“Not even close.” I shoulder my bag and start for thedoor.
“I know you have issues with your dad,” Elle says, “but if he’s breathing? He shows up? Sounds like an epic fatherfigure.”
Before I can respond, she takes off down the hall, leaving me with my mouth hangingopen.
Rae’s appearance at my side makes me jump. “You going to her set tomorrow? She’s got twenty minutes at ComedyPalace.”
I shake my head in surprise. I’d figured Elle would’ve told me about something likethat.
Rae starts to take off, but I grab her bagfirst.
“Hey,” I say on impulse as she turns, raising a brow. “I know I’m not your favorite person. I know all you want is for me to be gone so you can have a single room. And your voodoo might evenwork—”
Her black-rimmed eyes round. “Mywhat?”
Shit. “The dolls. On yourheadboard.”
“You think they’re voodoo dolls?” Her face slackens in disbelief. “They’re for Etsy. I sellthem.”
“Oh. Fuck. I’m sorry.” I flush with embarrassment. “Anyway, maybe we could go to this show together. To supportElle.”
Rae flips me off, and my stomachsinks.
Three paces away, she turns to call over her shoulder, “You know where I live. You can pick me up ateight.”
* * *
IfollowRae up the stairs from the subway later that night. “You got into the DJ booth at the club on Friday night. How’d you even dothat?”
We fall into step together on the sidewalk. “Trade secrets,” she says, but her voice turns wistful. “I’m gonna set the world on fire. You’re not making music, you’re making a vibe. It’s all about mood and energy and tempo. Your tracks have an energy; your people have an energy. They’re like atoms. Every combination of people has its own sense, its own chaos. It’s all about finding those threepeople.”
“Three people?” I’m intrigued. Those are the most words I’ve heard my roommate string together in my presence, and now that she’s talking, I don’t want her tostop.
“Three people who set the tone for everyone else. You can always find three people in a crowd. No one will admit they’re watching them or even knows consciously. But they are. If you’re spinning, you gotta get to know them. Live inside them. You move them, they move theroom.”
Before I can ask more, we’re outside the doors of thevenue.
Comedy Palace is smaller than Leo’s, and Rae scans the foyer as if she’s looking for her three people evennow.
We find a table at the back. We’re barely seated when two hands land on my shoulders and I whirl in myseat.
Beck grins down at me. “Hey,ladies.”
“What are you doing here?” I ask, feeling the smile pull across my facealready.
“We wereinvited.”
Before I can ask who “we” is, my gaze lands on the guy next to him, and Istiffen.
Tyler’s dressed in jeans and a dark-blue button-down that makes his chocolate eyes look evendarker.
But the most surprising part isn’t his presence—it’s how not disappointed I am to seehim.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but by who?” I asklightly.
Tyler looks between me and Rae, who picks at her leather jacketinnocently.
Every combination of people has its own sense, its ownchaos.