Page 6 of Counterpoint and Harmony

Chapter Five

Escape tone:a note in the melody that is not part of the chord in the harmony, which is approached stepwise from below and then skips to the next chord tone

Charlie

“Hey, Lauren?” I knock on her door as I poke my head in.

She looks up from the lighted makeup mirror on her desk as she finishes swiping on a sheer pink gloss. “Yeah? What’s up?”

Taking a deep breath, I steel myself to break my news. “I’m leaving tomorrow to go back to California.”

Lauren sets down her lip gloss tube after quickly twisting the cap back in place, then turns to look at me fully. Her eyes sweep over me, her face serious. “It’s time?”

I nod. “It’s time. I’ve probably stayed longer than I should’ve. I just didn’t want to give up …” I wave a hand toward the living room, hoping that adequately indicates everything I can’t quite put into words.

“Your hideout?” The sting of Lauren’s words are tempered by her sympathetic smile.

“I prefer ‘escape,’ but yeah.”

“What time tomorrow? Do you need a ride to the airport? What can I do for you?”

Her immediate offer of help warms me, staving off the apprehension that grows with each minute I get closer to leaving. Returning to my parents’ house. It’s not home anymore, but it’s what’s immediately available. My mom expects me to go back to the way things were, but I’m determined that everything will be different. That probably means getting a place of my own. But I’ll wait and see how things play out first.

“I’m going to miss you, Lauren.”

She stands and crosses the room, throwing her arms around me in a fierce hug. “I’m going to miss you, too. But you’ll keep in touch, so it’s not like we’ll never see each other again.” She pulls back and pins me with a look. “Right?”

I laugh, sniffing and wiping my nose as tears sting my eyes. “Right. I don’t have a lot of experience maintaining friendships, though, so you’ll have to tell me if I’m being a shitty friend.”

With a shrug and an air of smug competence, she tilts her head back and looks down her nose at me, which is even funnier since we’re about the same height. “That just so happens to be my specialty. Just ask Gabby.”

She grins, and I laugh again, knowing there must be a story there. “I can only imagine what living with her was like while Jonathan was on tour. The few times I saw him while they were apart, he was insufferable.”

Lauren giggles. “Yeah. It was pretty rough for a while there. We’re good now, though. So I’m confident you and I can make it work, too. But seriously. What do you need me to do? What about the house?”

I flip a hand dismissively. “Keep living here, of course. Let me know if anything needs fixing or whatever. I’ll send you some money to hire a lawn maintenance company too.” Her eyes widen at that. “Unless you’d rather have to mow the lawn and all that?”

She shakes her head. “No. No. I’m happy to let you hire someone to take care of it. I just didn’t expect it.” A crooked smile pulls up one side of her mouth. “I should’ve, though. It’s not like you can’t afford it.”

“Ha. For now, anyway. And I might show up on the spur of the moment if I need to get away again.”

“Mi casa es su casa,” she says as she spreads her arms wide and gives a little bow. “Literally.”

I smirk at her antics. “I’ll at least try to send you a text so I don’t surprise you.”

“Sounds good.”

I pause, looking around. “I’m sorry I’ve made the beginning of your semester more difficult.” She hasn’t had any friends over, and I know that several people have been angling for invitations since classes started up again two weeks ago, wanting to meet me again now that they know who I am. She also came home one day the first week ranting about how people keep asking her to get me to sign things for them.

That was what triggered my decision to head back, actually. The next day I started scheduling meetings with my manager, The Professor—the producer I’m hoping to work with again—and my personal trainer. Because even though I have no intention of doing a juice fast or whatever starvation diet my mom will try to put me on, the reality of my line of work is that I need to be in good shape. And while eating whatever I want whenever I want—like my addiction to breakfast food covered in berries and whipped cream—I feel better when I eat healthy and exercise. That hasn’t been a part of my life here at Marycliff, especially while moping the last few weeks. If I’m going to revitalize my career and my life and move forward, then I need to do things that are healthy for me. Not let other people dictate my life or keep chasing after things—or people—I can never catch.

Lauren presses her lips together and shakes her head. “Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault people are jerks. It’s actually been eye-opening. My real friends haven’t treated me any differently. And I know they wouldn’t sell you out or anything. I just figured you’d want to keep your privacy while you had it.” She spreads her hands. “I’m happy to have you back whenever you need to escape. If you decide to sell the house, just let me know so I can find a new place.”

“I’m not going to sell the house, Lauren. You can stay as long as you need.”

She nods. “Okay.” But her voice is hoarse like she’s fighting back tears now too. When she blinks and looks away, wrapping her arms around herself again, I know that’s what she’s doing. “Dammit, I just did my makeup!” She runs her thumbs carefully under her eyelids.

I grin at her despite the tears blurring my own vision. “Do you have a date tonight?”

She shakes her head. “No. Just hanging out with Tamara and Madison. Nothing big. You could come if you want. I don’t think they’d be weird about it.”

I consider her offer for a second. I’ve only hung out with her and her friends a few times. It’s tempting. One more night of normalcy before my life is a circus again. But I don’t know if she’s right that they wouldn’t be weird. So I shake my head, falling back on my instinct to keep to myself, not let anyone new get too close. It’s too risky. “I need to pack. Thanks, though.”

“Of course.” She gives me a smile. “Let me know if you need help with anything.”

“I will.”

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