Page 15 of Sing Your Heart Out

“Mine too!” Dwayne chips in.

“Yeah. Two good songs… and then one really great one. Keep doing exactly what you are doing. A plus.”

“A plus times a million,” Dwayne finishes. “Obviously you are one of the best of the week… with the other being Mellie.” People start applauding, so I do too. “Well done, both of you.”

“For the others… Rico and Piper… I’m sorry, but you have to pack your things and leave the house.” Dwayne looks a little sad.

“We are so sorry,” Dee says, giving them both a consoling look.

Piper bursts into tears. Rico just storms off toward the front of the house, muttering to himself.

I breathe a sigh of relief. Nate catches my eye and gives me a thumbs up. I nod to him, then head toward the stairs.

That was too close for my comfort. I have to quit thinking about Sarah and get my head in the game, for real this time.

And that’s something best accomplished alone…

6

Sarah

Ishade my eyes, looking at the late morning sun set high above the unforgiving desert landscape. They say that Los Angeles is supposed to be a desert, but this area outside Vegas is truly something else. Other than the little shack where Dee and Dwayne are paying the dune buggy owners, there is nothing for miles and miles. Every direction is just sand fading up to the sky; I can see faint shimmers of the intense heat rising if I look for more than a few seconds.

“Jesus,” Mellie grunts, pulling at her black t-shirt. “Why does anyone even live out here?”

Looking her up and down, I grin. “I think most people aren’t out here in leather pants.”

“Well, most people can suck it.” Mellie pulls a face. “Say, you got that sunscreen? I feel like I need another layer of protection…”

Handing the tube to Mellie, I smooth a hand down my pink floral romper. In this weather, I can’t even think of what else I own that I would wear.

“All right, everybody!” Dee shouts.

I turn to look at her. She smiles at everyone.

“We need everyone to divide up into teams of two. One person is going to be your driver. The other person is going to be your navigator. All right? Don’t worry about doing it too well, because today is all about fun.”

Dwayne cups his hands around his mouth. “That means there will be no judging done today, folks!”

I glance over at Smith, who looks somehow to be in his element out here. We lock eyes for a long moment, then he looks away pointedly. It seems like whatever magic we have when we are making music, that doesn’t touch us otherwise. Which is both a bummer and a huge relief.

Mellie waves the tube of sunblock at me. “Will you be my partner?”

I hesitate for a moment. Behind Mellie’s head I see Smith approaching a pretty redhead girl named Taylor. I swallow, then meet Mellie’s eyes.

“Totally,” I say, trying to sound as though I wasn’t just hoping that Smith would choose me to ride with.

Mellie looks backloads behind her and then turns around, rolling her eyes. “Girl, really. Stop mooning over him, okay? Come on. Let’s go get in one of these death traps.”

“I call driver!” I say, following her to an empty dune buggy.

“God, this thing looks so dangerous. No real rood, no sides, no windshield…” She climbs in the passenger side, pulling the five-point seatbelt on. As I settle beside her and buckle up, she looks behind herself at the back. “Fuck. The damn thing doesn’t have a single complete wall.” She wrinkles her nose. “Are you a good driver?”

I laugh, starting the engine. “Nope. Make sure that seatbelt is nice and tight.”

Stepping on the gas, I start forward, then slam on the brakes. Mellie groans, shooting me a glare.

“Sorry,” I say, shrugging. “Just testing things out.”

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