Chapter 2

I had to pull the phone away from my ear because Kate wouldn’t stop screaming, and at this rate, I was sure I’d end up deaf. I had barely told her about the dinner and my mom’s idea when she started overflowing with excitement, as if she’d just won the lottery.

“I can’t believe it! I CAN’T believe it! We’re going to the concert! Your mom said yes!”

“Kate, wait—there’s a condition,” I replied cautiously. Truth was, if there were no tickets left, I had no idea how I was going to get out of this.

“I know, I know, Cams, but the important thing is that she said yes. I’ll get Jacob’s ticket right now; I’m sure there are still some available. Cams, I’m so happy—I can’t handle this excitement!”

«God, if there are still tickets available, it must be for a reason…»

“Yes, I’d noticed,” I laughed, picturing her jumping on her bed like a five-year-old.

“Thank you so much, Cami, for coming with me.”

“Well, you should probably thank Jacob instead. Mom had said no.”

“That’s true!” There was a brief silence on the other end of the line before she added, “Wait—I completely forgot in all the excitement that it’s ‘Jacob’. How do you feel about that?”

“Hmm… I don’t think I’ve really thought about it,” I admitted. “I was surprised he said yes.” And it was true. I’d been so eager to tell Kate we were going that I hadn’t stopped to think about what it meant to spend time with Jacob—without Mom or Dad around. I don’t think I’d ever been in a situation like that before. The closest thing to ‘hanging out alone’ was waiting together for the three minutes it took popcorn to finish in the microwave, without either of us saying a single word.

“Yeah, that was definitely a surprise. I can’t picture Jacob at a concert like this. Does he even know suits aren’t part of the dress code?”

That one made me laugh for real. Kate always managed to land a comment that perfectly wrapped up the moment.

“I guess we’ll have to wait until Saturday to find out.”

“I guess we will!” she exclaimed, her enthusiasm apparently endless. Then she added, “We’re not going to talk about logistics just yet, right?”

“We didn’t settle on anything specific, and for now, I’d rather not get into details. At the very least, we should wait until we confirm he actually has a ticket.”

“I’m on it—just give me a couple more seconds…”

While I waited, my mind began to wander, imagining what it would be like to go to a concert with Jacob, how he would act.

“All set. We officially have a ticket for our capeless hero.”

“Are we sure we want to do this?” I asked.

“Camiiila, obviously we’re super ultra mega sure. It’s Trollex—remember?”

«It’s Jacob—remember.»

“Well, I’m just saying… just to be one hundred percent sure,” I replied, trying to keep things light.

“We’re a thousand percent sure!” Kate answered, far too enthusiastically. I couldn’t take this away from her—not because of my insecurities.

We talked a while longer, laughing and saying ridiculous things about it, but as we did, I started to feel a different kind of unease. It was as if, beneath the surface of all that excitement, there was something I couldn’t quite name. A strange, undefined feeling that slowly settled in and followed me every time I thought about Saturday.