The Shore (24 page)

Avery began to sob.

Avery lay awake listening to the sound of Curt's breathing. It had grown deeper and slower and she knew that he was asleep. She rolled onto her side and stared at the picture of him on her nightstand that was illuminated by the numbers on her alarm clock. The picture was three years old. She had taken it just a month after they started dating, and two months after her mother had died.

Things had been different then. She had been different—fragile
and broken. Now she was whole again, and saw their relationship differently. It seemed to her that Curt had actually preferred her broken and needy. He obviously didn't like it when she attempted to be strong and independent, and it was beginning to dawn on her that he'd never really been very good to her. She'd just been too needy in the past to see it.

But just because she no longer needed him the way she used to, was it fair to walk away? Maybe it was no longer a question of her needing him. He'd said he needed her. Things weren't going the way he wanted for his band. STF wasn't that good, and even great bands rarely succeeded in the real world. There was little hope for his. Sooner or later he was probably going to crash and the dream was going to die. He would need her then, maybe more than she'd ever needed him.
I can't let him go through that alone. Not after all he did for me when I was the needy one.

Carefully and quietly, she got out of bed. She was thirsty and she needed to think about the future and what she needed to do. Like Lucas had said, the world was a lot bigger than she'd ever imagined. There was a lot more out there than her little town and that junior college that was within commuting distance. She slipped on a robe, crept out the door, and went down the stairs. A single reading light was burning in the living room, but she didn't pay attention to it. She headed straight for the kitchen and downed two glasses of water, trying to wash the bad taste from her mouth.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw someone come out of the downstairs bathroom and sit on the couch beside the light. So she wasn't the only person in the house who couldn't sleep tonight. Avery splashed some water on her face and turned to go back upstairs.

She walked into the living room and glanced at the figure reading on the couch. She stopped short when she saw that it was Lucas and he was staring at her. For a moment, neither of them moved.

Then, slowly, Lucas stood up and crossed to her. He took her hand and led her to the front door, then outside and down the sidewalk toward the beach. The night air was cool and damp. Neither of them spoke a word until they were standing on the beach, underneath the moonlight. There in the darkness, with only the light of the moon and the sound of the waves, they were alone, completely and utterly alone.
At last.

He reached out and slid her robe off her shoulders and she let it fall, exposing the filmy nightgown underneath. He took her in his arms and she breathed in the scent of him. Her mind was telling her one thing, but her heart and her body seemed to be in charge. When they kissed it was because she initiated it.

Avery knew this was where she wanted to be. She wished the moment would last forever, that she would never have to leave Lucas's arms and face the world and Curt. She knew that what she felt for Lucas was real and beautiful and more powerful than anything she had ever felt for Curt.

Too soon, Lucas was pulling away from her. “What do you want, Avery?” he asked.

The question caught her by surprise. “I would have thought that was obvious,” she heard herself reply.

“I meant, what do you want tomorrow, next week, next year? We can't just be together tonight, or even for the rest of this summer, and then pretend it never happened. Both of us deserve better than that.”

His words hit hard. Suddenly she realized what he meant. She had to choose. Not that he was forcing her to. It was just a fact of life. She started to cry softly. He hugged her again. There was only kindness in his embrace.

“I didn't want this to happen,” she whispered through her tears. “I never expected to fall for you. I never thought I'd have feelings for anyone but Curt.”

“I know,” he said, stroking her hair. “I know. But it's happened, and I need to know what you're going to do about it.”

She felt like she was being pulled apart. What was any relationship worth if you turned and ran each time your partner felt low and needed you? She pulled back slightly and stared at him. “I can't leave Curt, not now. He needs me. And I owe it to him. He was there for me when no one else was.”

Lucas hung his head. “What about following your heart and being true to yourself?”

“There's more to it,” she said. “I owe him so much.”

“Did he really do anything more than what a good friend
would have done?” Lucas asked. “Sure, he was there for you, but he had a lot to gain for himself too. Beautiful, smart, kind, giving women are hard to find.”

“But what about loyalty and faithfulness?” Avery asked as she wiped the tears away.

“They're really important,” Lucas confirmed. “But what about being loyal and faithful to yourself? If he's not the one you really want, then how long are you willing to stay with him?”

She didn't have an answer for that. Her head was swimming with thoughts and feelings. She stared at Lucas for a moment, feeling the warm tears run down her cheeks. She didn't know what to do or say. The only thing she knew was that right now, there were two men in her life and she wasn't being fair to either of them. Or, more importantly, to herself.

“I'm so sorry,” she whispered. Then she picked up her robe and fled.

Ten

April was excited as she stood with Owen, Avery, and Polly in the crowd for the Battle of the Bands. More than anything she loved music and more than anything all summer, this was about music. They were in between acts. Up on the stage, guys were busy moving equipment around. Down in the crowd, people were milling about, laughing and talking.

“Too bad Sabrina has to babysit and is missing this,” Owen said, obviously wishing she were there.

April understood how he felt, but she also knew how important it was for Sabrina to be working and not out playing. Not only because she still had to pay her housemates back for the money she'd taken, but because she was facing the fact that life wasn't always fun and games with Mommy and Daddy paying the bills.

“She'd be here if she could,” April assured him.

Owen nodded and raised a bottle—of Coke—to his lips.

“And now, for our next band, let's give it up for the Naked Mole Rats!” the announcer shouted to the crowd.

April cheered along with everyone else. Naked Mole Rats was the best band she'd heard all summer. Without thinking, she turned to the person beside her and said, “These guys really rock!”

The person beside her was Avery and she was looking really glum. “Yeah, they do.”

