Imaginary Grace (31 page)

Chapter 43

Grace

T
he next morning I stood on the stoop outside my dorm and watched Tanner’s car pull away. I waited until it disappeared from sight, then walked upstairs to my room, hoping that Beth wouldn’t be home. I knew she’d want details about last night, but I wasn’t ready to tell her – or anyone else for that matter. I just wanted it to be my secret for a little while.

Luckily she wasn’t home so I kicked off my shoes, pulled down the covers and climbed into bed. I’ll admit, I was exhausted. Last night, after the first time Tanner and I had, well, you know, I was lying there wrapped in his arms, pretending to doze off. But once his breathing slowed and I was sure he was asleep, my eyes shot open.

Sleep? It would have been impossible. Not that I wasn’t tired, but after everything that had happened and everything that was replaying in my mind over and over, there was no
way
I was falling asleep.

Even now, as I slipped into my own bed and pulled the covers up to my neck, I couldn’t believe that we had actually done it, or how much I was already looking forward to the next time. I set my alarm for 4:00 so I’d have enough time to finish up some homework and do a little studying before dinner. My parents would flip if my grades started to slip.

It seemed like only minutes later that the alarm was going off. I reached over, turned it off, and rolled over onto my side. I lay there for a few minutes before getting up and heading for the shower. When I emerged from the bathroom I found Beth hunched over her laptop.

“It’s about time you got up,” she said, not looking away from the screen, “I stopped home before and you were dead to the world.” While brushing out my hair and enjoying the last few minutes of my secret, I braced myself for her barrage of questions. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll give you five minutes, and then I want every single dirty detail.”

“What makes you think I have anything to tell?” I stated coyly, still brushing my hair.

“Five minutes, Grace,” she said, ignoring my question, “You have five minutes, so you better start gathering your thoughts.” The next thing I knew she had snapped her laptop closed and spun around in her seat. “Well, let’s hear it. I’ve been waiting all afternoon for you to get up, so spill it,” she insisted, barely able to contain her excitement.

I didn’t answer her right away, drawing out the moment, but she knew. I don’t know how, but she did.

“C’mon, Grace, this is not like all the other times. You have s-e-x written all over your face.”

“I do?” I said, touching my cheeks. “Well, then, I guess the cat’s out of the bag.”

“I knew it!” she exclaimed. “Start from the beginning and don’t leave anything out.”

“Okay,” I sighed, then I told her everything that had happened after I left the party. Beth laughed when I told her about climbing through his bedroom window, then her eyes widened as I moved right on down to the deed itself.

“So…how was it?” she asked.

“Well, it was actually pretty great.”

“Really?! How was he? Good? How long did it last? Did you do it more than once?” she continued, question after question. “How big is he?”

“
Beth
, what kind of question is that? I’m not answering that! And besides, I wouldn’t know since I don’t have anyone to compare him to!”

Beth started to laugh. “I knew you’d get all flustered if I asked that! Wow, Grace, this is
huge!
”

I smiled at her, thinking that yeah, it really was.

“All right, enough sex talk,” Beth said, turning back to her computer, “I have to finish up this homework.”

“Yeah, me too,” I agreed.

“Ooh, wait a minute,” she said. “I forgot to tell you. Adam told me there’s going to be a big frat party this weekend. Are you in?”

“Uh, I guess so. Tanner’s with the band again on Saturday, so yeah, I’m definitely in.”

Tanner and I had been nonstop texting since Sunday evening. Apparently he had slept all day also. It was Monday morning. I was headed to class, and then we had plans to meet up at the gym in the afternoon. I couldn’t concentrate in class. I kept thinking about, well,
everything.

I got out of class late, and by the time I got to the gym, Tanner was already changed and ready. I threw my stuff in the locker room, changed, and met him at the bikes. It was the first time we’d seen each other
since
…and when we saw each other, we just kind of stared, both of us with mischievous grins on our faces. I wondered if people could tell.

“Ready?” he said, smiling as he put his arms around my waist.

“Yeah, ready,” I answered, and felt my face splitting into a grin. It seemed I’d been grinning for the past two days straight. We reluctantly stepped apart and then hopped on the bikes. Time flew as Tanner caught me up on gossip about his cousins, then we talked about the band.

“Actually,” he said as we began to slow down, “this’ll be the last Saturday for a while that the band is playing, so we’ll be able to hang out on the weekends.”

“Ooh, that sounds great, the
whole
weekend,” I said, picturing us spending the entire time in bed. Just as we hopped off the bikes, Gary came around the corner with two prospective new members.

Friendly as could be, he shouted, “Hey, Grace, I see you made it home in one piece Saturday night. Great party!” Then he continued over to the treadmills to explain to the prospects how they worked.

