𝖪𝖭𝖤𝖤 𝖲𝖮𝖢𝖪𝖲 | 𝖶𝖠𝖱𝖱𝖤𝖭 𝖱𝖮𝖩𝖠𝖲

𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐙𝐄𝐑𝐎 - 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐁𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: 𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐁

𝗞𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗡: When I met Jay, she looked like she'd been through hell and back. I mean, for fuck's sake, she had fresh bruises on her skin and she looked like she hadn't slept in weeks.

𝗝𝗔𝗠𝗜𝗘: Karen picked up on the signs immediately. She didn't say anything, but I could tell that she knew why I'd left.

𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗛𝗔𝗠: None of us really knew any of that when we first met her. I mean, who would?

𝗞𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗡: I had a pretty decent idea of why she'd left. But I didn't want to pry, so I didn't ask. I only found out when we were drunk once and she confessed everything.

𝗝𝗔𝗠𝗜𝗘: I got completely shitfaced, and told her everything. Every single thing.

𝗞𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗡: I just remember being utterly horrified at what she told me. Whenever I thought it couldn't get any worse, it did.

"Do you... remember last night?"

Jamie blearily opens her eyes to look at Karen, her head pounding with regret.

"What?"

"What you told me. About your life before."

Oh. That part of last night, when she drank too much and spilled her guts out to Karen.

"Uh.. yeah. I remember."

Karen is trying to approach the situation gently, not wanting to push or prod.

"Look, I... I just want you to know that it doesn't change anything. What happened to you is something I wouldn't wish on anybody."

Jamie nods, her throat going dry and a lump growing within it. Karen notices this, and wraps her arms around Jamie in a firm hug.

"You didn't deserve any of it."

"I- thank you."

Karen nods softly, humming in agreement.

"Love you."

"Love you too."

𝗞𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗡: Everything I said that day was true. It didn't change how I saw her or the way I treated her. It just made me want to beat the shit out of her parents.

𝗝𝗔𝗠𝗜𝗘: We got really close really fast. And when we were fifteen, we joined a band together. They were awful.

𝗞𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗡: I can't even recall the name, honestly. And it seemed like every band we joined, we were always the only girls, just surrounded by men.

"It's a good song, James! Why are you so opposed to using songs that you don't write?

"Because they're always shit, that's why!"

Jamie glares at her bandmate, and Karen doing the same thing a few feet away from her.

This was the fourth band they'd joined in the past five years. Always hoping this would be the one to make it big, but it never was.

"Oh, really? Or is it because I'm not a man, and you're afraid of the spotlight not always revolving around you?"

James is speechless, his jaw hanging open for a moment before he tries to blurt out a reply.

"Mhm. That's what I thought."

It seemed like it was always like this, no matter what. They hadn't left the band because of only that, there had been many reasons.

𝗝𝗔𝗠𝗜𝗘: They were complete asshats and slobs. They always expected us to clean up after them like we were housewives.

𝗞𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗡: We left that band about a month later. We both wanted to leave, but even if one of us hadn't, the other would've stayed. That's just how it was. If she stayed, I stayed. If I left, she left. I would've followed her anywhere. And I did.