"What?"
"I don't know, Mitchie. I just saw the add online and couldn't pass up the opportunity..."
A knot formed in Michelle's throat as she stared at the two pieces of paper in her hands, not seeming able to move. She couldn't find the right words to say and was blind on how to react at all. Her mouth was slightly agape, wondering what to think of this 'present' Hailey had gotten her. It was so sudden, so unexpected. So unwanted.
Memories had already overtaken her mind, memories of him. She had almost forgotten about everything that had happened, with two and a half years gone since they had last seen each other, since they had last called it quits for good. Although it had taken longer than she expected, she had finally moved on in the past year. And of course, he must have moved on as well, seems as though his unfaithfulness was the reason of their split. But both of them had moved on, and she didn't want to be reminded of it all again.
Regardless, sometimes she still wondered about him; how he was or how far his band had gotten. Little, pointless questions that crossed her mind that always kept him there, whether she wanted to think about him or not.
And here was one opportunity, held right in front of her on two pieces of printed paper. An opportunity to see him again, to hear his voice.
But no way she was going to take it.
"Pit seats.... Hell, you expect me to go to this concert?" Michelle looked up at her best friend, wondering why she had made such an effort to get these tickets.
"Damn right, I do. You know how how those fuckin' cost?"
Silence filled the air as Michelle thought about what to do. Pit seats cost a bomb, and she couldn't refuse; it would be plain rude to throw away that much money her friend had spent on her.
"There's a ticket for you and me, so you bet I'll be dragging your arse to that concert whether you like it or not."
She didn't want to go. She didn't want to face him, especially being that up close to the stage.
But she wondered that maybe he wouldn't even see her. Who knew if it would be smokey, dark, maybe he would be too buzzed to even make out anything. It had been more than two years after-all, she wouldn't blame him it he didn't even recognize her.
Maybe she would just go for the music. That was the whole point, right? She had met the band only a few months after they formed, enjoying sitting in and watching most of their jam sessions. They had compromised into a genre something of indie pop, and she had fallen in love with their style immediately.
"Michelle?"
She looked up to see Hailey impatiently tapping her knee, waiting for a positive response. So many emotions were going throughout her, it was hard for her to even think straight.
"Hailey... you know," Michelle paused, a knot forming in her throat. "You know that I've finally gotten over him..."
"And I know you two spent 8 fucking years together."
"Hailey, please."
"You know, I did this for you two. I've never seen a couple as in love as you guys were. You shits made me wanna puke, but in a good way, you know. When you just threw that all away I wanted to punch you in the face, I mean, there was still hope for him. You too. I hated to see that relationship go to waste and I knew damn right he still loved you when you left him, and I don't know, I thought that just maybe, I don't know. Maybe he still kind of-"
"It's been more than two years, Hailey. He's forgotten about me, and I was doing just fine without him..." She tried to sound confident and cover up her emotions, yet failed as her voice cracked. She hadn't talked about him to anyone for two years straight. He had been out of her life, and vice versa. It was hard to erase someone important from your life that you had loved for so long, but she seemed to have been doing a pretty good job at it.
"I don't care how long it's been. You guys were always fighting and separating, but you still managed to find your way back to each other, hm? Come on, I know you still like him. I don't care what you say."
"I don't!"
"Shut up."
"Two years, Hailey."
"Not listening!"
She hesitated, knowing there was no way of getting out of this.
"Fine. Whatever, fuck you, I was doing just well, but you had to step in..." She stood up, clutching the two tickets and setting them down on the counter. "He could already have a girlfriend, and wouldn't that be, you know. Awkward? Like, if I was there."
"So you're implying that it would affect you if he had a girlfriend, as in you still cared for him."
"No, I'm just implying that if he recognizes me, he could think I'm stalking him or whatever, and if he's with somebody it would be worse and just, I don't know, weird!"
"Just think of it as you're going for the music. You loved their music then, and you're going to love it now."
She paused.
"The concert is in a week."
"A week?"
"What? Is that not enough time to do your hair?"
Michelle shot Hailey a glare, then looked at the floor, sighing to herself. "Two years."
"I know, and I decided I didn't want it to be any longer." Her friend remarked, crossing her arms.
Michelle glanced at the concert tickets, wondering to herself if this was really worth it. She remembered all the times she watched the band preform in Matt's garage, but this time would be different. There'd be thousands of screaming girls behind her, wanting to get as close as they can to the four guys on stage. It was such a big change, and she didn't know how she would even react to it. Never mind the crowd, she couldn't help but feel nervous at the thought of being so close to him. Would it bring back all their memories, and only make her feel worse about them breaking apart? Or maybe it would bring some closer, seeing that after two years he had finally made it big and was happy with his life. Maybe she could learn to be happy for him after leaving it on such a bad note.
She buried her face into her hands, wondering what exactly she was getting herself into.
~~~
hi lmao so just to clear it up, half of this book is gonna be what's going on in the present, and half of it is gonna be on the past, so all the chapter titles are gonna be dates just to make it a little less confusing!! thank you for reading❤️❤️
