Dandelion

"I have an order for Sarah on the bar!"

"I'll be right with you, sir."

As soon as 2013 hit, I made it my New Years resolution to change my life for the better. So on a whim, I decided to move. I packed all my belongings and hopped on a plane to California. I always vowed that I would never be able to move away from my family. We were a tight knit group. We were thick as thieves. But it happened and it didn't bother me. I think it was because I knew it needed to happen for me to be able to fully move on with my life. And Los Angeles was the place for that happen.

Before I left, I told everyone I was going and didn't give them a chance to stop me. My mom and dad tried to give me money and find me an apartment, but I told them no. I figured as soon as I got there, I'd get a hotel for a few nights then I'd find an apartment or loft to rent. It took me a few days to find a place, but when I did, I fell in love with it. It was a cute, old apartment. It wasn't anything special. It was small, but perfect for one person.

"Sorry for the wait," I spoke. "What can I get ya?"

"Two venti ice coffees; one half-caf and the other with two extra shots of espresso." He rattled off his order, then glanced over at the display case with our food in it. "And two raspberry scones."

"That'll be twelve fifty." I swiped his credit card and handed it back with a receipt. "And what's your name?"

"Tyler." I nodded, writing his name on both the clear cups. "I'll have your drinks ready in a few minutes."

Working at a cafe was exactly the place I needed to be working. And I meant that. My life had taken a turn for the worse when I was involved with Harry and the others. So I gave up everything that reminded me of them. Or more specifically, him. I gave up photography. I got a completely different job. I changed my place of living. I changed my number. I changed my hair. I changed my style. I changed my group of friends. I changed me.

No one realized how much one simple person can make things change. For me, it was exactly what I needed. The changes that were made, were what made me grow up and realize there were other things I hadn't done and places I hadn't seen. So instead of staying in my small town, I went out and did things I hadn't done and saw places I hadn't seen.

"I have an order for Tyler on the bar!"

I grew up.




Yeah, you can be the greatest
You can be the best
You can be the King Kong banging on your chest

You can beat the world
You can beat the war
You can talk to God, go banging on his door

You can throw your hands up
You can beat the clock (yeah)
You can move a mountain
You can break rocks
You can be a master
Don't wait for luck
Dedicate yourself and you gon' find yourself

Standing in the hall of fame—

Lulu wants to chat.

I had ignored the last I don't know how many Skype calls she sent me, so I knew if I ignored anymore, she'd be majorly ticked off. After taking in a deep breath, I hit accept and waited for her face to pop up. When it did, I almost started crying. She had changed so much. I haven't seen her since I moved out here. We had texted back and forth a simple 'hey how are you' when we had the time, which wasn't very often. We both had busy schedules. We had our own lives. We had new friends. We had grown apart.

"Holy shit," we both mumbled. Not only had she changed, but so had I. We were almost unrecognizable. "You look different."

I see she's still up to her Yoda ways.

"How are you?" I asked after a moment of silence. "Anything new happening in your life?"

A smirk appeared on her face along with what looked like a slight blush. It might've been the lighting on her end or the pixelation on my end, but I swear she was blushing. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, there is," she answered.

"Well?"

"I'm engaged!" She held up her left hand and flashed her ring. It might as well have been a damn half pound rock on her finger. It was huge. It was one of those rings that every girl dreamed of having and wished for every time they saw a shooting star or blew on a Dandelion.

"To who?"

Her eyebrows furrowed and she shot me a confused look. "What do you mean 'to who?' I've been with Zayn for ages, V. I'm engaged to Zayn."

"You're still with him?"

"Well yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

I shrugged. "Dunno. Figured maybe as you got older you'd realize you didn't want to be involved in that life."

She shook her head. "I'm not like you, V. I don't run away from stuff. I put on my big girl panties and deal with it. Now, with that being said, will you be my maid of honor?"

My best friend who I grew up with and considered my sister, was getting married and asked me to be her maid of honor, after basically calling me a coward. I didn't know what to say. Nor did I even know if I wanted to be her maid of honor or not. Yes, I loved her like family, but we had grown apart these last few years. Yes, I grew up with her, but we lived on opposites ends of the country. We had grown apart and moved on. Her more so then me, it seems. She was twenty one and had her life figured out. Here I was, twenty one and working in a cafe, serving rude customers seven days a week and barely making ends meet. But I loved it and it was what I wanted. But that didn't mean I wanted to broadcast to the world that I left my family and the money and nice life that came along with it, to live the life of a broke barista.

"I'm pretty busy with work and stuff," I replied. "But I'll check my schedule and get back to you."

"You'll get back to me?"

Something just hit me. How could she be engaged to Zayn when he lives in the UK and she lives over here in the states? "Woah, wait, hold up. Why are you and Zayn engaged if you live in different countries? That's a disaster waiting to happen."

Her eyebrows furrowed again. "I've lived with him for the last year. Why do you think I try to Skype you at such odd hours of the day?"

My shoulders lifted in a shrug. "To be honest, I didn't pay that much attention. I've been working nonstop since I got here and cut off contact with pretty much everyone except my mom, dad, brothers, and Zack."

She scoffed. "So what am I; fucking chopped liver?"

She didn't get it, and she probably never would. "I didn't want to put you in the middle, Lulu. When I left you were still with Zayn and I didn't want you to feel obligated to take my side and hate Harry. It would make things awkward. So instead, I got rid of all my social networking profiles and my photography website and got a new number and cut you out of my life. I did the same to Niall, Louis, Liam, and Zayn. I moved on and part of moving on was giving up my past and giving up my past meant growing up. We needed to grow up, Lulu."

She looked like she didn't know what to say. And I don't blame her. I just laid it on her, not sparing her feelings. I hated to do that to her, but it was the truth. There was no lie I could tell her that she would believe.

"I grew up and that meant leaving my old life behind. It meant leaving you behind, and Niall and the others behind," I spoke. "I needed this." If I didn't get off here now, I'd start crying. "I'm sorry, but I—I have to go." The top of my laptop was slammed shut and I pushed it away from me.

"God dammit!"