My Name Is Chloe (14 page)

“You’re the one who said it, Allie,” Jake reminded her. “Remember when I asked you about putting a hex on my stepmom the other day, and you said you weren’t into that stuff anymore?”

She shrugged. “Well, that’s not how it works anyway.”

I could tell she was upset about that whole coffeehouse thing, so I didn’t say anything until it was almost time to go to class. By then the guys had departed and it was just the two of us.

“Hey, I’m really sorry the whole band can’t play at the Paradiso tonight, but don’t you want to come anyway? I could really use some support in the audience. And besides, if it goes over well tonight, maybe I can see about having the band play there another time. It’s not like we three girls would really take up a lot of space. And I suppose we could turn our amps down a little.”

“
Really
?” Her eyes brightened. “That’d be so cool.”

“And Laura said she’d give you a ride tonight. She’s got her license now, you know.”

And so it was all smoothed over and settled. Or so I thought. I was really looking forward to playing tonight and having some friends there to pad out the audience. Anyway, I went straight home from school and tore through my closet, which is really pretty sparse. And although I don’t consider myself a particularly fashion-conscious or
vain person, I don’t know how many times I changed my clothes this afternoon, trying to figure out what looked the best. And then finally I just settled on an old black T-shirt with my ripped denim vest, blue jeans, and my purple Doc Martens. I know, pretty boring, but it was getting late and my dad was ready to go.

“Are you going to stay and watch?” I asked as he pulled up to the front door of the cafe. It was pouring down rain, and I waited in the car for his response. But to be honest, I wasn’t sure whether I really wanted him there or not.

“Didn’t Mom mention that we’re going to a Halloween party at the Stephensens tonight?”

I could tell he felt sort of bad. “Oh, that’s okay, Dad.” I grabbed up my guitar case. “It’s not like it’s any big deal.”

“When do you need to be picked up?”

“I can get a ride home from Laura.” Although I hadn’t checked with her to be sure, I thought she probably wouldn’t mind.

He smiled. “Okay, honey, then break a leg.”

I laughed. “Yeah, sure.” Then I ducked out into the rain and sprinted for the door.

I’d purposely arrived about twenty minutes early, hoping to sort of settle in and get comfortable. But it was anything but comforting to find that the place was almost completely deserted. The only customer was a tired-looking mom with
two preschoolers dressed up like a dragon and a pumpkin. And they just chased each other around the tables and squealed a lot while she quickly gulped down a cup of cappuccino.

“Hi, Mike,” I said as I set my guitar case next to the small stage, which was now cleared of chairs and looked strangely empty and slightly intimidating with its solitary stool and lone microphone.

“Wanna coffee?” he asked. “On the house.”

“Sure. I’ll have a mocha.”

I sat on a stool next to the counter and took a deep cleansing breath—to help me relax a little. It’s something my mom taught me to do as a little kid. “So, do you expect anyone to show up tonight?” I asked when he finally set the cup down in front of me.

“Don’t know. It’s kinda sporadic around here. Some nights I’m about ready to shut the place down and suddenly it starts popping. Then other nights when I really expect a crowd, it’ll be deader than a doornail.” He grinned as he wiped down the counter. “Now, just how dead is a doornail anyway?”

I shrugged. “Guess it’s not a real live wire.”

He glanced toward the window. “Then we get this crummy weather tonight, plus it’s Halloween …” He shook his head. “Maybe it was a mistake on my part to schedule you at all.”

“Oh, it’s okay.” I took a sip of my coffee and tried not to show my real disappointment. “I can just play around and think of it as a practice night.”

He nodded. “Yeah, it helps to be laid-back around here.”

Then the mom and her two kids left, and it was only Mike and me. “Well, I invited a couple friends to come by.” I smiled lamely.

“Every little bit helps.”

At eight o’clock, I stepped onto the stage and sat on the tall stool and started just quietly picking around on my guitar. A man and a woman had come in a few minutes earlier and were now seated over by the wall, as far from the stage as possible. Their heads were bent toward each other as they talked in hushed tones, as if they didn’t want to be disturbed. It was painfully clear they hadn’t come to see me. So for a few hour-long minutes, I pretended I was only there to play background music, and I tried to keep it low and calm.

