How to Seduce a Band Geek (12 page)

“It’s not just Kevin and Mitch who’ll be there. I don’t even know if they’ll show up. It’s the popular crowd, though, Sierra. I want to go.” She slides out of my grasp and stands. “And I’m going whether you come with me or not.”

My breathing goes into panic mode. I can’t let her do something like this. She’ll regret it for the rest of her life. She’ll hate herself. Before she can stalk through the library doors, I push to my feet and chase after her.

“I’ll go!”

“Shhh!” the librarian says from across the room. I wave an apology and turn back to Sydney, dropping my voice to a whisper.

“I’ll go with you, but I’m taking Adam and Levi.”

Her shoulders tense up. “This isn’t exactly Adam’s scene.”

“It’s not mine either. But I’m not going without him.”

Because I need major best friend backup with her. And Levi’s great, but he doesn’t know Sydney like Adam does. Plus, Levi will probably be distracting me all night with those half smiles and cute band geek talk.

She brushes her bangs off her forehead and lets her eyes dart through the room, like someone’s going to overhear her. “Fine. But if anyone asks, I didn’t invite him.”

“Sydney…”

“I know. I’m a bitch. Say it, I don’t care.”

She turns around and whips out of the library, leaving me crazy confused, and pissed off. Like, who the heck was that person? Where’s my friend who’d flip off anyone who said something stupid about us? Or who’d sit next to Adam in every class they shared? Or who’d take hanging out at my house over a party any day?

I miss that Sydney.

The bell rings, and it jolts me from the spot I’ve glued myself to. I jog back to the computers to grab my bag, then dart into the hallway. It’s packed, but I catch Levi’s head over the crowd. And all the suckiness of my Sydney encounter pops away just from the sight of him.

I push through people to get to him. Hopefully he’ll be all right with babysitting my friend and keeping her lady business closed. Not that I’ll explain that if I don’t have to.

Just when I get through the horde, ready to sidle right up to that piece of amazing hot boy, someone’s foot juts out in my path, and I go crashing to the ground, slamming my chin on the tile.

I’m pretty sure my teeth are in my skull. There’s something rattling up there, along with the sounds of a douche-bag laugh, one I’m all too familiar with.

“Sorry, didn’t see you there.”

My hand goes automatically to my jaw, working it back and forth to make sure it’s still functional. It kills, and I can taste blood.
No. No. No. Not blood!
I take a deep breath, then snap my mouth shut so he doesn’t see just how bad he hurt me.

Kevin smirks and sticks a hand out to help me up, but I smack it away. Dickface.

“Whoa, okay. It was an accident, but maybe you’re confused about what real accidents are versus fake ones.”

His digs are getting more and more pathetic. I crack my neck to the side and try to get up on my own, but a dizzy spell hits once I get to my knees. Ooh… better give it a minute.

Hands are on the sides of my face in a second, and I’m about to slap the crap out of Kevin for even thinking to touch me like that, but I’m met with soft brown eyes and reddish hair. “Livingston, you still in there?”

Adam’s backpack slides off his shoulder and hits the floor next to us, and I think I nod, but my head hurts too bad to move much.

“Okay, I don’t want to freak you out, but you’ve got a lot of blood on your lips. Think you can get to the nurse’s office? I don’t think I can carry you.”

A snort comes from somewhere above me, and Kevin says to whoever yahoo is with him, “It’s not like she uses those lips for anything good anyway.”

I never expected Adam to be one to start a fight, but he’s off the floor and tackling Kevin to the ground with about fifty punches to the nose. Everyone’s so stunned it’s this short, red-headed bookworm who’s pounding the school’s playboy’s face in.

I’m about to yell at him to stop, but that’s when the blood from my mouth drips onto the floor in front of me. My stomach rolls, and my head twirls around. Then before I hit the ground again, another set of hands grab my face.

“I sold my drums to pay our power bill.”

I blink a few thousand times till my eyes focus on Levi. He’s holding my cheeks and breathing rapid fire on my skin.

“What?” I choke out.

“My mom lost her job. We had no way to get the power turned on in the trailer, and we had nothing of value. Except those. So I sold them.”

