X-Kid

The Rock Show

The week flew by, and soon enough it was Friday, our group buzzing with excitement. Luna, Kasey, and I were set to meet the boys at the venue shortly before they went on, then stay and watch the show. We couldn’t really go out to celebrate the fact that they had a real show, but we were all still going to hang out afterward.

Though, I wasn’t really looking forward to the show, and that one reason was Kasey. Over the time she and Jack had been together, she had made it very clear that she didn’t like me. I found myself avoiding her and Jack as much as possible, but it didn’t really work. Jack didn’t even seem to pick up on her unexplainable hatred towards me.

We arrived at the venue and immediately scanned the room for the boys. The walls were concrete, spray painted with graffiti and various kinds of art. The only seats were at the bar, where we were naturally not allowed to go. The guys were setting up on stage, and waved us over, Alex and Jack greeting their girlfriends with hugs and kisses on the cheek, making me feel a little left out. I had asked Emmett to come to the show with me, but he had to help his step dad with something.

A crowd began filing inside the building, and a look of nervousness crossed Alex, Jack, Rian, and Zack’s faces. We assured them they would be fine before getting off stage and joining the audience. I decided to go outside for a minute to gather my wits before dealing with a moshpit, only for my cell phone to ring as soon as I walked out.

“Hello?” I answered. The number on the caller ID wasn’t one I knew, but I was curious as to who was calling.

“Nora, it’s Drake,” the voice replied. I had deleted his number from my phone. “Where are you?”

“I’m at a show. Why are you calling me?” I questioned.

“I wanna know why the hell you’ve been spending so much time with Emmett,” he said.

“He’s not just your friend, He’s mine too. Just because you and I broke up doesn’t mean I can’t be friends with him,” I mentioned.

“You can’t date Emmett, Nora. He wouldn’t ever go for you anyway,” he spat back.

I could feel anger flowing through me wildly at hearing this. “Who says I want to date him? We’re just hanging out, so chill the fuck out.”

“I know you. You wouldn’t spend so much time with him if you didn’t have a crush on him,” he commented.

I couldn’t help but scoff. “You don’t know me, you idiot. You never bothered to. And for your info, I will hang out with Emmett as much as I want to. In case you forgot, I dumped your ass. You have no part in my life anymore.”

“But-” he began.

“No, fuck off. I’m done talking to you. Leave me alone, you prick,” I shouted, hanging up my cell phone and shoving it into my pocket. I sat down on the sidewalk, hugging my knees to my chest and trying to calm down.

“Was that Emmett?” I heard Kasey ask from beside me.

I rolled my eyes. “No, that was my ex.”

“Oh,” she replied. “Jack told me about that.”

“Great,” I said bitterly. “That’s just fantastic. I’m glad Jack tells you things.”

She laughed. “Nora, why are you kidding yourself?”

I furrowed my brow in confusion. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“It’s obvious you can’t have both Emmett and Jack. Even if you’re just friends, you can’t. Now me, on the other hand, I can. But that’s beside the point,” she smirked.

“That doesn’t even make any sense. You’re Jack’s girlfriend, and you don’t even know Emmett,” I replied.

“It makes perfect sense. Haven’t you noticed that you have to choose to hang out with one or the other? And Emmett and I have been talking a lot lately,” she said, taking out her phone and pulling up his contact.

I scrolled through the text messages briefly. “Why are you flirting with Emmett when you have Jack? That’s so dishonest.” What really hit me the most was that Emmett flirted back.

“Well, Jack doesn’t have to know, now does he?” she mentioned.

“If you hurt him, I swear to god I will murder you,” I seethed.

She yanked her phone out of my grasp and began walking back toward the venue. “Guess you made your choice then.”

What the fuck? Did she imply that I had chosen Jack? I was left confused and angry on the sidewalk before I stood up and went back into the building for the show. I stayed close to Luna and avoided Kasey, still trying to process all that had happened.

The crowd cheered loudly as the boys finished their set and began packing up their stuff. Once that was done, they found us in the pit and we congratulated them on doing a great job. I had never seen them so happy.

“I hate to do this, but I’m gonna go home. I’m feeling kinda lightheaded,” I lied.

“Aw man,” Alex pouted.

I laughed and hugged everyone goodbye before leaving and beginning to walk home.

“Nora,” Jack called from behind me.

“What?” I asked, a tone of annoyance in my voice.

“What’s really going on? You’re obviously upset about something,” he said.

How could a boy I had only known a few weeks see through my lies better than Luna could, when she’d been my best friend for 2 years? “It’s not a big deal, Jack. I just need to go home.”

“You don’t have to lie to me,” he replied. “You can trust me.”

I sighed. “Drake called me and told me I couldn’t hang out with Emmett anymore, which made me really mad. And Kasey...well...nevermind.”

He looked at me concerned. “What about her?”

“You deserve better. That’s all I’m going to say,” I mentioned. “I’m going home now. I’ll see you later, Jack.”

He nodded, but he seemed unsure. “Let me know that you got home safe, okay?”

“Okay,” I said, walking in the direction of my house. “Good job tonight.”

As soon as I got home, I got changed into my pajamas and tried to sleep off the rage inside of me. Unfortunately, sleep wouldn’t come, and there was only one solution to that I could think of.