Guilty So Guiltless

The crowd in front of us cheered loudly as the last notes of Inside Of You rang out through the venue. John walked up the mic while the rest of us turned around to get some water, and screams came back when John spoke.

“How is everyone doing tonight?” The crowd answered back with a chorus of screams. “Good to hear! You guys are an amazing crowd tonight!” More screams. “Can we get some lights on them? Oh what a gorgeous bunch of people! Garrett, aren’t these the most beautiful bunch of fans we’ve ever seen?”

Garrett was up by his mic now and he nodded, looking around at the big crowd. “They are! Hey, you guys should keep doing what you’re doing ‘cause it’s working! I could just kiss you all right now!” The crowd cheered and Garrett laughed, taking a step back to tune his bass.

“I see some new faces here tonight. Scream real loud if this is your first time seeing us!” A handful of people screamed in response to John, causing him to smile. “I see a group of new faces over by the bar over there! Hey there ladies!” The group of girls smiled and giggled, waving over to him. “Hey, that little blondie over there looks familiar! Look guys, doesn’t she look familiar?”

The blonde turned to the side and sipped her drink, trying to play it off that she was noticed. All of her friends had dark hair. She did look familiar. The long blond hair could be from anyone, but it was her eyes that made me realize John was right. You could see the bright green from a mile away, and I knew immediately who it was.

“Evangeline! Whoa we haven’t seen you in like, two years! Kenny look who it is!” Garrett yelled through the mic, causing the crowd to look back at her and her friends, who were all in complete shock. They probably didn’t know that she knew us.

“Come up here, girl! No- don’t go out the door get up here!” Evangeline tried leaving the venue, but her friends kept her back. They led her to the entrance to backstage, much to her and I’s despair. She stumbled onstage and stood awkwardly between John and Garrett, not looking too happy. John threw his arm around her shoulders and looked out at the crowd.

“You know guys, Evy here used to date Kennedy, like two or so years ago.” Her cheeks burned red as the fans “oohed”. “Yeah! They were pretty darn cute if I don’t say so myself!”

I looked over at Sam on my side backstage. She didn’t know about Evangeline and I had hoped to keep it that way. Her mouth was set in a line and her arms were crossed. Her eyes were glaring daggers over at Evangeline and John.

“That’s enough John. Just stop embarrassing her and Kenny.” Jared spoke up and gave John a look. He let go of Evangeline and whispered something to her before she walked backstage to join her friends. They didn’t return to their previous spots by the bar.

“Alright! Who’s ready for our next song? This one’s called Fuel To The Fire!”

- - -

“EVY!” Pat ran over to Evangeline and jumped on her, giving her a hug.

“H-Hi Pat. Guys.”

“You’re hurting the poor girl, Pat! Get off!” Garrett pulled Pat off and hugged Evangeline, followed by John, Jared, and Jared’s girlfriend Monica.

After we finished the show, Sam practically attacked me. She wasn’t mad at the fact that she just found out about Evangeline, she was mad at the fact that we got together three weeks after the breakup.

”July 7th?! Kenny that’s three weeks before we got together! So what am I, a rebound?”

“No not at all! I was over her when we got together!”

“Really? It took an awfully short time.”

“It wasn’t the best breakup, and she wasn’t the best girlfriend either. She cheated on me, Sam. Multiple times.”

“I can see why, she’s a slut.”

“Sam!”

“Well you saw her dress, any shorter and it would be a fucking shirt!”

I scoffed. “It’s nothing different then what you wear to parties.”

“I at least wear tights or shorts or something underneath. She’s just… letting it all hang out.”

“Oh come on, she is not.”

“Stop defending her, Kenny! You’re making it seem like you still like her or something.” Sam crossed her arms over her face and huffed, making her bangs fly up.

“Sam,” I grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look at me. “I don’t, really. In fact, I like someone else. Scratch that, I love someone else.”

“Do I need to beat someone up for stealing my man?’

“Not unless you want to beat yourself up.” She smiled and leaned in, pressing her lips to mine in a short, sweet kiss.

“Hi, I’m Sam. Kennedy’s girlfriend.” Sam offered her hand and Evangeline shook it. She looked up at me cocked her head to the side; a sign that she was examining me.

“You cut your hair.” I nodded. “It looks good.” She leaned up and ruffled it, smiling when she was back down to her level. I felt Sam’s arm tense around mine.

“How’ve you been, Evy?” John asked, smiling.

“I’ve been… the same. Single and bored with everything. I can’t believe you guys still call me Evy.”

“It’s our special nickname for you! We’ll always call you Evy!” Pat gave her a high five and she laughed. It was still the same; soft and melodic.

“You should come back to my place with everyone! We’re having a little mini-party! It’ll be fun! And we can all catch up!”

“So much enthusiasm, Garrett.” Jared chuckled.

“She was my best friend, I can’t be happy that she’s coming over?”

“She hasn’t even given you an answer yet!”

“Then let her answer!”

Everyone but Sam, Jared, and I leaned in closer, waiting for her answer. She tapped her chin with her index finger for about a minute before looking up at Garrett.

“Sure, I’d love to.”