It's Like Music In My Ears

CHAPTER 7: THE FALLOUT

I spent the whole night tossing and turning, my mind stuck on the mess I’d made. When I finally gave up on sleep, I stared at my phone, the screen too bright in the darkness, typing and retyping the same message over and over:

"I'm sorry, Melody. Please, can we talk? I never meant to hurt you. I just—I'm so sorry."

I sent that one first, but there were more. I kept begging, trying to find the right words that could somehow make everything better. But the replies never came. My messages all sat there, marked “seen” with no response.

So here I was, the next day, sitting in the library, tucked into a corner where Jenkins wouldn’t spot me. It was the same place Melody had cried her eyes out yesterday, and now it felt like I was the one on the verge of tears. I kept glancing at my phone, hoping for some kind of miracle, but it was just silence.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Jace sitting at a table across the room, alone, which wasn’t usual for him. He was faking it again, pretending to be deep into a textbook, but I could tell he wasn’t really reading. We used to joke about his ability to zone out like that, how he’d mastered the art of looking studious without absorbing a single word. Today, though, it felt different.

I got up and walked over to him, trying to think of something funny to say, something to break the ice. “You know, if you actually read that, you might learn something,” I teased, sliding into the seat across from him.

Nothing. Not even a smirk.

I sighed, leaning back in the chair, trying to figure out what to say. “Remember that time in eighth grade when I forgot my homework and you sneaked yours to me before Ms. Woods caught us? Or when you covered for me last year when I got detention and you told Coach it was your fault? Man, you’ve saved my ass more times than I can count.”

Jace didn’t look up, but I could see his jaw unclench slightly. I was getting through, maybe just a little.

“I really appreciate you, man,” I continued, my voice softer. “You’ve been the best friend I’ve ever had, probably the only true friend I’ve had since… forever. We were side by side in the hospital after we were born on the same day, and we’ve been together ever since. I mean, who else can say they’ve known their best friend literally from day one?”

He finally looked up, his eyes meeting mine, and I could see the tension in his shoulders start to ease.

“I love you, bro,” I said, the words coming out a bit more emotional than I’d planned. “More than you can imagine. And I’m sorry… for blaming you for all of this. What I tried to do was wrong, and I want to fix it. I need to fix it.”

Jace was quiet for a moment, then a small smile crept onto his face. “You saved my ass too, remember? That time when I almost got expelled for that prank on Mr. Allen, and you took the blame? We’re even, man.”

I chuckled, the memory bringing a bit of relief to the heaviness I’d been feeling. “Yeah, that was pretty stupid of us, huh?”

“Yeah,” he agreed, finally closing his textbook and pushing it aside. “But it was also pretty awesome.”

We laughed together, the tension between us dissolving with every passing second. It felt like the old days, like the fight we’d had was just a bump in the road, and now things were starting to smooth out.

“But seriously, what I did was messed up,” I said, my tone turning serious again. “And I’m really sorry. I blamed you when it was all on me.”

Jace waved it off, but I could tell he wasn’t fully over it. “Let it be, Francis. You’ve got enough to deal with.”

I shook my head, determined. “No, I have to fix things with Melody. I need to make it right.”

He looked at me, a knowing grin spreading across his face. “Francis is now a lover, huh? Well then, get on your ass and get her, man.”

I laughed, feeling lighter than I had in days. For the first time since this whole mess started, I felt like maybe, just maybe, things could get better. With Jace back on my side, I wasn’t as lost as I thought.