She was a nerd in the normal world. She’d just have to accept that she’d be a nerd to the millionth degree in the rock and roll world.
Tonight, she’d come to the venue armed with her notebook and tablet, ready to take notes on any-and everything. Only, from the moment Drew strummed the first chord on his guitar and began to sing, instead of all of the mental lists she should have been making or the details she should have been noticing, everything had been lost to the music.
To Drew Morrison’s genius.
“Thanks for coming out tonight, everyone.” His speaking voice was just as sexy and mesmerizing as his singing voice. The screams from his fans nearly drowned him out as he said, “I wrote a new song a while back that I haven’t played for anyone yet.” More screams came, truly deafening ones. “But tonight...” He’d been smiling earlier, but suddenly he looked terribly serious. And so sad that Ashley wished she were close enough to wrap her arms around him. “Tonight I finally feel like I need to play it. It’s called ‘One More Time.’”
The rest of the band left the stage, leaving only Drew and his guitar in the spotlight. Watching him, she felt as if he was steeling himself before the first notes rang out from his guitar and he began to sing the most beautiful—and devastating—song Ashley had ever heard. About loss. About his heart breaking. About pain that ran so deep he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to recover from it.
She wasn’t absolutely sure what the song was really about, but her father had told her that Drew’s mother had passed away from cancer earlier this year. She knew what it was like to lose a mother, but hers hadn’t died—her mother had simply boarded a plane to Miami seven years ago after her parents had divorced.
The rest of the songs Drew had played tonight had been fast-driving and often upbeat. But this one held hints of sixties folk music. A little Dylan. A harmony reminiscent of Crosby, Stills and Nash. A lyric that she could easily have imagined Joni Mitchell singing. Ashley had never heard anyone combine their own new sound with the past in such an amazing way.
Drew’s song reached deep inside of her, deeper than any other had ever gone. Ashley ached for him, even as she found herself aching for her own losses. Losses she never liked to look at too closely because they hurt so bad.
Tears were streaming down the cheeks of the girl standing next to Ashley. More than one fan, actually, was losing the battle with her emotions. And as he sang, “I wish I could see you one more time,” and the final note rang out and the stage lights abruptly went dark, Ashley reached up and was shocked to feel dampness on her own cheekbones. She sucked in a breath, and then another when that first one didn’t quite make it all the way into her lungs, as she quickly wiped away the moisture.
She tried to center herself and steady everything that had just gone so topsy-turvy. She knew from reading all those science journals that a good song could trigger a cascade of involuntary physical and emotional responses. That had to be why she’d reacted so emotionally, right? Plus, she wasn’t used to being around so many people who had so few inhibitions.
From the first moment she’d set foot inside the venue, just as she’d thought, she stuck out. Her hair was too neat. Her clothes were too plain. Her shoes were too flat. And her makeup was too—well, nonexistent. The women in Drew’s audience were openly sexual, both in the way they dressed and in how they danced. And the truth was that at the same time as she felt out of place, Ashley envied them a little bit for the way they owned their sexuality. As if it were something not only perfectly natural, but also wonderful.
But when the girl next to her sniffled and said, “Isn’t he amazing? When I listen to his songs, I feel like I can do anything,” Ashley was surprised to realize she didn’t feel like a total outsider anymore. Drew’s music had brought all of them together. And even if the moment they stepped out onto the sidewalk they reverted back to their normal roles, at least for a couple of hours they’d all shared the exact same urge to dance and sing along and even cry.
The lights suddenly blazed back on in a kaleidoscope of colors that had everyone cheering just as Drew launched into “Wild,” his biggest hit to date. And even though she never danced in public, she couldn’t keep from wiggling her hips, lifting her arms to the beat, and clapping along with everyone else.