Emerson softly cleared her throat. “You know… Blythe isn’twrong. You’ve been really, ah, attached to your phone the last few days, since you got back from Nashville?”
Darcy felt her pulse skitter, and she tightly pressed her lips together as she glanced around.
It wasn’t very busy at Ron’s Lawns, and the best thing about being in Pineford was that they were treated normally in their hometown. Sometimes things got a little weird, but most of the people who lived here had known them their whole lives. Most of the people here knew them when they were performing at the bowling alley or other open mics in the area.
They didn’t have to worry about going to a store and being mobbed or facing dozens of paparazzi. Hell, they were hours away from any major city, so if a pap was lurking around here, they stuck out like a sore thumb.
Still, though, they weren’talone.
Blythe and RJ were standing only feet away, talking about teak versus resin wicker.
It had been such a weight on her shoulders, though, stressing about this on her own. Wondering what could be coming down. She wanted to tell Emerson, if only to get it off her chest. Maybe she even owed it to her. If We, The Romantics had a downward spiral because of her sexuality, it was entirely on Darcy’s shoulders.
Well, she’d owe an explanation and the apology of a lifetime – the likes of which she couldn’t even imagine – to both Emerson and Blythe. But, first, her sister didn’t yet know her sexuality. Second, now was certainly not the time to tell her, lest she freak out in Ron’s Lawns.
Darcy – 7:21P.M.
DON’T REACT OUTWARDLY
She looked back up at Emerson, pointedly darting her eyes at her phone to silently tell her friend to check her texts.
Emerson frowned, but complied. So, Darcy unburdened herself.
Darcy – 7:22P.M.
I accidentally kind of came out to Juliet after we worked on our song. And then she might have hit on me????????
Emerson’s phone clattered to the table, her jaw hanging open.
“Isaiddon’t react!” Darcy hissed.
“Should I have brought coloring books for you two or something?” Blythe called over.
“Coloring books!” Emerson echoed back, still staring wide-eyed at the text Darcy had sent her.
Darcy was pretty sure her best friend meant to scoff and sound like Blythe’s suggestion was silly, but she instead sounded flustered and unsure, her voice pitched louder than usual.
“Um… I’d been joking, but–”
“Ha, good joke,” Darcy cut her sister off before she could press further or come to investigate what was going on. Hopefully Ron Junior was giving her some good info on outdoor supplies to keep her occupied, while Darcy had to do damage control with Emerson.
Maybe it would be good practice for Juliet damage control.
She yanked her seat closer to Emerson’s, until they clanged together, and she reached out to grip her best friend’s wrist, recapturing her attention.
“How could Inotreact?!” Emerson asked, her voice blessedly in a whisper, as she whipped her head to face Darcy, her eyes wide and searching. “Is Juliet – what do youmean?”
“I don’t, ugh,” Darcy broke off, groaning as she scrubbed her hands over her face, roughly. “I don’t know. I came out, and that was stupid. I wasn’t thinking. It just… happened.”
What a terrible, lame excuse for the potential downfall of the career she’d spent a decade trying to break into.
And yet, it was all she had.
“Okay, fine,” Emerson waved that off. Bless her. She seemed far too preoccupied with, “But shehit on you?”
At a loss, Darcy tossed her hands in the air before they dropped to her lap. “I really don’t fucking know. She came into the bathroom. Took her shirt off. And told me to kiss her.”
“What?!” Emerson absolutely would have screamed, Darcy knew it, if she wasn’t breathless from shock.
