A Spotlight Summer (Jack Gilinsky)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Kelsey POV

"All I'm saying is that I think you should say yes to this 'mystery date' he has planned," my roommate encouraged while applying a heavy coat of mascara to her eyelashes.

Thankful that she was too focused on her makeup to see me roll my eyes, I continued to stare at the chemistry textbook in front of me and paid no mind to her words.

Brynn put the small tube down and walked over to my bed with a determined look on her face. I had time to raise my head and shove my hair behind my ear before she began speaking. "Kelsey Jennings, I don't know who or what messed you up so badly, but Kyle is a dream and if you can't see that he just wants to give you a nice night out, then you need to reevaluate the damage this guy from your past inflicted."

I shook my head and did my best not to spit out a retort. I hated when Brynn tried to pry and ask me why I wasn't interested in a random hookup every night of the week. No matter how many excuses or how little information she is told, she always manages to come up with a way to tie it back to the boy she knows nothing about.

I opened my mouth to give her the same speech I've been giving her for the past month, but something stopped me.

Even Brynn, who has no idea that Jack exists, is able to see that he is still affecting me. Why is he still affecting me?

Suddenly angry at myself, I reached for my phone and texted Kyle back, accepting his offer.

A smile broke out on Brynn's face and she nodded toward me. She beamed like a proud parent.

"You're gonna have fun tonight, K," Brynn wiggled her eyebrows. "Trust me."

I returned her smile and forced myself to have an open mind-there was no sense in closing myself off to the world. Why should one relationship that was doomed from the start stop me from pursuing other options? Kyle is nice. Kyle is handsome. Kyle is funny. Kyle isn't on tour. Kyle isn't famous.

As my thoughts progressed, I kept coming up with more and more reasons to look forward to tonight. College is a blank slate-a blank slate where past romances should not get in the way of having fun and trying new things.

Kyle is new. And tonight, I'll be trying.

"Will you just tell me where we're going?" I begged. Kyle showed up at my dorm twenty minutes ago and whisked me away to the streets of Manhattan. Mentally thanking God that I didn't wear heels, I shoved my hands in my pockets as we continued our mysterious walk.

Kyle and his blue eyes looked at me with amusement and deciding he had kept his secret long enough, he began to explain. "So, when you practically ran out of the party last week," he paused and smiled when he saw me cringe, "something fell out of your bag as you were making your great escape."

A bad feeling crept into my chest at his words. When I was at the party, I had only been in New York for a short time. I was still overly and dramatically sad about my breakup and did anything I could to keep the blissful summer days alive now that the opening days of autumn were approaching. I said a silent prayer and hoped Kyle hadn't found what I knew to be missing.

He reached into his back pocket and produced the item that I didn't want to see. Kyle held a ticket stub from the first show I went to on the boys' tour. I did my best not to swear under my breath. Even when I had deleted all the pictures from my phone and stuffed that flannel deep into my draws, I couldn't bear to walk around without a piece of my time in Omaha. It was a life changing summer and I didn't want to admit that the change could be permanent and yet gone forever.

"I assume since you were carrying around the ticket that you're a fan of these guys. So, I got us tickets to their show in the city tonight!" Kyle exclaimed, his eyes shining with delight.