Don't Write Me Off

......After ten minutes of a third round of persistent knocking and beckons to come have something to eat, mom finally surrendered with an exasperated sigh and I heard her footsteps fade down the hallway, descending down the stairs. It was already one in the afternoon and I was still dressed in last night's clothes, sitting slumped at my desk, and solemnly staring at the card in front of me with tired eyes. The desk was situated right by the window where the bright rays of the sun shone through the blinds and hit the card at the right angle, illuminating her name. I groaned in agony and buried my face in the palms of my hands.

It was as if time had frozen indefinitely because nothing else in the world could occupy my mind except for her words. When I returned from the party just before the sun came up, I crawled into bed and tried to sleep away the pain, but my eyelids refused to remain shut as my body tossed and turned every few minutes. So I haven't had any shuteye for the past eight hours and I was desperate to move forward and forget what happened, but karma wasn't going to let me have it that easy.

"That night, you lost me..."

My brows furrowed together and my eyes fell shut as a loud, drawn-out growl of frustration slipped past my lips. I knew it the night I read the note, I just didn't want to accept it; Lexie and I were over. At first, I was upset at her for not understanding how important making music was to me and all the pressure the guys and I were under to finish Pioneer. But then I realized that she had always been my number one supporter and I never once thanked her for it.

"I love Zack. Goodbye, John..."

Slumping further down into my seat, my gaze began to wander around the bedroom and landed on the acoustic guitar in the corner next to the closet. An idea suddenly sparked. Instead of just bottling up my raw emotions, I brought the guitar back over to the desk, pulled out a piece of paper and pen, and began strumming a few chords. Creating new music was the best medicine to cope with my feelings and there's bound to be a potential hit song somewhere within them.

Moments later, an ocean of inspiration was pumping through my veins but before I could write down the first line of the first verse, there was another knock on the door.

Highly annoyed, I rolled my eyes and demanded for the person to go away.

"John?" I heard Jared ask on the other side. He knocked again. "Come on, man. Open the door."

Still seated, I rubbed my face and sighed, "What do you want?"

"Your mom said you've haven't come out at all," he said in a low voice. "She's worried about you and honestly, so am I."

I stared at the door and remained quiet, hoping he'd take my silence as a sign to just let me be, but he knocked for a third time.

"I can stay here all day and night if I have to," he said. "You know I will." It was true. The last time he found me holed up in my room with my sorrows, he ended up spending the night in the guest room because he was just so determined to get me to vent. I had agreed to accompany Lexie to a family dinner at her grandparents' house, but I blew her off for another band practice. Granted, we were up for battle of the bands the following week but I made her a promise I didn't even try to keep and that led to the first of the many 'break-ups' in our relationship.

I sighed in defeat and let Jared into the room. He was carrying a tray of a sandwich with all the works, an individual serving-size bag of potato chips, a small bowl of mixed fruit, and a large cup of orange juice.

"Your mom also mentioned you haven't eaten anything," he said in an encouraging tone, setting the tray down on the dresser.

Instead of touching the food, I returned to my seat and avoided Jared's curious gaze by keeping myself busy with the guitar once more.

After some time, he asked, "So what happened on the porch last night?"

My strumming slowed to a stop but I kept my focus glued to the beige carpet. There was an old coffee stain from the time Lexie and I fell asleep doing homework junior year. The next day we had woken up before the rest of my family and she snuck downstairs for her daily caffeine to bring it back to my room. But I had another type of morning pick-me-up in mind. She was seated on the table top when I leaned in for a kiss, and I accidentally knocked over her cup of joe that had been sitting at the edge of the table. I went to go clean it up, but Lexie 'distracted' me.

Finally, I looked up at Jared through somber eyes and softly said, "She gave me the ring back."

His brows lifted barely as he looked to the ground in search of the next thing to say. "What are you going to do?"

I shrugged carelessly and shook my head. "I'm not going to do anything."

He scoffed at my effortless defeat. "So you're just going to let her go without a fight?"

"In case you missed it, she's engaged," I bitterly reminded. "She and I are over."

"But you're Lexie and John! Whatever she has with this Zack fellow can't possibly compare to what you guys have shared since the first grade. You two are supposed to end up together no matter what. If y'all don't make it, then what hope is there for the rest of us?"

A light chuckle left my lips. "If any two people in this world are destined to be together, it's you and Tessa. You guys have the perfect relationship."

"No one has the perfect relationship, John. It doesn't exist," he urged. "Sure, you and Lexie have had to endure a couple of bumps down the road, but what couple doesn't? And she's not married yet. There's still time to prove to her that she's just as important to you as is your music. Show her that you're a different person now."

"What's the point? She's not in love with me anymore," I stubbornly argued. "She made that very clear."

"Then go make her fall in love with you again, before it's too late."

~~~~~

"Give it back!" the tiny doe-eyed girl squeaked at the shaggy-haired boy as she chased him around the playground. She was trying to retrieve her doll replica of Baby Spice that he had snatched out of her hands yet again.

The boy stopped running and turned around, sticking his tongue out at the girl who had caught up to him.

"Or what?" he taunted, holding the doll high above his head, far within her reach as he was nearly a foot taller than her.

"I'm going to tell Mrs. Davis!" the girl shouted, crossing her arms in a huff and hoping she appeared as threatening as she sounded. She stomped her foot into the ground when all he did in return was smirk. "I mean it, John! I'll tell!"

"Ooh, I'm so scared!" John mocked, breaking into another run across the field. He annoyingly laughed, "Catch me if you can, Lexie!"

Lexie's shoulders slumped forward as she pushed her short legs to start moving again, struggling to keep up with John's long ones. When she was close enough, she took a giant leap and shoved John into the dirt and sat on top of him with a triumphant smile. The doll fell a couple of inches away.

"Get off!" John cried, grabbing Lexie's hands and trying to wrestle her away.

Lexie only laughed as she was proud of herself for making a fool out of a boy twice her size.

John unsuccessfully tried again. "Get off!"

Lexie mimicked his taunting tone. "Make me." She wasn't about to let him get away that easily; you don't mess with a girl's doll, especially if it's a Spice Girl.

"If I promise to stop taking your stupid doll, then will you get off me?" John bargained with crossed arms.

"Okay," Lexie said, sticking her pinky out towards his face. "But you have to pinky promise or else it's not a real promise."

John rolled his eyes at the stupid rule but nonetheless latched his pinky onto hers. "I promise to never take your doll ever again."

With a wide grin, Lexie accepted his vow and climbed off the boy. She held her hand out for him to take and helped him to his feet. "Why do you take my doll anyways?"

"Because I'm a boy," John said in a 'duh' tone. "And your brother and Jared won't let me play with them."

"Why?"

"Because I keep playing with their hot wheels without asking."

"Well then maybe you should ask first to play with other people's toys."

John pondered Lexie's words for a minute while she brushed grass out of Baby Spice's platinum blond hair.

Mrs. Davis blew her whistle, signaling her students that recess was over. Lexie began walking towards the line up area when John caught up to her.

"Can I play with you tomorrow?" he asked.

Lexie turned to the lanky boy and stared up at him for a quick second before shrugging. "Okay."

A toothy smile broke across John's face as he held up his pinky for her.

She looked at it confused. "What are you doing?"

"You have to pinky promise or else it's not a real promise," he cleverly said with the corners of his mouth stretching as far back as they could.

Lexie's lips mirrored John's as she wrapped her pinky around his, and the two of them walked towards the rest of their classmates with their small pinkies still intact.