Page 89 of Hittin' the Right Note
Katrina’s tone, however, made it clear she wasn’t annoyed or upset.
She’s probably just glad I’m actually expressing feelings for once,he thought.And he’s probably right, though I’m not sure I want to go through that again.
“So,” Bryce said, “do you want to tell us what exactly is bothering you about your aunt? Or, I guess, why do you see her as connected to the Mikey situation?”
Luke barked a harsh laugh.
“I think I’ve done enough processing for tonight.”
Bryce and Katrina gave each other the meaningful look he hated, the one that said he was being dense but they were just going to go with it.
“You know we’re not going anywhere,” Katrina said. “It’s fine if you want to play the waiting game with us. We’re very good at that, too.”
Damn it.
“Okay, fine,” he said, and then he explained his logic.
“It’s just,” he began, “it’s like…in helping the reporter find me, Mikey set in motion a whole domino effect. If it hadn’t been for him, I wouldn’t have had to come out when I did, and maybe I could’ve talked to Aunt Patty on my own terms, and maybe things would’ve been different. Also, I don’t, it’s just…like…I went to her when he betrayed me last time, and she really helped me through it. Now, though…now I can’t go to her, and it’s tearing me apart.”
When he was done, they both sat there, clearly not quite sure what to say.
It was, unsurprisingly, Katrina who was the first to step into the breach, because she always was.
“Okay, so, I can see why you think this way, and you’re right. Mikey certainly didn’t help matters with your aunt, but let’s be real. I don’t think she would’ve accepted you, regardless of when you told her. However,” and she held up a hand to keep him from interrupting, “maybe she’s changed in the past year? Maybe you should go talk to her? Things with Mikey might be over, but they don’t have to be with her, too.”
Unfortunately, he knew Katrina had a point. Things might be ruined with Mikey, but maybe he could try to repair his relationship with Aunt Patty. Perhaps the whole thing with Mikey was a chance for him to resolve some of the other things in his life he'd been putting off too long.
Perhaps he might end up having a reason to be grateful to Mikey Smiles, even if it wasn’t in the way he’d originally thought.
“You know what? You’re right,” he said. “I’m going to talk to my aunt and…well, we’ll see where it goes.”
“Atta boy,” Katrina said, and Bryce chimed in.
“You can do this, buddy,” he said.
With his two best friends cheering him on, Luke dared to believe that yeah, he really could do it.
“What am I going to do about the concert?” he asked.
“Well,” Katrina said. “The way I see it, you can do a couple of things, but if you want my advice, I think you should go through with it. But you should just make sure both Mikey and Brenda know this is going to be strictly professional. Communication is key. Yeah, Mikey fucked up big time, and I don’t blame you for not wanting anything more to do with him in a romantic way. However, you should at least make it clear what the parameters are for your new dynamic.”
Once again, Katrina had a point. He’d gone too far to back out of the concert now and, while he wouldn’t like it, the least he could for NACA and for Brenda was to go through with it. It wouldn’t be fun. In fact, it would probably be a huge pain in the ass, but he was a man of his word.
It was all going to be for the best in the long run, anyway. He could get the concert done, he could go back to being a hermit–or, if he wanted, start doing some music again–and he could forget Mikey Smiles existed.
At the very least, he was going to stop thinking about Mikey Smiles in a romantic way. He’d done it once before, and he could do it again.
Goodbye, Mikey,he thought.And good riddance.
CHAPTER 30
MIKEY—2015
Mikey stormed back to his hotel room.
He still wasn’t sure how everything had fallen apart so fast, and he still couldn’t piece together the memories of that night a year ago, let alone square Damian’s story with what hecouldremember. Which made him wonder…
Why did I blurt out all of that stuff to Luke?
