Battle of the Bands by Lesley Choyce

places.”
    Her eyes narrow and she studies me closely. “What places?”
    â€œI don’t know. Any place you want.”
    â€œSpecial places?” she asks.
    I shrug. “How can you tell if a place is special when you haven’t even been there yet? Sometimes you have to take chances.”
    Her lips curve into that little half smile and I’m dying to know what’s going through her head. She says, “I’d like to get to know you better too, Jay.”
    I stand there and blink. Huh? I’m talking about going places and she comesup with that smile and says she wants to get to know me? And then, just like that, it’s all clear. The only place I
really
want to go right now is closer to Rowan. Funny how that can happen. Two people talking about two different things, but it’s really the same thing if you look at it the right way.
    I stare down at the bill in my hand and say, “There are all kinds of trips, right? “ Then I hold my hand above my head, letting the bill flutter in the strengthening wind. I let it go and the wind takes it into the water. I see it briefly on the crest of a wave before it disappears below the surface.
    Rowan says, “That was strange.”
    I say, “Why?”
    She says, “Because I thought that was for that coffee you promised me and you just had a funny way of getting around to it. What exactly have we been talking about here, Jay?”
    Man.
    â€œOh, you know. You were right. I’m just abnormal.”
    â€œOh really?“ She gets that wicked gleam I’ve seen before, steps sideways and stomps her foot into a tidal pool. Salt water splashes all over me.
    â€œHey!”
    â€œGotcha!” she laughs and takes off running.
    Of course I chase her. I catch her too and give back as good as I got. By the time we’re done we’re both soaked, and I haven’t felt so good in a long time.

Chapter Fourteen
    Kel, Cia and me are in the garage. It’s our first time getting together since the battle and it’s been a couple of weeks. So far, we’re just sitting around, pretending that we’re tuning up.
    â€œSo,” I say.
    â€œYeah,” says Cia.
    â€œGuess who I saw?” Kel asks.
    I bite. “Who?”
    â€œAmy. She’s working at the new donut joint. Wearing one of those brown dresses.”
    â€œNo way.” I try to picture Amy in the donut dress and it doesn’t look good.
    â€œYeah. She pretended she didn’t see me so I went along with that. But I heard she sort of needs the money.”
    Cia grins. “Couldn’t be for a certain guitar she needs to pay off, could it?”
    â€œHey,” Kel says, “could be.”
    We laugh but not too loud. It’s okay that Amy is putting things right, but somewhere in there I guess we feel sorry for her too. It must suck to be so dumb. But who knows? Maybe after this she’ll be smarter. Maybe Amy will know who Amy really is. Or at least she could be figuring it out. Like me.
    But what I need to know just now is if The Lunar Ticks know who they are. As in, do we still exist?
    â€œSo,” I say again. I pluck a string on my guitar, let the sound fade. “What do you think?”
    They know what I mean. “Well,” Kel says. “I think we were pretty good last time.”
    â€œYeah,” Cia agrees, “we were. Just not quite as good as some of the competition.”
    â€œThat’s how I see it too. The question is, will we ever be as good?”
    We look at each other. It’s down to this. Is it time to call it quits? Or do we still share the dream?
    Kel’s the first one to speak. “The Fender is still at the music store.”
    â€œAnd final exams are over,” Cia says.
    Kel and I stare at her.
    â€œWell,” she splutters, “they are.”
    I nod. “So what you’re saying is it’s too soon to give up? We’ve got some time?”
    â€œMore