Less than a hour later we pulled into an old warehouse packed with cars. The lights streaming out of the window told me there was a lot more to see inside.
I looked from the warehouse to James. "Where are we?"
He smiled, "The Garage. It used to be a tire factory but the owner bought it and turned it into a club. It's one of the only places under eighteen can hang out."
"And who is in the band you know?"
"Do you remember Tyler Mason?"
I thought about it for a minute, "Laura's Insta is full of a guy with the last name Mason."
"Yep, Tyler's brother Gavin. They were both there with me today when we were checking out Uncle Tim's new grill. Tyler and his girlfriend Brenna Evans are in it. Brenna is the stepsister to one of the other guys there today."
Mr. Bedhead. He was talking about Mr. Bedhead. My butterflies turned to ashes as it sunk in that Mr. Bedhead had a girlfriend.
Well fuck.
Why did that annoy me? The girl's name stuck out though. I remembered her. She had a little sister I played with a lot when I was a kid.
Elle.
Memories of two little red head girls filled my brain. They came along later than the others. They were outsiders like me back then. I had to have been about ten when they showed up in the mix.
I tried to shrug the thoughts out of my head for now.
"How many of y'all are there now?"
He chuckled, "You make twenty-one. Three of the families have four, one has a set of twins who are newer to the bunch. I don't think you have met them yet. I'll fill you in on that later, so they have five, and you will be our family's fourth."
A smile erupted on my face, "I count?"
He smiled back and wrapped an arm around my shoulder, "Of course. You're family."
Leaning in closer her whispered, "Plus it will be nice to finally have the same number as everyone else."
I laughed. "Well thank you."
That made me truly happy to know that he already thought of me as one of the pack before he even got to know me again. I hated to admit it but I was actually starting to get excited about being around my cousins again.
Even though it meant having to live here.
He raised his eyebrow silently questioning me before adding, "You ready?"
I looked down at myself. A pair of ripped high-waisted jeans and black crop top seemed acceptable an hour ago but now I was nervous to even get out of the car.
I pushed a loose strand of hair off of my face. I gulped but nodded. James opened my door and held me close to him, like a good protective older cousin, as we prepared to enter the crowded club.
I was slightly intimidated. I'd never seen so many people with such little clothing on that weren't at the beach. We weren't even inside yet but the line of people waiting to go inside was full of what looked like mostly teens to me.
It's not like there were a lot of spots in Dallas for a fifteen-year-old to go clubbing. For some reason, I thought Indie meant like grungy or neon. Instead I was faced with a crowd that looked like underage strippers. Jordan had drilled into me that I was not to ever dress like this until I was at least thirty.
James led me parallel to the endless line. The bouncer recognized James and allowed us inside, without even checking my ID. The masses still in line complained but James just smiled and led me in with him.
Yeah, this was going to be a fine upstanding establishment.
Oh God, I sounded like Jordan. I tried to relax as we made our way through the crowd. I looked up at the stage. Three boys and a girl were playing a song I didn't know but the crowd was eating it up.
The girl was a cute redhead wearing a neon bra showing through a cut up black t-shirt that said RWS and a skirt so short, the front row had to be getting a whole different kind of show. I had to admit though, she could sing.
That was not the same Brenna Evans I remembered. I wondered where her little sister was. Did she share her sister's sense of fashion? Lord, I hoped not.
Stop judging.
I tried to tell myself to lighten up. It wasn't like I was some sheltered teen from the Bible Belt. I was just anxious as fuck and apparently judging was my coping mechanism of choice tonight.
The pair of sisters only stuck out from the rest in my memories because they were new to the families when I came to town at age ten. They were the one of the only other kids whose parents had been divorced too so we got along. It's weird what can bond young children. Man, she looked so different I just tried to see the pale freckled girl I used to play tag with but this girl looked about twelve years older than me now with all the makeup.
To Brenna's right was a curly haired boy playing base while riling up the crowd. He wasn't from one of the families, I knew that much. Okay that just sounds like a cult when I think about it like that.
Being a part of one of the families branches or not. It was some exclusive club that apparently, I already had an open acceptance to because of my birth line. It reminded me of the medieval times with noble families excluding the peasants from their parties. I wasn't sure I wanted to be a part of this. But what choice did I have? Who else would I even see in this town until school started?
I felt my heartbeat drum in time with the blonde playing at the back of the stage. He was constantly having to whip his head to keep his long bangs out of his eyes.
The lead guitarist was obviously the ladies' man of the show.
Tyler.
His messy dirty blonde hair kept getting his eyes too but he didn't miss a note. Even from my view I could see his veins bulge under his sleek arm muscles. All the girls in the crowd were screaming at him and throwing their hands towards the stage like he was some actual Rock legend.
