Somewhere, Australia //A.I

Chapter 7: Buffalo

Again, I just wanted to apologize for last chapter. But hopefully this ones a bit more interesting. ENJOY LOVELIES
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Sydney's POV

I walk into Somewhere (a/n: that's the name of the bar) next Friday night, alone because August couldn't make it. I feel almost naked without her, considering I do everything with her except for going to work and going home. We aren't fighting anymore, at least.

The boys are up on stage getting ready to perform their set. Ashton is just staring blankly head from behind the drums while the others tune their instruments. I flag down a waiter and ask him for a table right in the front.

As the waiter escorts me to a table I catch Ashton's eye and he smiles at me. I give a little wave, really glad I decided to come tonight.

"Can I get you anything Miss?" The waiter asks, breaking my exchange with Ashton.

"Coffee please. Just black." He nods and leaves me alone at the table.

I pull my phone out of my purse and see a missed call from August. There's still about five minutes until the boys will start so I call her back.

She picks up on the second ring nearly shouting in my ear. "Hey! I was just calling to make sure you didn't chicken out and not go!" Wherever she is, it's loud.

"Where the hell are you?" I ask, pretty much yelling back. It's pretty quiet in here and people turn their heads to stare at me. I feel the pink slide up my cheeks.

"WHAT?!?" She screams.

"Hold on, let me take this outside." I tell August.

"WHAT?!?" She continues to scream on the other end of the line.

I get up and grab my purse, stopping on the way out to ask the waiter to hold my table. Once outside I can finally match August's volume without being stared at.

"WHERE ARE YOU?" I yell into the line.

"MY BOSS DRAGGED ME OUT TO A CLUB TO MEET A CLIENT. YOU HOW HE LIKES TO PRETEND I'M HIS WAY-TOO-YOUNG-FOR-HIM GIRLFRIEND? Well yeah."

The door next to me is pulled open and I looked to see who's coming through it. It's none other then Ashton Irwin.
He looks out onto the sidewalk in the opposite direction, then turns his head my way.

"There you are, I was afraid you'd run off." He says walking up to me.

"Hey, just taking a phone call." I say, gesturing to the phone still pressed against my ear.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!" her shouting scares me and I jerk the phone away from my ear.

"I'M GOING TO CALL YOU BACK LATER BYE." I hang up the phone, pretty sure I'm now slightly deaf in that ear. I turn my attention back to Ashton.

"Sorry about that. So, did you really come out here just to make sure I didn't leave?" I ask, flattered.

"Um...yeah..." He nervously stutters, tugging on the curls at the nape of his neck. "About that, we should probably get back in there." He starts for the door and I follow.

"Good luck up there!" I call ahead just before he steps on the stage. He smiles back.

I retun to my table and get a text from August. 'Have fun listening to your boyfriend sing. WITHOUT ME!' I roll my eyes and reply with 'I will. And he's NOT my boyfriend!' Just as I hit send the boy in the front addresses the crowd. He's wearing a nirvana tshirt, and black jeans ripped at the knees. His accent, although still there, rolls off his tounge different then Ashton's.

"Hello, I'm Luke, we're Five seconds of Summer, and we'll be starting with a song we wrote called Gotta Get Out." He turns back to the guys. "One..two..three..four."

A plucked guitar riff plays and Luke slides his voice into the song.

"Even when the sky is falling down.

Even when the earth is crumbling around our feet."

He pulls away from the mic and Ashton begins on the drums.

This song is genius. The coffee is placed in front of me and I smile at the waiter. The smooth vocals from Luke and the great cohesiveness between Ashton and the boy playing guitar is mesmerizing.

Especially when the chorus picks up and their energy builds. All of a sudden a great band with a great personality pops out and grabs me. I rock out and have a great time, semi-disappointed that the first song had to come to an end.

When Ashton said he was in a band, this is not what I pictured. Of course, he told me him and his band played here so why wouldn't they be good?

When the audience finally starts applauding I join in, standing up because it was that good. Embarrassment slides up my checks again as I notice I'm the only one standing. I swear I see Ashon laughing at me.

The pink in my cheek fades as I sip my coffee, swaying easy to the rhythm of 'The A Team' by Ed Sheeran. Although the song is acoustic and the drums serve no purpose but keeping the beat, Ashton captivates my attention. I wish the rest of my life could be lived in this easy moment.

But it can't. I have issues, and everything about me is a flaw. Suddenly my mind is flooded by these negative thoughts and my throat tightens up, until I can't focus on the music. Only all the bad things rushing through my mind, all centered around me.

I try closing my eyes to calm myself and concentrate on the familiar chords of the guitar. My heartbeat ends up skyrocketing and I can't hear anything else but the pounding in my ears. I scramble up from my chair and rush to the bathroom.

All the attention has shifted to me as I sprint for the washroom. I feel bad for pulling the attention off the band, but I need a minute.

Once inside I lock the door and turn the cold knob on the sink. I let it pool in my hands before splashing it all over my face. No looking in the mirror, I tell myself. The only thing that would do is hurt me more.

Once I've run my face under the water enough times the anxiety, along with all the bad memories, starts to fade away.

There's one that's especially hard to get rid of. I was fifteen, during my freshman year of high school. We were in gym class, and it was weigh-in day. Hiding was my only option on those days, I was just starting to get noticeably bigger then the other girls and didn't want to know what that number would read. Let me tell you there weren't many fat girls in Wyoming

Some popular girls dragged me over to the teacher saying 'Don't forget about Sydney!' She motioned for me to get on the scale and I did, looking anywhere other then down.

The same damn girls came up behind me and shouted my weight across the gym, all the way to the boys class on the other end. One of the boys shouted back "BUFFALO!"

That nickname stuck with me for the rest of highschool.

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Hope you enjoyed. Sorry about the length!