Free First Kiss (Heavy Influence) by Ann Marie Frohoff Page A

right now. I don’t have it in me to deal with it. Just chill, ok?”
    I could see her swallow.
    “Alright then,” she replied, obviously trying to play it cool. “Whatever. I guess call me later. Or not.”
    She left her sarcasm hovering over me. I just stood there unable to say anythin g. I felt like a jerk. It was weird seeing her like this; all vulnerable and unsure of herself. I pushed it from my mind.
    It seemed that every other thought throughout the afternoon was about Aly. I sat talking with Notting, my manager and father figure, and tried to focus on what he was saying. A production company had commissioned us to write an original score. Even though the movie was a low budget flick, it had some well-known actors attached. I was stoked. After Notting left, the guys and I sat around the garage, tinkering with our instruments. I got up and hit the switch to open the door.
    “Dude, it’s fucking hot out there – you’re gonna let all the cold air out,” Mike whined. I ignore him.
    “What are you doing?” Bobby chimed.
    “I’ll close it in a sec.” I said, and walked out to my truck pretending to look for something. I glanced over at Aly’s house, hoping she’d miraculously appear. I didn’t have her phone number and wondered if she’d surprise by coming back over later that night – I thought back to our conversation the night before.
    “You don’t think this is weird?” She’d asked in a whisper.
    “Don’t be silly. We’re just watching a movie.”
    Our legs pressed against each other and I recalled how hard it had been not to be all over her. I wanted it to be chill – but it was far from that for me.
    “It’s nice to have someone different to hang with, you know,” she said quietly. “And it’s cool that you’re next door.”
    “Yeah. If you see lights, come over anytime.”
    “Really?”
    “Yeah, sure.”
    I thought about how the light from the TV had made her eyes sparkle as she’d smiled, clasping her hands and pressing them under her chin before she rolled over onto her side. Her reaction was so endearing it pulled me in even more. With her back facing me I pictured myself running my hand gently down her arm, down to her side. I wanted to touch her legs so bad. Just thinking about it made me tug at my pants.
                  I hoped she’d take what I said to heart and come over later.
                  Dump’s drumming and Bobby’s baseline pulled me back to reality.
                  “Hey, that sounds good,” I shout over the music. “Start over.”
                  I needed to focus on the music.
                  Over the next hour we hashed out something pretty clever for the film, though I was so distracted that my shit was rough around the edges. Dump and Bobby’s parts were solid. Mike would draft off me when I was finished. But no matter what the other guys did, my mind kept drifting back to the song I’d written the night before about Aly as I’d waited for her to sneak over. It’d come easier than any song I’d ever written before – like magic. There was something about that girl…
    Finally, I gathered the courage to say something. “So I wrote a new song the other night and it’s a little different, kinda, and I wanna know what you think.”
                  “Shoot,” Dump encouraged.
                  I took a deep breath and began. I couldn’t look any of them in the faces for the entire song. After it was over though, I looked up, steeling myself for their reactions. Bobby wore a huge grin. Dump nodded his head and tucked his tatted arms to his chest. Mike’s mouth hung open with raised eyebrows.
                  “Interesting lyrics, where’d you pull those from?” Mike remarked.
                  Again, I ignored him. No one else said anything.
                  “So?” I asked. “Any other