Youngblood

Chapter 5: Ghost Of You

Venus

The very second the song came to an end, Venus made a run for it. She found the closest bathrooms and shut herself in. She had at least two more hours left to go.

How was he here? She didn't understand. He watched her dance! How the hell was he here?"

Oh, and why was she complaining?

Reality hit her like a bus. "You coward." She said to herself in the mirror, before splashing water on her face. He was here. Right now. And he noticed her presence. What was she waiting for?

No, she needed time to think of what to say. Years and years of imagining the scenario of meeting him again, the conversation they would exchange; all went down the drain. With him so close to her, she had no idea how she'd even find an excuse to talk to him, nonetheless what to say. She prayed she wouldn't waste this opportunity. She was desperate to tell Kaia, but her best friend was probably dancing away in the other section of the club.

When she emerged from the bathroom, he was nowhere to be seen. In that moment she realized that if he was here, that also meant that the other three were too. Her inner fangirl did a happy pumpkin dance inside her, and there was a skip in her step as she stepped back onto her pedestal.

She closed her eyes while she danced, knowing she will be distracted if she sees him again.

This was a big moment for her; she wasn't only meeting her idols, she was meeting the boy she loved. She knew that she was 16, and she knew he probably forgot her name, but being such a dedicated fan, she never could forget him. She remembered how she attended their first gigs, how one day he was with her and the next he was touring the world, how he never said goodbye...

And it still hurt.

She pushed those thoughts away, thinking about Ashton, Luke, and Michael. She loved them to death. She hoped with all her heart that they would be here, that she'd at least get to say hello.

Before she knew it, Dave was back, ushering her off the pedestal after the final song came to a close. "You did really good."

"Thank you, Dave." Venus smiled as she wiped the sweat off her brow. She walked to the buffet and selected choice caviar and salmon.

"My name is Tony, actually." He smiled

"Really? Why the hell did I assume you were a Dave?" Her voice came muffled as she had stuffed her mouth with the delicacies.

"I need to get back to my job." He replied instead, preoccupied. Venus sighed, before sliding her feet out of her heels. She stretched her toes and ordered a heavy drink from the bar. She downed it quickly, her face twisting into a bitter look of disgust.

"You never could hold your alcohol." She almost spit out her drink. She turned to him, her heart beating like Ashton's drum inside her chest.

Calum was close enough for her to reach out and touch his face. She wanted to scream for joy and cry in pain of seeing him. She opened her mouth to speak, but had no words to say, instead she looked at her drink intensely, and waited for him to say something, anything.

"I thought I saw you back in the venue. I thought it was my imagination playing tricks on me."

"I saw you too." Stupid. STUPID. She wanted to punch herself in the face.

He chuckled softly. "You changed your hair."

She held a lock of her bleached hair with shaking hands. "Well, it's been a long time." The fangirl inside her was about to faint and desperately wanted to ask for a picture, but the 16 year old broken girl held her stance. She tried not to think of how he broke her heart, but it was all over her mind. "We both changed."

"I didn't know you like our band." He rubbed the back of his neck softly, and it was so familiar she felt like crying.

"Like is an understatement." She admitted, smiling. She wanted to die so bad. "That sounded creepy as hell."

"No, no! It's okay, we get that a lot." He looked around the room. Was he desperate to end the conversation? "Look, I have to go. But it was great, so great, to see you again."

"Oh, you too. Thanks a lot for, you know." Her mouth spoke out of her consent. No you idiot! Say something before he leaves! This was not how she imagined it at all.

"Bye now." He stepped back, and she slapped herself across the face. Disappointed, she began to search for Kaia, and a gun to shoot her brains dead.

"Hey, what the hell happened? One second you were here, the next you were gone." Kaia snapped upon finding her.

"They took me to the VIP section." Venus was too exhausted and disappointed to explain.

"Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

He's a ghost alright. A ghost that has haunted me for years. "Let's go home."