AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Well, luckily, you don’t need to give me all the talks that parents give to their kids when they start dating. I’ve already gotten it.”
Dad grimaced, and when I realized what I had done, I swallowed hard. It was a talk we should have had the chance to have as parent and child, but he had been gone. I had to go to someone else to receive those kinds of conversations, and I definitely didn’t get it from Lindie. The only chat she had ever given me was a quick ‘Don’t you dare get fucking pregnant. I’m not old enough to be a grandmother.’
As we got to the first row, Justin waved at us. All the guys had managed to take up the middle of the row, right at the front. I wondered how they’d arranged that.
I sat next to Justin with Dad on my other side. As soon as we sat down, Justin grabbed my hand and held it. I had a feeling he wasn’t going to let me go for the entire concert. I didn’t mind. I liked touching him, and he needed it too.
Things weren’t going well with his dad at all. He was still in a coma. They had decided to take out his respirator yesterday. He was still breathing on his own, so that was something, but they warned Justin that his dad could die at any moment.
I squeezed his hand, giving him a smile before taking in the stage. It was decorated simply with holiday lights I hadn’t really noticed when I’d performed. A student was doing a tapdancing gig on the stage, rhythmically hitting the hard floor in a fast beat. I wasn’t familiar with that style of dancing, so it was fascinating to watch.
With my free hand, I pulled out my phone and slowly sent a text to Toby.
Me: You’re going to be amazing. And I have all my funny faces ready to be made.
His response was nearly instant.
Toby: I know. I wish you were back here with me.
I sent him a quick heart emoji and then tucked it away as a performing arts teacher came out.
I leaned over to Justin. “Let the others know, Toby needs funny faces while he’s performing. He’s pretty scared.”
Justin leaned over and passed my message down to the others.
Toby wanted funny faces. He was going to get it from all of us.
There were two more performances before Toby came out. Someone in my class who sang, and a trio of dancers who did a really cool light show dance. Their outfits were designed to light up and with the stage completely black, they danced around, the lights going with the beat of music.
It was pretty sweet and the whole auditorium became deafening when they finished.
Toby finally came out, waving. Once he got to the mic, I began making the silliest faces that I could. He chuckled when he spotted all of us, his gaze going down the row. Just staring at us, his bunched-up shoulders relaxed, and he got a little more color into his cheeks.
Shaking his head, he said, “I’m not sure how I can top that last performance, but I’ll definitely try my best.”
That got some chuckles as he cleared his throat and the music began. Toby looked directly at me and continued to do so as he started:
‘Welcome to my cold world without any lights to glow
I’m chasing dreams, I’m lost up up in the shadows
Nothing in my life ever seems to align
Just a symphony of silence where my soul fails to shine
I’m unheard, just like a whisper up in the hurricane
The system they wanna terminate, wisdom getting me through the pain
I’m living in silence every night, a ghost in the night
Losing the light, in this cold world, frozen in time
What do I do, I’m on my own with nothing to lose
I’m drugged and I’m boozed
I’m stuck in my shoes and life is leaving me cut and I’m bruised