The chorus came and I couldn't help but notice how his mouth curved up like Johnny Cash as he sang.
His words, "I want only you", were in perfect time to her lyrics, "Anyone but you".
His deep melodic voice gave me goosebumps. I was probably imagining it, but I felt our eyes lock.
"I want only you.
I need only you.
Can't imagine anyone but you."
Gulp.
James' hand waved in front of my face snapping me out of it. I blinked realizing I had been ogling for too long and blushed. Tyler seemed to smirk, noticing that James had busted me staring, and move his attention elsewhere.
I looked back shyly at James, "Sorry. I like them."
His eyes seemed to want to question me further but he let it go. "I am glad you do."
He took my hand and led me to the side of the stage. A mountain of a man with veined filled muscles stood in-between us and back stage. James smiled at the bouncer who returned the gesture with a nod let us pass. The second bouncer who just let us by.
How often did James come here?
I smiled politely as we passed and clinched my cousin's hand. "I take it you're on the list?"
"Yeah that's Mike. He's cool."
First name basis with the bouncer? Yeah he came here often.
"How did he know you were with the band?"
"Tyler." He pointed in his direction, like I still needed help figuring out who he was. My pulse sped up slightly.
"So, what's up with having a bouncer for backstage? Is this band famous or something?"
James chuckled, "Only here. Well and in the parts of the city that will let them play. There was an issue with people getting wasted back here and messing up equipment so management hired Mike to be crowd control."
James let go of my hand and lightly punched my arm like a big brother would, "You ask a lot of questions."
To his surprise though I punched him back. "Sorry."
James' grin grew wider. I guess he liked that I was being playful.
We went behind a curtain and I saw a bunch of wires and extra equipment. There was a small section though that looked like as much of a VIP area as this place was going to have.
Three other teenagers were already lounging around on a couch. I took in the girl first. She was wearing a Nirvana t-shirt, a black tutu, ripped stockings, and combat boots.
Interesting choice of clothes but at least her lady bits were covered up. Her flaming red hair told me she and the lead singer were probably related.
Elle.
Wow. Very different than her sister and also very different from the preteen I remembered.
There was boy sitting next to her wearing a RWS t-shirt. What did that mean?
His dirty blonde hair was gelled into a fauxhawk. His jeans were so tight I wondered how his balls managed to breathe. A piece of metal caught the light; a piercing above his left eyebrow. He looked a lot like Tyler, but more 'brooding insecurity' and less 'over confident wannabe rock star'. The name Aaron came to mind. I couldn't be sure because this dude was night and day from the clean cut kid I remembered. There seemed to be a trend of that going on. Puberty had been wild in this group.
The other boy sitting with them not only caught but held my attention. Tyler was attractive but he had nothing on this guy. Patrick might as well be named Shrek.
Holy crap.
I could tell his eyes had gray in them. I wanted to see them up close. They locked with mine for a moment and even from across the room they were gorgeous. His black hair looked almost blue with the stage lighting. He definitely had the whole hipster emo vibe going. Not my usual type at all but I couldn't help but want to look at him. Patrick would have laughed about guys like him. He would have joked about how this guy's fitted RWS shirt and black skinny jeans looked like they belonged to his sister.
Our eyes were still locked as he got up, grabbed a camera off of the table next to him. He brought the camera to his eye level and snapped a picture of me. I hoped that I smiled and didn't have my tongue out drooling like I was mentally.
I gave him a small smile. He returned it before motioning to the other two there with him. They all walked over to watch the band from the side stage. I felt a hand grab my wrist and pull me not only physically but out of the strange trance I had just been in.
James pulled me along until I found myself standing next to the gorgeous boy, trying not to ruin any of his shots. He moved out to the main stage and took shots as they played. The band seemed to be used to this invasion of space and even played into the lens.
When the song ended he came back and stood next to me again. I felt the warmth of his arm as it brushed against my own. I tried to pay attention to the band but I couldn't hear them over the blood rushing in my ears. I felt like I could physically hear my heart racing it was thumping so hard. My lungs felt like they were on fire.
I was silently hyperventilating and I prayed no one, especially not him, would notice.
This is not how Elyse said it would be. She said when a girl likes a boy, she gets butterflies and giggles a lot. This shit felt like I was about to just shit myself or pass out. I slowly looked up in his direction. Camera boy was smiling down at me again with a small smirk. I felt like I really might pass out if he kept this up.
Get it together, Lex. It's a boy. Patrick is boy. James is a boy. They all have the same parts. I wonder what his part looks like? Ughh focus!
I was too nervous to even speak in between songs. The band finished their set and headed off stage toward us. They all fist bumped and high-fived and hugged James and the rest of the kids. None of them used names.
Not helpful. I wanted to know Camera Boy's name!