“But you don’t like her either.”
Bryna shrugged. As the lights started to dim for the opening act, a girl screamed in her ear. Bryna turned around to face the girl and said a few choice words that probably shouldn’t have been directed at high school students. Stacia just cackled and sat down in her seat, ready for the hot up-and-coming musician, Matt Thompson, to play his set.
Trihn sank into a seat next to Bryna and leaned over. “Are you ever going to tell me?”
“No,” she said immediately. “It’s ancient history, and I’d like for it to stay that way.”
“You hold a grudge like no one else.”
Bryna’s blue eyes bore into hers. “For this, you would, too.” Trihn opened her mouth to ask more, but Bryna narrowed her eyes. “Just drop it, okay?”
Trihn held her hands up and leaned back. “All right. Sorry. Thank you for the tickets even though she’s not your fave.”
“Anything for my squad,” she said as the lights winked out.
The crowd roared for Matt. He was a new act, but his music was already on the radio, thanks to his association with Chloe. Trihn liked his stuff and was glad that she would get to hear more of it now that he was opening for such a big star.
Chloe came on next, and just as Bryna had predicted, she waited until the final encore to sing “Heartbreaker.” The girls were all breathless and humming with energy by the end of the show. Even Bryna had gotten into it. It seemed that, if she forgot who was singing the songs, she could enjoy the music. Chloe was a great performer, and it was crazy for Trihn to think that they were the same age. While she was slaving away in college, Chloe was touring the world, playing sold-out shows and making unforgettable movies. What a life!
“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!” Trihn cried, throwing her arms around Bryna. “This was incredible.”
“Seriously, Bri, you outdid yourself,” Maya said. “It was worth a canceled date.”
Stacia nodded. “Totally.”
“I had fun, too,” Bryna said. “So much fun that I’m glad I got these, too.” She pulled out shiny blue passes with Chloe’s face on them. Each ticket read Backstage Pass in shiny white letters.
Trihn’s eyes bulged in shock. “You’ve been holding on to backstage passes this whole time and didn’t tell us?”
“Ah!” Stacia screamed. She jumped up and down and did a twirl. “Backstage passes! Bryna is queen.”
“I wasn’t going to go backstage if the show sucked,” Bryna said with a nonchalant shrug.
“You’re insane,” Maya said. “Now, gimme one of those, and let’s go meet her!”
Bryna handed out the passes and then directed them to the backstage entrance. A hot bouncer stood at the door and checked their tickets before letting them pass. They had to pull Stacia away from his large muscled biceps before she did something totally Stacia-esque, like finding the nearest restroom for a quickie.
The bouncer pointed them toward a small lounge where a line had already formed for people with passes.
Bryna wrinkled her nose at the line. “I don’t do lines.”
Trihn shook her head. “It’s not like you want to meet her. You already know her.”
“Oh my God!” a girl in front of them cried. “You know Chloe Avana?”
Bryna shrugged. “Whatever.” Then, she turned back to the girls. “I’m going to need a drink to get through this.” She wandered off without a backward glance.
Trihn had no idea where she was going to find a drink. There wasn’t a bar in sight.
The only time Trihn had been backstage where she wasn’t dancing was at a ballet that Preston had taken her to. They’d used his press passes from the magazine he was interning for and fucked backstage. She frowned at the memory. Sometimes, she wondered how she had been so young and reckless and utterly blind to him.
The screams pulled her out of her negative thoughts, and she huddled together with Maya and Stacia at the back of the line. She didn’t care what Bryna thought about lines. She was not going to miss the opportunity to meet Chloe.
“Can you believe this is happening?” Maya asked.
Trihn shook her head, and Stacia looped arms with them. She was more than a head shorter than both girls and looked ridiculous, but she clutched on, bouncing around in her high heels with excitement.
“This is going to be killer. Bri has the best surprises,” Stacia said. “This was worth giving up fuck-buddy privileges with Marshall for the night.”
“So, what about Pace?” Maya asked. “I see you with him at Posse sometimes.”
Stacia narrowed her eyes at Maya. “Pace Larson is the last person I want to think or talk about right now.”
“So, you’re off again?” Trihn said.
“Off forever. That asshole is sleeping with another cheerleader,” she snapped.
“Aren’t you sleeping with another football player? The starting quarterback?” Maya pointed out.
“So?”
Maya’s eyes widened, and she laughed. It was clear that Stacia either didn’t see or didn’t care about the hypocrisy in her words.
“Nothing,” Maya finally said. “You just still seem into him.”