The Song Of Seattle

Not My Day

I walked into my History of Music class in an unusually good mood for a Tuesday. I had finished my song last night and was excited to present it in my Composition class tomorrow, so today I could just relax.

With that in mind, I picked a seat in the far back so I could mix beats on my laptop during class without being detected. I've been working on an album since my senior year of high school, and I finally had a few songs that I could mix.

In the next few minutes two things would happen that would ruin my happy mood. One, I saw a face I never thought I would see again in my class. Ethan. It occurred to me that I never did talk to him after we broke up to know where he had been accepted. He strolled all the way to where I was sitting with a look of smug satisfaction on his handsome face. He plopped down right next to me.

"Hey there, sexy. It's been too long. I was starting to think you were mad at me or something." He said languidly as he leaned into my desk invading my personal space.

"I wonder why dumbass. Maybe it's because I was angry with you for cheating on me. Or did that little detail slip your mind? Probably did. You never were the smartest." I said as a slammed my foot down on his. I knew he'd be wearing flip flops. Why did I ever date a douchebag who wore flip flops?!

He grunted in pain and turned to face the front of the room. I did an internal happy dance at having pissed him off. Then I realized the second thing that ruined my happy mood. Brandon strode into class taking a seat a few rows in front of Ethan and I. Luckily he didn't notice me.

The rest of class was fairly quiet. Ethan kept trying to touch my thigh, and I kept stabbing him in the hand with my pencil and threatening his manhood. When the teacher finally dismissed us I ran out of there as fast as I could.

As I was walking through campus to get to my car I noticed Brandon standing next to a car with a pretty blonde. They were having casual conversation or so I thought, then they started kissing pretty passionately against his car. I don't know why, but for some reason that just seemed like the cherry on top of a very shitty day. I'd never admit it to anyone, but I felt a pang of what I thought must be jealousy somewhere deep within me.

I sped out of the parking lot, right past Brandon and what I could only assume was his girlfriend. As I drive by I saw a look of curiosity and something I couldn't quite place in his eyes. It was moments like this that made me glad that I didn't go around befriending people easily.

I got home and took a shower knowing that this was one of the only things that ever seemed to calm me down. How could a day go from fantastic to abysmal in only one class period?

I was planning on going back to bed after my shower, but Michaela had other plans. "Syd, I've got a surprise for you!" She squealed the moment I got out of the shower.

"You know I hate surprises. Especially yours. They always seem to end up with me puking or naked." I said in a pondering tone of voice.

"I don't think this one will." She said with a smile that hid so much.

"You've piqued my interests...fine! What is it?" I asked with a bit of excitement to my voice.

"Get dressed! We're going back down to that coffeeshop, then I'll tell you." She said oblivious to my facial expression.

"Uh, no way. I don't want to go back there. Brandon will be there, and I'm not too fond of him." I said shortly.

"All because of one bad encounter?" She asked with a tone that let me know that she thought the whole thing was ridiculous.

"Yes. Well, not entirely. Oh, I don't know." I said in exasperation.

"Syd, what is actually going on here?" She asked with a face that looked like she wouldn't tolerate one of my bullshit answers.

"I don't know. Today has just been kind of bad. I mean, I was obviously mean to Brandon. It still hurts when he says stuff like that, and on the first day he kind of flirted with me. Or at least I thought he did, and then today I saw him with his tongue down some pretty blonde's throat. It didn't feel great." I said in one rushed sentence.

"Maybe that's because you liked him just a little bit? Not enough to be a crush, but not so little that it doesn't hurt when you feel like he may have had interest in you." She said in a wise way.

"Yeah. Well, what's new? Guys never actually want me. None of them except for that asshat, Ethan." I said with an evil look on my face.

"Okay. One, you're super gorgeous. You've just always been too blind to see how guys look at you. You're also freakishly smart and talented. Don't underrate yourself. Two, what else happened today? This can't all be about some guy that you barely know." She said in a sympathetic and inquisitive tone.

"Oh, yeah. Ethan is going here, and to make things even better he's in my Tuesday class." I said in an offhand way.

"What the fuck? Why do you say that so casually like you don't care?! Cut the shit with me. You can be honest. I'm not going to judge you for having human emotions." She said through slitted eyes.

"I know, I know. It pisses me off,okay? I literally hated everything that happened today." I said in a fragile voice on the verge of tears.

She pulled me into a tight hug and muttered into my shoulder,"You definitely need my surprise. Go get ready, I'm going to turn that frown upside down." I groaned at her cheesy expression, but unlatched myself from her hug and went to get dressed.

Michaela decided she wanted to do my hair and makeup seeing as she was much better at that sort of stuff. She picked out my black high waisted skirt, and my lace red tank top that I tucked into the skirt. It really looked more like a dress, but she liked it because she thought it made my legs look long. Which is unusual considering that I stand at an unimpressive 5'3. Lastly she twisted my hair into a topknot and curled the loose strands. Finishing off my makeup with a lined eye that I could never achieve on my own. I slipped my glasses on, grabbed my bag, and ran to the car with Michaela. I was already feeling a little better, and I had a feeling tonight would prove to completely turn my bad day around.

A.N. Sorry, it's taking so long to even make Brandon and Sydney friends, but like I said I want the progression of the characters to happen slowly. As always, thank you for reading if you are. Please vote and comment. I'd love to talk with anyone who is reading this. Also, feel free to advertise any of your stories in the comments, that really won't bother me.

Song of the chapter: Subterranean Homesick Blues by Bob Dylan. The most amazing lyricist of all time. You can't be a proper music snob (like myself) and not idolize the bastard. 

Love, Gabby❤️