He deserved better. Someone all in. No one at our school could offer him that.

But did he listen? No. And now they were together. Like, together together.

And the truth was? I hated it.

The gym was decked out in silver and navy, all glitter and gauze under the theme Midnight Dreams. I guessed someone tried. The decorations blurred in my periphery as I headed toward the stage.

Taylor knew I’d be ditching her soon anyway, so she was fine when I split off.

My band was already setting up. Tony was tuning his guitar, Jason was checking his drums, and Richard was adjusting the keyboard height.

“How we feelin’ tonight, boys?” I said, strapping my guitar over my shoulder.

“We’re golden. Jason found his extra drumsticks. Crisis averted,” Tony smirked.

I laughed and scanned the gym. The crowd was already vibing to whatever the DJ was spinning. This was our kind of night. High energy, packed floor. We were good at this and not just in a local-band kind of way. We owned the room when we played.

“Hey. Look who it is,” Tony said, nodding behind me.

I turned and saw them. Nathaniel and Sarah. Tucked into each other like they were posing for the front of a greeting card. She had her arms around his neck, and he was leaning in with that dopey look on his face.

My stomach sank.

He looked good that night. Objectively, of course. His sleeves were rolled up, tie slightly loose around his neck, hair slightly tousled. I tugged at my own red tie, suddenly hyper-aware of how it sat against my black dress shirt.

“Poor bastard,” Tony muttered. “She’ll drop him after graduation. They always do. Nothing real survives college.”

I didn’t answer. I just watched as Nathaniel swayed with her, his eyes locked on hers like she was the sun.

It made me sick.

“Alright, let’s kick this off!” Jason called from the drums.

I shook the thoughts from my head, planted my feet, and focused.

Time to play.

We started with our most popular cover—Måneskin’s Beggin’—and we were off.

***

Our set? Killer. Hot, loud, electric. The crowd was into it, just like I knew they would be. Hands in the air, voices singing the lyrics with us, exactly how I liked it.

After the set was done, I leapt off the stage. At some point my shirt went missing in action somewhere during the third song. All I had left was my red tie, hanging loose across my collarbones. Not that I minded. I worked hard to stay in shape. Let them look.

I cut through the crowd to grab a water bottle, my throat raw from belting. Eyes trailed me as I passed some girls, a few guys. The post-show glow was addicting. I lived for this feeling.

I reached the refreshment table, scanning for something sweet. My sweet tooth kicked in after every performance. If only they had carrot cake muffins here. Now that would be a perfect night.