away; b.e.[rewritting]

Chapter 76

I wake up and check my phone.

7:36 AM

I see I have so many notifications, all of people saying happy birthday.

I smile and go through each one, thanking everyone.

I start filming a video.

"I can't believe that i'm 18. Never thought that I'd make it to 15, let alone 18. Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes. Also, I released my debut album at 12, so go stream the fuck out of it. Apparently my single 'Drugs' off the hindsight 20/20 EP hit 2 times platinum so thank you so much for that guys. I love you all, mwah," I stop the video and post it on all my socials.

I get out of bed and start my shower. After my shower, I do my morning routine and change into grey sweatpants with a blue hoodie. I put on my glasses and my ugg dakotas.

I sit down on my bed and open my laptop and start school.

~

I close my computer and lay down on my bed.

I just stare at my ceiling, waiting for the day to be over. It's crazy to me how a year ago, I was at a party fucking Billie.

My phone starts to ring and I read the caller ID.

ty martin.

A smile comes across my face and I answer the facetime call.

"Ty? What's up dude?" I ask laughing, sitting up.

"The kids wanted to say hi to you," he flips the camera and shows me Tyler, his oldest son and his new born 6 month old twins, Rose and Jayden.

I smile.

"They're adorable," I say.

"Last time I saw Tyler, he was a year old. He got so big!" I say.

Tyson laughs.

We end up talking for about an hour until I hang up since I had to go walk Charlie.

I put on my mask and grab his leash and put it on. We leave the apartment and go on a walk.

We stop by Laurens house.

I open the front gate and walk up to the door. I knock and Lauren opens the door.

"Emilie! I fucking missed you dude!" She said.

"We literally talked 2 hours ago," I laughed.

"I mean I miss talking to you physically," she says. I roll my eyes.

"Down to take a walk?" I ask.

She nods and Angel comes running to the door.

"Hey buddy! You wanna go on a walk?" Angel jumps onto Lauren.

She attaches his leash and she puts on a mask.

~

"So you have anything else up your sleeve?" Lauren asks while we're sitting on the bench in the dog park.

"I'm working on an EP. I don't know when to release it though," I say.

"Wait a week till after it's ready to release it, that way it gives you some time and space so it doesn't feel too sudden," Lauren suggests. I nod.

"What about things with Billie? How do you feel about that?"

"Dude you're starting to sound like a shrink," I say. We both laugh.

"Well, I mean, there's nothing I can do about it. What's done, is done. I miss her so much though. But, it does give me a lot of music," I say. We both laugh again.

"What about you and bry? How are things going?" I ask.

Lauren looks hesitant.

"Honestly, I don't know if our relationship is ok right now. I feel like I'm slowly losing her," she says, squinting as the sun slowly crept under the horizon.

"How come?" I ask, pulling down my mask to take a sip of water.

"She doesn't let me touch her, like in any way. Every time she sees me staring at her admiring how beautiful she is, she scoffs and roles her eyes. It just doesn't feel right," she says.

"Talk to her about it. She still loves you so much Laur, I'm sure it's all a misunderstanding," I say. Lauren nods.

"Got any songs written?" I ask.

"A shit ton. There's this one song, Internet. I want to release it around june time," she says.

"Sounds good. What were you thinking?" I ask.

"Electric guitar. I've been getting into it more and I really want the song to have an electric solo," she says.

"Definitely possible," I say.

"Angel, come on! We're going home!" Lauren comes for Angel. He comes running over and Lauren puts the leash on.

Charlie comes running up to me and I put his leash on too.

I hug Lauren and we walk opposite ways to go back home.

~

I open the door and get caught off guard when people jump out and yell "surprise".

I laugh and bend down to take off Charlie's leash.

"What are you guys doing here?" I laugh, walking to the kitchen to wash my hands.

"We didn't want you to spend your birthday alone with your dog, heartbroken. That's just sad. So we all went out and bought some stuff. Don't worry, we all washed our hands and we're not taking our masks off," Bry says.

"Does Lauren know about this? I was just with her," I say.

"Since you guys are conjoined at the hip, we couldn't tell her because then she would've told you. So I had to act distant," Bry says.

"You asshole! She was worried she was losing you," I laugh.

"Don't worry, I texted her 5 minutes ago to come here," she said. As if on cue, there was a knock at the door.

I walk over to the door and open it.

"You missed it!" Bry said from behind me. I move out the way and Bry pulled down her mask and Lauren pulled down hers and they kissed. After, they pulled it back up.

"You guys good now?" I ask.

"Seems so," Lauren laughs and puts her arm around Bry.

I look around and take in who's here.

Dad, Julian and some girl with him, probably his girlfriend Paige, Finneas with Claudia, Bry with Lauren, Riley and Jackie.

"I really appreciate it guys. But, I don't want to put you guys in any more risk than you are already are. As soon as this shit show is over, we can celebrate for days," I say.

Everyone says happy birthday on their way out.

I lock the door behind them and then go to my room and collapse. I reach for the pill bottle on my nightstand and open it.

I take a single pill and swallow it. I close my eyes and wait for the effect to fully take me over.

Next thing I know, I hear sirens and see flashing lights.