Trumpet Boy

I can't stand him!

The next day in band, Chey is gone. It's oddly quiet... For some reason I start day dreaming. I don't even mean to.

"Aspen!" Aidan says louder.

I jump. "For god's sake! What do you want?"

"Sorry. Ms. Rogers is telling us something..."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

I focus as much of my attention on Ms. Rogers as I can.

"Don't forget. There is a concert tonight at 7:00. You need to be here at 6:30. Okay. That's all. Any questions?" The band director tells us.

Nobody raised their hand. When were dismissed, we go and sit on the floor. We always get to have free time at the end of class. Livy walks over to me.

"Hey! You excited about tonight?" She asks.

"Huh?" I ask. Honestly, I wasn't listening.

She follows my gaze and starts laughing.

"Yeah..."

"I don't understand you at all. Why do you like that?" She asks me.

"Don't even act like you don't!" I scold.

"I don't. He's rude. I can't stand him!" She says and goes to stand in the corner. I follow her.

"Did you try to run away from me again? You can't do that. There's literally nowhere to go..."

"Shut up."

"What happened sis?" I ask her.

"Nothing," she says as the bell rings.

"Okay... Call me and tell me about it tonight?" I tell her.

"Okay. Whatever."

******* I walk into reading and sit down in my spot. I lean over the table to talk to Aidan.

"What did you say to Olivia?" I ask.

"Nothing," he says turning away.

"What did you say to her?" I say louder.

"I said she was kinda loud and annoying," he says lowering his gaze.

"Oh. Well, she's very sensitive and I suggest you apologize to her. And keep in mind, she may forgive, but she will never forget," and with that, I sit back in my chair and start reading.

I sneak a glance back up at him. He looks really guilty. I don't say anything. But it explains the mean looks they gave each other yesterday.

***********

I call Livy as soon as I get home.

"Hello?" She says. Her nose sounds stuffy and she sniffles.

"Babe, stop crying," I tell her.

"Aspen. I can't. I ruined our friendship!" She says.

"Dude. You didn't ruin anything. He's a guy and he probably wasn't having a good day. If I were you, I would just be quiet for awhile. Okay?"

"Okay. I understand," she replies with a quiet sniffle.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she says with a chuckle. "He's probably not worth it anyway."

"Exactly!" I say.

"Aspen?" She asks quietly.

"Yes?"

"I have to go."

"Okay. See ya in the morning love!"

"Okay. Love you!"

"Love you too!" I say as I hang up. A little fact about Liv, she never hangs up first. Weird.

I look at the clock. It's 9:00! No wonder she had to go! I look around my room. I see that there's still nothing to do, so I go to sleep.

*********

The next day, Olivia looks me in the eyes and says,"I cried myself to sleep over him last night."

"Oh my god. No. Stop it! I'm talking to him ya know," I say.

"No," she says.

"Yeah. Not when your around though. Don't freak," I tell her.

"I'm not," she says as her hands start to shake.

I put my hands on her shoulders. "It'll be fine," I assure her. With that, the bell rings and I go to seminar to finish my homework.

After seminar, I go to my other classes. Science, math, language, lunch, and finally, band. I sit down by Aidan.

As he sits down beside me, I try to figure out the worst way to tell him. I try my hardest to make him feel guilty.

"You know, Olivia really looks up to you. She really wants to be your friend and all you do is shut her down," I start. I don't look at him. He doesn't say anything. "She cried herself to sleep last night because she thought she was losing her best guy friend. She thought she did something wrong. You need to tell her that she didn't do anything wrong. She needs that."

"Okay. I'm sorry."

"Don't tell me sorry. Tell her. She's really messed up about this!"

"I will. I will. I promise," he tells me.