You Were Meant for Me

I woke up at Ryan and Josh’s apartment after another nightly bender with another hell of a hangover. My mom thought she was slick by pouring all the alcohol in the house out and taking my keys, but all I had to do was climb out my bedroom window and wait for one of the guys to pick me up. Sure, I was legal age so I could have just walked out the front door, but I couldn’t take another “You could die!” lecture from her.

Ricky dropped me off on his way to the store, reminding me I had to be somewhat sober for tonight. I groaned at the thought of being fully aware for the day, but agreed nonetheless. He had pulled some major strings for me and I didn’t want to let him down or embarrass him. I’d already lost two important people, I didn’t need to lose another.

I unlocked the front door, hoping mom was still asleep but once I was inside, I could hear hushed voices coming from the kitchen. My eyes rolled in annoyance as the thought of her telling Bevvy all about my recent behavior entered my mind. I tried to slip up to my room undetected, but it didn’t work. My mom called me into the room causing me to groan.

“Look, mom… Beverly, I know I’ve been out of it lately, but I really don’t want to hear about how perfect Jackson is, okay? He’s not that great, trust me. I know what he does when he's hom...”

I stopped dead in my tracks as I entered the kitchen, not able to finish my sentence as I tried to comprehend what I saw. He was sitting at the table with my mom while a suitcase was propped against the wall, indicating he planned on staying for a few days. Part of me wanted to run to him and just let him hold me, while another part wanted to throw the nearest vase at his head, but I maturely opted for a better solution.

“Fuck you, Ville.” I spat venomously as the smile on his face fell.

I turned on my heels and mumbled a few more curse words under my breath as he quickly stood up from the table and followed behind me. He shoved his foot in the door before I could shut it, but it didn’t stop me from trying. I gave up and ignored his presence as I threw clothes in a bag. I had to get out of this house before I lost it completely and did something I would regret.

“Wynter, talk to me. What’s wrong, darling girl?” He asked as he grabbed my hand to pull me closer.

“Don’t!” I screamed as tears started to fall. “Don’t fucking call me that, Ville! I know, okay? I know it was all some kind of fucked up ploy concocted by Mikaela to mess with me. Give it up already and just go back to Finland.”

“Are you drunk? You aren’t making any sense to me. What happened? We were fine when you left. Come on, talk to me.”

“What happened? Oh, that’s a good one. My entire life has been ripped apart, I’m losing everything! I needed you and you were nowhere to be found. Mikaela finally had the decency to send me a picture of you two together, telling me what an absolute fucking fool I was. So no, Ville, we were never good.”

I grabbed my things and pushed past him, leaving him completely dumbfounded in the doorway. My mom stood at the bottom of the stairs with a shocked look on her face, obviously hearing everything that had happened. I couldn’t be mad at her for bringing him here because I had never told her so she had no idea. Thankfully she didn’t put up a fight when I asked for my keys, probably due to the fact I hadn’t been drinking or that I had tears streaming down my cheeks.

After a long day, I stood beside Ricky, nervously tapping my boot as we waited for our turn. We were at a little cafe that a friend of a friend of a friend owned and was hosting a cover set night with a prize of $200. It wasn’t much, and if we won, I would split it with Ricky for all his hard work. Especially since I convinced him to do our entire set as a tribute to one of my favorite female artists, one I had been listening to a lot the past few weeks.

As the emcee let us know that we were on stage next, I noticed camera flashes and excited voices coming from the front. I glanced and saw a few people standing around, but my eyes locked right onto his. He was standing beside Bam and a few fans who were surprised to see them at the cafe. I tore my eyes away from him and turned my attention to Ricky, ignoring what was going on only a few feet away.

It was finally our turn to go and we took the stage, Ricky armed with his old acoustic guitar and me with mine. I glanced at my friend and he sent me a reassuring smile as all of our friends clapped and yelled, while the rest of the patrons were busy swooning over the two famous men. Ryan Ashley obviously hadn’t seen them yet or she’d be right there with the fan girls.

“Hi everyone, we’re Wynrick and we’re doing a few covers by the wonderful Avril Lavigne tonight. Hope you’re all okay with that, if not, there’s the door. This one is called Nobody’s Home.”

Once we started playing, people actually stopped what they were doing and listened to me sing. I tried not to look for him, but I found myself scanning the crowd and I found them sitting at a table not too far from my friends, both Ville and Bam staring intently at the stage. We played a few more songs including My Happy Ending, He Wasn’t, and Take Me Away, before paused to take a quick water break. We picked right back up with Don’t Tell Me and it really hit home. I felt my voice wavering on the last line but I held the tears back, knowing we still had one more to do.

“We’re gonna end it on a lighter note. This one is Sk8er Boi.” Ricky breathed into the mike as he started the intro.

The crowd was clapping as we finished and took our bow, before exiting the stage. I wanted to get the hell out of here before Ville tried to talk to me again but Ryan Ashley nudged me in the side as I picked up my guitar case and I knew exactly why.

“Wynter, can we please talk? I need to explain. I just need a minute, please.”

“Rick, I’m gonna go.” I mumbled, completely ignoring Ville’s presence. “Do you mind waiting around for the results? I’ll see you guys later.”

“Wynter, wait!” My best friend yelled as I pushed past them and shoved my guitar case in Ricky’s direction.

I stormed out and tried to keep myself from crying, but the second I made it outside, it was like a waterfall. Why was I so upset?! Why was I letting him get to me like this? I pulled my jacket closer to my body then wiped my tears before stepping into the nearest bar. My plan was to drink the sadness away then call Ricky for a ride later, knowing he would always scoop my drunken ass off the sidewalk.

I had gotten to know the bartender at this certain bar pretty well over the past few weeks and he already had a drink waiting at my usual spot. He knew I was heartbroken and trying to get over it so he kept the drinks coming at a gradual pace until I felt it was time to stop. Within twenty minutes, my emo knight was inside to make sure I made it to his car okay. I expected him to ask about Ville, but he didn’t. Instead we drove in silence to his house and barely made it inside before I passed out on the couch.