Forever

Chapter Five

"One! Two! One! Two! Three! Four!"

Dana jumped when the man on the drums began to let loose to their opening song of the night. Lana and Jessica rushed over with the drinks which caused Julian to watch his girlfriend with excitement. Lana gave him a kiss while shoving his soda in his hand then turning to face Dana. "Julian performs up next. At the end, we vote on the hottest band of the night. So vote for Julian."

None of the girls knew any of the other acts so they went with Lana's request and agreed silently to vote for Julian's band. The pizza in front of them was hot and cheesy so they devoured every bite while Julian explained the type of music his group wrote. Dana didn't care for music. It was Lana's suggestion that they ate here before the sleepover. She just wanted food and lots of soda before she went to bed.

"I have some exciting news!" Jessica nudged Dana the moment Julian and Lana formed their own small conversation. "I have a new match making request."

She wanted to roll her eyes but it would be the wrong time since Jessica was staring her in the face. "Oh wow! Who is on the list this time?" Instead of answering, Jessica cupped both of Dana's cheeks and forced her to face a table across the semi crowded room. Her eyes landed on the back of a familiar head which almost made her choke. "Uh- what?!"

"Yes! I can't believe I haven't noticed that guy before but he's super cute and Candace Weston has a huge crush on him. Apparently my skills are reaching more grade levels than one." Chandler turned to look over his shoulder causing Dana to jerk her head forward. "Imagine a junior with a senior. It'll be her high school sweetheart."

Dana didn't like the sound of anything coming from Jessica's mouth. She didn't even want to know Chandler existed all weekend since that part of her brain is reserved for weekdays only. "That's cool. I hope you know he's dating someone. A girl named Rachel actually."

"Off the market request?" She caressed her imaginary beard. "If I can pull this off I'll be the talk of the town." Jessica pulled out her phone to relay the new information to Candace.

Dana sighed while taking a swig from her coke bottle. Everyone was preoccupied with their own relationship and life while she stared at the band in front of her with pure boredom. The fizz rising to the top of her drink seemed more interesting than what she was experiencing.

Although a part of her wondered why they had these weekend sleepovers if there's always a disconnect, another part wondered if Chandler's character involved a cheating personality. She knew that if Jessica succeeded in this matchmaking opportunity, she'd never look at her crush the same way again.

"Up next we have a singleton act!" All eyes went to the stage while Dana's landed on Julian whose mouth was gaped open. "Please welcome our new performer, Chandler Benson!"

The moment that name was called, Dana almost fell out of her seat to see if the thoughts in her mind were true.

"It's Beckett, but thank you for the introduction." Some people chuckled. "I'm going to be performing a song I listen to quite often these days. There's a bit of background to it but... I don't know you people." He positioned himself in front of the mic as everyone lowered their conversations when the melody drifted through the air.

His voice is one she's never heard before. It was soft and soulful. Dana could feel her heart melting in her chest as she leaned closer to his presence on the stage. Her body felt as if it was floating on a cloud of bliss. Chandler's voice grew stronger and steady with each line that escaped his lips. Meanwhile, Dana tried her best to contain her eagerness in front of him.

He looked around at each face in the crowd. Even the girls who cooed at the sight of him. It wasn't until his eyes landed on Dana that she came back to reality. A part of her was hoping he'd give her some unique look that he didn't give the other girls. But just as fast as the look came, it went. Her eyes dropped to her hands that were clenched together. This moment signaled a release. A reminder that she was just an after thought.

"Give it up for Chandler Beckett!" The crowd clapped like wildfire as he made his exit off the stage. "Now we have Rock Bottom performing their single... Jane & Jade..." A small round of claps erupted as Julian gave Lana a peck on the cheek and asked her to wish him luck before taking off.

3AM hit soon by the time two movies were watched and everyone but Dana laid asleep on her bed. She had her phone resting on her chest while lightly tapping away at the back of it. Currently she was at a crossroad. Chandler had his number gently saved in her phone. Her fingertips desperately wanted to spark up a conversation but at these hours it would only be inappropriate. The last text exchanged between them two was her notifying him that she was on the way and him sending a thumbs up. Since then he's never tried to contact her and she didn't dare do the same. Until now.

She pulled her phone off of her chest and began to unlock it with her code. Before she could take it a step further, her phone buzzed in her hand.

Chandler's name popped up on her screen and her eyes widened in shock.

You up?