And really it wasn’t so bad. Okay, a little humiliating, I suppose, but then I hadn’t come here for some big ego trip either. Or so I kept telling myself. After about twenty minutes, a few more people drifted in, including Laura and several of her friends as well as Allie. And at around eight-thirty Cesar, Jake, and Spencer
came in along with a couple of guys I don’t know too well. So the crowd was gradually increasing, and I decided it was time to actually play some real songs.

“Hi, everyone,” I said into the mike, interrupting some chatter. “My name is Chloe, and I’m glad you decided to come out tonight, especially in this lousy weather. But then I guess the rain probably put a damper on your trick-or-treating anyway.” This brought a few snickers from some of the older crowd, but my friends kind of looked like they thought I was losing it. Then I started to play. At first it didn’t seem as though they were really paying much attention to me. Some people were ordering coffees and snitching candy from Mike’s trick or treat pumpkin, and others were just visiting.

But by the time I ended the first song, it was getting quieter. And before long, it felt as if they were really there to hear me play. Even the secluded couple off to the side had stopped talking and were both looking my way. I got a little nervous then. And I wondered what everyone was thinking. Like were they just being nice because I was playing so badly that they felt sorry for me? I purposely didn’t allow much time to pause between songs, probably because I was so nervous and was afraid they might not clap. But usually they applauded then quieted down as I started
again. Finally, after about six songs, I spoke into the mike again.

“So, how’s it going out there?” And a few people (like my friends) tossed back some corny responses and I laughed.

“Okay, it’s not like I’m fishing for compliments,” I said. “But this is my first time actually performing at the Paradiso. So what do you think? Am I doing okay, or are you wishing you’d brought along some rotten tomatoes?”

Fortunately, their responses seemed fairly positive, so I continued for a few more songs until Mike came over and suggested I take a break. Now I wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or worried then. Did he think I was messing up and wanted to shut me down? I knew I’d made a few mistakes on some of my songs, but I hoped no one had noticed but me.

“Here, Chloe, have a glass of water,” he said. “You don’t want to overdo it, you know.”

I sipped the water. “But am I doing okay?” I asked as I set the glass down.

He grinned. “Sure, you’re great. You’re a natural.”

“Really?” I stared at him with a mixture of wonder and relief. “You think so?”

“Just relax and enjoy it.”

So I went over and sat at the table with my friends. And to my relief, they all started saying
how great I was doing. Oh, sure, they threw in a few good-natured jabs and sarcastic jokes, but mostly they seemed to really like it. Except for Allie, that is. She didn’t say anything. She kept fiddling with the handle on her coffee mug as if it was the most interesting thing in the whole room. And I could tell she was mad at me again. But I just didn’t see why. And frankly, it irritated me that she was acting that way. I mean, if the roles were reversed, I think I’d be happy and excited for her. At least I would hope to be. Anyway, I decided to just ignore her. Why should I allow her selfish moodiness and jealousy to spoil my evening?

I went back up there and played for almost an hour, and the crowd actually started to grow as more people came in. And I don’t think it was my imagination that they seemed to warm up to me even more as the evening progressed. I have to say, it was one of the coolest moments of my entire life. It was like something just clicked inside of me. Like I knew without a doubt that this was what I was meant for. Maybe it was a God-thing.

I played a varied selection of my songs, starting from my early ones that are full of questions and problems and, I’ll admit, complain a lot about love and life and loss, and all sorts of things. Then I moved into my more recent songs—the ones that involve searching and then finding God. Oh,
I’m sure that most of the crowd didn’t even know exactly what the words meant because my lyrics can sound a little confusing sometimes. But then that’s okay. Hopefully, it gave them something to think about—if they wanted to, that is.

Just as I was starting to wrap up, I noticed that Allie was gone. I figured she was probably in the bathroom or something, but when I finally quit and joined Laura and the others, no one knew where she’d gone.

