Faded Memories

“What’s her name?” Nathan asked Cameron eagerly. The guys were doing a photoshoot and were skimming through the rack of clothes. They had invited me and there was no way I was going to say no.

“Sydney.” He beamed when he said her name. “She’s a nice girl and she’s actually a fan of our music.” He gushed. He lifted two outfits from the rack and showed them to me. “Which one?”

I broke away from my thoughts and pointed to the one on the left, “That one.” Daniel had texted me a minute go saying he needed to talk to me. I kind of missed talking to him even after what happened the day before Cameron’s birthday. I looked back at my phone and read the text again.

I really need to talk to you. Call me when you can.

Once again, Cameron had read my mind. “Daniel?” He simply asked. I nodded my head and turned my attention back to my phone. I pressed the number two button on my phone and pressed my phone against my ear. After two rings, he picked up.

“Abby?” I heard him say through the phone.

“Hey.” I said, beginning to tense up. I glanced at the guys as they were lead into separate rooms to change. I got up from a white couch that was against a wall and stood in front of window that had a beautiful view of Los Angeles.

He hesitantly asked, “Um, are you at your house right now?” He could hear him fiddling with papers and could tell he was probably pacing back and forth. That’s what we had in common. Whenever I’m nervous, I feel the need to walk back and forth, fiddle with random things and make no eye contact.

“No, I’m actually in Los Angeles with the guys. They have a photoshoot and interview today with a magazine and they invited me so I decided to tag along.” I told him. Talking with him on the phone was becoming awkward. It really needed to end.

“Oh. Then call me when your home, okay?”

“Okay.” And just like that, he hung up. Suddenly, someone placed their hand on my shoulder. I turned around to see Cameron smiling sympathetically. He opened his arms and engulfed me into a hug.

“It’ll work out. Don’t worry.” He tried to comfort me, resting his head on top of mine.

“I sure hope you’re right.” I mumbled into his chest. I didn’t feel like letting go. He acted like my barrier, protecting me. If I let go, it meant I would no longer be safe.



“Music is something that really makes you guys happy.” The interviewer said to them, each of them nodding their heads, agreeing. The guys had just wrapped up their photoshoot and were being interviewed. During the photoshoot, they would constantly visit the refreshments table and start stuffing their faces with food. If it wasn’t for music, food would probably be the number one thing that makes them happy. “Other than music, what makes you happy?”

“Food, fans, family, and friends.” Cameron said, counting each one with his fingers and looked right at me once he said friends.

“We call it the four F’s.” Nathan told the interviewer. The interviewer had caught Cameron looking at me and followed his gaze.

The interviewer commented, “Your friend over there must be one lucky girl.”

“Abigail is probably one of our closest friends. She’s always there to support us and knows how to make us smile.” Zach told the interviewer.

“We’re lucky to have a friend like her because she understands that sometimes our schedule is busy and that we can’t always hang out with her.” Michael chimed in.

“She’s always by our side even if she doesn’t get to participate in all the fun we get to do.” Nathan added.

“All she wants is the best for us and for us to be happy. To have her as a friend already makes us happy.” Cameron summed everything up. Their eyes began to focus on me, grinning as I created a hand heart.



I sat down on the couch in my living room with a bowl of cereal held close to my face. It was around dinner time and I was too lazy to fix myself dinner. Autumn was at work and wouldn’t be coming home until later so I decided to just eat cereal. Who said cereal was just for breakfast? I heard my phone vibrate and saw the screen light up. I set my bowl onto the table and looked at the screen. It was Daniel.

“Hey Daniel.” I answered his phone call.

“Hey, Abigail.” His voice sounded tense. “Are you home yet?”

“Yeah, I just got home about 2 hours ago.”

“Okay, I’ll be there in five minutes. I’m on my way there.” He hung up the phone, not even saying bye. I hate it when people do that.

Five minutes later, the doorbell rang. I placed my empty bowl in the sink and ran to the door to open it.

“Hey.” He said plainly, his hands stuffed in his pockets and made his way to the living room to sit. So far our conversations haven’t even lasted for a minute and things were getting really awkward. I closed the door and went to the living room to join him on the couch. “So, how are things?” He asked, making absolutely no eye contact. Goodness, things were getting awkward.

I sighed and began to fiddle with the hem of my shirt. “I’m doing well. How about you?”

“I’m okay.” He paused for a moment, his eyes still fixed to the ground. “I just wanted to apologize for what happened a couple days ago. I’m really sorry for making you choose between us.”

I slightly smiled at him, happy to know that he meant it. “It’s okay.”

“But–” he continued. But? There is no but; please don’t add more. “I’ve been thinking for a while.” I knew it was coming. That explains why he has been acting odd and was always tense whenever we tried to talk. “We’ve been growing apart and I just can’t feel the sparks anymore.” I knew it. I knew it. I knew it. How could I not figure it out? I felt a lump in my throat and my heart began to sink as he said those words I never wanted to hear, “I think we should break up.” Damn it, he said it.

“I-I don’t understand.” I attempted to say, trying to compose myself. I could begin to feel my eyes well up with tears as he tried to explain.

“I just feel like I don’t love you like I used to. I tried so hard to love you, denying the fact that our relationship was slowly dying but I came to the conclusion that it’s just not working out. I’m sorry.” He finally looked up at me, his brown eyes apologetic and his lips forming a slight frown. I took in his looks once more: the plaid shirt, skinny jeans, vans, black framed glasses, and beanie before he left without another word. Right then and there, I didn’t know what to do. I gripped onto the nearest pillow and pulled it close to my chest. I placed my hand on the heart-shaped necklace around my neck and blinked, letting the tears finally pour.

I don’t know why, but just as he left I picked up my phone and pressed the number one. “C-Cameron?” I tried to say only to have my voice crack. “Daniel and I–” I said, but was cut off.

“I’m on my way. Just hang tight.” He said, before hanging up. I put my phone down and held onto the pillow tightly, wishing today didn’t happen.

It didn’t take long for Cameron to come over to my house. “Abby?” I heard him call out when he stepped in. He looked into the living room and saw me curled up into a tiny ball, crumbling to tiny pieces. “Abby.” He said, before entering the living room.

I got up from the couch and ran up to him. He held onto me tightly and kissed the top of my head. He rubbed my back, trying to soothe me and calm me down as I sobbed and drenched his shirt with my tears. “Shhh, it’s okay. I’m here. Everything’s going to be okay.” He cooed into my ear, continuing to hold me and not letting go. I didn’t intend on letting him go. Letting go meant risking the chance of losing him. And for some reason, I felt like I’ve let him go before and I just didn’t want that to happen again.