𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐜𝐭 || 𝐙𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐧 [𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝]

16- Old Patterns (Remember?)

Hayden, 18 years & 7 months old

"Please be safe," my mom held my face between her hands. She kissed my forehead sweetly.

"Goodbye Mom," I hugged her.

"I love you, you're going to do great things one day," Dad smiled.

"Bye-Bye Hayden," Caleb lisped.

"Goodbye." I kissed Caleb's soft little forehead.

"Flight 423 to Los Angeles, California is now boarding," the intercom announced. I grabbed my guitar and the rest of my luggage and started heading towards my gate, waving my family goodbye as I left.

They say "don't let your dreams be dreams" so this is me bringing my dream to life.

—-

I got off the plane and started searching the airport for Zach and the other boys to pick me up. They said they'd come but an old habit of nervousness rushed over me and I wasn't sure Zach would actually be here. LAX might have been a big airport, full of people but there weren't enough people to make crowds large enough that you couldn't walk. Unless you were a huge boy band that was famous across the globe and you were just sitting ducks in an airport.

There was a huge crowd around Zach and the other boys near the luggage pickup area but they were surrounded by at least thirty girls. And slowly the circle grew larger. I wanted to go up to them but I couldn't get past the crowd and I was too far away for them to see me. Eventually, I gave up and decided to call Zach instead.

"Hello?" Zach's voice rang through the speakers on my tiny device. "Where are you?"

"I'm outside. I saw you in there but  I couldn't get to you with all those girls crowded around you. So I gave up and went outside," I complained to him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you. I'm heading outside now."

"Don't bother," I scoffed. I hung up the phone and ordered an Uber.

I shouldn't have got mad at Zach but I did. I see the misunderstanding. Zach is a popular kid with a fan base now, I can't control that. But it pissed me off seeing him getting caught up in the spotlight. Zach used to be my best friend, the person I could look to when I was scared. Now he is surrounded by a bunch of girls that are practically in love with him and he can't bother to pay attention to when my flight lands or tell the girls that he is at the airport for a reason instead of just sitting there waiting for publicity.

As I was waiting outside for my Uber to pick me up, I heard a familiar voice come from behind me. "Hayden!" He called. I  looked behind me to see Zach and his friends running towards me. I scoffed and turned away.  "Hayden, what are you doing? Where are you going?" He grabbed my arm but I pulled away.

"Well, I was supposed to meet you and go back to your big mansion but at this point, I'd rather go to a hotel instead."

All the boys behind Zach looked confused. "Hayden, you know I promised your mom to pick you up from the airport and take you back to our house. Come on, let's go," Zach said and tried to pull me away.

"You were supposed to pick me up from the airport but you were too distracted with strangers who know more about you than you know about yourself just like you were distracted with them when you decided to leave for California and never text me back. But that didn't stop you then, why would it stop you now? Since you weren't going to be there for me, I decided to do it myself."

"Is that what this is about?" he shouted, "This is about our friendship?"

"I came here to spend more time with you but just like all the other times, you were too busy being famous to notice me," I ranted.

"I'm not to busy to notice you. You're my best friend and you always have been."

"What about them?" I pointed to his bandmates behind him. "And what about the three years you never called me?"

"Those are my brothers, that's different. What is this about anyway?"

"It just feels like we're falling into old patterns," I sighed. "I lost you once, I don't want it to happen again."

"You won't. I promise." He grabbed my hand and interlaced our fingers.

You've promised me that before remember? Don't make promises you can't keep.