Marcel

Chapter 21

Cami's POV

It's over.

Marcel's gone from my life. I know he is.

He never wants to talk to me again.

I don't even want to talk to me again.

I thought I could keep it a secret. I guess I couldn't. Ethan's big mouth just had to get in the way. I told him not to say a word to Marcel.

My friendship with Marcel is ruined because of him.

But I guess I ruined it for myself.

Tears are streaming down my cheeks as I drive away from Marcel's. I guess I still have to meet The Fray. I don't know if I can do it without Marcel though.

I look in the rearview mirror. My eyes are puffy and bloodshot. My face is pale with blotches of red. Great. I have to go see The Fray looking like this.

I drive to the cafe where I'm meeting them and pull into the driveway. I see their bus parked. It's now or never. I take a deep breath and walk over to them. They must've seen me because they're already outside when I get to them.

“Cami!” Isaac says, pulling my into a hug, “Why didn't you tell us?!”

“I was scared,” I say, showing a meek smile.

“Why? You're amazing!” he says.

I blush, “Thank you!”

“Where's your friend? Marcel?” Joe asks.

“Uh, we're, uh, not friends anymore...” I whisper.

He frowns, “Aww, babe, if it's anything we did, we're sorry.”

“No, it's nothing you did. It's my own fault...”

“Is that why you've been crying?”

I blush, “You could tell?”

“It's obvious...” Isaac says.

Joe hits him in the shoulder, “What he means is that it's obvious you're sad. Let's go inside and talk.”

They lead me into the cafe and we sit in a booth off to the side. I sit next to Joe and across from Ben. It's so weird that I'm sitting in a cafe with celebrities.

But without my best friend...

“So, we have the guitar with us. It's in the bus,” Ben tells me after we order, “But there's something else we wanted to talk to you about. We wanted to offer your own concert for you and Marcel. But since Marcel is unfortunately no longer your friend, it could just be your concert... The offers still available.”

I sit and think for a second. A concert? This is amazing. It's my chance. I can live out my dream.

“I'm not sure if I can do it without Marcel...” I tell them.

“We can find someone else for you to perform with. We can do it with you if you want,” Dave says.

“Seriously?!” I ask.

“Really,” Ben says laughing, “We want to do this for you. Get you started in the music business.”

Oh my God.

This is really happening.

The Fray want to perform with me. They want to do a concert with me. Is this real? It can't be. I have to be dreaming.

But Marcel...

Marcel is gone. He's not coming back. This is my one shot and I have to take it.

“I'll do it if you do it with me, I guess. I think I can do it...”

“We know you can do it!”

I'm not so sure though...

I want to call the one person I should be sharing this with: Marcel.

But I can't anymore.

There's no one I want to tell but him.

I wasn't going to update until tomorrow but I wrote this really quickly before I go to bed. I love you all. A lot of you have said I inspired you to stand up to bullies, which is so amazing. You're inspiring me with your courage to do that. Just from reading my writing, I've helped you guys.

I wasn't going to mention this but I actually won an award for standing up to bullying last year... So it's amazing to me that you all read this and I'm inspiring you. That's honestly what I strive for in life, as silly as that may sound. I like to make people happy and help them. I don't think it's actually sunk in that I'm doing all this with my writing... <3