Hold Your Breath

Kennedy can’t stop thinking about what happened between him and Cole last night. He remembered his childhood and all the good times he spent with both Nicolette and Louise. He had so much fun with them and he realized that he missed them much more than he thought. This wasn’t the only thought that bothered Kennedy that morning, though. His bandmates were coming over in 30 minutes for their daily practice but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to forgive both Stephen and John. He knew his anger problems were once again getting out of hand and this time, his band might not be able to understand. Since he’s the frontman, it’s his image that’s gonna bring the band to where they wanted to go. He just can’t have his personal issues interfering with the dreams of his best friends.
Jess was the first one to come inside his house. Jess greeted him a good morning but he didn’t answer. They just waited silently for the rest of the band to come and as soon as they all got there, Kennedy stood up and started on his announcement.
“Hey, guys, I know last night wasn’t the best one for us,” he addressed this mostly to Stephen and continued, “that actually made me realize that if we all want to go somewhere with this band, you can’t have a frontman that has issues with himself. I don’t think labels will like that, and neither would fans.”
“Bro, where are you going with this? Are you quitting?” John was standing up and already making his way to Kennedy. Kenendy stopped him and said, “Yes, I am. But please, don’t take this break-up personally. I’m also doing this for you, guys.” With that, Kennedy went back up to his room and left his ex-bandmates to themselves.
“Woah. Did that just really happen?” Jess asked. The others just walked out gloomily and left left Stephen and Jess.
“Baby, I think this is my fault.” Stephen sighed as Jess took his hands. “No, don’t say that. It was Kennedy’s decision. You two can still remain friends, right?” Jess smiled at Stephen but he just returned it with a sad expression.
Before they left, Stephen decided to leave a note for Kennedy.
JT, I’m sorry, but don’t let those girls slip away again.
Below, he scribbled something and just left the note on top of Kennedy’s amplifier.
*****
Kennedy slept for a while to calm himself down and as soon as he woke up, he still felt stressed and not calm at all. He decided to blow off some steam by playing some music downstairs. He went to the garage and set up his guitar and amplifier but he saw a note in Stephen’s handwriting. It was an apology and a number with an arrow pointed to it. At the other end of the arrow was “CALL HER.”
Kennedy dialed the number, thinking that it’s Cole’s number. “Hello, Cole?”
“I’m sorry, this is Louise. Who’s this?” The girl on the other end said.
“It’s, um, Kennedy. This is your number, Lou?”
“Yeah, it is. Do you need Cole’s number?”
“Yeah, I do. Can I, um, get it, please?” Kennedy was confused as to why Stephen would give him Louise’s number instead of Cole’s. He was certain that Stephen knew that he used to like Cole. As soon as he got Cole’s number, he dialed it but it just went to voicemail. “Hey, it’s Nicolette! I can’t come to the phone right now so, leave a message instead. Bye!”
Kennedy left a message saying that he was sorry for his reaction last night and asked her if she would like to talk tonight. He mentioned the name of a bar and hoped that he would see Cole there later that night.
*****
Kennedy sat on the bar and just as he got his first bottle, he saw a blonde enter the bar. Cole was looking around and Kennedy waved at her direction. As soon as Cole saw him, she went to his direction and took a seat beside him. “What do you want to talk about, Brock?”
“Hi, Cole,” Kennedy said, not looking Cole straight in the eye. “I think I do need your help.”
“What’s the problem, Kennedy?” Cole’s voice suddenly dripping with concern. “We’ll help you.”
“Thanks, Cole. I don’t know how to put this but I’m having problems with myself. Stephen’s the only one who knows this but I smoke and my anger issues still hasn’t went away. I don’t want to stay like this forever and now that Stephen’s out of my life, I don’t have anyone else who can help me.” Kennedy was still looking down as he said this, as if he was embarrassed of what was coming out of his mouth.
“Wait, what are you saying that Stephen is out of your life? You let that fight last night get between you two?!” Cole’s voice was rising and Kennedy became more conscious.
“Lower your voice, Cole!” Kennedy said as he looked around for people who might’ve been alerted by Cole’s voice. Thankfully no one seemed to notice her. Yet. “I walked out of our band. I don’t want my problems to get in the way of their success.”
“Well, that was so nice of you. I won’t tell you to go back to their band but I’ll tell you to never stop music, okay? I think that’s one of the things that can really help you. Spend time with me and Lou again. Things might get better for you if we go back to the old times, yeah?” Cole took Kennedy’s hand in hers and this made Kennedy smile.
“Thanks so much, Cole. I didn’t think you’d still talk to me after all those years.”
“Are you kidding me? We missed you so much! How can we not talk to you anymore?” Kennedy smiled again but Cole said that she needs to go back to her apartment. Louise was waiting up for her and she didn’t want to keep her waiting.