Casual Affair

Thrown Back On Stage As I walked into my perfect school I held my oversized purse close to my glasses as my sunglasses fit to my face. First day of my senior year. This is the year where I’ve completed all my high school requirements and can focus solely on getting into Julliard. This is going to be an amazing year. I heard the whispers and felt the stares of the people in the hallways. The freshmen couldn’t believe they were actually seeing me in person and everyone else was wondering what amazing this I was going to do next. Over the past 3 years I’ve been the lead in all the school musicals and plays. I’ve performed on stage with a couple celebrities. I’ve been in some magazines. I have everything going for me right now, I just need Julliard. I walked to my locker and slipped off my glasses. I got my schedule and looked it over. I had to make sure I was going to the right classes, you know? “Um… Lana?” A small voice said causing me to look over. I looked down on this adorable little girl. Well not little, probably a freshman. Her blonde hair fell to her back and her big blue eyes looked up at me. “Yes.” I said smiling at her. “Can I have your autograph? I think you’re absolutely amazing.” She said sweetly. “Of course honey.” I said taking the magazine and signing right under my picture. “Thank you so much.” She said beaming. “No problem hun.” I said smiling. She scurried off and one my best friends came up to me. “Hey Jas.” I said closing my locker. “Hey babe.” She said looping her arm through mine. “Where’s Clo?” I asked looking at her. “I have no idea. But our first period classes are right across the hall from each other so I can walk you to class everyday.” She said happily. “Oh the joy.” I replied sarcastically. “Oh you love me so shut the f**k up.” She said pushing me. “Of course I love you.” I said smiling up at her. “Well here is our stop.” She said looking between the two classrooms and sighing. “Brighten up buttercup this is going to be an amazing year.” I said confidently. “One more year then New York.” She said slowly. “One more year then New York.” I confirmed before turning and walking into my class. It was one of my many performance classes. It was my vocal performance class. As I walked in I smiled at my teacher before turning to scan the rest of the class. My eyes caught onto someone I haven’t really seen in a year. He sat lazily in his chair staring down at his phone. No matter how long I’ve gone without seeing him his sight and presence still messes up with my head and whacks up my emotions even in the slightest way. And don’t even get me started on the way he manages to always look perfect. STOP. Lana, you have a boyfriend. This guy broke your heart. You hate him. As I walked to an empty seat I realized I would have to pass him. So I started walking. He caught sight of me and he looked as shocked, if not more, as me. His lips parted ever so slightly before he closed them again and smirked at me. As I walked by him his fingers gripped my hand ever so slightly causing both breathing and me to stop. “A whole year and you still look as perfect as you did the first day I looked at you.” He said looking up at me. Since I was rendered speechless I rolled my eyes before pulling my hand away from his and sitting in an empty chair. I sat aimlessly looking through my phone waiting for my teacher to start class. “Music. The main reason most of you suckers are here anyways.” The man said walking up on the small stage in front of us. “You want to pursue a profession in music. Whether it be a famous singer, or a Broadway star. You want to sing. And you’re in the right class. I’m Mr. Meyers and this is Musical Performance. Musical performance class you will have a new song to perform every week. I will give you a theme. You will have to do it. So I’m just going to have a little taste of what you guys are capable of before I give you you’re first assignment.” He said happily. “Let’s get started. You…” He pointed at me. “And you.” He pointed at him. “Get up here. State your name and decide on the best break-up song and sing it.” He said before walking off the stage. I got up and walked on. There were two microphones and I picked the one on the right. He came up on the one on the left. “I’m Lana Monroe.” I said smiling. “Asher Reed.” He said huskily. . “Best break-up song…” I said slowly before it popping in my head. “Gives you hell, All American Rejects.” We said at the same time. We looked at each other as the music began to play. He smirked before giving me a wink. He sang first. “I wake up every morning with a big smile on my face. And it never feels out of place. And you’re still probably working at a 9 to 5 pace, I wonder how bad that tastes.” He sang looking straight at me. He then sang the chorus and I