Wish We Could Turn Back Time m.c

Chapter 7

"Well? What do you think?" Al had been staring at my drawing for the past ten minuets with a completely blank expression on his face. I had no clue what he was thinking and never would if he wouldn't speak up soon.

"It's really interesting. I like how the drawing really brings out the meaning of the lyrics. You know, Stressed Out is one of my favorite songs too," he finally said, handing me back the heavily shaded pencil drawing. I quirked an eyebrow t him.

"Really? I've never heard you listening to Twenty One Pilots before," I replied biting into my sandwich that I was eating for lunch, remaining suspicious that he was only saying that to try and beflirty with me somehow.

"No. I actually love all of Twenty One Pilot's songs," he looked a little offended, as one does when someone else questions them on their knowledge of their favorite band.

"Oh. Well. what's your favorite then?" I implored.

"Message Man. I can really relate to it. Plus, it's super catchy," he started humming the chorus as I thought for a moment about what he'd just said.

"You can relate to it? You mean you've thought of committing suicide before?" my jaw hung slack and my eyes were wide. He didn't even seem to get emotional while talking about it.

"Well, sort of. When I lived in the outback, my mum and dad sisters and brothers would always be laughing and joking with one another and I always felt like the sort of outcast of the family. I never self harmed or attempted or anything like that, it's just sometimes I felt so rejected that I wondered if anyone would notice if I was dead," Al finished explaining about his past, still with a numb expression painted on his face.

"Aw, Al! Hey, I don't ever want you to feel like that again. Now that you have me as a friend, I'm never going to reject you. We're in this together," I playfully punched his arm.

"Haha, thanks," he laughed a little and rubbed his arm where I hit him, acting like it hurt when really I'm the size of a squirrel and it's physically impossible for me to hurt a strong country boy like him. "But, I don't ever feel like that anymore. The thing is is that I finally talked to my mum about it right before we moved to Sydney, she said she would try to get the family to be more inclusive towards me and talk about some things I'm interested in, which has been working. Trust me, it really does make everything feel better when you talk about it with someone. A lot of times it's just best to let all your feelings and negative thoughts out rather than keep them bottled up inside for so long," Al finished his lunch and packed up to go to his next class.

"Love the drawing, Lacey. See you around," he gave a little two fingered wave before walking back into the school building from the picnic table we had been sitting at. Realizing that I was now alone in the school's yard, I said something aloud just to vent:

"Yeah right, Al. Talk about your feelings my ass," if only he knew.
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Upon arriving home from school, I discovered everyone else was out, leaving me alone again. Sighing, I went straight up to my desk in my room and broke out my colored pencils to finish the drawing. The more I studied the lines and the details the more I confirmed to myself that I had definitely drawn Michael and I as children.

In a way, I sort of understood why my mind just decided to draw these two people when I was thinking about the song Stressed Out. My "good old days" were the days that Michael and I were still best friends when we could lean on each other and trust each other. Sometimes, I wish we could just turn back time and go back to when we were little kids, just like in the song. Things would be very different if Charlotte hadn't torn us apart. These are the things I thought about while I finally finished the drawing.

Looking at my finished work, I was for once proud of something I'd drawn. All my other pictures were of things people would make fun of or be scared of, but this, I knew I couldn't possibly get bullied over this if anyone saw it. Who could make fun of two little kids hanging out?

Putting the paper into my scanner, I downloaded it onto my computer while I pulled up the contest website. I clicked on enter, filled out all the information, titled it "Wish We Could Turn Back Time" and finally selected the drawing from the files on my computer. As soon as I clicked the finalize button, I actually felt really gratified. Like I said, for once I was proud of something I'd done. I decided to facetime Jasmine since she was the one who had been waiting so long for me to do this. It said connecting for a few seconds before-

"HI!" She was obviously in a really hyper and excited mood. I hadn't even told her I'd entered yet!

"Jeez Jaz, I knew Americans were loud but-"

"Hey there, let's not get into those stereo types. If you're going to be rude, then you can just hang up and go throw another shrimp on the-"

"Don't even say it," I warned.

"Barbie," neither of us could hold a straight face so we both busted out laughing.

"With some Vegemite," Jasmine just felt she had to add. I rolled my eyes and let myself calm down from laughing before speaking again.

"Alright Jasmine, can I tell you what I was going to tell you or do you need to go eat Apple pie while you play baseball and fly your pet bald eagle?"

"Please, Americans never do any of that stuff," she said, obviously not getting my joke. Jasmine was such a blonde. (A/n please don't take offense. I have blonde hair too.)

"Yeah and Australians never grill their shrimp or eat them with Vegemite. Now can I tell you my news or not?" I was fighting a smile. I really did want to be serious about this contest but it was hard with Jasmine there. She made me smile even when she wasn't trying, which is something I've never found in a friend since Michael. I loved that about her.

"Yes! Go ahead!" She didn't even attempt to suppress the grin that was spreading across her face. Maybe she felt the same way about me. That I just make her smile. I wish the two of us could meet in real life so we wouldn't always have to have these moments with a screen in-between us.

"Okay, so I showed the drawing to Al and he loved it, so I went ahead and colored it and entered it in the contest!" I said a little too perkily. I was just do excited!

"No way! Let me see!" Jasmine grabbed her laptop that was sitting next to her on her bed and quickly punched up the contest's website and clicked on the "entries" tab.

"Lacey! Are you looking at this right now?" Her jaw hung open.

"Yeah," I refreshed the page on my computer so my drawing would show up as one of the entries. But when I clicked on it to see it's details and stats, I saw what Jasmine was so blown away by. Within the last hour that I had posted the drawing, I had gotten over a hundred comments on it, and they were all so positive.

"Oh my gosh! This is great! Maybe if other people like it this much, the judges of the contest will like it too!" I said hopefully.

"Of course they will! I just know you're going to win, Lace. I have this feeling," she said bringing her air of positivity into the conversation as always.

"Well thanks, Jasmine. I really do hope I win. Hey, let me let ya go while I go read all these comments on my drawing," I said, averting my attention to my desk top.

"Alright, text me later though, 'kay?" She had a bit of a southern accent. I didn't know people in Florida even talked like that.

"Sure. Bye, Jasmine," I clicked hang up before beginning to scroll through the comments. They were all so positive and nice. It really reminded me how much of a family the 5sos fandom really is. But, there was one comment that particularly caught my eye.
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End of part 7.

Do y'all think these chapters are long enough? I try to not make them not too short but not too long.

So what do you think the comment was? Do you think Lacey is going o win the contest? TALK TO ME READERS!

Thanks for reading and have a blessed day. <3

-SJ