Chapter 3 - Open Mic Night

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CHAPTER 3


CAT


She didn't expect to see Nick Bradley ever again, or maybe she was hoping she wouldn't. God, every time she allowed her mind to wander back to that night she cringed at herself for being so stupid and weird.

Matt and Amanda didn't ask about the double date fiasco when Cat came over the following morning to pick up Luke, likely warned by Hannah beforehand not to say a word. Hannah didn't try to set her up on another date over the next month either, and so February eased into March with very little perturbation.

Well, very little perturbation unless you count a sudden onslaught of homework from all of her professors, a lot of drama at the music store where she worked, and an ex-boyfriend that still wasn't doing anything to show he had an ounce of fatherly juice within him.

"You look like crap," Amanda said when she came into the store on Saturday afternoon.

It was a relatively slow day – as were most days in a music store in the age of iTunes and YouTube – so Cat was hunched over the counter trying to get through some homework that was due on Monday morning.

She looked up and held her tongue out at her friend.

"So do you," she commented.

To be fair, Amanda looked far from crappy with her tiny baby bump and the natural glow of pregnancy lighting up her bronze complexion. She was about Cat's height, but kept insisting whenever the subject was brought up that she was half an inch taller. She had long brown hair falling in perfect waves down her back, and they were currently pulled up in a very successful messy bun, the kind Cat could never quite manage to duplicate no matter how many YouTube tutorials she copied off of. Her eyes were closer to gold than brown and while she usually wore contacts, today she'd resorted to her hipster glasses.

"Bitch, I'm fabulous," Amanda said, flipping her purple scarf over her shoulder and sending Cat a very dramatic and completely false glower.

Cat rolled her eyes.

"You're a dork," she commented.

"So are you," Amanda grinned. "So what's up? You here all by yourself again?" she wondered, moving over to examine the CDs in the display rack next to the cash register.

"Yeah, Holly didn't show up for her shift again and Paul couldn't come in to fill in for her, so Curt asked if I could handle the shift on my own. I told him it wouldn't be a problem, so he'll just be popping in a little later to help set up for open mic night... we've only gotten like, five customers all morning so I've been dealing," Cat sighed, pushing her homework away for her Exploring Poetry class with Professor Goldstein, deciding she'd done enough analyzing for the next little while.

"That sucks," Amanda frowned.

"Yeah," Cat agreed.

"So is Hannah babysitting the little guy?" Amanda continued, making her way over to examine the glass display case at the other end of the counter.

"Yeah, until ten tonight so I can stick around with Curt and watch the performers," Cat replied.

"Are you performing too?" Amanda asked. She already had a very good idea of the answer, but she liked to tease Cat whenever she could so she took a shot anyway. She gave her friend an exaggerated look, accompanied by a knowing smirk.

"I— um... no," Cat shrugged, fussing aimlessly with the plastic container of guitar picks that happened to be conveniently in reach.

"Someday my dear, you're gonna get over that stage fright of yours and people will hear your awesome chops," Amanda said in a very prophetic tone. "Now I need your bathroom, so I'll be right back," she added quickly and ran quickly towards the back, despite the sign on the door signaling that only staff was allowed through.

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