Behind The Scenes: A Play to Remember

☆𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟒☆

As Dylan and I entered the garage, I took in the smell of gasoline and beer. I saw a curly-headed boy who was pale as day on the guitar, another guy who I'd seen around school with blonde hair just like Olivia on the microphone and more drums, and then my eyes made their way over to her. She was turned around arguing with the curly-headed boy with a microphone in one hand and a Corona beer in the other. "Olivia! We've rehearsed the same damn part over and over again for an hour! I'm playing just fine." The boy shouted as she laid her hands on her head and rubbed her temples.

"No jayc you not hitting the right fucking note! I'm about to lose it " she said shouting back before her eyes made their way to me and Dylan causing her to smirk.  She took a sip of her beer and walked over to us. "Well hello, Miss Pretty Pretty. I didn't know you were coming I thought you had work ?" She said hugging me as Dylan walked over to his drum set and sat down. "Yeah I was but then Dylan offered to pick me up," I said as she and I walked over to the black couch seated in the corner. She laid her head breathlessly on my shoulder as the boys rehearsed without her and I laid my head back on top of hers. "So introduce me to the crew," I said tapping her head. "Well, there's Jayc, our guitar player. He's a sophomore, and it shows through his horrible disability to listen to my words." She said pointing to the curly head as she sighed making me laugh. "Then there's Theo, you might have seen him around school a bit, my cousin. He's one of our singers, next to me. Pretty good" she says nodding as I take in this information. I felt they were related in some way, based on their similar hair color. "Finally, there's your boyfriend," she said pointing to Dylan as he played the drums. I smiled off at him. He looked so cute with his fluffy hair and glasses. Every time he hit the drum with his stick his arms bulged a little. I came back and just then realized she called him my boyfriend. "What??? That is not my boyfriend liv" I said laughing a bit as she smirked at me. She nodded and said," Mhm sure " as she laid her head on my lap. I played through her silky hair as I kept my eyes on Dylan as the group rehearsed. He was perfect and I admired him for it. I was so focused on him that I couldn't even realize that he was looking at me back and smiling at me.  When I came to my senses again I widened my eyes and looked down at a sleeping Olivia. He shook his head and chuckled.

After a while, they got tired and wanted a snack so they all, including Olivia, went upstairs to chill for a break leaving me and Dylan alone. He looked at me and waved me over. I smiled and walked over to him. "Wanna learn a song?" He asked rubbing the back of his neck nervously as he looked up at me. He was still sitting in his chair. I nodded and tucked my hair behind my ears as he got up to let me sit in the seat. As I walked across and sat down he looked down at me watching every step. "So you gonna teach me or you just gonna stare," I said looking up as he was behind me. He cleared his throat nervously and said, "Yeah for sure, my apologies" he chuckled and handed me both sticks. I grabbed them from him and started to randomly drum. He laughed and fell onto me a bit still standing. I stopped and side-eyed him as he fell onto my back. "I'm sorry, I just did not expect you to not know anything about drumming Madelyn." He said rubbing my shoulder as he straightened up and continued to stand behind me and over me. "Well then show me, Dylan!" I shouted out laughing. He sighed and took both of my arms into his, one arm per hand. He showed me a couple of beats and songs and I slowly got better. "There you go, you got it," He said softly as I looked up at him and we held eye contact for a while. I hadn't realized how much taller he was than me until now. I didn't know what to do, his face got red but mine got redder. He gulped and was breathing so heavily. He placed one of his hands on my chin and held it there as he looked at my lips. I was freaking out. My heart was practically beating out of my chest. Kiss me already I thought but my heart was saying not to.  However, before I could even come to a consensus on what to do, he spoke first breaking the tense silence, hand still on my chin lifting my face. "M-Madelyn. I really want to kiss you." He said in a soft whisper, nervously. I looked him right in the eyes. "Do it. " I said gulping as I looked up at him. He looked at my lips, then to my eyes, then to my lips again before kissing me. It was amazing. Long, slow, my whole world stopped for those 3 minutes and everything seemed to fade away. I continued to kiss him and turned around in my seat to hold onto his face. His lips were soft. So damn soft. We pulled away and his face got super red as he looked down at me. I giggled and rubbed his cheeks. "You get so red around me," I said trying to make it go down which made him laugh and cover his face. Just as this interaction, Olivia walked in smirking. We stopped laughing and separated as I stood up and he cleared his throat. "Hey liv, you want to take me home?" I asked walking past her and tucking my hair behind my ear. "Mhm sure, but I know you two just did something." She said squinting and grabbing her keys from the couch. I looked back once to see Dylan and he put up two fingers to say bye. I smiled and waved goodbye as I made my way to Olivia's car. 

