Luck Isn't Everything.

“Hey, Gosh Junior!” I heard from behind me. I spun around to see Oli slowly jogging towards me, “Wait up.”

“Hey!” I smiled. I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and waited. It was the end of the day and school was finally out for winter break so I was making my way to meet Justin across the lot with everyone else so we could head to the meeting.

“Hey,” he said as he caught up, “I feel like we haven’t talked in a week?”

“That’s because we haven’t,” I laughed. He smiled even more and let out a small cry of laughter.

“Alright, alright, true… But that’s only because little Mrs. My-Best-Friend-Is-My-Boyfriend-Now got a boyfriend and doesn’t have time for anything or anyone else,” he smiled and laughed. My mouth dropped, but a smile was showing.

“That is so not true!”

“It’s so!”

“No!”

“Yes!” he said and I pouted. “It’s okay though, I forgive you for forgetting about me.”

“Oli…”

“I’m just making a funny, darling!” He shot me a wink and continued smiling, “I was just going to ask if you wanted to come over Saturday… We’re having a dance-off because both Matt’s have been at each other’s throats and I thought you might like having a good laugh.”

“A dance-off, really?” I laughed and shoved him a little.

“Yes, it’s going to be stupendous and hilarious, you can’t miss,” we stopped a few feet away from the guys so we could finish our conversation before parting ways.

“Jeez, I don’t know. I have a lot of packing to do tomorrow,” I answered him slowly.

“Packing? Where are you going?” he asked bewildered.

“The guys are going on tour and since I’m in essence, their whole crew, I have to come,”

“Oh...” he slumped his shoulder and his bright smiled faded.

“I’ll tell you this… How about I start my packing tonight so that tomorrow morning I can finish it off and be able to see this dance-off thing?” I smiled. His smile returned and his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.

“Alright, sounds like a plan. I’ll pick you up around 6:30pm? Does that sound good?”

“Perfect,” we smiled, hugged, and headed our own ways. I made my way over to the guys who were leaning against Justin’s car and all huddled in a group trying to make a list of all of the essentials we were going to need.

Justin hopped of the hood of his car and pulled me aside as I got to them. They glanced at me shortly before going back to their list. “Hey” I said and smiled.

“What was that about?” Justin said, averting his eyes in Oli’s car’s direction.

“What? Justin, that was nothing,” I assured him, “We were just talking and making plans to hang out tomorrow.”

“Hang out?” He asked, “You have to pack tomorrow.”

“Um, I’m gonna get started on it tonight so that tomorrow morning I’ll only have a little bit left to do…” I drifted off.

“Do you really think hanging out with him is a good idea? I mean, he’s the competition,” he said annoyed, “plus he’s all over you.”

“Yeah, I do think it’s a good idea. In fact, I think it’s a great idea,” I shot back, “And he’s not my competition, he’s your competition. MUSIC-WISE. We’re not like that. He’s just a friend.”

“Just a friend… Well, I’m sure you’re not, but he doesn’t look like he’s ‘not like that’,” he made the little quotation marks with his fingers and tensed up. “I don’t want you hanging out with him.”

“You can’t tell me who I can and can’t hang out with. Besides, it was gonna be with his whole band,” I argued.

“Doesn’t matter,” he ignored me, “What? You get a new boyfriend and suddenly he decides to like you?” The guys stopped their list and grew silent, turning to us and waiting to see what would happen next. It looked like Gabe wanted to intervene, but his better judgment told him not to.

“He didn’t just decide to like me,” I spat, “We went to that dance together last week because we liked each other, or did you think I’d go with just anyone?” I asked insulted.

“Well, I don’t know, you tell me,” he spat back, “I mean, your track-record speaks for itself.” He crossed his arms and leaned back. I swung my hand across his face, causing a sound of crackling thunder from the contact of our skin touching as my palm reached his cheek.

“Yeah, I guess my track record does speak for itself,” I said softly as his hand reached to his face, “Have fun on your meeting and on your tour.” I turned on my heel and walked away. Everyone turned to stare at us. Caught in yet another public fight, it was becoming a habit. He didn’t call after me like he normally would after any fight, and I didn’t turn to look at him once. I could still feel his eyes on me. Their eyes on me, but even then I kept my eyes focused in my direction.

I pulled my phone out and called Liam. He wasn’t going to like what had just happened, but he wasn’t going to be able to do anything about it. I wouldn’t let him. “Hey, what’s going on?”

“Can you please come get me?” I whispered softly into the phone, “I’m still at school.” I was scared that if I talked loud enough, my voice would crack and the tears would creep unto my face.

“Yeah, yeah, what happened?”

“Nothing. Please, hurry.” I hung up and continued walking. I was going to wait on the other side of the school so I could be alone.

Notes