Save Your Heart

“Natalie! Let’s go!” I yelled from my bedroom. “We’re going to be late if you’re not ready soon.” I walked into the bathroom to do a last minute check on myself. My long, dirty blonde hair was straightened. Luckily it was cooperating with me tonight. I had a light amount of eye-liner and mascara on. I was very proud of my outfit of choice; skinny jeans and a green plaid button up shirt. “Nat!” I yelled again walking out into the living room to make sure she was ready. She still wasn’t there, so I banged on her bedroom door.

“I’m coming! Chill the fuck out.” I heard her scream from the other side of the door. I heard her opening and closing her dresser drawers too. With my luck, she still wasn’t dressed yet.

“We have 45 minutes until the show starts. I won’t chill the fuck out.” I leaned on the door with my arms folded waiting for Natalie impatiently. We were suppose to leave for one of Derek’s concerts 10 minutes ago, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen when Derek invited Natalie as well.

Five minutes later, Natalie emerged from her bedroom. She had about a pound of make-up on and a black mini dress on. I didn’t expect anything more to be on her body. I rolled my eyes and motioned her to follow me out the door. “Are there going to be any cuties there?” She asked as we got into her car.

“I don’t know, Nat. Probably. Please hurry up, we’re going to be late.”

“God, I can not wait till we get there. Maybe around Derek, you’ll be in a better mood.” She huffed. I punched her arm. Natalie pushed her foot on the gas a little more. She gave me a suspicious look. “You’re the one who’s in a rush to see him. And you say you don’t like him. Okay.” She gave a little laugh afterwards. I rolled my eyes and ignored her. Every time Derek left our apartment for the last month, Natalie would hint that we had a thing going on. When she mentioned it in front of Derek , it was even worse. The friendship Derek and I had was so special, I didn’t want to ruin it with a stupid crush and I didn’t want him thinking there was a crush. For a while, I would yell at Natalie or kindly ask her to stop, but that just made her think I liked him even more. Lately, I’ve just kept quiet about the whole thing.

We finally pulled into the venue parking lot ten minutes before the concert started. I bickered with Natalie over being late while she found a parking spot. She found a spot close to the back door of the venue, just as Derek told me to do. We walked towards the door and a bunch of guys drinking beers outside.

A tall guy with shoulder length blonde, curly hair and blue eyes walked over to us with a beer in his hand. “Can I help you ladies?” He was had something else on his mind other than helping us. He smelled of beer and he tried too hard to impress us. It didn’t work on me at all.

“I would love some help.” I heard Natalie coo. I looked over at her and her dress was slightly pulled down a bit to reveal some cleavage and her eyes were fluttering a little more than usual. The guy gave her a smirk and looked her up and down. I looked at them in disgust. Then I saw Derek walking towards me.

“Hey! There you are!” He exclaimed with a big smile on his face. He wrapped his arms around me tightly and I snuggled my face into his chest. He smelled of soap and cologne. “What took you so long?”

I backed up out of his embrace and glanced over at Natalie who was flirting as usual. “You really have to ask?”

Derek laughed, then nudged the guy a few times before he realized Derek was trying to get his attention. “Dude! This is Rylin. Ry, this is Pat.” I smiled kindly at Pat and we said our hellos. Natalie cleared her throat to remind us she was still there. “Oh and that’s Natalie.”

“Why hello, beautiful.” Pat grabbed Natalie’s hand and kissed it. Natalie giggled. This time Derek joined while I looked at them in disgust. Then he took a hold of my hand and pulled me through the door. We left Pat and Natalie behind while they swooned over each other. Derek led me through a small crowd of people into a room with couches, food, and a few guys and girls hanging out. He kept a hold of my hand as he introduced me to the people in the room. “Guys, this is Rylin.” Everyone either waved or said hello. Derek then pointed around the room. “That is Jake, Brooks, Cabbage or Jeremy, Cab’s girlfriend, Ashley, and Alex.” I gave a friendly wave back at them with a smile. Derek pulled on my hand once again and we walked near the table that was filled with food. “Do you want some food?”

“No, I’m good. Thank you anyway though.” I looked up at him and smiled. He gave me a kind grin back.

“Yo Derek, we’re getting ready to go on.” Jake said behind us before leaving through the door. I looked around the room and realized that everyone had left the room. I wondered how long Derek and I were standing there. He pulled me along behind him as we too left the room. We went to the side of the stage where the rest of the band were standing in a circle.

“Stand here with Ashley so you don’t get trampled or something, okay?” Derek told me. I nodded. “I’ll see you later.” I nodded again. Derek pressed his lips against my forehead for a while which made me squeeze his hand I was still holding. He never did that before, but I couldn’t lie and say I didn’t like it. No guy has ever gave me any affection like that before. He let go of my hand and joined in on the circle. From the corner of my eye I saw Ashley watching me with a smile.

“He’s single, you know.” She said still smiling at me.
I looked over and smiled back. “We’re just friends.”

“You don’t look at someone like that if you’re just friends, sweetie.” She replied sweetly. “I hope you and I can be friends.”