Free Moving Neutral by Katy Atlas Page A

blonde and gorgeous, she was as graceful and lithe as a ballerina. She walked through the room as if navigating the crowd took no effort at all, wearing a silver dress that had to cost more than I’d saved for college in three summers of babysitting and working at the coffee shop. It fit her perfect body like a glove, and I tried not to think about all the tabloid articles that I’d read linking her to Blake.
    Madison seemed to have the same reaction, whispering to me quietly, She doesn’t even look like a person. She could be a doll.
    She was right. With her blonde straight hair and bright blue eyes, April could have been the best doll a child could wish for, come to life. I thought about Madison’s idea that Blake was interested in me, dismissed it outright. This conclusion had, after all, come from the same girl who thought we could sneak backstage with nothing but a box of Luna bars as cover.
    Someone switched whatever CD we had been listening to, and for a moment the room fell silent, everyone’s voices lowering as they realized, without the ambient noise, that they had been screaming. I was happy Madison or I hadn’t picked that moment to say something about Blake.
    When the next song started, I realized that someone had put in Bob Dylan, and grinned at Madison without saying a word. If there was any music I liked almost as much as Moving Neutral, it was music from the sixties. Dylan’s husky voice was still audible when the conversations picked back up, and I leaned against the back of the chair in perfect contentment.
    I love this song, I whispered, half to myself.
    Me too, a familiar voice said above me, and I looked up to see Blake standing next to our chair, grinning down at us. Sorry to ditch you like that, he said, gesturing at the guy in flip flops he’d been talking to. That guy, Derek, is our manager, he’s basically in control of our lives. I couldn’t ignore him even if I hated his guts, but fortunately, he’s pretty cool.
    I looked across the room, and realized April was now with the same man, hitting his arm in a flirtatious way as she pulled her hair back with her other hand. I looked up at Blake, his face wide open and handsomer than I’d even remembered. He would look perfect standing next to April. Next to me, just mismatched.
    Are you having fun? he said it to both of us, but again, he only looked at me. I tried to nod, and felt Madison behind me doing the same.
    I’m going to try to find Sophie, she said, getting up from the chair. Save my seat, she smiled at Blake as she walked off, and I had never been more thankful that Madison could have any guy she wanted at Prospect. Apparently, she thought she owed me this one.
    I tried to stop my whole body from shaking as Blake climbed into the seat next to me, sitting down right where Madison had gotten up. I crossed my legs, trying not to press them into his, but without a better place for it, he was forced to put his arm around me.
    New York is my favorite city, he said, his voice low and confident now that he was beside me. I shivered. You’re so lucky to be going to school here.
    I can’t wait, I said, relaxing a little. Whenever Madison and I would get sick of everything at school, we’d come into the city for a day, just to go shopping or walk around. It’s like this amazing, crowded, anonymous place.
    He nodded, thinking about it. It’s not like that in L.A. Everywhere you go, there’s someone watching you, most of the time with a camera. Here, it feels like no one really cares.
    I smiled at him, teasing. Except that horde of stalker kids in the coffee shop, I giggled, and he smiled sheepishly.
    I wanted to keep talking, to ask the hundreds of questions in my head, but I wasn’t sure how to do it. I already knew all about him -- Blake had gone to a public school near Los Angeles, graduating the year that Moving Neutral got signed. I knew his favorite color, his favorite movie, his musical influences, everything. I bit my lip -- I