Black Hole

Drops of Jupiter

“That’s you guys!” I exclaimed, suddenly nervous. “Um good luck! I’ll find a spot in the front!” Before I completely registered what I was doing I gave Callan a kiss on the cheek. I quickly made my way to the front row.

Josh introduced the band and they started playing. They were actually amazing. I loved the addition of the violin. Josh sang Blue Moon and Across the Universe first. He has a great voice. It’s surprisingly deep. Then it was Callan’s turn to sing.

The moment I heard him sing, it was suddenly my desire to hear him sing to me every single day. His voice was so smooth and perfect. It gave me chills. It was my favorite sound in the world.

I smiled happily and gave him a wave. He winked at me and I practically melted. He was a total rock star up there. I couldn’t believe I got to witness it. 

He was incredible. Everyone else in the band was great too, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of Callan for one second. He was perfect.

They started Drops of Jupiter, which is one of my favorite songs. Now it was Callan who couldn’t take his eyes off of me. He was singing right to me.

I smiled up at him and took him in. Nothing would ever be better than this moment. Callan was looking right at me and was really seeing me and singing to the real me. The real me that only he could see because he was the only one who cared enough to look.

Callan winked at me again. Any other time I would have broken eye contact, but nothing could break the connection. We were in a whole other world. Together.

Their set ended and my hands hurt from clapping so hard. When I spot Callan I ran over to him and jump into his arms, hugging him tightly.

“You were amazing!” I exclaimed. “I have never seen anything so wonderful!"

“Thanks.” Callan responded, breathlessly. “Having you out there was pretty wonderful too.” He pulled away slightly and just held me.

“I was incredibly glad to be out there.” I grinned.

“Ahem!” Howie cleared his throat.

“You guys were great too!” I said, still smiling. “Really, I loved the whole performance!”

“Enough to come see us play next week?” Josh asked.

“I’d love to.” I giggled. The whole band cheered, except Lucy. Why didn’t she like me? Was it because she had become accustomed to being the only girl around them and now she felt threatened that I was here?

“Are we going to dinner or what?” Lucy asked impatiently.

“Of course.” Callan answered. “Would you like to join us, Jay?” 

“Definitely.”

^^^

The Golden Diner is so retro and cool. My friends would never be caught dead there, but I absolutely love it.

“So you guys do this after every show?” I asked sliding into the booth next to Callan. Our legs were pressed against each other, but I made no move to change that and neither did he.

“Yeah, but we don’t usually bring groupies.” Lucy said coolly.

“Well I’m a lucky groupie then.” I smiled, determined not to let her get to me.

“Best groupie we’ve ever had, I’m sure.” Adam said.

“Yeah, it was really cool of you to come tonight, Jay. We had no idea you would actually come. We thought Callan was pulling our legs to be honest. I mean the most popular girl in school coming to see us? It’s insane!” Josh said.

“Well I couldn’t resist when Callan invited me.” I admitted. “We go way back. We were lab partners in eighth grade."

“Oh we know.” Howie assured me.

What did that mean? Did Callan tell them something? Did he talk about me? Did he like me as much as I liked him?

As dinner came to a close, Lucy who hadn’t said much the whole time we were there spoke.

“We’re still going to Variety tomorrow, right?”

“Of course we are.” Adam said. “Been looking forward to it all week.”

“Variety is a dance club.” Howie informed me. “Every night there’s a different kind of dancing.”

“And what kind of dancing do you guys do?” I asked.

“Swing.”

“You guys swing dance?”

“Yeah. Ever done it?” Callan asked.

“Only freshman year in PE. Bobby Mallard elbowed me in the eye and then got mad at me when it wouldn’t stop watering.” I shared.

Howie winced.

“Well, I promise I’ll be a much better dance partner than that. That’s if you’ll come.” Callan said.

“I’d love to.” I answered.

“But, Callan you’re supposed to be my dance partner.” Lucy interjected. 

“I’ll be your partner, Luce.” Howie offered.

“Great.” She muttered, crossing her arms.

After paying we stood outside in the parking lot laughing and talking.

“Are you coming with me or not, Callan?” Lucy asked, tapping her foot.

