Read Online Tracks (Rock Bottom) by Sarah Biermann - Free Book Online

offices and the judges. If I don’t make the DA office, I have to have a back-up, right?
    When I finally look at the clock, it’s 1 p.m., and I’m hungry. I stand up and stretch, about to walk over to the kitchen, when I hear my cell phone ring. Theresa turns around on the couch where she’s watching TV to look at the phone vibrating on t he dining room table. I freeze.
    “Go pick it up!” she half whispers.
    I walk over to the phone and, without looking at the caller-id, slide the button on the screen over. “Hello?” I say as I put it up to my ear.
    “Dy lan,” I hear in a silky melody.
    “Hi Jeremy,” I say as my mouth goes dry. I almost instant ly begin to pant. Theresa silently claps her hands in a giddy way.
    “How was the rest of your night?” he says, and I can hear a lot of commotion in the backg round.
    “I just went straight to bed. I was exhausted. Are you feeling ok ay?”
    He was silent for a minute. “ Yeah, I guess I was tired too…hey, you want to come here? Maybe watch the show tonight from the wing?”
    My heart leaps. “Yes!” I blurt out, too excitedly. He chuckles. “Ok. Rich will be there soon. ”
    “Alright,” I sigh. Ewe, am I actually swooning? I put this feeling to memory for later consideration. “Bye.”
    “ See you soon.”
    We pause. I wait for the other line to die, but I still hear him breathing. Obviously, he was waiting for me to hang up, too. He chuckles and I laugh.
    “Bye,” I say and hang up. I’m not one of those lovey-dovey “you hang up first” girls. Ewe.
    Theresa stands up and hugs me. I hug her back and laugh u ncomfortably. “Um, why?” I say.
    “I’m just so happy for you,” she says in my ear. “I thought you were asexual for a while.”
    I laugh. “I am asexual.”
    She backed away from me and looks in my eyes. “Oh no, honey. That conversation you just giggled out…you’re sexual.”
    I blush. I hear a knock at the door. Theresa walks over to open it, and Rich is standing at the top of my stairs. Again he’s wearing all black with black sunglasses. I smile and wave. He nods at me in return. “Ready, miss?” he says in his big voice. I check myself in the mirror hanging by the door, running my fingers through my straight hair. I slip on the gold sandals that are next to the couch and grab my gold purse and throw it over my shoulder. It’s really heavy. I’m going to have to clean it out ASAP.
    As I’m walking down the stairs, I take a second to really absorb how crazy this all is. In just a matter of three days -look how much my life had changed. I’ve had feelings that I would have sworn two weeks ago could never exist in me. I wondered idly if my parents had ever even once felt this way towards each other. I stopped that thought dead in its tracks. No, I’m not letting them ruin this night with Jeremy the way they ruined all of my other relationships my whole life. Jeremy is special; someone I was pretty certain I could never find the equal to again.
    Rich opens the back door to the familiar sleek, black car. I crawl inside and once again do my make-up on the way to meet Jeremy, back at the Wilbur. The drive is shorter than I remember, and we pull up to the stage entrance just as I’m putting away my lip gloss. I quickly spritz myself with flower-scented mist before Rich opens the door. I take a deep breath to calm the butterflies fluttering rapidly in my stomach before I exit the car and step onto the asphalt. Rich and I walk towards the steel door. He reaches it first and opens it for me and I step inside to the darkness.
    We walk down a short way before I see the madness ensuing inside. People are running here and there, mostly in all black and wearing headsets, though some had business suits on. Some are yelling over the headset, some at each other, others are carrying heavy equipment. Rich and I walk slowly down the hall. “What’s going on?” I yell to Rich above the noise.
    “Getting ready for the show,” he replies.