“This next one is the last song for the night folks,” Brian said into the microphone. The whole audience whined, only making him laugh. “Hey, c’mon! It’s not like we won’t be back.” That made the audience cheer and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kassy’s mouth twitch, indicating a small smile. He smiled. “Our next song, is one you’ve probably never heard before. It was the first one we recorded, making it memorable to us. It goes out to one of my very good friends, whom is actually sitting in the audience tonight.” The entire crowd looked around, searching for his friend. Kassy rolled her eyes and sank into the corner again. “It’s called ‘Tell Me That I’m Dreaming’.”
Cocking her head in confused, Kassy leaned back against the wall and waited for the guys to begin. After the first few lines, she began to laugh, realizing that it was her song. After her first relationship, at age 14, the guy had broken her heart. Kassy had written the lyrics to “Tell Me That I’m Dreaming” as a poem. A few days later, Brian had discovered it while snooping through her desk drawer. Taking it without telling her, he wrote a tune to it and sang it to her at his junior prom, which he had invited her to attend as his date. Hey, what are best friends for? It had worked. By the end of the song, she had had tears in her eyes, but she was smiling through them.
When Brian looked at her, he caught her eye. Both of them smiled. After a moment, Kassy looked down at the ground and bit her lip nervously.
Okay, lets get me out of here, Kassy thought, trying to hide herself in the crowd as they piled out the door of the auditorium. Once out, she made her way down the hallway towards the front entrance. If she was sleek enough, she’d be able to do it. Obviously, she wasn’t sleek enough.
“He told me you’d try to escape.” Groaning, she turned to face the guard that had given her the chocolate.
“What’s your name?” she asked him.
“Mark,” he responded, smiling at the spiteful tone of her voice
“Okay, good. Mark. I’ll be sure to tell Brian what a great job you’re doing,” she said sarcastically. That was the best she could come up with. In the back of her head she knew she would have to face Brian sooner or later. She also knew that he knew her better than anyone . . . or, he used to. “He probably has people lined up all around this place, doesn’t he?” Mark nodded. Taking her arm, he began to lead her back through the crowd. “Not surprising.”
“It was Kevin’s idea,” Mark said. Kassy laughed. She knew Kevin almost as well as she knew Brian. Actually, that wasn’t true. She’d known Brian all her life. They had been together practically 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for sixteen years. Kassy had been invited to every single one of the “Littrell-Family-Reunions.” Everyone there thought of her as part of the family. She and Kevin had grown close, but no one had been closer than she and Brian.
“You know, everyone is looking at you like you’re some sort of convict since I’m dragging you down the hall like this,” Mark commented. “If I let you go, will you come quietly?”
“I’ll be as quiet as a mouse,” Kassy assured him. Of course, I’ll be that quiet. It’s hard to be loud when you’re not there.
“Then, I’d better not let you go,” Mark said, obviously assuming what she had been thinking. Kassy frowned.
“What else did Brian tell you about me?” Mark shrugged, weaving his way through the last of the crowd, his hand still firmly holding onto her arm.
“He only told me what I needed to know. Basically that you’d try and escape and that you were stubborn enough that I always had to keep my eye on you or else you’d run away.”
“Well, that basically sums everything up.”