Angel Park | Scomiche

Chapter 3

Mitch pressed send tweet and watched it send before glancing around at the mostly empty venue. He was nervous. He hadn't played many solo gigs since he started, but he was excited. He had a good mix of covers and originals to play and was looking forward to seeing some old friends who had promised to come.

After sound check, and as the room filled with people, some he recognized from campus, he sipped his water and triple checked his clothes were settled right.

"Mitchy."

His eyes snapped up at the light voice and smiled wide as his eyes locked with Ellie. "You made it." It sighed out with his relief of seeing her. She hugged him tightly.

"Of course, babe. I wouldn't miss it for the world" Her eyes scanned him up and down. "It's been too long."

He knew she was commenting on his appearance. His three years at UCLA definitely brought some changes in his life. Including the impulse to shave his head. And get too many tattoos. Mitch smiled nervously and ran his hand through his buzz cut.

"You look amazing. Like, completely different. Wow." Ellie reached up and poked his collarbone tattoo barely visible through his shirt.

"Thank you." Mitch blushed. He had missed her so much. "Here." He directed her to a table saved closer to the front. "Baz is gonna be here soon. He got off work only about thirty minutes ago. And Hayes said he was going to try. I didn't hear back from Kat or Todd."

"You didn't hear? Kat and Todd broke up a couple of months ago."

Mitch's lips parted. "Wow. They were together for ages." He was a little shocked. But things change.

She nodded her agreement. "Yeah. We were not expecting it. I don't think Todd was either. Poor guy was crushed."

Mitch frowned. He hadn't seen them the longest, but their group chat was still active every once in a while.

"How's that going by the way... the whole Baz thing?" Ellie arched an eyebrow.

Mitch felt a little weird talking about his relationship with Baz to Ellie. "Oh, yeah. It's good I guess. We're still just..." Mitch trailed off as his eyes flicked around. "Feeling it out."

Her head tilted. "Hmm." She leaned back against the table on her elbow. "I can't say I'm surprised you two ended up together."

Mitch was surprised Ellie and him didn't end up together, not the other way around. He and Baz happened on accident. Hell, they were roommates that got a little too touchy-feely and now were in an awkward stage. Mitch shrugged in response. He didn't have much to say about it.

"I guess we're all changing, huh."

Mitch looked back over at her, heart twinging with a bittersweet feeling. She was smiling softly, but he could see the sadness in her eyes. "Yeah. Growing up."

"Sometimes I wish I could go back to that summer, you know? Before things all got so complicated."

Mitch could kind of agree with her, but things felt good for him for the first time in his life. He was taking steps to become the person he always wanted to be. It was hard, yeah. And he missed everyone that helped him grow, but he knew things had to change. That summer would always be special to him, though.

It gave him memories he would cherish forever. The tattered shoebox still lived in a corner in his closet filled with souvenirs of days and people he would never forget.

She continued when he didn't respond. "Angel Park is big now, huh?"

Mitch nodded. "Yeah. Crazy how much they've blown up in the past three years." He was proud of them. He had kept an eye out, but it wasn't nearly as close as it used to be. And after a few weeks of painfully waiting for a reply after that summer, Mitch moved on. His heart hardened and he moved to LA for college that next semester. He found new bands and people for the next part of his life.