started the next verse. “Now where’s your picket fence, love? And where’s that shiny car? And did it ever get your far? You never seemed so tense, love. I’ve never seen you fall so hard. Do you know where you are?” I sang returning his stare. “And Truth be told I miss you.” He sang. “And Truth be told I’m lying.” I sang. We both sang the chorus. “Tomorrow you’ll be thinking to yourself…” He sang. “Yea, where’d it all go wrong?” I sang. “But the list goes on and on.” He sang. Then we sung the chorus. “Now You’ll never see what you’ve done to me. You can take back your memories, they’re no good to me.” I sang, probably getting way to into it. “And here’s all your lies. You can look me in the eyes, with the sad, sad look you that you wear so well.” He sang. We danced around a bit then started walking towards each other while singing the chorus. “When you sing along I hope that it puts you through hell…” We both sang merely inches away from each other. I breathed heavily while looking at him. The class, and teacher, where clapping with a standing ovation. I took and step back and turned to face the class. “Very, very good. Great energy. Great chemistry. Can’t wait to see what else is in store for the two of you over the next year.” Mr. Mayer said clapping. “Thanks.” We both said. I quickly walked off stage. I sat down in my seat and took steady breaths. I got way too into that song. It meant way more than what these people thought it meant. It goes deeper. Too deep. I totally should be over this. I shouldn’t even be a thought in my mind anymore, but it’s different. Something’s going to still hurt when you don’t see the person who broke your heart everyday, and then suddenly you see him after a year and are forced to sing a break up song with him. Obviously it’s going to hurt. No matter how much you try to bury that part of your past it’s still going to hurt. Stop. Stop thinking about this. Stop thinking about him. Gosh. Get over yourself. You’re going to only have to see him once a day. Once. You can get through that. I felt myself calming down before the bell rang. I grabbed my bag and walked out the door. Clo was there waiting for me sipping on some Starbucks. “Where were you this morning?” I asked looking at her. “Had a meeting.” She said simply. “You alright? You look like you just saw a ghost.” She asked placing a hand on my shoulder. “I would’ve much rather seen a ghost than see him.” I said tugging her closer to the class Jas was supposed to be coming out of. “Him? Him who?” She asked confused. “Hey guys. Sorry, teacher wanted to talk to me.” Jas said looking at us. “Him who?” Clo asked not changing the subject. “What?” Jas asked. “Asher.” I said looking at Clo. “Wait, what? That name hasn’t come up in about a year. What’s going on?” Jas asked her eyes wide. “Ugh. It’s nothing really. I’ll tell you guys later, if it even matters later. It was just an overreaction I suppose.” I said looking at them. “I’m supposed to meet Derek.” I said before turning around and walking towards the main hall. As soon as I saw him a smile crept up on my face. “Hey babe.” I said happily. “Hey.” He replied pulling me in for a hug. “I bought you a donut. You were telling me you were rushing this morning, I didn’t know if you caught breakfast or not.” He said holding a Dunkin Donut bag in front of me. “I didn’t. Omg. Thank you so much babe.” I said before kissing him. “No problem baby.” He said laughing. I took the donut and scarfed it down. “How’s you’re day been so far?” He asked watching me eat. “Oh, great!” I said smiling. I felt really bad lying to him, but I don’t know how he would handle my little encounter with Asher. I’m going to have to find a way to play that down later today. “That’s good baby. We should be getting to class.” He said smiling down at me. “Alright. See you later.” I said pecking his lips. “Love you.” He said happily. “You too.” I replied before walking towards my next class. I walked into my acting class. As I walked in, I saw him sitting there the same way I saw him sitting in the class before. He sat radiating coolness. He was wearing the normal rock star outfit. Black jeans, white tee, leather jacket and his infamous bed hair. Everything the screamed badass. I shook my head averting my eyes away from him. This is just a side effect of not seeing him in a year. That’s it. Nothing more. Within the next couple of days I’m going to be completely over this. It’s just a thing. I walked to the empty seat farthest away from him. Well apparently I have every freaking class except one with this kid. And that one free class is my study hall. I can’t see him every period of my day. No. Get over it. It’s one more year. One. Then you’re off to Julliard. Off to bigger and better things than high school. I smiled as I walked out of my last