“I was just in the bathroom,” said LaDonna. “And she’s not there.”

“Yeah, I thought she was going to ride home with me,” said Laura. “But she must’ve changed her mind.”

“Well, she didn’t seem too happy tonight,” I said as I pulled on my coat.

Just then I felt someone patting me on the back and turned to see Mike smiling at me. “That was great tonight, Chloe.” He handed me an envelope. “Don’t walk off without your check.”

“Thanks.” I pocketed the envelope. I’d actually forgotten that this was a paying gig. I know I would’ve happily done it for free. Of course, I won’t tell Mike that.

“And let’s get you in here again, okay?”

“Sure.”

“I’ll ask Jill, that’s my wife, to give you a call and set it up—maybe on a regular basis.”

I smiled. “Cool!”

“You ready?” asked Laura. “I promised to be home before ten.”

“Yeah.” I looked around the room again, still wondering about Allie. Then we went outside and dashed through the rain over to Laura’s mom’s car. “I sure hope Allie didn’t walk home in this,” I said once we were inside.

“Might chill her down,” Laura said as she started the engine. The other girls laughed.

“What’s the deal with her anyway?” asked Mercedes. “She’s always moping around or acting like she’s some big rock-and-roll diva. What’s her big problem?”

“It’s that Wicca thing,” said LaDonna. “How can you be happy if you think you’re a witch?”

They all laughed again.

“She’s just confused,” I offered in her defense. I was still feeling a little aggravated at her myself.

“Yeah, she’s confused,” said Laura. “She’s got the devil leading her around by the nose. Sheesh, that would confuse anyone.”

“Maybe she had to hurry off to some witches’ convention tonight,” said LaDonna. “After all, it
is
Halloween. Isn’t that the big witch holiday of the year? Don’t they have some weird deal where they get all dressed up and chant strange things in a circle or something?”

“I heard that some groups actually sacrifice animals and then drink their blood.”

“Gross!” LaDonna shrieked. “You’re making that up.”

“No, I’m serious.” said Mercedes. “I saw it on TV. And I’ve even heard that some groups sacrifice babies and homeless people and stuff.”

“You guys know Allie’s not into that kind of stuff,” I said loudly, hoping to shut them down. “She says their main rule is not to hurt anyone—”

“Maybe they just kill them painlessly,” suggested Mercedes in a spooky voice. “Just close your eyes, little girl, this won’t hurt a bit.”

“Oh, lighten up, you guys!” Laura pulled into my driveway. “Sorry about that, Chloe. They get a little carried away sometimes.”

LaDonna laughed. “Hey, it’s Halloween. We’re supposed to get carried away. Can we go trick-or-treating at Andre’s house now?”

“Thanks for the ride.” I said as I sprang from the car and dashed toward the house. My parents weren’t back yet so I poked around the refrigerator and then finally decided to call Allie to make sure she’d made it home okay. Of course, I figured I’d just get the usual busy signal. But to my surprise, her mom picked up. Now, I’ve only met Elise a couple of times, and although she seems a little high-strung and uptight, she’s actually pretty nice.

“Hi, is Allie there?”

“No. Is this Chloe?” Her voice had that sharp edge again.

“Yeah.”

“I thought Allie was with you at the coffeehouse tonight.”

“Well, she
was
there …” I wasn’t sure what to say now. I really didn’t want to worry her.

“But she’s not there now?”

“No, I’m home now. She rode over with Laura, but when it was time to leave, she was already gone. We thought maybe you’d picked her up or she walked home or something.”

Elise groaned. “Oh, dear!”

“She’ll probably be home any minute,” I added, feeling guilty for bothering her or perhaps even getting Allie into trouble.

“Yeah, she better be. It’s getting late.”

So after I hung up I started getting worried too. Where could she be? I don’t think Allie really knows that many people—besides the ones who were at the coffeehouse, that is. And I honestly don’t think she has any real witch friends in our town. I think most of her connections are on-line. And even if she had walked home, she should’ve been there by now. So what’s up? I’m really praying for her though. It feels to me as if she’s in a dangerous place.