Page 32 of Exactly What I Needed
“That’s lame.” Selena pouted, sitting back down in a slump.
“However,” I started, and watched everyone’s interest pique, sitting upright a little higher in their desks. I couldn’t believe I was doing this. “I happen to like Void’s music and listen to it regularly now.”
Some of it anyway. I’d only recently discovered them, so I was only a couple songs in.
“And?” Dane prompted, leaning forward.
“I’ll go to the concert.” I paused, leaning back against my desk with my hands. “Bothof them.”
“No cap?” Selena exclaimed as the entire class erupted in cheers.
“Yes, no cap,” I answered with a smile. Things had been more fun with my students lately. I’d spent more time learning about their interests and the latest drama going on, which had allowed me to connect with them better. This would be another good way to connect with them.
“But how will we know that you held up your promise?” Madison asked. Murmured agreements bounced around my class.
“I’ll take some pictures.”
“No, that’s not good enough. You could have someone edit them. We want a video.” Caralee smiled wickedly.
“A video of you singing a song of theirs. One of our choosing. At the concert. That’ll prove that you actually know this bandandwere there,” Dane added, crossing his arms triumphantly. The entire class stood up, cheering and echoing their agreements. The noise was a little overwhelming, and I quickly tried to shush them before anyone came in wondering what was going on.
“Fine. Fine!” I said, quieting the class.
“Wait,” Benson said, and furrowed his brows. “But you could practice whatever song we choose before the concert and then make itseemlike you know their music.”
I slowly nodded, seeing what he meant. He wasn’t wrong, and I had halfway hoped to use that tactic because it would get me around the fact that I’d spent more time with Asher himself than actually learning any of their songs. But I was determined to prove them wrong. If not for their sake, then for my own. I needed to know that I still maintained some semblance of control over my own decisions when it came to The Dark Banshee.
“All right, how about this.” I pushed off the desk and slipped some wayward strands of my hair behind my ear. “Let’s take a vote. You’ll write down one song that you’d like me to sing at the concert and put it in anenvelope. I’ll seal it, then at the concert after the opening act, before Void comes on stage, I’ll have my friend record the song reveal.”
“So, what you’re saying is you’ll open it, on camera, and count up which song has the most votes,” Selena confirmed, and I nodded.
“Any questions?” I asked, and they all shook their heads. “All right. Jamie, will you grab some of those half sheets in the back of the class and pass them out?” The young boy nodded, standing up from the last row and walking towards my scrap pile I kept in a blue basket.
While my class began writing down the name of whatever song they wanted me to sing, I dug through my desk to find an envelope. Part of me wondered how I was going to pull this off. Better yet, how did I let myself get dragged into this? Was this going too far in an attempt to relate to my students? Or did I do this because secretly I wanted an excuse to see Asher?
Or was I trying to keep myself from feeling extremely guilty over everything that had already happened?
My mind wandered, returning to that mysterious snap from him. Wait, if I needed to learn songs rapidly, who better to learn them from than the man who wrote and sang them himself?
Groaning, I realized that the warning from Tera to not be with him alone would have to be ignored. I needed to suck up my pride and ask the very man I’d rejected multiple times for a favor.
Or, once again, was all this a way to justify seeing him again without guilt, since I could easily learn the lyrics by just listening to Void’s music on repeat until concert day?
Returning to my class, I walked to the last student and grabbed the now sealed envelope. Sliding my pen from my bun, I wrote on it “Void Concert” and held it up for everyone to see.
“Are you sure you want me to do this? How do you know I won’t sound horrendous?” A half-hearted attempt to get out of this one last time.
Chuckles met my ears. “Nice try, Miss Duval. We look forward to the video playlist of our English teacher, who only ever turns on classical music, attending a metal concert,” Dane teased, a wicked grin on his face.
“Oh, and you have to do the top two songs!” Selena suddenly added.
I furrowed my brows. “Why?”
“Because you have two concerts to attend.” Her lips titled up at one corner, and I groaned internally.
This was not going to go well, and I’d walked myself right into it.
The moment that my third-period class let out for lunch, I snatched up my phone. I’d yet to open Asher’s snap, but I had something more pressing to tell him.