I want to shake my head because he’s confusing me, but I’m afraid to move. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because you need a distraction.” He turns around and waves someone over. Adam pops up next to him, his own lip cut and bloody. Where did Kevin go? What the heck happened? I snap my eyes shut so I can’t see any more blood.

“Will you help me?” Levi asks, and next thing I know I’m being lifted to my feet. Things sway and turn, and I really don’t want to puke all over anyone or anything, so I panic and try to get back to the cold ground.

“Damn, she’s strong.”

I hear Adam laugh, and I feel lips touch my ear. Levi’s voice punctures all the buzz around us. “I’m going to carry you to the nurse’s office. I don’t care if you throw up on me, okay? But you can’t stay here.”

“But it’s cool here,” I mumble, meaning the cold floor feels good to my sweaty body, but Adam takes it another way.

“It’s cool in the nurse’s office, too. I think she has free soda in there.”

I open my eyes a peek to roll them at him, but the blood on his lip twists my stomach, and I gag.

Hands grasp under my legs and shift me up off the ground. I take deep breathes and push back the contents of my tummy. Puking once is bad enough, but puking twice? Kill me now!

“The guy who bought the drums,” Levi says as he walks through the hall, “he had a huge tattoo on his face. Right under his eye, then went down his cheek and on his neck. And it was a naked woman.”

I surprise myself with a giggle, and lean back into his chest. He adjusts me, and starts breathing heavy.

“The breasts were by his mouth. It was easily the most distracting thing I’ve ever seen. He had to repeat everything he said about ten times.”

Both Adam and I laugh and for once in my life, the taste of blood in my mouth doesn’t make me want to vomit or pass out. The nurse’s office comes too quickly, but I guess we had to kind of rush there so Adam doesn’t get busted for fighting. Levi doesn’t just drop me off either. He sticks around, talking in the background with Adam while I sit with gauze in my mouth. They go on about music scores and practice scales. And of course Adam has read a book on music so he knows exactly what he’s talking about, even if I don’t. Doesn’t matter anyway. I ogle them and think to myself I’m crazy lucky these guys will have mine and Sydney’s backs on Friday.

***

“Whoa. What happened to you?”

I wave at Adam who just dropped me off at Levi’s and turn back to Brea. My jaw’s still a little swollen from my tumble earlier.

“Tripped.”

She raises an eyebrow, but then shrugs and waves me in the trailer. Now that I’m actually invited in, I don’t feel so weird about it.

“Okay, so Levi’s room is that one,” she says, pointing to the first room down the hall. “Touch anything you want. I doubt he’ll notice.”

“I don’t think I can—”

“I’ll be back in an hour.” She throws on a jacket and flips her long blond hair out. Then she grabs house keys, and she’s out the door before I can get a word in.

An hour. Wonder if that’s a real hour or just what she tells everybody.

I suck air into my cheeks, but it hurts my mouth, so it doesn’t stay there. I should’ve told Brea I wasn’t going to do the snooping thing anymore. That I came here to actually go through the mentorship packets. I flop down on the couch and pull my notebook out of my backpack, along with those markers that smell like fruit. My fingers automatically go around the green apple one, and I twist it open.

Settling my sore chin in my palm, I doodle Levi’s name next to mine and think about how seriously sexy he is. And try to force my butt to stay in the cushion and not go explore his bedroom which is about three feet away.

I forgot to tell him about the party. I told Adam in the car, and he gave me the same face I’m sure I gave Sydney, but he didn’t argue or anything. Levi had to be somewhere after school, and I thought since he blurted out about his drums he’d be a bit more open with me, but he’s still doing that mysterious act and just said he was busy and he’d call me later. I didn’t push, but I had a mouth full of cotton balls at the time, so not much I could do anyway.

The cap on my marker clicks as I push it shut, and then I toss it back in my bag. I take a big sniff of the markered words before I push the notebook out to admire it.

Levi Mason Rocks A Piccolo

I had to Google how to spell that word. Yay for free internet at the school library. Oh! I should make a shirt with this on it. Pair it with some bright red tights—to match his band uniform—and cute black cutoffs. I’d have to change the words to red instead of green so I don’t look like a walking Christmas card.

I kiss the paper, then quickly swipe at my lips in case I got any green on them. Are all crushes this bad? Or is it just because Levi is so amazing, I can’t even believe he’s paying any attention to someone like me.

