25
TEDDY
PRESENT DAY
I’ve been to Chicago a few times before. This trip feels different. Maybe it’s because I’ve never been to the stadium that also hosts the Bulls and the Blackhawks, but I think it has a lot more to do with the knowledge that Sutton is in love with me.
Colors seem brighter.
Sounds sharper.
I’m smiling as I flash my ticket and badge at the burly security guard blocking the backstage access.
He lets me pass with a grunted, “Go ahead.”
I walk through the maze of hallways, battling a strong sense of familiarity. Over the past weeks, I grew more comfortable with being backstage on a major music tour than I’d ever expected to be. There are a few double takes as I pass staff from Sutton’s tour specifically, not just from the stadium’s event staff. I smile at anyone I recognize.
Eventually, I round a corner and see the band. Jaxon spots me first, standing with a broad smile, and he pulls me into a hug.
I like my colleagues at Brookfield High—the younger ones who I interact with outside the four cinder-block walls, at least. It still feels strange, seeing anyone who was a teacher whenIwas a student there.
But I’ve never had the easy camaraderie with any of them that I experienced with Sutton’s band. I thought the only part of the tour I would miss was her. But I was wrong.
“Good to see you, dude,” Jaxon tells me, pulling back after a final pound to my back.
“Yeah, you too,” I say, grinning back at him.
Adam grabs me next, and then I’m passed through everyone else. I hesitate when I reach the guy slouched in the center of the sectional couch.
He tosses his phone down and stands, holding a hand out. “Devon. Nice to meet you, mate.”
“Nice to meet you too.” I shake it.
“Hope you’re not here for the job back.”
I chuckle and shake my head. “Nah, just here to observe.”
“She was worried you might not show.”
“She shouldn’t have been.”
Devon nods. Smiles. “Yeah, I figured it was like that.”
I hear Hannah’s voice echoing down the hallway. She appears. David and Lily are right behind her, which I didn’t expect. It makes sense, I suppose, since they’re living in the city now. But everything Sutton has said to me lately suggested her relationship with her father and stepmother was as distant as ever.
“Teddy!” David seems just as surprised to see me. And also pleased.
He strides forward to give me a warm handshake. Lily gives me a hug. I haven’t seen either of them since before I left on tour. They’d already moved out of the farmhouse next door by the time I returned from Europe.
Sutton’s band and assistant look on as we reunite. I think everyone on tour put together that our past was more than just former high school classmates, but I never went into detail about the deeper intricacies.
I’m not sure how many—or any—other shows David and Lily have attended. There’s a good chance no one knows who I’m catching up with.
Up until the door to the dressing room across the hall opens and Sutton steps out, that is.
She glances between me and her parents. “Hi, Dad. Hey, Lily.”
Lily steps forward to give her a hug. Sutton’s eyes connect with mine over her shoulder, and for a few seconds, it feels like we’re the only two people in the room.