Just Off the Key of Reason

Chapter Fourteen - Seasons Change but People Don't

Tuesday, 19th of June, 2007 - San Francisco, California

Summer heat was always a fond reminder of so many great things. Of pools at friends' houses, of backyard barbecues, of trying to eat ice creams before they melted, of late sunsets and later nights looking at summer night skies. It was also a reminder that wearing a hoodie was a stupid idea. When it was hot enough that the venue had started handing out bottles of water to people waiting in line, it was maybe a sign to take the extra layers off. But instead of being logical, instead of avoiding heatstroke, running into it headfirst for the sake of wearing an article of clothing with a ridiculous level of attachment after only three days seemed like a much better idea. She hadn't parted with the hoodie since Patrick had loaned it to her, save for whenever she had to shower. As much as she told herself it was stupid to hang onto it, she felt like if she couldn't have Patrick, at least she could have this. To save herself from at least some of the heat, she stuck to the inner areas of the venue when she could. Corridors and equipment rooms were a lot colder due to their bricked walls and concrete floors, they were also a lot quieter than being present for sound check or being anywhere near the now masses of people waiting outside. She knew she was meant to be keeping an eye on Pete, given that was what she was being paid to do, but he seemed to be behaving himself since the air conditioning incident and a harsh phone call from the label about how it cost them a couple hundred dollars to fix it. Sticking to the maze of hallways also allowed her to continue avoiding Patrick. His girlfriend had gone home two days ago, but if she had been hesitant about being close to him before, him being taken only made that far worse. She knew full well that if she let him back in, she'd only be signing up to spend at least 50% of her time being jealous.

She slumped down against the wall, feeling the cold from the bricks seep through after a few moments. Sound check had stopped a few minutes ago, the bass had stopped reverberating through the walls, which meant that the guys were likely back in their dressing room killing time until they had to go on. Once they were on she could go hang out side stage to keep an eye on Pete, but until then she figured she could continue hiding from the heat. And Patrick. But as if on cue, as soon as she was sat on the ground, the man himself rounded the corner. It took her a second to register who was headed her way, leaving her very little time to scramble back to her feet and even less to attempt a getaway. She opened her mouth to make an excuse to leave.

"No. No." He held a hand up to silence her before she could even think of what she was going to say. "Why are you avoiding me?" He asked abruptly.

There was no reasonable sounding lie to offer. "Because I don't want to see you hanging out with your girlfriend." She shrugged.

"You and everyone else." He scoffed under his breath. "But," He looked around over dramatically for a moment before turning back to her, "she's not here now. She hasn't been for days." He pointed out with an eyebrow raised. "And I'm getting sick of people dodging me like I've got the plague."

"That doesn't mean that she doesn't exist." She argued. He stared at her, waiting for her to explain what she meant. "Even if she's not here you're still on the phone to her, still talking about her."

"You guys do have your own lives."

"It's just not overly fun to be around." She admitted quietly.

He spent a few seconds trying to process this information. "Wait, are you... are you jealous?" He asked with wide eyes. As much 'no' is what came out of her mouth, the blood rushing to her face almost certainly betrayed those words.

Despite her best stuttered protests that she wasn't jealous of his girlfriend, a definite contradiction while still wearing his hoodie, he'd already gone off on his own mental tangents. "I don't get it. You told me to forget it, so I did. I don't..." He took a step back from her, shaking his head. "What's the problem? Why are you still avoiding me?" He sounded like he was mostly talking to himself. Certainly she was happy to pretend that was the case and not have to answer. "Ugh..." He pushed his glasses down slightly, pinching the bridge of his nose and scrunching his eyes shut. "For someone who isn't into me you sure like to make me think you are."