𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐄 ↠ 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝

chapter 12: friends

"There's not a word yet for old friends who've just met." - Jim Henson

☆☆☆☆
Song for chapter:

MGMT - Of Moons, Birds & Monsters

¤¤¤¤

I LIED awake in bed that night, running over the memories that had happened today. The best part about tonight was seeing my parents so proud of me. They took several pictures and congratulated me. Many  people in the audience walked up to me and told me how convincing I was. I felt like a true star who mattered. I wasn't invisible even though I would have liked to have been. I was taken in several other photos with my theater class, and was told more than once that I looked beautiful.

My parents took me out to eat once we were free to leave. I decided on Burger King, my favorite fast food place since I was a kid. When our orders were called, my dad grabbed the trays and we walked to a table that sat right by a window. But as I was eating the delicious burger and finally making conversation with my parents, my mind wasn't slightly there.

When we arrived home, I went up to my room, crashing down on my bed from all the excitement. And I couldn't help but think about Austin.

I remember the look on his face, how it went from joy to dissatisfaction. But why should I even care? The night was amazing, but no matter how hard I tried to convince myself I didn't care, I did. And I want to know what went wrong so suddenly.

My lamp glows beside me, giving my room a dark, tinted environment. As I lie here, I decided to text him. Grabbing my phone off my end table, I began typing.

Me: Hey, are you okay? You left suddenly.

Fifteen minutes later, my phone vibrated and I rushed to grab it, opening the text messages.

He replied, I'm fine.

From the course of months knowing him, I know for a fact and from experience that "I'm fine" doesn't mean I'm fine. It's a clear indicator that he's not okay, and I desperately want to know why.

I hear a knock on my door, my mom coming in happily, doing a small dance coming towards my bed. "My little celebrity," she says chirps.

I sit up from the bed putting on the best smile I could. Someone could take a sharpie and draw a smile and it would be more believable. She places her hands on her hips, seeing my fake smile.

"What's wrong?" she asks. "You were in such a good mood."

I rub my knee through the material or my dress. "I think I made Austin mad," I admit.

She narrows her eyes at me. "What did you say? You didn't say something mean did you?"

"No! Why do you assume that?"

"You are definitely a blunt person, so some of the things you say may come off a bit harsh," she says, like she's treading over water.

I can't deny that. I remove the headband that was connected to the antennas on my head, holding it in my hands and flicking the purple, glittered ball on the top.

"What exactly happened?" She takes a seat next to me on my bed, placing her hands in her lap.

"I don't know," I say honestly. "We made a Game of Thrones joke, he said I looked beautiful, I punched him in the arm, in a playful manner might I add, then he got all rude and told me he'd see me later."