class and towards the school exit. “Hey, wait up.” Someone called out. I didn’t need to turn around to know whose voice that was. I turned around slowly and watched him jog towards me. He stopped and ran his fingers through his hair. “Hey.” He said looking down at me. “Hey.” I replied simply. “It seems like we’re going to be seeing a lot of each other this year.” He said putting his hands in his pockets. “Seems so.” I replied trying to end the conversation. “How’ve you been Lana?” He asked capturing my eyes with him. The way he said my name always made me feel different than when anyone else ever says my name. He just has a way of saying my name that makes me feel… I don’t know. “I’ve been good.” I said nodding. “It was good seeing you. Maybe…” He said started before I cut him off. “Asher…” I said removing his hand from my arm. “What? I’m just trying to be civil. Don’t you think it’s time for us to be civil?” He asked seriously. “You being civil? Ha! As if. There’s always a motive behind everything you do.” I said crossing my arms. “Why do you think that I always have an alternative motive? Why can’t I just want to be civil and move past everything?” He asked getting angry. “As much as I want to believe you Asher I can’t.” I said shaking my head. “And as much as I want you to, I know you have good reason not to. But at least now you can’t say I didn’t try.” He said shaking his head and removing his hand from my arm. “I was telling the truth when I said that it was good to see you. And maybe… maybe someday you’ll believe me.” He said before walking away. Without even realizing it, my heart started to hurt and tears pricked my eyes. The image of him walking is an all to familiar sight to me. Still fresh in my mind. And as much as I hated to admit it, he still has an affect on me. A strong one too. “Hey what was that about?” Jas asked as she and Clo came up next to me. “Nothing. Nothing at all.” I said shaking my head. “Let’s go.” I said turning around. Our First Love Songs “Sing about a time in your life where you felt absolutely happy. Sing of a time when you fell in love. Or maybe re fell in love. Sing a song that once made you the happiest person in the whole world. Bring a song prepared with a story behind it. I expect a story behind every song that you sing in this class. For this next assignment I want a happy story, or a love story.” Mr. Meyers said to our class on Friday. I’ve been thinking about this assignment all weekend. I’ve been going back through my life thinking about a time in my life like that. I had to dig deep, but I think I found it. Boy does this song have a story behind it. Not the story I’d like to sing, or even the person I want to sing about, but the song describes a time in my life where I felt absolutely happy… absolutely loved. “Lana on the stage.” Mr. Meyer said looking down at his notepad. I’m terrified of the comments he’s going to write down, but a good performer needs good criticism. Right? Right. I walked up on stage and took hold of the mic. “The song I’m performing for you guys today is “She Loves Me” from the musical She Loves Me. The reason I chose this song is because the assignment was to pick a song that made you feel absolutely happy and absolutely loved. Well, in the moment, the person who was singing this song made me feel that way. I’m not even entirely sure he knew it or not but he made me fall in love with that song, with his voice and later with him. So yeah. Here we go.” I said smiling not daring to look over at him while I said that. I took the mic out of its stand and backed up a bit. I started my performance hopping around the stage, mimicking the actions of him when he was on stage. It’s a wonder I still remembered exactly how he performed it. “She loves me! She loves meeeeeeeee!” I finished out of breath. The class applauded and I looked over at my teacher whom was still writing down notes. He finished writing and looked up at me with a smile. “Very good Ms. Monroe. Quite entertaining. You may be seated.” He said waving his hand, dismissively. “Thank you.” I said before walking off the stage. “Last but not least, Asher Reed.” Mr. Meyers said. I watched as his tall figure gracefully walked up on stage. He grabbed the mic and brought it closer to him. “The song I’m performing today is “Hopelessly devoted to You” from Grease. I chose this song for many reasons. The assignment was to pick a song that made us feel happy. Well this song made me fall in love with the girl of my dreams once she sang the very first word. And for some reason, even though we hadn’t really known each other at the time, I felt like she was singing this to me. Like I was the one she was hopelessly devoted to. Now, every time I hear this song I think of her. Which makes me happy because she made me happy, but it