Years felt like days, and hours went by in minutes. Amara, now 23, has come such a long way since she graduated high-school. She sat on an old wooden chair in an empty classroom, strumming an acoustic guitar. Her sweet sounding voice echoed. She paused every so often to write the lyrics and music as the guitar faded out, the room grew quiet and the ticking clock in the corner became louder. Amara blankly stared into a non-existing void, one only she could see. She began remembering Leone, the boy she used to call her best friend. Sometimes, Amara thought back to him. 'Should I reach out and see how he is?'
She placed her guitar back in its case and zipped it up. A long, grueling sigh released from her as memories of their time together in the music room flooded over her, crashing waves of guilt and remorse. That day, when Amara told Leone she wanted to go to Shanley's Music Arts School; he couldn't bring himself to face her again. He felt betrayed, heartbroken, and he selfishly took it out on Amara. The guilt was consuming her like painted dogs tearing away at an antelope carcass.
Leone managed to avoid her all the way up until graduation. She spent countless days in the music room alone; he wasn't coming. Eventually she gave up and headed home immediately after school. When Amara tried to confront him at the ceremony he was nowhere to be seen. Her parents asked only once what happened to them, her reply was simple; "We both want different things." Her thoughts were disrupted when the classroom door swung open. She turned her head to see a familiar face, "Nathan, hey. What's up?" Amara welcomed him with a smile, but even he could see through it. She was just thinking about something that had upset her. Nathan didn’t ask though, he only returned the smile.
"Hey, homie. Was looking for you actually. Molly, Landon and I are headed to the cafe for some food and coffee. Care to join us? Or, are you planning on sitting here all day writing songs?" Nathan pulled a chair up next to her. His green eyes glistened with adoration. Amara stood up, stretching her muscles and cracking her shoulders. "Ya, sure. I could go for a caramel latte right about now." Nathan stood from his chair and, Amara, collected her coat and bag from the desk. Meanwhile, Nathan helped her carry her guitar case. Together, they made their way to the exit of the school building.
Molly and Landon awaited them by the door. "Heyo! We've got some awesome news!" Molly ran with excitement towards Amara, wrapping her arms around her. Amara laughed with curiosity, asking, "What is it?" Both Nathan and Landon look as though they know what Molly is about to say. Amara looked suspiciously at them. "What's going on?"
The three of them looked at eachother, and Molly finally broke the silence. "Our new album went viral! Girl, Zen Magazine wants to interview you!" Amara stood there, eyes wide open in disbelief. "You're joking Molls." She shook her head. "Molly enjoys playing jokes but she wouldn't joke about something like this." Landon peaked from behind Mollys shoulder. He was only about 3 inches taller than Molly, he was skinny but toned and wore his dad's old jacket from his younger life.
The sound of Amara's shoes squeaked on the marble floors was all to be heard at that moment. She took a moment to process the good news, but it all felt too good to be true. 'Is this really happening? God, please don't let this be a sick dream that I wake up from.'
The world seemed frozen in those few minutes. If she hadn't met her new friends, Amara wasn’t sure if she would've gotten this far without their support. They would stay up with her late on school nights to help with the production of the album. Molly spent every weekend at her house playing around with her new drum set just to find the perfect sounds they wanted.
"H-How, when did the album go viral?! How come I haven't heard anything until now?" Amara grabbed Molly by the shoulders. Molly held onto Amara's hands as they gripped into her shoulders. "Overnight! A lot of youtubers who review music, they all listened to our song ‘Sirens.’ a famous YouTuber named Nikki also did a livestream where he reviewed the whole album. Everyone's talking about it!" Tears of joy started to flood Amara's eyes. Molly's eyes swelled up as well and embraced Amara with a tight hug. Their laughter filled the hall, and Nathan and Landon joined in on the joyful embrace.
She pulled away from the hug and wiped her face. "Someone fucking pinch me!" Molly grabbed Amara's arm and gave a quick pinch of her skin. " Ow! Didn't mean that literally."
Molly shot an apologetic look at her friend but couldn’t help but laugh at herself.
"Alright, alright. I need you all to know I couldn't have done this without you. Really, thank you all for everything. You're one of the few people in my life giving all the support and love I need. I appreciate you guys so much." Nathan put his arm around Amara and pulled her into a side hug. "We're happy to join you on this journey, Mara." The four bandmates shared a moment they would never forget. A moment that would change their lives forever. "Now, let's go celebrate at the cafe and talk about this interview with Revolver Magazine." Molly exclaimed as a huge toothy grin spread across her face, "Let's do this."