Uh oh.
Tanner slowly turned his head toward me. “Gary was there Saturday night?”

“Yeah, Beth was with Adam, and I guess Adam told Gary about it,” I told him. I didn’t mention the conversation I’d had with Gary when I was getting my coat. I knew they didn’t like each other so I didn’t put much stock in what Gary said anyway.

“Oh,” was all he said, but I could tell he was put off by the fact that Gary was there. We continued with our workout without seeing Gary again, and Tanner didn’t bring him or the fact that he was at the party up again.

When we finished our workout, Tanner had some band stuff he had to do and I had a lot of studying to get done, so after a quick but passionate kiss goodbye, we parted ways, with Tanner heading for his car and me for my building. Suddenly, I heard him call out my name. When I turned around he was walking swiftly back towards me. When he got to within a few yards he tossed me something and called, “Catch!” I reached up and caught the small object. It was a key. I looked at him questioningly.

“So you won’t have to climb through the window next time.” Then he winked at me before turning and heading back to his car.

I looked back down at the little silver key attached to a dirty old Camaro keychain that looked like it had seen better days. I smiled and squeezed my hand shut tight around it. I had to be the luckiest girl in the world.

Chapter 44

Tanner

A
s I drove toward J.D.’s I kept thinking about the fact that Gary had been at that party on Saturday night.
Shit.
Anything could have happened, especially since Grace had been drinking. At first all I worried about was him shooting off his mouth, but now…now the thought of him getting anywhere near Grace made me sick to my stomach. If he ever laid a hand on her, well, let’s just say I couldn’t be held responsible for what I did to him.

I knew there was going to be another big party this weekend, and I was considering asking Scott to go and keep an eye on her. I decided I’d check with him as soon as I got home.

Cole wanted everyone to meet up at the bar for a quick jam session to go over a few things for Saturday’s show. We were done within an hour, but afterwards Cole asked me to stick around. Once the others had gone, I went up to him. “What’s up, Cole?”

Cole looked up from the stack of papers he was leafing through. “Oh, yeah, Tanner. I want you to do your song as one of the encores Saturday night.”

My eyes lit up. The encore – that was huge. “No way! That’s fucking awesome, Cole! Thanks!”

“Yeah, I thought you’d think so,” he said, smiling as he went back to his paperwork. “I’ll see you Saturday then.”

“Yeah, see you Saturday, and thanks again, Cole.” I walked out to my car, flying high. My mood was still soaring when I pulled into my driveway. I wanted to call Grace and tell her, but of course I couldn’t.

I knew I was going to have to tell her about my role in the band at some point, just not yet. I was still unsure of what her reaction would be.

Scott was sitting on the couch when I walked in. “Hey, what’s up?” he said, looking at me expectantly.

“Uhh, not much…” I replied, unsure of why he was looking at me that way.

“So?” he said.

“So, what?” I shrugged.

A huge grin spread across his face. “Uh, I saw Grace leaving Sunday morning.”

Damn. I thought I’d gotten away with it.
He could tell right away by my expression that he’d caught me.

“You bagged her, didn’t you?” he said, staring at me with squinted eyes and a wry grin on his face. I was caught completely off guard, but I refused to come clean. It didn’t matter anyway; my silence was all the confirmation he needed. “You
dog
, you!” he shrilled, then slapped his hands against his thighs, tossed his head back and howled like a deranged wolf.

I breezed past him into the kitchen, but he got up to follow me. “So,” he began, “how was it? Probably not so great, eh? Don’t think our Grace has been around the block too many times…if at all. Well, at least it’ll be fun breaking her in. Don’t worry, man. Your secret’s safe with me.” He just stood there, hands in his pockets, shaking his head with this stupid grin on his face.

“Are you done?” I asked matter-of-factly, still admitting nothing to him as I leaned back against the counter with my arms folded.

“For now,” he mused.

“Listen, I need a favor,” I said, changing the subject.

“Sure. Shoot.”

“I need you to keep an eye on Grace for me this weekend. I heard there’s a big frat party Saturday night, and I guarantee Gary’ll be there. I don’t want him anywhere near Grace.”

“Oh, so you need me to Grace-sit. That’s cool.” The wry grin made another appearance, but I ignored it.

“Great. Thanks, man, I owe you one. Cole wants us there early, so I won’t even be able to go for a little while.”

“No problem,” he said, smiling, “Gary won’t get within ten feet of your girl.”

I just rolled my eyes at him as I pushed off the counter and walked out of the kitchen, but I felt better knowing that Scott would keep an eye on the situation. Scott had his faults, but I knew I could always count on him.

The next day in class, Grace mentioned that she and Beth were going to the party, but afterward, if I didn’t mind, she’d try out her new key.

