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Simon laughed. "There's plenty of room here. And it's the gentlemanly thing to do to stay close. What if you feel faint again from the smoke you breathed in earlier?"
Sarah had been watching this whole interchange with a contemplative look on her face. Her expression remained thoughtful as she pulled over a folding chair we had in case we had more guests than seats and opened it, sitting down. I kept my eyes on my plate and concentrated wholeheartedly on eating, as if my life depended on it. I knew I was overreacting and I felt idiotic, but I felt unable to control myself. And the lack of control was making me feel even more unsettled.
"So, Simon," Sarah said. "What made you transfer to Maxwell?"
Simon paused from twirling spaghetti onto his fork. "I was just tired of my old school and needed a change of pace. Also, Maxwell has a great music program which I'm switching my major to. And Grant's always going on and on about how great Maxwell is so I decided to try it out for myself."
"Yeah, but to come here from Yale?" I asked, almost accusatory, looking up. "Who does that?"
"I do," Simon said simply, looking down at me from his perch quizzically.
Simon's penetrating blue eyes made me flush. What was wrong with me? It wasn't his fault that I had seen him in one of my visions. If anything, it should make me more sympathetic towards him. But a part of me resented his existence, shattering the false sense of security and normalcy I had desperately grasped these past few years. His being here, appearing before my eyes, made me fear that I was going to go down the same path I had in high school. Where normalcy had been replaced with an overwhelming feeling that I was going crazy.
Sarah cleared her throat, breaking the tension. "Well, we're glad to have you here. Now you'll have to give us all the dirt on Grant."
Grant laughed and waved his hands in protest. "There's no dirt to tell. I've always been the model citizen that you see before you today."
Simon grinned. "I've got tons of ammunition against him. I'll save it for when I need it as leverage one of these days."
"Simon is going to be joining our band since we're still looking for a replacement for Mike and Abe," Grant said.
Marcus and Grant were in a band called the Henchmen. Mike and Abe had also been in the band but they were a year ahead and had graduated last year. Marcus was the drummer and Grant was the bassist. Mike had been the guitarist and Abe the lead singer, but since their departure Marcus and Grant had been struggling to find someone to replace them. The Henchmen were wildly popular in Rochester, beyond just the students. They regularly played at a bar near campus called the East End, but since the departure of the two members, they had only played a few times when Mike and Abe had made the trip up from New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where they were from respectively.
"But don't you still need another person?" asked Jenny. She turned to look at Simon. "Do you sing or play the guitar?"
"He does both!" exclaimed Grant, answering for him. "That's why I'm so excited for him to be here. He can take over for both Mike and Abe and we can get started playing right away. We actually practiced playing together last summer and we've already jammed over at the East End a couple of times during the day. Joel is over the moon about it."
Joel was the owner of the East End and he was sorely missing the extra business that the Henchmen brought in. They were a fixture at the bar, bringing in all the fans, especially the screaming girls. The lack of their presence had really affected business. Joel loved the Henchmen so much - well, the money that they brought in - that he let them use the bar as a practice area during the day when it was closed.
"Oh, wow," Sarah said. "I can't wait to hear you guys. When's your first show?"
"Simon has caught up to speed so fast with all our songs that we're playing next weekend," Marcus replied. "We've even been practicing some songs that he's written too. This guy's a genius."
Simon grinned. "I'm talented in many ways, but I'm not sure I'd go that far. I've been writing for a while and I've been in a few bands but nothing that really stuck. I think Marcus, Grant and I are sounding really good together. And it doesn't hurt that Grant and I have been playing Rock Band for ages, so it's like we were already in a band together." He smirked at his last comment and turned his attention to me. "Maybe you can be our tambourine girl."
"Uh, I think I'll pass on that illustrious honor," I replied, rolling my eyes.
"Actually, you should hear her sing," Sarah gushed enthusiastically. "She's amazing. Plus she rocks on the piano. Not that you'd ever know it since she never plays."
"Sarah!" I groaned. "Shut it!"
"What?" Jenny exclaimed, her eyes widening. "I didn't know you could sing, let alone play the piano." She laughed. "You'll learn, Simon. You'll think you know Caitlin and bam - she surprises you. I've known her since freshman year and she's still surprising me."
"Is that so?" Simon said, cocking his eyebrow at me as he leaned clo
ser. "What other talents are you hiding?"
"Wow," I said, abruptly standing up. "Talk about exaggeration. I'm passable at playing the piano and I don't think anyone wants to hear me sing. I forgot my glass of wine in the kitchen. Does anyone want anything?"
Without waiting for a reply, I walked to the kitchen, setting my plate down on the counter. I was feeling unsettled now for an entirely different reason. Simon's proximity was making me squirm. When he leaned over, an arm draped around the back of the recliner, he was intoxicatingly close as I breathed him in, his cologne smelling way too good. His warmth was making me feel as if I was burning up. And seeing his muscled biceps straining against the sleeves of his t-shirt as he ate was making my stomach feel funny. Every look at Simon's face was making me more and more aware of how unfairly gorgeous he was, with his brown hair falling on his forehead and his perfectly high cheekbones somehow complementing an unequivocally masculine face.
The flashes of Simon's horrified expression in my vision were slowly fading away from the forefront of my mind when I looked at him, but my attraction to him was supremely unwelcome as well. I had avoided dating because that meant letting people in. Something I wasn't planning on doing. Especially with someone who had been in one of my visions. Besides, Simon was way too comfortable with his own charm and good looks. I'm sure he was probably used to girls falling at his feet. Well, I wouldn't be one of them.
With that determined mindset, I walked back into the living room.
"What should we do tonight?" asked Jenny.
"Maybe we should go to the East End. Or just hang out here," Sarah replied.
