The pit in my stomach grows wider with each word that leaves his mouth.

“No.” It comes out as a mumble.

“Didn’t think so, man.” He snorts. “That girl is May McGintee. I assume you’ve heard of her brother? Jordan McGintee? That super-genius kid who died in the shooting? He got a perfect score on the SATs as a seventh grader or some shit. Pretty sure your mom knows who he is; maybe you should ask her.”

Something squeezes deep in my chest.

Fuck my life, so hard.

“Yo! Dude. Leave him alone.” Conor is finally inserting himself into this torturous conversation, but it’s too late. Damage done. “You’re such a dickhead. Seriously, just get outta here.” Conor’s up in Matt’s face, and per usual, I’m frozen like a statue.

Matt snorts and backs away from Conor with his hands up. “Whatever. You guys are such little bitches. I gotta run anyway.” He motions to Rosa, who’s still sitting over on the ratty sofa in the corner, playing on her phone. She looks up, sees us all in a tight clump in the middle of the room, and grimaces. She stands, pulling her bag up onto her shoulder.

Matt walks over to her and gives her a kiss on the cheek. What a fucking sociopath. He goes from soul-crushing jerk to sweet, caring boyfriend in the blink of an eye.

Rosa pulls away slightly, just for a second, but then he throws his arm around her shoulders and she relaxes back into him. She whispers something into his ear, and he rolls his eyes but nods along to whatever she’s saying. As they pass by Conor and me, Matt mumbles, “See you guys,” like he didn’t just wreck my world.

Conor clamps a hand on my shoulder. “Dude. He is such a prick. I wish he wasn’t such a good guitar player; I’d kick him out of the band in a heartbeat. You okay?”

I nod, trying to shake off Matt’s assholeness and the info he just dumped on me. “Yeah. I’m fine. It’s whatever.”

“You know you aren’t your mom, right?” Conor sounds serious for once. “That girl, she’ll understand.”

I shake my head. “Nope. I bet you she won’t. Doesn’t matter anyway. If you guys decide Lucy’s the right person for the band, I’ll stay out of the way. After tonight, I don’t really have a desire to be in public ever again.”

“C’mon, don’t be like that. You can’t let Matt get to you. You know he loves pissing you off.”

“I don’t get why he has to be such a dick.”

Conor shrugs. “Jealous, probably.”

I snort. “Of what, exactly? My stellar home life? All my adoring fans?” I motion around the empty room.