“Are you nervous?”
“I’m really not,” he says. “Singing’s kinda my thing. It’ll be fun. You’ll stay the whole time, right?”
“Are you crazy? Of course, you nut. You couldn’t drag me away. Listen, Sabe…” I start. “Look, I didn’t know this place had a bar scene at all. You okay with that?”
“It’s not a problem, sweets. To be honest, I really don’t miss the booze. But you go have a drink, and I’ll drive us home, okay?”
“Maybe. I’m just here to see you.” I give him a hug. It was going to be a short hug. That’s what I intended, but instead, I’m finding myself holding on to him for longer. “You’re going to be great.”
Sabin’s arms tightly embrace me, and we just stand there. He’s supposed to be unpacking and warming up and doing whatever pre-gig thing he needs to do, but instead, we are clinging to each other.
“Okay,” he finally whispers.
“Okay,” I whisper back.
Slowly, he drops his arms and turns to open his guitar case without looking at me. “Love you, B.”
“Love you, too, Sabe.” I stop in the doorway. “We’ll be the people screaming and clapping two feet from the stage. Try not to miss us.”
Sabe laughs and turns my way now. “I’ll won’t.”
Chris is drinking seltzer when I sit down next to him, but based on the clutter of glassware on the table, he’s the only one.
“You look smokin’ tonight,” he says, draping an arm over my shoulder. “How’s Sabin tonight? He doing okay?”
“I think so, yeah.” I signal our waitress and order a grapefruit and vodka.
“Nervous for him?” he asks.
“Not really nervous. Just antsy. Did you get to talk to him more yesterday?”
Chris shakes his head. “No. It felt like he needed a little space to come down, you know? I’m glad he stayed at the house with us though.”
Eric plops into the chair next to me. “Psst, Blythe! Blythe!”
His attempt at being hush-hush fails significantly, and I have a feeling that the beer in his hand might not be his first of the night.
“Hi, Eric.” I smile warmly. I adore him, and I’m glad he’s letting loose tonight because he’s so often on the more controlled side.
“Psst!” he says again. “I just wanted to tell you that I’m gay. And I am in love with a boy.”
Chris and I both burst out laughing.
I fake gasp. “You are not!”
He nods energetically. “I am!” Then, he inches in a little more. “Okay, seriously, I’m going to ask Zach to live together after graduation. Wherever he wants.”
“I think that’s wonderful,” Chris says.
“So awesome,” I agree.
“Okay, cool. Just needed your blessing to live in sin.” He bounces away and sits comfortably on Zach’s lap.
As if that didn’t already make me happy, he then actually moves in and kisses Zach. And it’s not a token short kiss. ErickissesZach. The entire table whoops, and we all raise our glasses. Eric doesn’t even pull away. He just continues the kiss while lifting his own glass.
Estelle leans over the table. “Dudes, I need to talk to you about something.” She’s liquored up for sure, but she’s better at holding her drink than her twin.
“Shoot,” Chris says. “Seems to be a night of confessions already.”
