Free House at the End of the Street by Lily Blake, David Loucka, Jonathan Mostow Page B

Elissa said. “He said I needed to leave.”
    Jillian sucked down the last of her diet soda, making a slurping sound with the straw. “If I were you, I would blow him off for a few days. Ice him out. Nothing.”
    Elissa clutched the neck of her guitar in her hand and stared out the barn doors. Robbie and Jake were warming up, the melody of a song—
her song
—filling the air. “I haven’t spoken to him yet. I just want to know what happened,” she said. “We were having fun, I thought. But then he just freaked.”
    Her cell phone buzzed in her pocket. Ryan’s name came up on the screen. She opened it slowly, wondering if he had somehow sensed they were talking about him. She took the call but didn’t say anything.
    “Elissa? It’s me,” he said. “I want to see you.”
    “What happened the other night?” Elissa stood, moving to a corner of the barn. She pressed one finger in her ear to drown out the music in the background.
    “I’m sorry about that…I…” Ryan sounded strange, as if he were uncertain.
    “Are you okay?” Elissa tried.
    Behind her, Jake played a few notes on his bass, finishing his warm-up. “Hey—are we going to play or what?” he called to her. Robbie stood beside him, adjusting the amps.
    “I need to see you,” Ryan went on. “There are things I need to tell you.”
    Elissa glanced back, watching as Robbie walked around in a circle, strumming a few chords. A ten-minute break had turned into a thirty-minute break, and even that wasn’t enough time for Elissa to tell Jillian what had happened at Ryan’s house two nights ago. Jake looked like he might smash his bass on the ground if Elissa didn’t get off the phone soon.
    “I want to see you too,” she said. “But I’ve gotta go now. I’m performing tonight at the Battle of the Bands at school. Why don’t you come?”
    There was a long pause, until Ryan finally said something that sounded like “okay.” She hung up the phone, feeling a hundred things at once—relieved, elated, nervous, confused. What did he want to tell her? Did he realize how hurt she was about the other day? Why had he completely freaked out?
    Jillian sidled up beside her. “I would ask who that was, but I can tell by the smile on your face.”
    Elissa nodded, tucking the phone back in her pocket. “He’s coming tonight. He wants to see me.”
    She would’ve said more, but Robbie called out to them. “Enough boy talk. We have two hours until the show. Come on, Lissa.”
    She went to them, listening to Jake count down the song. But as they started to play, she was more excited about the show than ever. Not just because they were genuinely good—most likely the best band competing tonight. And not just because Sarah had (in an attempt to apologize) bought her this cool glow-in-the-dark makeup that would make her radiant under the spotlights. Ryan would be there tonight, and they’d finally talk. Whatever had happened between them the other day—the kiss, that moment on the couch—had been real. It had meant something.
    She moved her fingers over the frets, losing herself in the song. When she sang the first few notes, they wereclearer than they’d ever been. Tonight was going to be a good night. Elissa could feel it.
    E lissa studied herself in the backstage mirrors, liking the way the iridescent paint made the light dance on her skin. She’d let her hair fall down her back in her messy, I-don’tuse-a-blow-dryer waves. In her tight T-shirt and ripped jeans she looked cool, relaxed even. It was times like these she wished her father could see her. There was so much of him in everything she did—even when he wasn’t there to witness it.
    She stuck her thumb into the pot of makeup, ready to smear some over her eyes, when she saw a familiar face behind her. “You made it,” she said, catching Ryan’s eyes in the mirror. She stood, not quite certain whether to hug him or not. He seemed like a stranger to her now. His hair was messy and his