The Moment I Knew

Those Ginger Locks

1 Month Since Warped Tour – September 2012

There was a loud knock on the door of my brand new apartment and I hopped up excitedly, running to get it. I straightened my hair and clothes before pulling open the door and throwing myself on my guest.

"Holy fuck, Rae!" He said with a laugh wrapping his arms around me.

"Ugh, you don't know how much I missed those ginger locks of yours!" I said pulling back and smiling at Alan. "Come in! Come in, come in, come in!" I said pulling him into the apartment. "How nice is this place?"

"It's so nice. How did you afford this?" He asked looking around.

"I got a roomie! Her name's Hannah! I only pay like $922 a month. You want a beer?"

"Please." He said smiling.

I headed to the fridge and grabbed one, popping it open and bring it to him. "Come see the view!" I lead him over to the balcony off the dining area and opened the sliding glass door.

"Wow." Alan said as I smiled wide at him. We leaned against the railing and looked out over the expansive view towards the Pacific Ocean.

"Free utilities, Wi-Fi, maintenance, a pool, a gym, a lounge area, laundry...you name it this place has it." I boasted proudly.

"How'd you find this? Places in Laguna are pretty hard to come by."

"I stumbled upon Hannah's ad on Craig's List saying she was looking for a roommate for a place in Laguna Beach. We Skyped before meeting in person so I knew she wasn't crazy and then we came and looked at the place and signed a lease."

"So rad. I'm so stoked for you!" He smiled pulling me in for a hug.

"So..." I smirked at him crossing my arms over my chest. "Tell me about her."

"Her name is Maddie." He said with a roll of his eyes.

"When do I get to meet her?"

"Soon, I promise." He said with a laugh as we came back into the house. "Have you talked to Austin? He's going to be pumped you're living in Laguna."

"No." I said with a sigh.

"Hasn't he been back for a few days now?" Alan's forehead creased.

"I believe so, I mean I've seen his tweets...wait you haven't heard from him either?"

"He texted me and told me he was back and that we had to get lunch, but that was like yesterday.
What have his tweets said? I haven't been looking."

"He had one just the other day that confused me actually." I said pulling out my phone and scrolling until I found it, reading it out loud. "'Returning home & seeing your ex GF already has a new man = HILARIOUS. Returning home & seeing @AlanAshby has a new GF = HEARTBREAKING</3' Is he referring to me or someone else?"

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Alan questioned.

"No." I said shaking my head.

"Oh! I know what it is. He must have seen all your pictures on Instagram of you and that guy."

"What guy?"

"I don't know, there's pictures of you and some guy partying and stuff."

"Freddie! He's gay!" I said rolling my eyes.

"Well, Raegan. From a guy's point of view when you see pictures of your girl with another dude, you automatically think it's her new boyfriend. And that explains why you haven't heard from him. Try and call him."

"Okay." I said pulling up Austin's name in my phone and hitting the call button.

"Speaker." Alan mouthed at me.

The phone rang and rang eventually going to voicemail.

"You try." I said putting my phone on the counter. Alan pulled out his phone and dialed.

"Hey, man!" Austin picked up on the second ring. "What's up?"

"I'm with Rae checking out her new place. We wanted to get lunch or something. You around?"

"Uh...I'm in Irvine right now doing some Aspire & Create shit. I don't know when I'll be done."

"Dude, don't be a chode. I haven't seen you in like a month. Take an hour and get lunch with us."

There was silence as Austin decided what to do. He sighed and said, "Uh...yeah. Okay. Where do you wanna meet?"

"Let's get burritos."

"Okay."

"Alright, man. We'll see you in a few."

Alan hung up and looked up at me.

"Now I'm all nervous...thanks."

"It's just Austin."

"It's just Austin who purposely ignored my call because he thinks I'm dating a gay guy."

"Get your purse, let's go." Alan said heading for the door.

I grabbed my bag and locked the door behind us as we headed down to Alan's car. I was so excited to see Austin but so scared at the same time. I was wondering how he was feeling thinking I was dating someone. As I climbed in Alan's car, I was glad I had put the bracelet Austin had gotten me for my birthday on that morning. Hoping it would signal to him that I still considered myself his.