I watched their conversation taking place. They were both chatting and smiling. I could see them wrapping it up, and my smile bloomed even larger as I got ready for Colin to enter the store. But then… he didn’t. He and Sierra fist-bumped, and he walked away. He hadn’t even glanced inside.

What just happened?

The smile dropped from my face as Sierra entered instead. She still had a happy look on her face.

“Is he going to get money or something?” I asked anxiously. “I would have given him a free ice cream. I hope he knows that by now.”

Sierra’s smile now faded as quickly as mine had. In fact, she looked alarmed. “Um, I…”

“Is he not coming in here at all?” I spat as my nerves turned to anger.

“I don’t know. He didn’t say. I mean… I didn’t get the impression he was even thinking of coming in. He… must’ve been on his way somewhere else?”

My blood was boiling now. “Did he say where?”

Sierra shook her head, her eyes wide.

“Did he ask about me?” I demanded quietly.

Again, Sierra shook her head, biting her lip now.

“Did you mention me?”

She just stared.

I put my hands on my hips. “Sierra!” I huffed.

I looked off to the side while we both stood there. It wasn’t her fault. It was mine, I knew. I should have texted him the night before, or at least gone outside just now and said hi! It wouldn’t have even mattered what I said. I put my head in my hands and slowly shook it from side to side.

Sierra came behind the counter and patted me gently on the back. “Don’t worry, Allie. He seemed like he was in a rush. I’m sure… well…”

“It’s okay, Sierra. It’s all my fault. I know I’ve been a bad friend to him…”

I could hear Sierra’s phone buzzing away in her pocket, all of her friends checking in, asking for feedback on songs, and making weekend plans. And I officially had one friend in this town now, and I hadn’t been super-nice to her in the past twenty-four hours.

I looked at her. “Thanks for being such a good friend—”

Just then the door opened and a voice interrupted our private chat.

“Hey, rock star! Why don’t you sing a song to keep the customers entertained?” somebody said.

We turned to see Reagan, the drummer from Sierra’s band, the Wildflowers. I liked Reagan, but I was annoyed by the interruption. I said a cool “Hi” and crouched down to pull supplies from the storage cabinets under the rear counter.

Sierra laughed. “I should sing a song! Anything to keep our customers happy!”