My eyebrows move inward. Wait, where the heck is his mom? Didn’t he say she lost her job? Is she sleeping down the hall or something? Holy humiliating if she comes out here and I’m lounging on the couch.

As quietly as I can, I set the notebook on the side table and peer down the hallway. Silence. And all the doors are open. Maybe I can take a peek. Just to make sure I’m alone.

I pad down the hall, whipping my head over my shoulder every half a second. Is this considered trespassing? I mean, I was invited in. I’ll just say I had to pee if I get caught. Oh, total genius, I was just running to the potty. I stop looking over my shoulder and stick my face in the first room.

My brain must’ve taken a mini-vacation, because I totally space that this was Levi’s room until my eyes are dead set on his big shoes piled in the corner, his band hoodie crumpled on his pillows, and Disney/Pixar movies spread out on his bookshelf.

I shouldn’t. No.
Just back on out and check the other rooms, Sierra!

Even though it hurts like hell, I let air fill my cheeks and step through the door. I’m a crazy stalker. Stick that label on me now.

My feet take me straight to his top dresser drawer. I yank it open so hard because my hands are shaking, and I’m terrified if I do this slow I’ll back out, and the drawer falls into my arms and crashes to the floor.

Well, if anyone
is
here, I’m sure they’ll come running after that. I stare at the door for about ten seconds before taking a breath and crouching down to pick up all the—omigosh. It’s all underwear.

I really hope they were all stuffed into the drawer, because none of them are folded, and I’m not folding his boxers. What if my finger slips into that hole in the front? That’s sort of like touching second base, right? Or is it third? Agh! What am I thinking?

It’s just empty boxers.
Empty
. It’s not like there’s a penis hiding in them. Just need to get them back in the drawer and forget this all happened.

I scramble to get all the undies in their proper place, catching the fact Levi has his name written in Sharpie on the tags. It makes me laugh a little through my panic because if Brea and Levi need help knowing whose underwear is whose, I’m worried about what Brea’s wearing under those leggings.

As I’m grabbing the last pair of boxers, my fingers hit something hard underneath them, and I jump as if they bit me. Gosh, I need to calm down. I laugh at myself as I uncover a bottle of cologne. Adidas. I push the underwear in the drawer and take a deep inhale of the stuff.

Levi.

Smells like Levi.

Levi. Levi. Levi.

I’m on some sort of drug as I plop the bottle in the drawer and stand. I shove it in place, then back up with my palms raised as if the thing will blow if I’m not careful. The back of my knees hit the mattress and out of habit, I fling myself backward and blow out a sigh.

His bed smells like him too. I twist so I’m face first into the sheets, inhaling his scent like a dog with its favorite treat. I’m even panting like a dog. If it gets any worse, Levi’s going to walk in and find me licking myself.

I crawl up the bed and squeeze his pillow, shutting my eyes and moving from crazy stalker girl to
extremely
creepy
stalker girl. My head floats somewhere in fantasy land where I picture Levi’s lips on his piccolo, on his Minute Maid, on
me
. Where I feel his arms that held me just hours ago. Where I hear him laughing, talking about music… where he’s holding my hand in the car, in Debate.

Then I hear the buzzing, and that makes me sigh and smile into the pillow. I picture him popping up out of nowhere to take me for that ride. My legs straddling his hips, my cheek pressed against his back. I wonder if it’ll be just as wonderful in real life as it is in my dreams.

A sharp crash echoes through my head, and I bolt upright. I rub my eyes and blink, staring out the small window in Levi’s room.

It’s dark. Like
way
dark. And there are footsteps creaking their way closer. My heart thumps right out my chest as I roll off the bed and slide under it—taking that hoodie with me—just as socked feet walk in and a light clicks on.
 

Chapter 13

I’ll just keep the monster under the bed company all night long.

The bed creaks as Levi sits, and I flatten myself on the floor as much as I can. I hear some metal against metal, then clacking like he’s tapping a keyboard. He clears his throat, takes a deep breath, then high-pitched music fills the room.

I push both hands over my mouth to keep from sighing or moaning or doing any other uncontrollable physical reaction I have to his piccolo playing. I have no clue what song he’s playing, but it sounds wonderful. Like a background track to a fountain or rain or some kind of falling water. He could totally play at a spa or something.