Continuance Read Online Free PDF Page B

grass cuttings, and though the temperature outside was
perfect, she sat with her arms crossed as though warding off a chill.
    Dressed in a formal black concert
dress and heels, she did her best to ignore the group of several students in
similar clothing milling around beside the parking lot curb not far away.
Instead, she alternated her attention between the ground by her feet and
nothing in particular, trying to look as though she chose to sit apart and
alone for her own very important reasons. Even though she resisted making any
overt glances, one member of the group in particular kept her attention. Tall,
with brown wavy hair, Keith wore his smile as easily as his suit and tie, joking
with one of his friends. By all appearances he was oblivious to her presence.
    As she tried to think of
something else to occupy her attention, the tinny, muffled sound of music
emanated from her purse, her cell phone blaring a classic rock tune.
     
    I’m a cowboy. On
a steel horse I ride.
    I’m wanted,
wanted, dead or alive.
     
     Thankful for the chance to look
socially engaged, she took her time digging the phone out. She let it ring a
few seconds, then answered without bothering to check the ID.
    “Am I interrupting anything
good?” To someone who wasn’t used to it, the slow drawl of the alto voice on
the other end might have suggested some degree of pharmaceutical influence.
Michelle could tell the difference, though, and knew that wasn’t the case. Not at
the moment.
    “Hmm. Let me check, Rachael,”
Michelle answered, her tone dry. “Nope. Not unless you count watching the grass
grow with my cello for company while I wait for the stupid bus to show up.”
    “Oh. Right. So you’ve got a
concert today?”
    “This afternoon. But it’s a two-hour
bus ride, so pretty much an all-day thing.”
    “So.” Rachael loaded the word
with insinuation, causing Michelle to tense. “Is he there too?”
    “Who?”
    “You know, Mr.
Please-join-the-orchestra-with-me-so-we-can-be-together? Mr.
Now-that-you’ve-joined-the-orchestra-I’m-going-to-dump--”
    “Yes.” Michelle cut her off. Did
she have to be so obtuse? “Yes, he’s here. It’s no big deal.”
    “Wow. Stuck being around him for the whole day?” To Michelle’s horror, the pity sounded sincere. She did not want pity. “You know how to torture yourself, don’t you?”
    “You’re not helping, Rachael. And,
like I said, it’s no big deal.”
    Going through with her decision
to join the orchestra even after the breakup had seemed like the right choice. She’d
promised herself she wouldn’t allow Keith to control her life, wouldn’t give
him the satisfaction of slinking away just because he happened to lose interest
for reasons he’d never bothered to make clear to her. She reminded herself she
had plenty of reasons to be here apart from him – her own interest in music,
the chance to meet new people, the opportunity to travel. And if her presence
also happened to be something of a thorn in his side? Well, that had more than
a little merit, too.
    But now, faced with the reality
of spending the entire day in a group where she knew no one but Keith,
she found her resolve fraying a little around the edges.
    “Sorry. Right.” Rachael said,
pausing between each word as if the meaning were sinking in. Michelle pictured
her head nodding in thought as she spoke. “Maybe I can help. Some of us
are going out to The Collegiate tonight. Should be plenty of guys and rum there
to take your mind off certain other people. Wanna come?”
    “Assuming I don’t manage to
torture myself to death first.” The thought of having something to look forward
to tonight already made the prospect of the day ahead less gloomy. “See you
tonight.”
    Michelle disconnected, checking
the time. The bus should have arrived ten minutes before. A few more orchestra
members stood loitering by the parking lot with the others, swelling the group
to six or seven. They all formed a single circle of