Page 60 of More To Us

"We went out the night before too. And I'm training her at the gym. Well, sort of. She's an athlete so she already knows what she's doing but I offered to train her anyway."

"So you'd have an excuse to see her more." Dylan smiles. "You really like this girl."

"Yeah. I think this might actually go somewhere."

"What kind of athlete?" Van asks.

"She's a gymnast, or she used to be. She had an injury so she's not competing anymore."

Van laughs. "A gymnast?" He tosses his drumstick in the air and catches it. "Congratulations, man. Your sex life's about to become freaking amazing. You do it with her yet?"

"No, and stop talking about her that way or I'll shove that drumstick up your ass."

"I'm just saying, gymnasts can do things with their bodies you wouldn't believe. Same with yoga instructors. Remember Gia? The girl I dated last year?"

"Yeah, you already told us," Dylan says. "We don't want to hear any more of your sex stories. You give way too much detail, man."

"I'm just—"

"So is she in school?" Dylan asks me, interrupting Van.

"Yeah, she starts college next week. She's 21 so she's starting late. She moved here from Michigan. She lives in an apartment with one of her friends from high school."

"Is her roommate hot?" Dylan asks. "Maybe I could date her."

"I've never met her, but I know she has a boyfriend. And since when are you looking for a date? You have girls begging to go out with you."

"Yeah, band groupies. You know I don't want that."

"You haven't wanted anyone in months," Van says. "You've barely shown interest in a girl, so why now? You finally over the one-night stand girl?"

He shrugs. "I guess. I'll never see her again, so what's the point?"

"Ha!" Van points his drumstick at Dylan. "I knew you were hung up on that girl. I finally got you to admit it."

Dylan gives him an annoyed look. "It wasn't exactly a secret, idiot. I wrote a damn song about her."

"Still. You'd never admit it until now."

"So you know anyone?" he asks me.

"For you to date? No. But you're going back to college next week so I'm sure you'll meet someone there."

"Speaking of college," he says, "we're going to have to change our practice times. Van and I have a couple night classes this semester so we're gonna have to meet earlier."

"I can't," I say. "I have to work."

He gets up from his chair. "Then we'll just have to practice less. And we won't be able to play as much. I have a tough schedule this year and I'm trying to set up an internship for the spring."

"What are you saying?" I ask. "You're ditching the band?"

"No. I just won't have as much time to play."

"You too?" I ask Van.

"Yeah. Sorry, man, but school comes first, you know?"

Actually, I don't know, because I'm not in school. I have work and the band. And the band is important to me. So important that I've told my dad I won't work nights or weekends if it interferes with my music. My brothers all work overtime but I won't do it. The band is a priority to me. But I guess Van and Dylan don't feel the same way.

So what does that mean for Vandyl? Is the band going to eventually break up? I'd counted on us doing this for years. I wanted us to be more than a local band. Maybe even do this for a living. But that's not going to happen if they're giving it up.

Maybe they're not. Maybe they were just letting me know they'd be busy this year and would have less time for the band. I hope that's what Dylan meant because I really need this band. And I don't want to join another. The three of us work well together and we all get along. We're friends. And I need to play. My music is important to me and I need to play.

So they can't break up the band. Vandyl has to continue. If it doesn't, I don't know what I'm going to do.

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