Love and Fame Games (Book 1)

12

See what I did there?

I glared at the cardboard display again and read the accompanying message: Jordan Castle's concert at Radio City Music Hall was out on DVD and Blu-Ray and was available at Warped Records and Pages, one of the biggest stores in the mall.

"The Lord is testing me," I said once more.

If I thought about it, buying a DVD wasn't the same as wearing a band tee. It didn't have to be some giant red flag waving in the air. I could hide it under my bed after a super-secret private viewing and no one would be the wiser.

"Fine." I gave in and with a little flip of my hair was off to Warped to get my copy.

Had this been some sort of divine test, then I just got a big fat F. And if Alex, Beth, and Erin were here to see me buy Off-Kilter merch, they would never let me live this down.

Good thing they were running late, after all.

---

Warped Records and Pages had once been a very popular chain found all over the country.  They carried mainly books, movies and music, but since there were more convenient ways for people to get those things nowadays, they'd had to make a few changes just to keep up with the times.

A few years back, they also started to sell just about every sort of knickknack and opened a small cafe where shoppers could rest and charge their phones and laptops. In spite of all this, there was no denying that the store was on its last legs.

Still, I enjoyed losing whole afternoons in there just browsing and would be one of the saddest when it the inevitable happened and it closed for good.

Full of nervous energy because of what I was about to do, I rounded the corner and as I was about to step inside Warped's doors, some looming figure showed up beside me so abruptly that we almost collided. I nearly jumped out of my skin but I recognized who it was just in time and gave him a small shove instead.

"Dammit, Seth!" I said, only mildly relieved to find that I hadn't been followed by a random stranger. At least I wouldn't care about one catching me in this act and judging me.

"Shh," he said, holding up an index finger. With his free hand on the small of my back, he led me toward the store without another word. We kept walking until we reached the back of the store where there were no other customers. Seth sank to the floor with his back to the wall, pulled his knees up and leaned back to rest. He was out of breath and had a look about him that was even wilder than usual.

"What did you do?" I stood in front of him, eyes narrowed, hands on hips. Part of me was afraid that, any second now, mall cops would burst through Warped's doors and take Seth away. A small other part, however, wouldn't be the least bit surprised if they did.

"Me? I didn't!" There was an indignant expression on his face as he answered, sputtering between gasps of air. "Do anything. Those two. Assholes. God!" 

I shook my head. How could someone who looked this good be so out of shape?

"Tell me later." I cut Seth off before he dropped dead of a heart attack. He did as told and put his head down. I watched the slight movement of his huddled form as he took deep breaths that gradually steadied. "Let's take it from the top."

"All I wanted," he said, pouting, "was a soft pretzel."

Having no idea what that meant, I shrugged. "What's that? Like, a new song the three of you wrote?"

"What?" Seth gave me a funny look, reminding me that Breakfast Burrito wasn't something I was supposed to know about.

"Nothing." I cleared my throat and averted my gaze. "You were saying?"