Page 82 of Saints & Sailors

I went out to the front porch to wait on Cameron to come pick me up twenty minutes later. One look over next door and I spotted Dreux out on the St. Juliens’ porch swing. He saw me and tipped his head my way and I couldn’t resist going over to his place since Cameron was nowhere in sight.

The sun had set and their front light was on. Dreux was sitting back swinging on the swing, out of what he wore at school that day as I found him lounging in a plain navy tee and gray sweats. He wore socks and nothing else, and for some reason, he looked cozy in this setting.

His dark eyes drank me in as I climbed their porch steps and he smiled softly, going and patting the spot next to him on the white-cushioned swing. The invitation caused my pulse to quicken as I crossed over to him. I should’ve sat on the other end, with a seat between us, but I sat down right next to him, and for the longest moment I couldn’t breathe or look at him.

Dreux’s arm came across the back of the swing as he sank back, manspreading some more, so at ease with himself.

I was a ball of nerves and certain I looked stiff as I sat up straight with my hands buried between my thighs.

You’d think I’d never sat next to a boy before, but somehow, it just felt different with Dreux.

“ ’Sup?” He broke the ice and spoke first. From the corner of my eye, I caught him angling his head to look my way.

I started to mention my going over to Cameron’s when I realized he had a mini speaker sitting out by his feet.

“Is this…?” I had to train my ear to hear better, all too well recognizing the female musician that was playing from commercials, or the flashes I heard of her from the radio. I faced Dreux suspiciously. “Are you listening to Taylor Swift?”

Dreux bobbed his head. “Yeah.”

Lifting a brow, I challenged, “First Harry Styles, and now this?”

He shrugged indifferently. “I heard a song on the radio and liked it. ‘Shake it Off’ was catchy, and ‘Cruel Summer’ was a smash. But folklore’s a real cool sound all its own.”

He wasn’t bullshitting me. “God, you’re a Swiftie.”

Dreux kinked his nose up and snorted. “So…?”

It was that simple for him. And God, if I didn’t like that about him. “Shut up, Dreux.”

When I thought about it, there was nothing more pretentious than those people who hated certain bands like Nickelback or Coldplay simply because it was a trend to do so. The same went for certain celebrities or musicians like Taylor Swift or Justin Bieber. That didn’t mean that I liked any of those people for the sake that other people didn’t, no, I opened an honest ear and gave everything a chance. And if I were being honest, just like with Harry Styles, the Taylor Swift song wasn’t bad.

There definitely was a world out there beyond classic rock.

“See…” Dreux went on, leaning close to my face, giving me a rush of feelings I couldn’t explain. “…when you let go of⁠—”

“And just what blonde are you gonna fill in the blank with now, Andrew?” I prompted as I met him halfway and leaned into his face.

He stared at me as I stared at him. “That’s not my name.”

I nudged him. “It is when you’re being a pest.”

For a moment he gazed at me, right into my eyes, brown to brown, and nothing else was said. A heaviness settled into my chest as my palms began to sweat and my throat swelled. I swore to any god who was watching not to let me blush like an idiot, but I was almost certain I’d lost that war.

“I’ll have to give her a listen sometime,” I decided to say to lessen the tension. Was there tension? It definitely felt like it.

I thought to scoot away, for fear of any slight touch, because I was positive I would implode.

Thankfully, Dreux settled back and accepted this. “You should. She’s amazingly talented and can write her ass off.”

I really liked that he wasn’t shy about being a fan of hers. That he didn’t have a weird male ego about it. At the bar I’d go to with Danny and the boys, I was sure I’d heard a drunken rant or two about how her music wasn’t “real” music, which again was contrarian bullshit. “Okay.”

“You know another iconic female singer-songwriter you may like? Alanis Morrissette. Check out her Jagged Little Pill album, it’ll blow you away. Total classic,” Dreux swore. “They play her stuff all the time in Marty’s I realized one day when I Shazam’d a song.”

Alanis Morrissette. The name sounded familiar and I was quick to grab my phone to make a note to check her out as well.

Singer-songwriter…

“Can you keep a secret?” I asked shyly.