21 You Got Me Thinking

"YOU GOT ME THINKING"

Cherry dragged me out of the house after I spent a few days in the garage polishing up my new song, "For My Eyes Only". She said I needed vitamin D before I started glowing with how pale I was getting.

We ended up at Cloud Creamery. After ordering our usuals, we climbed up to the roof where we set up or table and chairs.

While Cherry picked gummibears off her ice cream, I pulled out my song book. My mind still wrestled over the lyrics in the final verse.

"You're supposed to be taking a break," Cherry reminded me.

"I'm performing this weekend and I need to have this song finished," I told her. Still, she wiggled the notebook out of my hands.

"You have two more days to work on it. Taking a three hour break won't kill you."

I gasped, clutching my chest before collapsing onto the table.

"Since, you're dead, can I have your ice cream?" She reached for it and I smacked her hand away, making her giggle.

"I had a video chat with Bea Lopez's assistant," I told her as I sat up to eat my ice cream. "The showcase is basically a talent show. Whoever the crowd likes more moves on to the next stage of signing with the label."

"Then you better work on your autograph." She was so happy for me. I wished I could match her enthusiasm.

"You should see some of the other performers," I told her. I'd found a flyer for the showcase on Bea Lopez's social media that listed all the performers. I still couldn't believe my name was among them. "They're professional grade amazing. With voice coaches and choreographers. I'm working out of my garage."

"Exactly!" She pointed her ice cream covered spoon at me. "You write and produce your own music at home. Yet you were chosen to perform these 'professional grade' people. That means you're just as amazing."

I wrapped my arms around my middle. "The concert isn't until Saturday and my stomach is already in knots."

She patted my shoulder. "I'd be concerned if you weren't nervous. You're rarely ever anxious, so it means this is a really big deal for you."

The last time I felt like this was before my first date with Peter and we all know how that turned out.

"I need a fast forward button to get this over with."

My best friend's lips spread into a sly grin. "I think what you need is a party."

"Who's throwing a party on a Wednesday?"

***

Apparently, Taylor King threw parties in the middle of the week. It was her birthday, so it made sense.

Cherry borrowed her family's car to drive us to Taylor's mansion. People were still arriving and we joined a group of people heading into the house.

Music blasted and drinks flowed as Cherry and I weaved through the thick crowd of people. By the time we made it to the back patio that lead to the the pool, my shirt stuck to me with sweat. Mostly mine, I hoped.

Once we got to the backyard I realized Cherry brought us here for two reasons. The first reason was Taylor's massive pool with a water slide and a water fall feature. The other reason was Tristan. He was all smiles when he saw Cherry. I felt like a proud mother as they hugged and shared a quick kiss.

It was only a few weeks ago when Cherry was still sticking to her no dating rule. Now she was kissing her boyfriend at a pool party. They grow up so fast.

"I thought you weren't coming?" She said, her arms still wrapped around his waist as she looked up at him.

"I wasn't, but I needed to get my friend out of the house."

As soon as the words left his lips, said friend appeared. Peter Conway. Shirtless and glistening with water droplets. His blond curls looked brown when wet. He pushed his dripping hair out of his face, slicking it back and giving me an unadulterated view of his ocean blue eyes. They were slightly wide as if he was surprised to see me. Yet, this reeked of a set up.

My gaze, reluctantly, left Peter's solid chest and darted to my best friend. She held her hands up, surrendering. "I had nothing to do with this."

I turned my attention to her guilty looking boyfriend. "Did I do something to personally offend you, Tristan?"

He gave a bashful shrug.

"I just wanted to talk," Peter said softly from behind me.

Turning to him, I threw my arms open wide. "It's a party. There's lots of people to talk to. Or better yet, you can write lists about how they're so beneath you that they're not even worth your time."

I stomped off. No direction in mind, just a need to get away from Peter. My chest squeezed and I could barely breathe. I thought I was over this. Over him. Seeing him shouldn't have me on the verge of tears.

Taylor's houses was huge and I had no idea where I was going, only that I wanted to be alone. I found an empty office at the end of the hall and shut myself inside. Most likely her mother's judging from the giant portrait of Mrs. King hanging over a small couch.

I sat under the painting, head in my hands as I tried to catch my breath and calm down.

The door creaked open. My head shot up, thinking it was Taylor King or one of her parents.

It was worse than I thought.

"Was my literal running away from you too subtle?"

My harsh tone didn't stop Peter from entering the room, closing the door behind him.

Pulling my knees up to my chest, I hid my face in them fully prepared to ignore him.

The couched dipped with his added weight as he sat next to me. He didn't say anything, only the muffled sound of the party could be heard.

"I'm sorry about the list..." he said, breaking the silence between us. "I only wrote it because you--how I started to feel about you--scared the hell out of me."

I didn't want to like you.

It made sense what he meant now. That didn't clear away the hurt I felt, though. It didn't change how easily he wrote a list of my flaws and reasons I wasn't worth it.

"I was still dealing with the stuff about my mom," he continued. "I couldn't let myself like you and risk you walking out of my life, too. It was a dumb exercise I found after searching 'how to get over a crush'."

I peeled my face from my knees, looking up at him. In the dark room only lit by moonlight, his eyes looked dark grey.  He had a shirt on, but his hair was still dripping. A droplet of water trailed from his temple to the sharp edge of his jaw.

If this was happening a couple weeks ago, I would've been happy to accept his apology and brush everything under the rug. But I didn't want to be that girl anymore. I didn't want to keep giving people the opportunity to break my heart again and again.

"Even as I wrote the list I knew it'd be pointless. I was already too far gone. That list should've stayed in the trash where I put it. I don't know how Daniel ended up with it." He inched closer. His usual scent was over powered by the smell chlorine. "But I'm willing to take the risk. I've been ready."

His eyes were practically shining with hopefulness. I didn't like to disappoint people, but recently, I've hated disappointing myself even more.

"Well, I'm not."

His lips parted but no words came out as I stood from the couch and left the room.

The noise from the party was a huge contrast to the silence of the office. It was slightly overwhelming. In the backyard, I saw Cherry and Tristan talking under the waterfall. She laughed at something he said, looking so happy I didn't want to ruin it.

Instead of telling her I was ready to go home, I simply slipped away. Getting into her car was easy since I had the keys. I didn't plan on going swimming so she gave them to me to hold on to in the pockets of my shorts.

Once in the car, I grabbed my bag from the floor of the car and took out my notebook. Maybe Peter effected me so much because I skipped an important part of my grieving process. Maybe I needed to break my own rules and write one more break up song.

******

Faye is not so easily won over by pretty words anymore.

The question remains: Is Peter willing to fight for her?

DUN!DUN!DUNNN!

As always, thank you very much for reading 🥰🥰