Don’t think. Don’t stress. Don’t get mad. And don’t get sick.

In an attempt to purge my brain from overanalyzing anything my girlfriend was saying, or hearing, I leaned against the far wall and distracted myself by only focusing on the exit sign at the end of the hall. White background, a perfect little rectangle, bright-green neon letters. I began mentally tracing them, forcing my head to stop spinning…E…X…I…T. That sign was the only thing left in the world to me. My lifeline.

When I could tell Kiera was getting off the phone, I slowly, methodically, brought my attention back to her. She was looking at me warily as she handed me my phone. What did he say to you?

No, don’t ask her what that was about, don’t think about what she’s feeling. She loves you, not him. Don’t ruin your last night with her by getting into a fight. Just do what you came back here to do…fix your damn stomach.

I grimaced as I remembered why I’d come back here in the first place. “I’m hungry. Do you want to split some fries with me?” I asked, shoving my phone back in my pocket.

She exhaled, and there was a lot of relief in that exhale. “Sounds great. I’ll get some cooked up for you.”

The promise of food made me feel better. So did kissing Kiera’s cheek and walking out of the hallway with her. I didn’t need to worry about Denny…that was over, and he was about a billion miles away from her.

Chapter 13

ONE GREAT NIGHT

By the time I needed to go on stage to play, I’d sobered up enough to know that I owed Denny a serious apology. What I’d said to him…God, I was such a dick sometimes. But I didn’t have time to make it up to him tonight. No, the remainder of tonight was for Kiera, my band, my friends, and the sea of faces that I saw in front of me.

Slinging my guitar over my chest, I approached the microphone; I almost couldn’t hear myself think it was so loud in here. I held up a hand to quiet the ear-piercing shrieks. The noise settled to a dull roar, and as I swept my eyes over the crowd a profound sense of connection rippled through me. For this one moment in time, it was as if everyone here was one giant being, not multiple separate ones. We all wanted the same thing, we all needed the same thing, and the tiny differences that made us unique…didn’t matter. We were one.