also makes me sad. Sad because I’m not with her anymore and I don’t know if I ever will be again, but yet no matter what I still feel hopelessly devoted to her.” He said before looking me right in the eyes. He did not. He is not. He’s not going to sing this song. He really is about to sing this song. He performed it exactly the way I did those years ago. Sitting on a stool with a guitar, just getting lost in the music. “Hopelessly devoted to you.” He ended looking at me. I felt like freaking crying. I couldn’t believe he actually did that. This is weird. We both used each others’ songs. Wow. Why am I still thinking about him? “That was… incredibly heartfelt Mr. Reed. I could feel both the joy and sadness in the way you sung that. Maybe if you sing it to your girl like that you can win her back.” Mr. Meyers said with a wink. “Yea, I’m not too sure about that Mr. Meyers. She practically hates me now, but thanks. I’ll keep that in consideration.” Asher said with a slight smile. The bell rung and I rushed out of class. I could not be in a room with that boy for one more second. Ugh! I can’t stand it. I can’t stand him. Why, all of a sudden, am I thinking about him again? There are more important things for me to be thinking about than him. Like New York. And Derek. And my friends. And everyone but him. I shook my head before walking to my next class. “Hey girly. How’d your performance go?” Clo asked looking at me. “Great!” I said putting a fake smile on my face. “Pretty sure I aced that.” I said grabbing something out of my locker. “That’s good. What was the assignment again?” She asked as we made our way to our class. “To sing a song that made us feel completely happy or loved.” I said recitingly. “Oh, that must’ve been easy. Derek sings to you all the time.” She said with a slight laugh. “Yea, really easy.” I said looking down at my shoes. “Well I’ll see you later babe.” She said before blowing me a kiss. As I walked in the class I saw Asher just sitting there. I felt a wave of guilt come crashing over me. I sang a song that my Ex boyfriend wasn’t even singing to me. Yet I didn’t choose a song that my current boyfriend has actually sung to me. That doesn’t even make any type of sense. Well… yea… yea it really does. Probably because no matter what song it is or who’s singing it or when. Nobody, no song, nothing will ever make me feel the way Asher made me feel when he sang that song. And that’s bad. That’s really bad. Like I can’t even remember a time at all in our relationship where Derek made me feel that way. When Derek could make me feel so freaking loved with his voice like Asher did on that stage those years ago. I shook my head before sitting down in a seat far away from him. I walked out of my last class, finally happy to be able to go home and sleep. The good thing about going to a performing arts school is that you have little homework except working on a song or memorizing lines of a script and I enjoy doing both so it doesn’t even feel like work. I smiled and hopped a little as I walked down the hallway. I turned a corner and bumped into someone. “I am so sorry.” We both said in unison. I looked up and saw Asher standing there. I took a fairly large step backwards before composing myself. “Hey.” He said with a small smile. “Hey.” I replied. “I should…” I started before he cut me off. “Nice song you sang in class today. I swear you sung it better than I did.” He said with a slight laugh. “I could say the same thing.” I said looking down at my shoes. “To be honest I thought that was about the last song on earth that you’d ever choose.” He said slowly. “Why do you say that?” I asked not looking up at him. “Because that’s the song that started this whole mess.” Playing with his hands. “Technically that wasn’t the song that started this whole mess. It was the one we sang together, but using that logic, why’d you choose my song?” I asked looking up at him crossing my arms. “Because nothing else has ever made me feel that happy or that loved.” He said shrugging. “Same here.” I said biting my lip. “I thought you regretted it, which is why I was kinda surprised you picked my song.” He said also biting his lip. “Regretted it? How could I regret that Asher?” I said shaking my head. How could he think I would regret the best thing that’s ever happened to me? “Well, seeing how it all ended and where we are now… I mean…” He started before I cut him off. “How it ended and where we are now means nothing compared to the two years we spent together Asher. Nothing. Nothing at all could ever make me regret the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Not how we ended and not where we are now.” I said seriously. “That’s really good to hear Lana. Really, really good to hear.” He said placing his hand on my face and rubbing circles on