I walked out into the venue. It didn't take long for Layla to notice my smeared make up. "Bree, what's wrong?" I just shook my head, giving her a sign it wasn't the right time to tell her. I dropped my head to the ground and she put her hand on my shoulder.
"Wait, Aubree." Dylan said, getting next to me. I took my hand to push him away. "No. Go. Leave. Just leave me alone." I said. Peyton had even joined the crowd. I felt embarassed. "Excuse me." I whispered to Layla and ran out the door. I went to where no one could find me. It was some building close to Rocketown. I slid down the wall.
I looked down at my hands. I brought them up to my face and wiped my face. Sobs were escaping my lips. I just wanted to sit there forever and rot to death. I didn't care about anything at the moment. I mean, sure, I did want someone to tell me that I would be okay. Because I would be.
Soon, I heard Layla's voice. "My mom's here. She's already talked to your mom. You wanna stay the night?" She asked. I looked up at her. At that moment, I couldn't thank God enough for a perfect friend like her. "Thank you." She helped me up. "I say when we get home, we go up to my room, eat junky food, and you tell me everything." I nodded and smiled. "Thank you so much, Layla." "No problem."
We arrived at her house. It turns out my mom had picked out some clothes for me and set them on Layla's front porch. I picked them up and we went up to her room. "Start from the beginning." She said. I did so, starting with how Jessica had been giving me glares and everything. I finished with telling her what I told Dylan. "Wait, you and him kissed?" "A few times." "You're in love." At that moment, I actually believed I might actually have been in love with him all this time. But that could just be my emotions at that moment.
The rest of the night, we just talked and talked. We goofed around, watched movies, and ate. The only flaw was that Dylan was calling and texting nonstop. I didn't want to talk to him, it'd just make every matter worse. I didn't need him at the moment. Tomorrow, I would call back and everything would be okay... hopefully?
Layla ended up falling asleep. I just sat there, I wasn't even tired. I looked at my phone. 15 new texts messages from Dylan. 20 missed calls. I had a few voicemails from him. I didn't have anything better to do, so I called my voicemail.
"Aubree, please call me back. I need to talk." He was crying. "Aubreeeee, please answer me." "Aubree, answer. I'm begging you. I'm sorry." "Well, this is the last time I'm calling. Goodnight, sweetheart. I'll see you in the morning for another round of Hoot Fest. I love you, bestfriend. I'm sorry. Sweet dreams." I just realized tomorrow I had to face him again. Even if I didn't want to go, Layla and Peyton would drag me there. I figured I should get some sleep.
I rubbed my eyes one last time and closed my eyes. Can't wait for the last day of Hoot Fest. Not.
I woke up to the sound of Layla's alarm going off. She hit her phone, hitting the off button perfectly. My eyes peeled up, a little sticky from crying. I took a quick shower and looked in my bag. My mom knew me so well. She packed me shorts and a cute lacy shirt. I curled my hair, did my makeup, and then me and Layla sat there for a while, waiting on Peyton.
We finally heard a honk outside. We went outside, Peyton greeting Layla with a quick kiss and hug. They were so cute. "Hey lil bit. How's it going?" He asked, keeping his arm around Layla. "Alright I guess. You?" "Good." He replied. We got in the car. I decided to get on twitter while we were on our way. I actually had a few tweets from Dylan. "@aubreegrace please answer your phone! :(" "@aubreegrace i'm sorry." "@aubreegrace meh." There were tweets from his fans. "@aubreegrace answer your phone :)" "@aubreegrace Why is Dylan sorry?!"
I pressed the home button and locked it. I didn't want to see it anymore. I looked down and fumbled with my fingers. Layla looked back at me. "Smile, doodle." She said. I looked up and gave her a fake, obnoxious smile. She laughed and shook her head.
We arrived at Rocketown and I recognized quite a few faces. Some of Dylan's fans that I had met me yesterday called my name. I looked over and they waved. I waved back and gave a smile. Me, Layla, and Peyton ran in, dodging some people chasing us. The same familiar faces of the artists were in the venue, along with Dylan..
I stuck by Layla's side, hoping he wouldn't come over to me. But of course, he did the complete opposite. "Hey, did you get my messages?" I nodded my head. I couldn't bare to look him in the eyes. "Can we just talk about this later?" I asked, glancing for a few seconds into his eyes and looking back down. My eyes came up, just so I could see his face. He looked hurt. "Uh yeah.." I walked off, my arms crossed.
I met back up with Layla. I hoped I wasn't annoying her by my clinginess. I was just scared, that's all.
Eventually Hootfest ended, Peyton and Layla had offered to take me home, but before I could answer, Dylan butted in. "Wait, mom let me borrow the car. I can take you home." I glanced up Layla, unsure of what to say. Maybe it would be good? "Sure." I said, holding my arms.
I got into the car, as did Dylan. He started the car and rode out of the parking lot. After a few quiet moments, he finally said something. "I'm sorry." I paused before I replied. "I know you are." was all I could say. Then I noticed how rude I sounded. "I'm sorry for overreacting." I said.
He shrugged. "I'm sure if you did what I did, I would have done the same thing." He said, moving his hand closer to mine. "By the way, me and Jessica AREN'T dating." His hand finally touched mine, but it was like an electric shock, I pulled it away.
"But you said you'll get girlfriends, I'll get boyfriends. That basically stated that." "I didn't mean it like that, Aubree. What I meant was we shouldn't get upset if stuff like that happens, but then I realized I'd do the same thing. It's just.. you mean so much to me. Those kisses of ours.. They did mean something to me. They meant a lot to me. Jessica kissed me, I swear. I mean, every guy usually says that, but I'm being honest. We were just talking, and bam." I looked down. "I forgive you." escaped my lips. I meant it though.
I glanced at Dylan, he was smiling like an idiot. "Thank you so much, Aubree." He reached for my hand, but this time, I let him grab it.
-MEEP.
