girlfriend, supplied.
“Why?” She hated how completely meek and passive she sounded. She didn’t like seeming pitiful or out of control in front of her classes, but…shoot. Entertainment Tonight ?
“Because you’re like a typhoon of rockness!” Aaron continued to perform, standing on his chair and doing some sort of Elvis hip-wiggle thing, which he followed up with some air guitar, a couple head bangs, and the rock-on sign with his tongue slithering out like a snake for good measure.
“Oh please,” she muttered, trying to get some kind of grip on this situation before her face ignited and Aaron decided to start sacrificing pigeons or something. “Zane’s a friend. I was trying to help him out.” That was…basically right. “It’s not like I’m part of the band now.” She hated how her heart twisted in protest at her even saying those words. “They were in a bind. I just happened to be there…”
“You know Zane Blake?” Elliott screeched. “He’s your friend ?”
Her face burned, but she managed to nod. Friend was such a weak word for what she felt for Zane.
“I didn’t know you played electric guitar, Ms. Gilkins!” Julie added.
Sophie smiled, and an overwhelming wave of joy surged through her at the thought that, for one second in time, she had actually been somebody. She bet Lorraine really wanted to kill her now. She’d never thought recognition would matter, but it did. Especially from her students. “Well, I don’t tell you guys all my secrets,” she teased. “Now, enough playing around.” She pointed at Aaron. “Get down, Ozzy. We have work to do.”
The students laughed, and she went over to grab her sheet music so she could begin the lesson. Her heart felt warm where it had been empty and aching only moments before, and she realized that, regardless of how everything ended up, she had had an experience of a lifetime.
And she was grateful for her adventure.
Chapter Ten
Four months later
It was a day like any other. Just like they’d all been since she’d first returned to work and reality after her brief stint as stand-in rock star. She’d gotten back into her routine and went about her business as she always had, but she still hadn’t been able to banish the small hole in her heart that had been there since she’d left Shadows Rising. It was like Zane had taken a little piece of her that she would never get back again. She didn’t know what to do with that. Get used to it, she guessed.
While he had called her rather diligently for the first two months after her return to Flagstaff, she’d heard relatively little from him since their tour ended. Figured. She couldn’t pretend that it didn’t hurt. Even though she’d tried to prepare herself for this inevitability, it still sucked. Especially since they had gotten to know one another so much better over his telephone calls. Because of that, her feelings for him had only deepened instead of diminished.
“Get over it, Sophie,” she muttered to herself as she made her way to her room for the after-school rehearsal of the fall concert. “It was a nice little reprieve from your predictable life. That’s all. You knew this was going to happen, so deal with it and be happy your paths crossed at all.”
She stepped into her classroom and was startled to see all of her students already in there. Usually it took them awhile to meander in after their last class when they did rehearsals like this.
“Ms. G!” Elliot shouted, jaunting over to her with Aaron and Julie in tow. “Come on, we have to go to the gym.”
She blinked rapidly. “Why?”
He fixed her with a look. “The special assembly.”
She frowned. “Special assembly? What are you talking about?”
He arched an eyebrow. “You know, the special after-school assembly everyone has been talking about for like a month now.”
Was she losing her mind? Had she completely forgotten about an assembly and scheduled rehearsal on top of it? She
“Why?” She hated how completely meek and passive she sounded. She didn’t like seeming pitiful or out of control in front of her classes, but…shoot. Entertainment Tonight ?
“Because you’re like a typhoon of rockness!” Aaron continued to perform, standing on his chair and doing some sort of Elvis hip-wiggle thing, which he followed up with some air guitar, a couple head bangs, and the rock-on sign with his tongue slithering out like a snake for good measure.
“Oh please,” she muttered, trying to get some kind of grip on this situation before her face ignited and Aaron decided to start sacrificing pigeons or something. “Zane’s a friend. I was trying to help him out.” That was…basically right. “It’s not like I’m part of the band now.” She hated how her heart twisted in protest at her even saying those words. “They were in a bind. I just happened to be there…”
“You know Zane Blake?” Elliott screeched. “He’s your friend ?”
Her face burned, but she managed to nod. Friend was such a weak word for what she felt for Zane.
“I didn’t know you played electric guitar, Ms. Gilkins!” Julie added.
Sophie smiled, and an overwhelming wave of joy surged through her at the thought that, for one second in time, she had actually been somebody. She bet Lorraine really wanted to kill her now. She’d never thought recognition would matter, but it did. Especially from her students. “Well, I don’t tell you guys all my secrets,” she teased. “Now, enough playing around.” She pointed at Aaron. “Get down, Ozzy. We have work to do.”
The students laughed, and she went over to grab her sheet music so she could begin the lesson. Her heart felt warm where it had been empty and aching only moments before, and she realized that, regardless of how everything ended up, she had had an experience of a lifetime.
And she was grateful for her adventure.
Chapter Ten
Four months later
It was a day like any other. Just like they’d all been since she’d first returned to work and reality after her brief stint as stand-in rock star. She’d gotten back into her routine and went about her business as she always had, but she still hadn’t been able to banish the small hole in her heart that had been there since she’d left Shadows Rising. It was like Zane had taken a little piece of her that she would never get back again. She didn’t know what to do with that. Get used to it, she guessed.
While he had called her rather diligently for the first two months after her return to Flagstaff, she’d heard relatively little from him since their tour ended. Figured. She couldn’t pretend that it didn’t hurt. Even though she’d tried to prepare herself for this inevitability, it still sucked. Especially since they had gotten to know one another so much better over his telephone calls. Because of that, her feelings for him had only deepened instead of diminished.
“Get over it, Sophie,” she muttered to herself as she made her way to her room for the after-school rehearsal of the fall concert. “It was a nice little reprieve from your predictable life. That’s all. You knew this was going to happen, so deal with it and be happy your paths crossed at all.”
She stepped into her classroom and was startled to see all of her students already in there. Usually it took them awhile to meander in after their last class when they did rehearsals like this.
“Ms. G!” Elliot shouted, jaunting over to her with Aaron and Julie in tow. “Come on, we have to go to the gym.”
She blinked rapidly. “Why?”
He fixed her with a look. “The special assembly.”
She frowned. “Special assembly? What are you talking about?”
He arched an eyebrow. “You know, the special after-school assembly everyone has been talking about for like a month now.”
Was she losing her mind? Had she completely forgotten about an assembly and scheduled rehearsal on top of it? She
Similar Books
