Free A Sound Like Hope (Fallen Tuesday #3) by Karolyn James Page A

out and held his in the
air.
    “ This
is for us, ” Mack said. “ We drink, celebrate, and think
about our lives. We think about this music, the fans, and the new album. Soon
enough, we will be back on a tour bus, back on a stage, and back to doing what
we love best. ”
    The five bottles clanked together
and Trent drank his beer. He couldn ’ t
thought about everything that the five of them had gone through together
already in life. Trent ’ s
life had begun the moment he played that guitar … and his life gained meaning the moment he had that first practice with Luke,
Mack, Gray, and Jake. Trent refused to think about anything before that day.
And maybe that was something else he needed to fix.
    He probably needed to work out his
past before it stole his future.
     
    *
     
    Nicholas sat in the passenger seat
next to Emily. She had no idea what kind of dress code there was for this kind
of thing, not that she wanted to pick a fight with Nicholas over his clothes or
how he looked. She considered it a victory that he had woken up today and took
a shower without her reminding him ten times to do so. Emily wasn ’ t one to really talk either
since she was in workout clothing. Sitting in a parking lot, she felt self
conscious and considered hurrying back home to change.
    She had spent as much free time as
she could listening to Fallen Tuesday songs. She felt foolish becoming such an
intense fan of the band while this was all meant to somehow help Nicholas, but
she had hoped it would intrigue Nicholas at least a little bit. He had no
interest in who Trent was.
    “ So
what do I do now? ” Nicholas
asked. “ Go inside and … what? ”
    “ I ’ m not really sure, ” Emily said. “ You listen and talk. ”
    “ Are
we going to paint pictures of suns and clouds? ”
    Emily smiled. “ You know I care about you,
right? You know I love you, Nicholas. ”
    “ Wonderful
news, ” Nicholas said. He
was so dry and numb to the world.
    “ This
is keeping you from being taken away, ” Emily said.
    “ You ’ ve said that before. ”
    “ I ’ m just making sure you
understand what ’ s really
happening here. You need to do this. You need to find a way to stop acting out,
Nicholas. Do you realize how dangerous it was to set that fire? What if trees
caught on fire? What if Mr. Hacher ’ s
house caught on fire? With him inside? Do you not …”
    “ No, ” Nicholas said. “ Whatever you ’ re going to say, just pretend I ’ m saying no. ”
    Nicholas opened the car door and
got out. He slammed the door shut and opened the back door. He got his
skateboard and started to walk away. Emily felt the lump in her throat rise up.
She looked back and saw the damn helmet on the seat.
    “ No
way, ” she whispered.
    She grabbed the helmet and turned
off the car. She waited for a minute though and watched Nicholas go into the
community center building without a care in the world. Whether he was hiding
his fears or not, it was pretty impressive to see him carry himself the way he
did. If that were Emily, she ’ d
be afraid. But not Nicholas. He just didn ’ t
worry about a thing. Ever.
    Emily got out of the car and
carried the helmet by one of its straps. From the corner of her eye, she noticed
a black muscle car pulling into the parking lot. Emily froze when she heard the
music blaring from the car. She knew who it was, but refused to actually
believe it.
    The car ’ s engine died and the door opened. When someone
stepped out, Emily swallowed hard. He was tall, muscular, and was wearing black
sunglasses. Everything about him screamed rockstar , right down to the
way he put his hands on the roof of the car and shook his head. He reached into
the backseat and pulled out a guitar case. He studied it for a few seconds and
then tossed it back into the car. He slammed the door and stepped up onto the
sidewalk.
    Emily knew she should have said
something to him. He was a person, not just a rockstar. But, damn, he walked
like a rockstar.