I watched her take the shot and then looked around the bar again, my eyes meeting with Kent’s. He was standing at the other end of the bar, a beer in one hand, a Cosmo in the other. He stared at me and seemed torn. He stuck his tongue out at me.

Susie’s paw waved in front of my face and I turned away, breaking the spell.

“Earth to Elly! It’s time, girlfriend.”

I nodded and then looked for Kent again. When I spotted him I stared for a few seconds and then moved away, Chewie following. More Star Wars characters were on the stage, tuning their instruments and that was where I was headed.

I made my way up on stage and grabbed the mic. I cleared my throat and started speaking, "Happy Halloween!! We're the Duds..."

I looked behind me at the band I’d joined over the summer. We were all a bunch of self-proclaimed nerds and had an awesome time playing and spending time together. They saw me through my heartbreak with Kent since Stacy was not around. They allowed me to musically unleash my feelings. I looked at the drummer and nodded my head. The music started, No Doubt's “Don't Speak” filled the bar.

The men in the bar cat-called when I bent over to get a drink of water as the intro played. I looked behind me and grinned, moving a slow hand up my bare, toned, shimmery leg.

I looked out into the crowd as the words poured from me, I couldn't see past the bright lights but I knew he was out there and yes, damn straight, I was singing this with him in my heart and soul.

The last of the chorus was sung with everything I had. I felt like I was on fire whenever I was on stage, it was where I was meant to be. The applause was deafening and we continued right into our next song, Blur's “Song 2.” The bar was a collective "Woo-hoo!" when the song called for it and the pulse was live through the jumping, dancing crowd. After the short two minute Blur the Kent-smashing continued with Alanis’s “You Oughta Know.” I touched myself during the interlude, touched myself on my shoulder where he'd kissed me the night we’d had sex and then it got more intense as I matched the lyrics with a scratch on Chewie's back. I went through the set list as it alternated between a crowd-pleaser and a Kent-killer.

They lowered the lights for the last song, the spotlight off of me. The soft guitar intro of “Lips of An Angel” drifted through the bar. My eyes searched the crowd and landed on Kent who stood there at the bar, his eyes on already on me. He had two drinks in his hands again but didn’t move while I sang to him.