the spot right under my eye, like he used to. “God Asher you gotta stop doing this to me!” I said backing away from him. “Stop doing what?” He asked raising his eyebrow. “This! Making me relive the past. Doing things you used to do when we were together. Making me…” I stopped. What was I going to say after that? Making me feel something for him again? Had I ever stopped feeling something for him? “Making you what?” He asked slowly. “Nothing. Forget it.” I said trying to walk past him, but he grabbed my wrist. “Lana…” He started. “Stop it Asher! Just stop it! You remember why we broke up. We broke up for a reason. We haven’t talked in about a year, what’s the difference now? You can leave me alone again Asher. You can. This isn’t healthy.” I said pointing in between us. “It’s never been healthy.” I added before pulling away from him and walking away. I got into my car and drove home. “Mom…? Dad…?” I yelled as I walked into my house. “In here honey!” My mom called from what I presumed to be the kitchen. I walked in and saw my mom and dad dancing while cooking. The sight of this made me smile. “Hello my wonderful parents.” I said before kissing both of their cheeks. “Hello champ. How was school today?” My dad asked pulling me in for a tight hug. “It was great. I had a performance at school that I think I did well in.” I said happily. “That’s great honey. Which class?” My mom asked. “My musical performance class.” I said grabbing an apple. “Oh well then I’m sure you did fantastic.” My dad said roughing up my hair. “Dad!” I whined causing my parents to laugh. “Who else is in that class with you?” My mom asked over the pan of sizzling something. “The only other person I know in that class is… Asher.” I said his name in a quieter tone than the rest of the sentence. “Oh Asher! How is he?” My mom asked and I could hear the smile in her voice. My parents, for some reason, preferred Asher to Derek. I swear, they were more in love with him than I was and for some reason they still are. “He’s fine. He did pretty well, but um… I think I’m going to go run some lines upstairs. Call me when dinner’s ready.” I said before walking out of the kitchen. I wanted to get out of there before my parents started talking about Asher any more. I ran up the stairs to my room and plopped down face first in my bed. After just sitting there I rolled over and turned on my laptop. While it was booting up I went to the place in my room I kept all my secret treasures hidden away. I grabbed the big scrapbook and opened it to the second page before slipping out the CD and popping it into the laptop. While that was loading I changed into a pair of running shorts and a black tank top. I sat back on my bed and pulled the laptop on my lap. The CD that contained all the performances from that night. The night that, as Asher said, started this mess. I pushed my way through the crowd of people. I smoothed down my skirt. I dressed up as the good girl Sandy Olsson from grease. I loved that movie with all my heart. I was going to be singing “Hopelessly Devoted to You” but I didn’t want to wear a night gown. That’s pretty ugly. I found my way to this break in the crowd and I was able to finally catch a breath. From here I looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of my friends. I pushed the fake blonde wig hair out of my face. My natural hair felt itchy underneath it. I much preferred my natural hair color, which was a dark brown with natural light brown highlights streaking through it, than blonde, but it was a part of the costume. Then I saw them, standing near the stage. I let out a sigh of relief and began to walk towards them. I ran into a tall person. “Oops! I am so sorry.” We both said in unison. I looked up into a pair of pure green eyes. Like, not green with a hint of blue. Not blue green. Pure forest green. My eyes traveled upwards to his dark brown spiked hair, the back down. “It’s ok.” I managed to mutter out. “Well, I should probably let you get back to your friends.” He said smiling at me. I couldn’t help but smile back at his smile. “Yea, I guess you should.” I said before walking around him to my group of friends. “Hey Lana.” Jas said smiling at me. “Hey Lana.” Clo said turning towards me. “Hey Jas and Clo.” I said happily. “What’s got you all smiley?” Jas asked. “Oh nothing.” I said sweetly. Soon enough our conversation turned into our normal discussions, which these days consisted of our excitement of entering high school in the coming fall. Then the performing started. I volunteered to go third. I walked up there, on stage, and smiled. I’ve always loved singing. I’ve loved performing. I felt like the stage is where I belonged. “Hopelessly Devoted to You.” I said into the mic and grabbed the guitar they had sitting there. I began singing the song. My