My Boyfriend's Girlfriend

nine

"Okay, so remind me again why she and I are soul mates."

It was just past six, and Stacy and I were pulling into the parking garage catty-corner from the venue. I'd driven over to her place since I was staying over after the show, and she been asking questions about Tessa all afternoon. Stacy loved meeting new people, and Tessa seemed to be the perfect challenge for her.

I was so thankful my parents had agreed to let me out of the house, but the only condition was that Danny wouldn't be anywhere near me after ten. Which, didn't seem to be any sort of problem in our current situation.

"Because she was an emo kid just like us. Like, the warped tour kind of emo kid." I said, and Stacy placed her hand over her heart dramatically. "There was a picture on her wall of her and Mayday Parade together."

"Oh my god, I'm in love with her." Stacy joked, making both of us laugh.

"Okay, Romeo, let's go inside and find your Juliet." I pulled the keys out of the ignition, and Stacy swatted at me playfully. "Let's go, dork." I chuckled, and got out of the car.

"I'm Juliet." Stacy mumbled as she got out of the car behind me. I pulled out my phone to call Tessa, since I wasn't sure on where she wanted us to meet her at.

"Hey! Are you here yet?" She said on the other line.

"We just parked. Where should we meet you?" I asked her, while putting my keys in my purse. "Is the front door best?"

"Actually, I'm having one of my friends come meet you now, so she can get you back with us." Tessa said, and I could hear muffled talking in the background. "Where are you at now?"

I looked around for a street sign, and Stacy was already walking over toward the venue. I followed her, and stopped at a post office box that was next to it. "We're by the blue mailbox."

"Perfect. See you in a minute!"

"One of her friends is coming to get us, so we can go with them." I told Stacy, who was impatiently tapping her toes on the sidewalk.

"It's way too cold to be out here. I don't miss having to stand in line for shows." She said, her eyes trained on the front door. We used to stand in line for hours waiting for our favorite bands, but because of Stacy's dad, we no longer had to.

I watched both doors, and stood up straight when a taller, brunette girl headed towards us. She was pretty, not as pretty as Tessa, but definitely leaps and bounds cooler than me. What was in the water in California that made these girls so tall and breathtakingly stunning? Again, I felt just as inadequate as when I'd first met Tessa.

"Hi, you must be Abby. I'm Mallory." She said when she approached us. "And Stacy, right?"

"That's me, the one and only."

Mallory smiled and nodded her head briskly, and turned to me. "Tessa is so excited for you guys to be here, she hasn't shut up about you in two weeks." Mallory told me, and I couldn't believe someone so cool was focused on me. "Sometimes, I worry that I'm losing my best friend to you." She laughed, but her voice was filled with honesty.

"Don't worry, her best friend would never let that happen." Stacy said, wrapping her arms around me and squeezing me in a tight hug.

"I would be murdered if I ever found a new best friend." I laughed, when Stacy let go of me.

"Come on, let's go through the back doors." Mallory said, cocking her head toward the industrial double doors she came from. As we walked, her boots made a confident stomp, and I wondered if she was in the band by the way she was dressed. She wore fishnet tights, which I had never been allowed to wear, and a black corduroy shirt dress. She looked like she'd walked straight off a tour bus.