During the car ride back to my house, Olivia gave me the smirkiest eyes ever. "Dude what??" I asked putting my hair into a ponytail. "So you're just not going to tell me," Olivia said looking over to me looking offended. I sighed and rolled my eyes as I sat back laying in the reclining seat. "Liv, I kissed Dylan. There." I said looking completely at her. She shook her head. "I always knew it would happen. You don't shut up about him every time theater comes around. " She said focusing on the road. I argued back that I didn't and ignored her as I went on my phone. "Look whatever, I think you guys would be so cute, but just don't catch feelings for Sebastian in the process. " She said serious now. I laughed. "Hey, I'm serious, as much as I love you and will always support you please don't hurt bash. He has a big heart deep down, he's just ....hurt." She said. I stayed silent listening to her. I nodded. "I won't. I promise. " I said pinky promising her. For as long as Sebastian and I had been friends, I never saw him in any type of pain. The only time might have been when we were six. 

At that time, we lived right next to each other. One night it was storming and really cold outside. I remember because every time the thunder hit, it struck a branch near my bedroom window and always knocked over my sesame street duck toy off of my sill; which pissed me off. Anyway, my mom was reading me a bedtime story, my favorite, it was about a princess finding love with a prince; you know classic stuff. Then, we heard a knock on the front door, almost pounding. Of course, my mom told me to stay in bed but what kid would have, it was storming outside. I walked over to peep at who it might have been and I noticed tiny Converse shoes as my mom talked to the kid. He sounded like he was crying. I found out it was Sebastian when my mom told him to come inside and sit down on our couch. He was still crying when my mom went to go get him a towel and some milk because he was completely soaked and drenching the carpet. I vaguely remember creeping out from my hiding place and going to sit with him. I hugged him regardless of how wet he was because I didn't care. I just wanted him to feel better. He hugged me back and calmed down so I asked him if he wanted to come to my room after he was dry and had his milk. We headed to my small bed and lay there comfy as my mom kissed us goodnight. We lay there looking at the ceiling before I asked him what happened. He sniffled and crossed his arms. That night his parents were out and his uncle was babysitting. Let's just say Sebastian's uncle wasn't a very good one. "He does bad things to me when he watches me, Maddy. This night I couldn't take it." He explained laying his head on my chest. "Maddy, he says if I tell then he'll have to go away and I will too. Don't let them take me," he said holding me tighter. At the time I couldn't understand but now I know because I am older. Sebastian's uncle had been touching him inappropriately, doing very disgusting things with him, and hitting him way harder than any adult should whenever he did something wrong. This was more than punishment. I guess that night after his uncle was done with him, he ran over to our place. Looking back on it now, I understand why my mom let him stay and why she called someone after we went into my room. She thought we were both asleep but I was still awake, I heard the call. It was with the police. I never asked him what happened the day after, but I'm pretty sure they put the "bad man" in jail for a long time.  

Aside from that, I guess during the time I hadn't been too close with Bash, he had been going through a lot more and just masking it whenever he was around me. He was hurting and I didn't even notice. I had to be there for my friend and not let anything pursue between me and Sebastian Jamison because I knew I'd have to choose between him and Dylan.