eyes caught sight of the boy from earlier. He had a wide smile on his face and his eyes were locked on mine. No matter how many times I looked away from him I ended up locking my eyes back to his, like they were magnets. At the end of the song I heard the roaring applause, but I couldn’t help but just look at him. To observe the way he was smiling at me. To observe the way he clapped, moving one hand instead of two in a way that showed that he was shocked yet impressed at the same time. I shook my head slightly before turning to the host of this event. “event”. It was just a party. A party that this really rich kid throws every year and invites a bunch of people to. “Great performance… who do we have next?” The boy, Adam, asked looking around the crowd. Before he could even finish his sentence Mystery boy had raised his hand. “You. Come on up.” Adam said pointing at him. I rushed off stage, as the boy hopped on. Adam handed the boy the mic. “She loves me.” The boy said without hesitation. “Well! Well! Well!” He started singing and his presence filled the entire room. You’re eyes were glued to his every move. Rushing from this side to that side he was moving about the stage like it was actually a part of him. His voice was so powerful and so strong, yet so lovely and soothing at the same time. The best part of the performance, though, was that his eyes actually never left mine. Opposed to the many times I averted my eyes from his, he kept my stare. He welcomed it actually. He’d give me a slight smirk or a quick wink every once in a while. Towards the end, I realized I had gotten so trapped up in him and what he was doing on that stage that I wasn’t even paying attention to anything around me. I didn’t want to. That is, until I was pushed out of my trance by Clo. “Huh?” I asked after realizing she’d asked me something. “He’s really good isn’t he?” She yelled a little over the music. “Yea.” I said before looking back at him. “Really good.” I said more to myself than to her. It was like I hadn’t even looked away, because there he was again, waiting for my eyes to return to his. Like that’s where they belonged. He finished and Adam comes back on stage. “Well wasn’t that something. Let’s give him a round of applause.” Adam said before everyone started clapping. The kid hopped off stage and walked to who I assumed were his friends. A couple more people performed here and there, in between were music from musicals, since it was a musical themed party. I walked away from my friends to get a drink. Before I reached, I bumped into my mystery boy again. “We just keep running into each other.” I said smiling up at him. “That we do.” He said with a smirk. “I thought you did awesome up there.” He said throwing a quick look at the, now empty, stage. “Thanks, but you totally did better than me.” I said shaking my head. “No way. You…” He started before we got cut off with a light shining on us. “You two, on stage.” Adam said pointing at us. We looked at each other before he placed his hand in the small of my back and led me to the stage. “Random Karaoke time.” Adam said smiling. As the song, You Are the Music in Me, started playing. “Really? High School Musical? Could we get anymore cliché?” I asked into the mic, causing Mystery boy to laugh. I’m gonna need to learn his name. I can’t just keep calling him Mystery boy. “Nananana, Nananana, Yeah. You are the music in me.” He started singing, giving me this cute little smile. “You know the words ‘once upon a time’, Makes you listen. There's a reason.” I sang rolling my eyes. Soon enough our voices merged into one and it became the best duet I’ve ever sang in my whole life. I’ve never enjoyed singing with someone so much. He spun me around and danced with me and it didn’t even feel like I was singing in front of a crowd. It felt like it was just us and we were just singing to each other. The music slowly came to an end and everyone clapped. I turned away from his intense stare, before being ushered off stage. “We keep bumping into each other and then get forced to sing a cliché song together. I’m thinking this is a sign.” Mystery boy said looking at me. “Maybe it is.” I said with a shrug. “Asher.” He said sticking out his hand for me to shake. “Asher Reed.” “Lana.” I slipped my hand in his and felt unexpected tingled running through my arm. “Lana Monroe.” “Beautiful name for a beautiful girl. Pleasure to meet you Lana.” Asher said smiling. “Likewise.” I replied happily. “Do you wanna get out of here Lana?” Asher asked with a slight smirk. I thought about it for a little while. I’m sure my friends will be ok if I ditched them for a really hot guy, right? Well, I’ll take my chances of them getting mad at me. “Sure. Why not?” I said looking up at him. A wide smile played on his lips as he took my hand