“Uh, no, I definitely don’t mind,” I said, smiling as I slid my arm around her, “I’ll be looking forward to it all night.”

Chapter 45

Grace

W
hen we arrived at the party Saturday night it was already packed. It encompassed several frat houses, each with its own theme, but as always, the focus was on the booze. It had started early, and was supposed to go all night, but I had my doubts. At the rate these people were drinking it would probably peter out early.

We were supposed to meet a few friends at the “pink house”, which was situated at the end of the row and was actually painted pink. Beth and I weren’t sure of the name of the frat that ran it and apparently no one else did either, which was why everyone referred to it by the color.

After everyone got there we planned to make our way from house to house, having a drink or two at each one, but we only made it as far as the third house because that’s where we ran into Adam. Beth shot me a look to let me know she wanted to stay, which was fine with me. The highlight of my night would come much later.

We’d been there for about an hour when a very drunk Gary showed up. He made a beeline for me, but I didn’t care; nothing he could say would ruin my anticipation of seeing Tanner later. Swaying slightly, he joined us just as we were about to do another shot of Tequila.

“Hey there, Grace,” he slurred after he slammed down his shot.

“Hi Gary,” I said politely, as if nothing had happened last week. He didn’t mention Tanner or ask where he was, which was a relief. In fact, it was almost as if he’d forgotten the whole thing as well.

The party got rowdier and rowdier as the night went on, and we were having a great time. At some point in the night, much to my surprise, Scott showed up. He acted as though he’d run into us by accident, but I suspected otherwise. I also suspected, even through my buzz, that Gary wasn’t very fond of Scott either. Unlike Tanner, Scott didn’t seem to care; in fact, he just ignored him.

I introduced him to all the girls, and he hung out with us the rest of the night, much to Gary’s dismay. At one point Gary invited us all down to the basement to play Blackwell.

We were almost to the door that led to the basement when from the corner of my eye I saw Gary grab Scott’s shoulder. I thought I heard him whisper, “Sorry, no dirtbag stoners allowed,” then Gary headed down the stairs. The others followed, but I waited behind for Scott.

“Hey, Grace,” Scott said, “I’m going to cut out. Why don’t you come with me?”

I hesitated. It was too early to go back to Tanner’s; I might fall asleep before he even got home. Besides, I was having a pretty good time at the party. I was about to shake my head no when I caught the expression on Scott’s face—he actually looked concerned. I was about to ask him what was wrong when he suddenly broke out into a grin.

“Come on, I’ll take you over to J.D.’s to see the band play.”

“Really?” I said with eyes wide. “But wait a minute. I can’t get into a bar.”

“Don’t worry.” He smiled suavely and put his arm around me. “I go there all the time, and I know the owners. I’ll just say you’re with me.”

“Wow, okay, but do you think Tanner would mind? I mean, he’s working and I don’t want to distract him.”

“Working? Well, I think I’d use
that
term loosely, but nah, he won’t mind. We’ll stay in the back. He won’t even notice us.”

“Okay,” I said, “Let me just tell my roommate we’re leaving.” I didn’t tell him I really wanted to see if Beth would swap boots with me—hers were high-heeled and much cooler.

“Whatever,” he said, “I’ll wait for you here.”

“Be right back.” I shot down the stairs to find Beth, her fist clenched and shaking in the air as she prepared to roll the dice.

“Beth!” I called out, and when she turned around I signaled for her to come over.

She put the dice down and came over. “What’s up?”

“I need a favor,” I whispered breathlessly, “Scott said he’d take me to see the band Tanner works with, but it’s at a bar, so do you think we can switch boots? Your heels will make me look older.”

She looked at me incredulously. “Grace, they’re not
magic
boots you know. It’s just a little heel…but if you think they’ll age you three years, knock yourself out.” She sat down on the bottom basement step, unzipped each boot and handed them to me. “Here you go.”

I quickly took the ones I was wearing off, put Beth’s on, and zipped them up. “How do I look?”

“Wow,” she said, “maybe they
are
magic boots. They make you look at least, I don’t know, eighteen-and-a-half.”

“Very funny,” I said, laughing as I tried to fluff up my hair. I thought that might make me look older too.

“Just go,” Beth said. “Have fun. If they don’t let you in, just go back to Tanner’s, wait until he gets home, and then jump his bones.”

We both laughed. “That sounds like a plan,” I said, “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Then I ran back up the stairs. Scott was waiting right where I’d left him.

“Let’s go,” he said, grabbing my hand as he whisked me through the crowd and out the front door. “I need to stop home and change and get my truck, but I’ll be quick.” It was a quick ten-minute walk to their apartment, and when we got there he told me to grab a beer while he changed and got his keys.

