‹ Prequel: Dark Eyed Dreamers
Back to the Place We Knew Before
Braelyn.
Five months. Sixteen weeks. One-hundred eighteen days. 2832 hours. 169,920 minutes. 10,195,200 seconds.
No matter how I said it, it all meant the same thing, I would be home for winter break. It would be the first time I would see my twin sister since she went on tour with All Time Low and I went to college. It meant puppy kisses from my dog, Yoda. It meant seeing Mikayla and how round she had gotten since I left home. It meant seeing my best friends for the first time since the left for tour. It meant seeing my ex-boyfriend, Zack.
One part of me wanted to go home, to get away from my roommate, shared bathroom, cafeteria food, classes, and studying. Another part of me was willing to do anything to go home to see my sister, my dog, to sleep in my own bed, to share a bathroom with no one, and eat some decent food. With those two small parts of me there was one big whole part of me that didn’t want to go home at all because that meant seeing Zack…which I didn’t think I could handle.
I will admit that after Zack broke up with me, I was not in good shape. I actually continued to stay in awful shape until the day that Natalie, my roommate, got entirely too sick of watching me mope around campus.
“Enough!” Natalie yelled, flicking the light switch on as she entered our room. I pulled my fleece blanket over my face to protect my eyes from the light change. The sounds of my House DVD were cut off without warning.
“Natalie!’ I whined from under the warm blanket. Why couldn’t she just let me be depressed, I had every right to be depressed and she was ruining it for me.
“No. Braelyn, you have been sitting in the dorm alone, in the dark, watching House DVDs, every weekend. You’re cut off. Join the rest of the people on this campus and do something social!”
That’s the exact conversation that started off as my roommate merely trying to get me to be social, make friends, and to possibly start eating again. However, it spiraled into something much, much more.
“Have you ever eaten here before?” Lucy asked me, she was on of Natalie’s three friends who I had no interest in getting to know.
“No.” I answered, disinterestedly. I kept checking my phone, Jack promised he’d call me back in an hour. It had been three and he still hadn’t.
“Brae, give up. He forgot.” Natalie said.
It was true, Jack had probably forgotten. I hadn’t talked to Rian, Jack, Alex, or Reagan for more than ten minutes at a time since I started school. The guys were always busy. Sound checking, playing, eating, meeting people, selling merch, or sleeping. I shouldn’t have complained because I still got texts from Reagan everyday, even if she wasn’t always available to talk, she always texted. Rian would text every now and then and ask me how school was. Jack and Alex, I considered myself lucky if I got a text from either of them.
Then there was Zack, who I hadn’t spoken to since the day he broke up with me. Maybe it was pathetic that after going months without any contact from him that I still thought about him every chance I got. I always wondered what he was doing, who he was with, how he felt, or where he was that day.
“Braelyn.” Natalie elbowed me, I didn’t realize we got seated, or that our waiter was standing at the end of our table waiting to take my order.
“Oh, um. Just a Dr. Pepper.” I said staring at his neck for a few seconds as I spoke and then checking my phone again.
“Um, actually…she wants a garden burger with extra fries and the biggest chocolate milkshake you have.” Natalie told our waiter while glaring at me, she’s convinced that I don’t eat enough. The fact that I’ve lost twenty-five pounds since the break up might have had something to do with it.
“Um, is anyone going to correct that corrected order or can I take it to the kitchen?” The thick Irish accent of the waiter made Natalie and her friends giggle like mindless fools even though they were far from being mindless fools, they were all pretty smart girls.
“You can take it now.” Lucy beamed at him.
I was okay with all the girls at the table drooling over the waiter, I wasn’t okay when they not so quietly said “Oh my God! He keeps looking at you!”
Really guys? Really? Did you except him not to stare at the girl in the corner of the booth who looks like she’d rather be chewing her own arm off than be out for lunch with friends?
It was still fine up until I went outside with the rest of the girls while Natalie paid. I sat on the bench outside the restaurant and compulsively checked my phone for texts or calls…or anything. It was like a miracle when I got a text from Alex asking me if I missed him.
You have no idea how much you can miss your obnoxious friends until they’re gone.
“So…I gave him your number.” Natalie said biting her lip to hold back the smile.
“You what?” I screeched in absolute outrage.
“Well…he asked for it so…”
I shook my head and stormed ahead of the group. Why did she think she could give my number to a complete stranger? He could be a stalker!