and led me somewhere. He took me outside and through the back. There was a small beach. “So… tell me about yourself.” He said looking over at me. The moon was extremely bright tonight, so I could see his face as we walked. It’s like the moonlight enhanced his already beautiful features. “Um, born and raised here in L.A.. Mom’s a journalist for cosmopolitan. Dad’s an executer for Vogue. So my life has been centered around famous people. I don’t really want to be a famous “singer” or “actor” I want to be a Broadway star. Being on stage doing musicals forever, that’s my dream job.” I said with a slight smile. “What about you?” I asked looking up at him. “I was born and raised in Florida. Beachside, Miami. Dad got a major job over here, so we just moved. We’ve been staying at my Aunt’s house until the house we’re moving into has all the furniture in it and everything. I want to be a famous musician. Anyone can become a famous singer. I want to be a famous musician. Music is a part or me and I want to be a part of it. Hundreds of shows, months on tours, years in a recording studio recording my music… my words. That’s what I want. That’s my dream job.” He said looking over at the ocean. “Wow. That’s really cool.” I said squeezing his hand, still not over the fact that he’s still holding my hand. Ah! Total girl freaking out moment right here. “So you write your own music?” I asked looking up at him “Yup!” He said proudly. “Let me hear something.” I said stopping him and pivoting my body to face him. “Um… ok.” He said kind of unsure. “It’s a little something I’ve been working on. It’s not really good.” He said before clearing his throat. He started singing. I didn’t even really hear the words coming out of his mouth, but instead just the sound of his voice. It was so smooth. So beautiful. So soothing. He stopped at smiled up at me. “That was amazing.” I whispered looking at him. “You really think so? I mean, I don’t normally sing my songs with people I just met, but I feel like I can… I don’t know. Trust you?” He said with a slight laugh. “I don’t normally go on strolls down the beach with random guys, but here I am.” I said teasingly. “I guess we’re both doing things we don’t normally do tonight.” He said as we turned to walk back to the party. “Yea. I guess we are.” I said slowly. We reached the party again and I turned to face him. “I guess this is where we separate.” He said looking around us. “I guess so.” I said trying to mask the sadness in my voice. “I enjoyed talking to you.” He said smiling “Me too!” I said happily. “Alright bye.” He said smiling and shaking his head slightly. “Bye.” I replied before trying to walk away. “You’re still holding my hand.” I said turning to face him. “I know. I forgot something.” He said looking down at our hands. “And what’s that?” I asked squeezing his hand. “To ask you out on a date.” He said before flashing me a dazzling smile. I was shocked. Did he just ask me out? He just asked me out. What? “I know we just met and everything, but I…” He started before I cut him off. “Yes.” I spat out. “Wait… what?” He asked confused. “Yes, I will go out on a date with you.” I said with a slight laugh. “Ok… Here, we can exchange numbers.” He said taking out his phone. I took mine out before handing it to him. We put out numbers in before handing them back. “Smile beautiful.” He said lifting his phone to my face level. I raised my eyebrow questioningly. “Picture I.D.” He said with a wink. I shrugged before smiling. He took the pic and I put my phone to his face level. “Picture I.D.” I said mocking his voice. He laughed a bit before smiling. And what a wonderful smile it was. “Is that it? Is that all the questions you have for me?” I asked crossing my arms. “Unless you’re willing to say yes to becoming my girlfriend…” He said teasingly. “Slow your roll big shot. A couple more dates before that happens, babe.” I said smirking. “So we’re going to go on ‘a couple more dates’?” He asked hopefully. “Let’s see how the first one goes.” I said laughing. “Can’t wait!” He said smirking. “Bye!” I said backing away from him. “Bye.” He said leaning over and kissing me on the cheek. I smiled before turning around and walking back to my friends. “Where have you been?” Jas asked yelling at me. “I was out with a boy.” I said slowly. “Doing what?” Clo asked looking at me. “Talking. Walking. He sang to me.” I said thinking. “And?” Jas asked getting closer. “And he asked me out. And kissed me on the cheek.” I said still not believing that actually happened. “You got a picture?” Clo asked looking at me. I nodded before pulling out my phone and showing him to them. “Oh he’s the boy you sang with.” Jas said nodding. “Oh he’s way hotter closer up than on stage.” Clo said smiling. I looked away as they looked at him on my phone. I caught