I lift my eyes back to his and smile. "You sounded really good. You're really talented."
He smiles back. "So you liked our music?"
"Yeah, it's great. And I'm not just saying that because we're dating. I really think you're good. You should call up June and Harold's son. Maybe he could do something for you guys. Make you known outside Chicago."
"I don't know if Vandyl will be around that much longer."
"Why?"
"I just get this feeling Van and Dylan aren't going to stick with it after they graduate. They haven't said anything yet, but I'm starting to worry. When Matt said Dylan was suit shopping, that basically told me Dylan's getting ready to go on job interviews. And once he gets some corporate job, he won't want to be in the band. Or he might end up getting a job outside Chicago."
"You guys done in there?" Van knocks on the door.
"Not yet," Austin yells back.
"We want to kick back before we have to go on again."
"Then go outside."
"We did, but these girls wouldn't leave us alone."
Austin sighs and says, "Just a minute." Then he says to me, "I'll do this better later." He kisses me, but keeps it short, then gets up to open the door, and the four of us wait in there until it's time for them to go on again.
Austin finds some people he knows in the bar, a guy and his girlfriend, and they let me sit at their table. I didn't tell Austin about the girls I sat with at the other table, and I'm not going to. I don't want to talk about the other girls he's been with, or be jealous about it. That would only hurt our relationship, and it's going so well, I don't want to do anything to mess it up.
"Our next song is one that Dylan wrote," Austin says through the mic.
Some of the girls up front start yelling 'one night' and waving their hands in the air.
"Guess that means you like it?" Austin asks, laughing a little. "For those of you who haven't heard it, it's called 'one night." He starts playing the intro and the girls go wild again.
It's a ballad and Dylan sounds good singing it. His voice is low and smooth, and he's really getting into it, his eyes closed like he's imagining whoever it is this song is about. I try to hear the lyrics but the girls up front are loud and I can only hear certain words.
Saw you across the room...That face, those eyes...couldn't find the words, but no words were needed...I knew you were it...I went to you, you smiled...and I was gone...yours...forever...still on my mind, in my dreams.
Then the chorus starts. One night. But it was more than that. One night. But I'll never forget. One night. And you were gone. One night. And I want you back.
And then it repeats. It's a good song, and I can feel the emotion in the words as Dylan sings it. He must've really liked this girl, which is surprising given that he was only with her one night. It sounds just like Amber and—wait, was he singing about Amber? No, that can't be right. It must be someone else. I'm sure he's had a lot of one-night stands.
He's still singing and I listen closer to the lyrics. Those beautiful blue eyes...and when I woke up they were gone...you were gone...
The girls up front are getting louder and I can't hear, but then they quiet down as Dylan sings the chorus. My mind replays the earlier lyrics, about seeing her across the room and how they barely talked and yet they knew there was something there. Something between them. It's just how Amber described that night. It has to be her!
Oh my God! Dylan wrote a song about Amber!
The song ends with 'I want you back' which is sung really slow. Then Dylan drops his head and keeps it there while girls start screaming 'I love you, Dylan' and begging him to sing the song again.
I can't freaking believe this! Dylan wrote a song about Amber! I have to tell her. I race to the restroom and call her.
Her phone rings and rings, then she finally answers. "I'm trying to have some romance here. What do you need?"
"Um, sorry, did I interrupt something?" I ask, although I can't imagine the two of them would be doing it again after she said how bad it was.
"You were about to interrupt something. So what do you need?"
Maybe I shouldn't tell her this. She's trying to make it work with Matt so maybe I should just let this go. But if it were me, I'd want to know.
"Kira, are you still there?"