Always the Almost by Edward Underhill

Author:Edward Underhill
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

* * *

I can’t bear to go out to the lobby until the competition is actually over, so I lurk by the bathrooms backstage until I hear distant applause. Mendelssohn finished.

I go down the hall. Push open the door to the lobby, blinking in the brighter light, and Rachel plows into me with enough force to send us both back into the hallway.

“Full-frontal hug!” she yells.

“You have got to stop calling it that.” Paige opens the door and pulls us back out into the lobby. “Seriously, though, you were on fire.” She grins at me. “Fucking owned that piano.”

“Thanks, guys.” I manage to slither out of Rachel’s grasp.

“Great job, sweetheart!” Here’s Mom, nudging Rachel and Paige out of the way and wrapping me in a hug.

“Thanks—”

And here’s Dad, but all he manages is a smile and a pat on my shoulder.

And there, holding Nina’s hand and sidling through the crowds of parents and grandparents and ecstatic (or occasionally tearful) competitors, is Eric. Nina lets go of his hand as soon as she sees me and races over, hitting me with almost as much force as Rachel.

“A-plus!” she says. She holds up her hands, stubby fingers outstretched. “I give you a score of perfect ten!”

“Thanks, Nina. I’m glad you liked it.”

“Are there cookies?” she asks.

“Yup.” I point to the reception tables and she marches off. Girl with a mission.

“Only two!” Eric calls after her.

She ignores him.

“We got it,” Paige says, and drags Rachel after Nina.

Mom and Dad have drifted away, talking to other parents, which means it’s just me and Eric now.

“You were amazing,” he says.

“It was a little rough. But I got through it.”

“I just watched my boyfriend play a super complicated piano piece in a smashing suit. To me, it was amazing.”

A smile creeps onto my face. “Thanks for coming.”

“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Plus, I’m now a super awesome big brother because Nina was completely transfixed, let me tell you…”

I grasp his hands, pull him forward, and kiss him, closing my eyes, oblivious to the piped piano music and the hum of excited conversation all around me. It’s not a long kiss—I mean, we’re in the middle of a packed lobby—and when I open my eyes and pull back, I see …

“Shane.” Drop Eric’s hands. “Hi, Shane.”

Shane is standing a few feet away, shoulders hunched up under his letter jacket, hands in his pockets, looking uncomfortable. But he manages a smile. “Hey, Miles.”

Eric follows my gaze and also sees Shane. “Oh. Hey.” He holds out his hand. “Eric. We met a while ago.”

Shane steps forward and shakes Eric’s hand. “Right. Nice to see you.”

“Shane…” (Do I shake his hand? Hug him? Is he expecting a hug?) “What are you doing here?”

He stuffs his hands back in his pockets. No hug, then. We just stare awkwardly at each other. “I just, uh, wanted to come hear you play. You were great.”

What do I say? What do I say?

“Yeah, he was amazing, right?” Eric smiles at me and reaches down to take my hand.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.