April felt a pang of regret for having sounded so enthusiastic.
Avery's bummed because she knows there's no way Curt's band can compare. If she only knew about Curt and me, she might not be so bummed for him.
For the hundredth time, April thought about telling her. She hated keeping the secret.
Avery deserves better than a guy who would cheat on her.

And I deserve better than a guy who would cheat with me on his girlfriend.
And with that thought came another pang of regret. If she could take back one thing in her life, it would be kissing Curt.

She shook her head, trying to push away the unpleasant thoughts and just enjoy the music. Naked Mole Rats had a great classic-rock-meets-grunge sound that made them different from most of the other bands. She was thrilled when they played “Honey Girl”—one of her favorites of their songs. “Rockabye Baby” was great too. The set was over too soon. The crowd roared with appreciation as they left the stage to make way for the next group.

The announcer took to the stage. “And now for the last band of the night, Stranger Than Fiction!”

Avery cheered louder than anyone, which wasn't very hard since hardly anyone else was cheering. April watched as Darek, the drummer, came out and sat down at his drum set. The rest of the band came out. The crowd quieted and Curt strummed the first few chords. Avery leaned toward April. “I don't recognize this opening,” she said.

“Must be a new song,” April said.

“I hope so,” Avery said.

Then Austin began to sing. “Our bodies went down . . . the moon went up. Slipping . . . sliding . . . the mating dance has just begun. It's the moon and not the sun. Yeah. It's the moon and not the sun.”

April felt her jaw drop.
That's my song!

Curt and Bobby joined in to sing the chorus. “The moon means romance, the moon means romance. Baby let's dance. The moon means romance.”

“Wow! That is way better than anything else they've ever done!” Owen exclaimed. April looked around and saw that the crowd was nodding and bobbing happily to the music.
Unbelievable!

April was stunned. Onstage, Curt was smiling and eating up the adulation of the crowd.
He thinks everyone loves him and his band,
April thought.
It's the song they love, and it's mine. He stole my song. How could he do that? How could I not see that all he wanted was my music?

“In the light of day, you can't be mine. Baby, that's just not
our sign. He owns your hand, but I have your heart. We love in the moonlight, and then we part,” Austin continued singing the next verse.

“Where did they get such a great song?” Avery asked.

April knew she wasn't going to like the answer, but it was time she knew the truth, “You really want to know?”

Avery frowned as if she didn't understand.

“He got that song from me. Your boyfriend stole it,” April said.

Avery stared at her with wide eyes. “Stole it?”

“The moon means romance, the moon means romance. Baby let's dance. The moon means romance,” the band sang.

April nodded. “Right out of my notebook. I played it for him one day. He kept coming to my room. I thought he liked me, but I guess it was all so that he could steal my songs.”

The color drained from Avery's face and for a moment April thought she was going to faint. “Did . . . did anything happen?”

“Not really,” April said. “But he tried.”

Avery turned and stared at the band. April wondered what was going through her mind. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good.

The song ended, and STF played a second song. By now, April knew better than to be surprised that this was also one of her songs. It was unbelievable, just unbelievable that Curt would take the songs and not tell her.

The band finished and the crowd cheered loudly.

“All right, everyone, give all the bands a hand,” the announcer yelled, returning to the stage.

People broke into more applause.

“And now from the judges we have the top three bands of the night/7 the announcer said. “Number three . . . Gear Shift. Number two . . . Stranger Than Fiction.”

“All right!” Owen shouted. “Go, roomie!” He and Polly gave each other high fives and turned to April and Avery.

“Curt's band got second place!” Owen cheered.

“And number one . . . Naked Mole Rats!” said the announcer.

The crowd roared its approval. In a way, April felt a slight wave of relief. At least the winning band was the one that really deserved it . . . unless they stole their songs from someone else too.

Owen wasn't sure what was going on, but both April and Avery looked really pissed. Naked Mole Rats had come out for an encore, but the two of them were standing stock-still like major sour pusses. Could they really be that upset that STF came in second? The smoke and spotlights swirling through the crowd gave them an eerie backdrop.
What's gotten into them?
he wondered.
And I thought Sabrina was intense. I wish she was here
.

Just then Curt came through the crowd to cheers all around. “You totally rocked!” Owen slapped him on the back.

“Thanks, dude!” Curt said, jumping with excitement. “Where's—”

He turned, saw April and Avery, and didn't finish the sentence. Owen had received a lot of nasty looks from girls in his life, but he was pretty certain that no girl had ever looked at him with as much anger as April.

“How could you steal my songs?” she asked Curt.

Whoa!
Owen thought.
That's where those awesome songs came from? They were April's?

Curt's eyes shot in Avery's direction. Now Owen understood why both girls were so mad.

“Look, let's face it,” Curt said, his smile gone, “you never would have used those songs, anyway. You should be thanking me. At least I put them to good use. Now other bands will probably want them too. I did you a favor.”

Interesting way of turning things around,
Owen thought.
Nice try, anyway.

“She told me what you did,” Avery said. “You used her to get her songs.”

“It didn't mean anything, Avery—” Curt started to say.

And even Owen knew that was the exact wrong thing to say.

Whap!
Avery slapped Curt hard across the jaw. Then she and April left, together.

For a second it looked like Curt was going to follow them. Owen assumed he wanted to explain, or apologize, or do something to get Avery back. But then a couple of strangers came up. “That was awesome, dude, you rocked hard,” one told him, clapping him on the back.

“I know the judges don't agree, but I thought you crushed the Naked Mole Rats,” said the other.

“Really?” Curt asked, beaming.

“For sure.” More fans began to materialize, and Owen realized that Curt wasn't going anywhere. He was exactly where he wanted to be.