cole. Both girls still wore their concert dresses.

Kat scanned her eyes across the group. As she got closer to the end, her demeanor changed from happiness to disappointment. When she spoke, her voice was pitiful.

“Where’s… Isaac?”

The group looked around. Cole had the courage to speak up.

“I don’t know. Didn’t see him.”

“Uh… I remember him saying something about dropping by the Corbin party first,” Maurice mentioned. “Maybe he went there.”

Kat turned to Maurice. Her expression changed to anger. “You’re kidding me.”

“W-well, I mean, I don’t know for sure,” Maurice clarified, trying to stay out of the girl’s wrath. “I think he said he was going to come later. M-maybe he did and we just didn’t notice.”

Kat shook her head. She went away, marching in a heated walk, muttering the word “Unbelievable” under her breath. Sadja quickly walked after her.

“Hey! Kat! Wait!”

The others just stood and stared, unsure what to do. Cole tapped Lukas on the shoulder.

“We better stay out of this,” he whispered. 

Lukas agreed, though he couldn’t stop the smile from appearing on his face.

…

Sadja followed Kat to a more secluded side of the parking lot. The young blonde girl sat down at the curb, her head in her hands. Her Iranian friend sat down next to her.

“I… I can’t believe he would do this.” Kat said, tears beginning to form in her eyes. “He knows how much this means to me. Does he just… not care?”

Sadja sighed. She rubbed the girl’s back gently with her hand. “Have you tried calling him? Seeing where he is?”

Kat looked up, staring at the distance. “I don’t need to. I know he’s at that stupid party.”

“Well… maybe you should call him, just to see.”

Kat looked over at Sadja. “That’s funny,” the girl spoke, sniffling. “I don’t think you’ve ever defended him to me before.”

Sadja thought about it for a moment, and sighed, still rubbing Kat’s back. 

“Listen… if you want my honest opinion, I think that Isaac Broderick is a womanizing, douchebag jock, and that you can do a whole lot better than him,” She removed her hand and put it down in her own lap. “But, at the same time, I can tell you love him. And I can tell that, despite everything, he loves you back. Even though I don’t understand it, I know you two have something. And first and foremost… I want you to be happy, Kat.”

A small smile appeared on Kat’s face. “Thanks, Sadj.”

“So, what are you gonna do?”

Kat shook her head. She looked back out at the parking lot. “I don’t know. When we first started dating, back in March, I just… there was so much, and every minute I spent with him I just felt like… it was a happiness I had never felt before, with any of my other relationships, you know? And then during that summer, he went on that trip to Europe, and I didn’t really mind, but… I dunno. Something flipped. I started thinking more about what you said, whether he pays attention to me. Sometimes I think I just let it get to my head, and that there’s nothing wrong. Other times I think… well, I really don’t know. I don’t know, Sadja. But I don’t think he does it on purpose. I don’t think he’s trying to hurt me, I just think… he’s dumb, sometimes.”

Sadja smiled. “Boys are dumb.”

Kat looked back at her. She smiled too. “Boys are dumb,” she repeated. The girl thought for a few more moments, the two of them watching people return to their cars in silence. Finally, Kat got up from the ground.

“I know what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna call him, ask him where he is right now. And if he doesn’t give me a good answer… I’m done.”

Sadja nodded. “That sounds like a good plan.”

Kat turned around to face the friend. “I’d… like to make the call alone, if that’s alright with you.”

Sadja got up from the ground, wiping the dirt off of her dress’ behind. “Of course. You let me know when you need me, girl.”

Sadja walked back towards the rest of the group. Kat took out her phone and called the number.

…

Isaac was sitting in the corner of a couch, with Russell on his right and on his left the other football player he had talked to at lunch. The two played Smash Bros on a large flatscreen TV while Isaac watched. 

He had his phone out next to him. He felt the vibration the instant it hit, and when he saw the caller ID a sharp spike went through his body.

“Fuck,” he said aloud. “I gotta take this.”

He grabbed the phone and walked out of the room. Russell and the boy watched him as he left, but they said nothing in response.

“Hey, babe,” Isaac woke, fastly walking down the stairs of the mansion.

“Where are you?” The voice on the other end sounded volatile.

“I’m… I’m on my way right now. I was just, I wanted to dip into the Corbin party for just a bit, since you said the first hour would be the fundraiser…”

“Isaac. The concert is over.”

Isaac froze in place. There was a group of kids loudly cheering, playing pool in the room in front of him.

“What… what do you mean?”

“It just ended. You missed it.” 

Isaac felt a dagger in his stomach. He quickly walked around the hallway, opening the door to a bathroom and locking himself in. He put the toilet seat down and sat on top of it.

“I-I-I… listen, I swear to god… I thought- I thought it was from 8 to 10. I thought you said that, there would be… a fundraiser, at the beginning, that I didn’t have to see… so I went by the party, just to check it out, say hi to everyone, whatever. I was gonna head straight from here to the concert.”

The other end was silent. There was a loud muffled cacophony of music and voices coming from outside the bathroom walls. Isaac plugged one of his ears so he could hear the phone better.

“Listen, Kat, I swear to god. I did not ditch your concert. I would never do that. I… I promise you. I just, I just fucked up. I fucked up bad.”

There was more silence as Kat considered the words. On one hand, Isaac should have double-checked the messages to see it was 7 to 9. And even given his story, it was now 9:10 – he would have still been late. On the other, however, he seemed genuine. It appeared to Kat that he had made a mistake, albeit a dumb one. But boys are dumb.

“I promise I’ll make it up to you.” Isaac continued. “I’ll go to tomorrow night’s show. Be there the entire time, right up in front. It’s bye week, so I can make it. No problem. I won’t mess up again.”

Kat thought back to her memories with Isaac. They were, for the most part, positive. Her leaning against his shoulder, him kissing her on the top of the head. Their dates, their parties, their sex. Maybe she was just looking for some type of confirmation, something as an excuse not to make the harder decision. But either way, she decided she still loved him.

“Okay. I forgive you.”

Isaac breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you. Like I said, I’ll be there tomorrow. I promise.”

“I know.”

“I love you.”

“I know.”

Kat hung up the phone. She thought she might have been a little harsh. Then again, maybe he deserved this bite. Just this once. 

Isaac left the bathroom. He hurried to the front door, where he saw Russell and the boy standing there.

“Ah, there you are!” The other boy exclaimed. Isaac walked past him.

“I gotta dip. I’ll see you guys later.”

Isaac walked out the door. Russell and the other player watched him out the window. 

The other boy scoffed. “See, this is why you don’t let a woman rule your life.”

Russell didn’t respond. He waited until Isaac’s car left the driveway, then walked back towards the heart of the party.