“Uh…” Callan looked over at me.

“I’ll take him home.” I said. “It’s on the way to my house anyway. Probably more convenient.”

“I live across the street from him.” Lucy said, throwing me a dirty look as though I was supposed to know that.

“Oh. Well, I’ll take him anyway.”

“We have Astronomy to discuss.” Callan added. Lucy turned on her heel and stalked to her car, slamming the door shut before speeding off. What’s her deal anyway?

Soon the others left and it was just Callan and me. “Want to go for a walk?” He asked.

“I’d love to.”

“So, Lucy is a huge fan of mine.” I said sarcastically, breaking the silence.

“Yeah, sorry about that. It’s my fault.” Callan apologized.

“Does she have a crush on you or something?”

“Yeah. And we used to date. It was in no way serious and only lasted a month or so. I ended it because it didn’t feel right. I knew I wanted something more. My heart wasn’t in it.”

“And what exactly does that have to do with me?” I asked casually even though in my head I was screaming, wanting to know the answer.

“Well, I think Lucy will always be threatened by you. I mean, the way I talk about you all the time. And all I ever have to say are good things. I put you on such a pedestal and I think she knows she’ll never live up to that.”

“Oh do you?” I asked, smirking.

“I just think you’re one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met and I might’ve mentioned that a few too many times around Lucy. And then the whole thing with the eighth grade dance…”

“What about the dance?” I asked quickly, no longer trying to be casual.

“Well…” he hesitated. “Before I found out that Leo asked you, I was going to.” He didn’t look at me.

“Really?” I breathed.

“Yeah. I mean , don’t know if you would have said yes, but I wanted to give it a shot.”

“That’s sweet,” I smiled. I wanted to tell him that I would have said yes, but I was too scared to say it now. “What about the guys? Are they tired of hearing about me too?”

“Nah. Lucy’s really the only one who hates the popular kids at school.” He explained. “Josh could have been one of you, but he likes to rebel. That’s why he joined the band, it makes his parents crazy. Also he loves the groupies.”

I laughed. “So I’ve noticed.”

“Adam just really likes hanging out with people like him. He’s a pretty chill guy, but he’s great company. And Howie is pretty much up for anything. I’m glad he’s my best friend.”

“Your friends are great. You’re so lucky to be surrounded by people like them.” I said. “I mean most of my friends are self-absorbed and shallow. They don’t realize that we’re not better than anyone else. In some ways we’re worse.”

“You’re not.” Callan stated. “You’re not like them. You’re better than that.”

“I think you see the best in me.” I pointed out.

“No, I see the real you.”

“And I love that.” I whispered.

Callan stopped and faced me. “Let’s practice dancing.” He said, putting out his hands. I took them. Callan went slow and led me through turns and jumps and flips. Swing was easy when you had someone who knew what they were doing leading you

He spun me back in and I jumped up and wrapped my legs around him. He spun me around.

We laughed loudly. As he set me down, our lips crashed into each other's. Although all I wanted to do was kiss him, I pulled away, embarrassed.

“I’m so sorry!” I exclaimed. “I didn’t mean to do that! That had to be the weirdest, most unorthodox kiss in the world.”

“It’s okay,” Callan assured me. “I mean it wasn’t really a kiss. More of a crash.”

I suddenly realized that my first kiss with Callan had just happened and it was super unconventional. That just upset me more.

“I’m such a klutz. I totally just forced an awkward kiss on you.” I rambled on.

“Jay, it wasn’t a kiss.” Callan insisted. 

“Yes it was! Our lips touched and-” I was cut off when Callan put both hands on my face and kissed me for real. It was slow and intimate and when he finally pulled away I was breathless.

“That was a kiss.” He whispered. I stood there, still stunned. He looked concerned. “Jay? Are you okay? I shouldn’t have done that, I’m sorry.”

“I’m not.” I whispered. “That was incredible.”

“I just didn’t want our first and possibly last kiss to be that awkward mess.” He explained.

“It’s okay. I get it. I felt the exact same way.”

“You won’t tell Leo, right?”

“It will be our secret.” I smiled.