Through Indigo's Eyes by Tara Taylor

sat.
    Sarah laughed when she saw me. “Did you run here?”
    â€œNah, I just walk fast.” I sat down beside her and tossed my backpack on the floor. Then I immediately took out my cigarettes.
    I lit up, inhaling deeply. Relax. Relax. The smoke somehow stopped my thoughts from getting out of control and numbed my body so panic couldn’t set in.
    â€œSo, we’ve been talking about our band,” said Sarah. “We should have a rehearsal soon. And then once we get good enough, we could find somewhere to play.”
    â€œLike a real concert?” I asked. “We need a lot of practice before we play in front of people. But, wow, that would be so cool.”
    â€œWe could do some type of fund-raiser.” Carly tapped her fingers on the table.
    My mind went blank, then I saw a dog, and he had the saddest eyes. The vision disappeared like a puff of cigarette smoke. “Animal shelter,” I said. “We could do something for stray dogs and cats. They often have events, and maybe we could play at one of them and help them raise money!”
    Sarah held up her hand. “You rock, girl. That’s a great idea.”
    â€œI’ll phone them,” said Carly. “My friend works there, and I know they have one event in the fall, which we have probably already missed, one at Christmas, and one in the spring.”
    Sarah pursed her lips before she said, “I dunno. Christmas doesn’t give us much time. Last time we rehearsed a million times before we perfected one song. If we are going to do this, we have to do it right.”
    The smell of lilacs hit me. “I think spring would be great,” I said. “And I agree that we need the time. What songs are we thinking of?” I took out a pen and paper from my backpack to write everything down.
    The conversation around the table escalated and became animated as we continued with our plans. Time ticked by. We would go to the animal shelter and offer our services, see if we could do something in, like, six months, which would give us time to put together a set. Five songs would probably be enough.
    While I was excited to talk about the band and totally got into it, my head continued to throb, and my stomach ached. I smoked and listened, talked and laughed, but on the inside, I had a rolling uneasiness that just kept rising and falling, over and over again. After our band conversation was over, we started to do our usual talk about parties and crap.
    â€œHey,” said Carly, leaning forward and directing her words at me, “I heard Burke was necking with Amber at that party on the weekend. Does Lacey know?”
    I gave a noncommittal shrug.
    Sarah laughed and jostled me with her shoulder. “Indie was so drunk, I doubt she remembers anything.”
    â€œYou were the one who gave me the drink.” I laughed. “Like, four drinks in one.”
    â€œYou were so funny. I laughed so hard when you threw up on that guy’s shoes.”
    â€œWhich guy?” Carly asked.
    â€œThat preppy kid with the starched pants.”
    Zoe burst out laughing. “I must have missed that.”
    â€œIndie was on the porch with John.” Sarah almost sang her words. “He is so hot. And I think he likes you, Indie.”
    Just the mention of his name made my heart race. “I don’t know about that,” I replied, trying to look cool.
    â€œWe got to get him to ask you out,” said Sarah. “You guys are perfect for each other.”
    Without thinking of any consequences, I yanked a notebook out of my backpack and ripped out a piece of paper. Then I wrote: I like you. Do you like me?
    I folded it in half and gave it to Sarah. “Give this to him for me.”
    â€œAre you kidding me?” Sarah’s eyes were wide with shock. “You got balls.”
    â€œWhat the heck?” I said. “Might as well find out before I waste any more time.”
    Sarah took the note and carefully put it