You don’t give your roommate’s number to a stalker!
You just don't.
No matter how I said it, it all meant the same thing, I would be home for winter break. It would be the first time I would see my twin sister since she went on tour with All Time Low and I went to college. It meant puppy kisses from my dog, Yoda. It meant seeing Mikayla and how round she had gotten since I left home. It meant seeing my best friends for the first time since the left for tour. It meant seeing my ex-boyfriend, Zack.
One part of me wanted to go home, to get away from my roommate, shared bathroom, cafeteria food, classes, and studying. Another part of me was willing to do anything to go home to see my sister, my dog, to sleep in my own bed, to share a bathroom with no one, and eat some decent food. With those two small parts of me there was one big whole part of me that didn’t want to go home at all because that meant seeing Zack…which I didn’t think I could handle.
I will admit that after Zack broke up with me, I was not in good shape. I actually continued to stay in awful shape until the day that Natalie, my roommate, got entirely too sick of watching me mope around campus.
“Enough!” Natalie yelled, flicking the light switch on as she entered our room. I pulled my fleece blanket over my face to protect my eyes from the light change. The sounds of my House DVD were cut off without warning.
“Natalie!’ I whined from under the warm blanket. Why couldn’t she just let me be depressed, I had every right to be depressed and she was ruining it for me.
“No. Braelyn, you have been sitting in the dorm alone, in the dark, watching House DVDs, every weekend. You’re cut off. Join the rest of the people on this campus and do something social!”
That’s the exact conversation that started off as my roommate merely trying to get me to be social, make friends, and to possibly start eating again. However, it spiraled into something much, much more.
“Have you ever eaten here before?” Lucy asked me, she was on of Natalie’s three friends who I had no interest in getting to know.
“No.” I answered, disinterestedly. I kept checking my phone, Jack promised he’d call me back in an hour. It had been three and he still hadn’t.
“Brae, give up. He forgot.” Natalie said.
It was true, Jack had probably forgotten. I hadn’t talked to Rian, Jack, Alex, or Reagan for more than ten minutes at a time since I started school. The guys were always busy. Sound checking, playing, eating, meeting people, selling merch, or sleeping. I shouldn’t have complained because I still got texts from Reagan everyday, even if she wasn’t always available to talk, she always texted. Rian would text every now and then and ask me how school was. Jack and Alex, I considered myself lucky if I got a text from either of them.
Then there was Zack, who I hadn’t spoken to since the day he broke up with me. Maybe it was pathetic that after going months without any contact from him that I still thought about him every chance I got. I always wondered what he was doing, who he was with, how he felt, or where he was that day.
“Braelyn.” Natalie elbowed me, I didn’t realize we got seated, or that our waiter was standing at the end of our table waiting to take my order.
“Oh, um. Just a Dr. Pepper.” I said staring at his neck for a few seconds as I spoke and then checking my phone again.
“Um, actually…she wants a garden burger with extra fries and the biggest chocolate milkshake you have.” Natalie told our waiter while glaring at me, she’s convinced that I don’t eat enough. The fact that I’ve lost twenty-five pounds since the break up might have had something to do with it.
“Um, is anyone going to correct that corrected order or can I take it to the kitchen?” The thick Irish accent of the waiter made Natalie and her friends giggle like mindless fools even though they were far from being mindless fools, they were all pretty smart girls.
“You can take it now.” Lucy beamed at him.
I was okay with all the girls at the table drooling over the waiter, I wasn’t okay when they not so quietly said “Oh my God! He keeps looking at you!”
Really guys? Really? Did you except him not to stare at the girl in the corner of the booth who looks like she’d rather be chewing her own arm off than be out for lunch with friends?
It was still fine up until I went outside with the rest of the girls while Natalie paid. I sat on the bench outside the restaurant and compulsively checked my phone for texts or calls…or anything. It was like a miracle when I got a text from Alex asking me if I missed him.
You have no idea how much you can miss your obnoxious friends until they’re gone.
“So…I gave him your number.” Natalie said biting her lip to hold back the smile.
“You what?” I screeched in absolute outrage.
“Well…he asked for it so…”
I shook my head and stormed ahead of the group. Why did she think she could give my number to a complete stranger? He could be a stalker!
You don’t give your roommate’s number to a stalker!
You just don't.
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So yeah, here it is.Enjoy it.
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