I went into the kitchen, took a beer out of the fridge, then sat down on one of the stools to wait for Scott. As I drank it I continued to admire the way the boots looked on me.
Eighteen-and a-half? No way, I must look at least twenty-one in these.

What the heck was taking Scott so long? Finally he emerged from his room with a change of clothes. Apparently his definition of “change” consisted of a neater looking t-shirt and work boots instead of sneakers, but he seemed quite pleased with himself so I said, “Oooh, swanky. Do you have a date or something?”

“Yep,” he said, flashing me that killer smile as he put his arm out. “Shall we go?” I got up from the stool and walked over to him, putting my arm through his, and together we walked out to his truck.

“So,” he said, glancing sideways at me as he pulled out of the driveway, “…you and T.”

I smiled back at him. “Yep, me and ‘T’…” I let my voice trail off, not knowing what else to say.

“I
told
Tanner you were a keeper way back,” he said as he looked straight ahead.

“You did?”

“Oh, yeah. After we visited you in Jersey, I told him that.”

Interesting,
I thought. “Do you have a girlfriend, Scott?”

“Me? Nah,” he said, then smoothly changed the subject. “When we get there, we’ll go in the side entrance. Just follow my lead.”

We pulled into the gravelly parking lot and found a spot in the back. From the look of the lot, it was crowded inside. As we got out of the car and started toward the side entrance, I could see two men standing outside. “Remember,” Scott said as he put his arm around my shoulder, “just follow my lead.”

When we got to the door, one of the men turned to Scott and high-fived him. “Hey, dude, you’re late. The guys just left the stage.”

“No shit, it’s over?” Scott said, sounding disappointed.

“Just about, but you’ll be able to catch the encore if you hurry.”

“Cool.” Scott said, then the two of us just waltzed inside.

The place was packed wall to wall with people, and from all the waves and smiles Scott was getting I figured he knew most of them.

“Hey, Scotty-boy, it’s about time you showed,” a large, kinda scary-looking man said.

“Better late than never,” Scott replied, “Hey, Cole, this is Tanner’s girl, Grace.”

Tanner’s girl!

“Oh, nice to meet you,” Cole said. “You two should grab a spot at the bar. We’ll be going back on in a few minutes.” He slapped Scott on the back and then disappeared down a long hallway.

I clutched Scott’s arm as we slowly wormed our way through the crowd. Once at the bar we found ourselves an open spot, and Scott found some more of his friends. He was like the mayor. Two beers mysteriously appeared on the bar in front of us, and before too long there was a whole group surrounding our stools. I was beginning to relax and enjoy myself.

That’s when the lights dimmed and I heard someone yell into a microphone, “Are you guys ready for more!”

The crowd answered with a resounding cheer. I settled back on the barstool, ready to hear this band that Tanner spent so much time with, when I heard the start of what’s always been my (and apparently everyone else’s) favorite Journey song.

I couldn’t believe what I saw. There, under the bright lights of the club, was Tanner playing his guitar.
What the . . . ?

I grabbed Scott’s arm and pulled him back towards me. “Scott, what’s going on? I thought Tanner was the sound guy?”

He looked at me strangely. “He is, but he doesn’t
just
do the sound. Is that what you thought?”

“Uh, I don’t know…” I let go of him and slid back onto my stool, my eyes glued to the stage. Tanner’s fingers were moving flawlessly across the strings. He had a look of pure concentration on his face and his sweaty hair swayed as he moved in time to the music.

Before I knew it, the song was over and the lights dimmed, but only for a few seconds. What happened next could only be described as pure poetry in motion. The crowd got quiet, then a spotlight shined down on Tanner as he moved to the front of the stage and stood in front of the microphone, and that’s when I heard it – the opening chords of Magic Power. Judging from the wild screams of the crowd, it wasn’t just my favorite.

“Something’s at the edge of your mind

You don’t know what it is

Something you were hoping to find

You’re not sure what it is

Then you hear the music and it all comes crystal clear

The music does the talking, says the things you wanna hear

I’m young, I’m wild, I’m free

Got the magic power of the music in me . . .

As I watched Tanner play, I thought back to all the times I had been mesmerized by the mere sight of him--in class, at the gym. They seemed so insignificant now, compared with the pure intensity etched on his sweat-drenched face, the emotion in his voice as he belted out the song, the passion with which his fingers flew on the guitar. His sweat-soaked shirt clung tightly to his muscular body as he moved with the music. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. There was a fierceness in his eyes that became even more intense with each passing moment, and it was mesmerizing to watch.
This was insane!

By the time he brought the song to a close the crowd was in a complete frenzy. He looked up and out over all the people and then, with his guitar still strapped around him, he put his fists way up and pumped them once in the air before the lights cut out. Oh my God…
my boyfriend’s a rock star?!