his eyes. He winked at me causing me to smile. I turned to face my friends again. I couldn’t believe that he actually asked me out. I was going on a date with him. A boy asked me out on a date. A really, really, really cute boy asked me out on a date. “Lana, dinner!” My mom called up to me, snapping me out of my trance. “I’ll be right down.” I yelled back. I closed my computer, even though the video had been over for a long time. I pushed it away from me and placed my head in my hands. I groaned loudly before pushing the laptop off my lap. I rolled out of bed and walked down stairs. I sat at my normal place at the table. I looked down at the backed chicken, vegetables and mashed potatoes spread out on the table. “This looks delicious mom.” I said smiling at her. “Thank you sweetheart.” She said happily. We said our prayer before digging in. “So how’s school going?” Dad asked stuffing his face. “It’s going well. I’m really enjoying my classes.” I said nodding, before taking a bite of my food. “How’s you’re Julliard preparations going?” Mom asked cutting her chicken. “Really good. Actually, Mrs. Webber was telling me about this Julliard prep program in New York. It’s a lot later in the school year, right before I have to audition. But it’s a week long thing. They just really get you prepared for your audition. The thing is you have to get accepted to that. So I’m working on some of my best pieces to send in. But with musical auditions coming up soon, I’m going to have to focus all my energy into that.” I said with a mouth full of food, no matter how un-lady like that is. “Well, you’ve gotten the lead for the past three years. So you shouldn’t really have to worry.” My dad said shrugging. “It’s not a matter of getting lead dad! It’s a matter of doing well. It’s a matter of making my senior year musical the best musical I’ve ever done. And it’s freaking Grease this year! Grease! One of my favorite musicals ever.” I said dragging out the vowels in my words. “ You have a lot of favorite musicals honey.” My mom said sliding a piece of chicken in her mouth. “Ugh! You guys just don’t understand!” I groaned stuffing food in my mouth. My mom and dad just laughed, shaking their heads. They entered into small talk before we started cleaning up the table. The door bell rang. “I’ll get it.” I said hopping over to the door. I opened it shocked at the face standing at the other side. “Hey.” He said smiling. “Hey. What are you doing here?” I asked leaning against the door. “Honey, who’s at the door?” Mom yelled from the kitchen. “Oh, it’s um… It’s Asher.” I yelled back. “Invite him in.” My dad yelled in return. “Come in.” I said opening the door wide enough to enter. “Thanks.” He said slipping in. My parents were now standing out in the living room. “Asher sweetheart, lovely to see you.” My mom said giving him a hug. “Asher, what brings you here?” My dad asked walking up to him and shaking his hand. “My mom actually sent me over. I know this is really cliché, but she wanted to know if she could have a cup of sugar. She’s baking something and you know how she is. Always from scratch never from a box. Except she ran out of sugar. I’m so sorry to interrupt.” He said shaking his head. “No, no. It’s quite alright.” My mom said taking the measuring cup out of Asher’s hand. The measuring cup I hadn’t even realized was there. My mom and dad walked into the kitchen. I feel like the wanted us to be alone. “So…” He said looking at me. “So.” I replied looking down. “Listen, I sorry about earlier…” He said causing me to look up. “Don’t Asher, just don’t.” I said shaking my head and looking sternly at him. “No, I’m serious. I’m sorry. I am. I understand that you’ve moved on and stuff, but I can’t help it. It’s a force of habit.” He said looking at my eyes. “It’s been a year. You’re habit should be broken!” I spat at him. “I know! I know. But today… it brought back so many memories of the first time we met. Am I crazy or stupid or messed up or something or did you think of it too?” He asked desperately. “I…” I started before my parents came back into the room. “Here you go sweetheart.” My mom said handing him the cup of sugar. “Thanks Mrs. Monroe.” He said taking the cup. “No problem sweetheart.” Mom said happily. “Well, I should be going.” Asher said backing up. “Tell you’re mom we need to get together some time. We live next to each other and we’ve barely talked in months.” Mom said smiling. “Sure thing Mrs. Monroe.” Asher replied flashing her a smile. “Bye.” He said turning to walk out. I walked behind him. “Bye Lana. See you at school.” He said before walking back to his house. I closed the door before turning to see my parents looking at me, about to say something I knew I wouldn’t want to hear. “Don’t.” I said before running up to my room and closing the door.