Page 61 of Unfinished Noise

Jamie shrugged, casual. “Yeah. They’re doing stuff again.”

He didn’t mean to sound proud, but it slipped out anyway. It always did when he talked about Spencer’s music—like he couldn’t help it.

The teens exchanged excited looks, whispering to each other as they drifted off. Jamie watched them go, a weird mix of flattered and exposed settling in his chest. He’d come here to skate, not to be a walking billboard, but he couldn’t deny the tiny spark that lit up inside him. People still cared. People still remembered.

Alfie bumped his shoulder. “Look at you, being all mysterious and cool.”

Jamie rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t mysterious.”

“You absolutely were.”

Jamie snorted and pushed off again, letting the music swallow the moment. He didn’t mind being recognized—not really—but he liked it better when it happened accidentally, like this. Unscripted. Just part of the day instead of the whole point of it.

And honestly? Something loosened in his chest, a steady, easy feeling rolling through him. Not spotlight good. Just… good.

More people stopped, recognizing the logo, some curious. A couple asked if the band was really touring again. One guy said he thought they had broken up forever. Jamie answered casually, proud but not bragging, and every time he said, “Yeah, they’re back,” a steadiness settled through him, like his breath had finally evened out.

Spencer would’ve loved seeing people excited like this.

After an hour of skating, falling, laughing, and nearly crashing into a wall twice, Alfie leaned on the railing, panting. “Okay. I need a break before my legs file a complaint.”

Jamie wiped sweat from his forehead. “Same. Want a drink?”

“Actually…” Alfie pointed across the lobby. “I want that.”

Jamie followed his gaze.

The kiosk looked even more questionable up close—a neon sign buzzing, a glass case full of mismatched studs and dangling earrings, and a folding chair that had definitely lived a few lives. Jamie stopped short.

“You want to get your ears pierced at Roller Towne?” he asked, eyebrows up.

Alfie shrugged like it was the most normal idea in the world. “Why not? It’s chaotic. I’m chaotic. It fits.”

Jamie snorted. “You’re unbelievable.”

Alfie flashed that wide, mischievous grin—the one that always made Jamie cave. “Come on. Do it with me.”

Jamie hesitated. He’d thought about piercings before, but at a skating rink? Spencer would either lose his mind or kiss him stupid. Hard to predict with Spencer.

But Jamie was riding the high of the day—free, loose, a little reckless in a harmless way.

“Okay,” he said. “Let’s do it.”

Alfie pumped his fist. “Yes! Friendship piercings!”

The kiosk looked even sketchier up close—buzzing neon sign, a glass case full of studs and dangling earrings, and a woman behind the counter who seemed halfway through a lengthy shift. She glanced up when Jamie and Alfie approached, her eyes landing on their shirts.

“Oh, I haven’t seen that logo in forever,” she said, leaning forward a little. “Black Shadows, right? My cousin used to blast them in his car.”

Jamie nodded. “Yeah. Old-school stuff.”

She squinted at the shirts again, then at Jamie’s face, like something was clicking into place slowly. “Wait… didn’t they disappear for a while? Or go on hiatus? Something like that?”

Jamie shrugged, casual. “Something like that.”

The woman tapped her fingers on the counter, thinking. “I remember one of their live albums. The one with the silver cover? My friends were obsessed.”

Recognition always hit Jamie weirdly, especially when it came from someone who actually remembered details. “Yeah,” he said. “That was a big one.”