I wasn’t stoked to have band practice today; not because I didn’t want to have it, but because I haven’t seen Vero since the night of our performance. She had made it known that she felt guilty about everything that’s happened between us, especially after Mollie’s sudden outburst backstage.
The next day we had vocal, Mollie barely even spoke to me. “Are you and Ronnie fucking or something?” Mollie always went for the jugular whenever she was upset and hurt. I asked her the same question back about her and Weston, and she nearly took my head off in the middle of the classroom. I knew something was going on between her and Weston; Mollie didn’t just hang out with anyone she didn’t like, especially boys. But Weston didn’t seem like the type of guys she was into, but he definitely had some hold on Mollie that no one else had.
It’s no surprise that Vero was the first person to show up at rehearsal. It was also not a surprise that she didn’t even look my way; she simply just went to the side of the space, giving herself space, just to completely avoid me. Davy and Jonah came a bit later, creating the noise to fill the silence in the room.
“Wassup!” Davy shot his hands up, greeting the band. No one said anything back; we all collectively just looked at Davy. “Sheesh, tough crowd…”
“I’m surprised we’re even still a band,” Jonah commented, looking in my direction. “Mollie and her family came over my house for dinner, and she barely said a word to me. You gotta fix this–“
“Me?” I said, pointing to myself. “Why me?”
“It’s your band,” Jonah answered. “And you didn’t tell Mollie you were doing this.”
“Mollie needs to suck it up,” I dismissed, now annoyed. “This literally has nothing to do with her–“
“Yeah, it only costed us her friendship,” Vero spat out, now looking in my direction. I looked at her, not really knowing what to say to her. Vero and I’s case was different; Mollie had a feeling something was up between us.
“You need to apologize to her, Milo,” Jonah demanded, crossing his arms across his chest. “Not only is she not speaking to her friends, but now she’s not speaking to her family.”
“I’m not apologizing for anything.” I stood my ground, feeling attacked by someone that’s not even in the room with us. “Mollie needs to realize that not everything we do is because of her. I didn’t make this band just to piss her off; I did it because this is something that I wanted to do for myself. So if you’re scared that Mollie is going to hold this grudge over you for life or some shit, then you are more than welcome to leave the band.” Before I could even finish my sentence, Vero gets up from her seat and grabs her things, walking in front of us toward the exit of the door.
I immediately got up from where I was, leaving Jonah and Davy in the room as I went after Vero.
“Vero,” I called out for her.
“What?” she asked as she turned around. “You said we were more than welcome to leave–“
“I didn’t mean you,” I said, trying to make a point.
“Milo,” Vero said as she sighed. “Mollie is my best friend, and I feel guilty for doing this behind her back. I’m suppose to be able to tell her everything going on in my life, and I don’t feel comfortable doing this with her knowing that we did this behind her back.”
“You’re gonna let Mollie, of all people, ruin a great opportunity for you?” I questioned Vero. At this point, I wasn’t even talking about… us. I wasn’t talking about the connection we unexpectedly have, or even the way that she makes me feel…seen. Despite all of that, I knew Vero was crazy talented and needed to be showcased more than just the ensemble for Waverly. Vero was a natural on stage, and I refuse to let her make herself small just to keep the peace with other people. “You know how many people would kill to be in your shoes?”
“I doubt anyone wants to be lonely and not have their friends support them–“
“I mean your talent,” I corrected her. “Seriously, you have a great opportunity to take your music further than you never thought it could go. Imagine applying for colleges and they see that your a lead guitarist for a band, and not just some garage band that doesn’t venture out to perform. This is just the beginning, Vero.” Vero looked at me with a worried look on her face. It was like she knew what I was telling her was the truth; this was a great opportunity to venture herself out there musically. She knew she was good enough to be in this band. She knew that if she really wanted to, she would be one of the biggest names to come out of Waverly. Vero knew she had all of this potential, yet she still allowed other people to pick her path.
Vero looked down to the ground with no response. “Hey,” I whispered to her. She picked her head up to look directly in my eyes; these were the most vulnerable I’ve seen them on Vero. Vero was a tough girl, but there was something about us that made her feel softer. There was something about us that made her realize that she was safe being soft. That was one thing not many people allowed themselves to do, especially around me.
I couldn’t help but kiss her. I lifted her chin with my hand and gently kissed her on the lips. Her lips never failed to taste like her vanilla flavored lip balm. She looked up at me after we kissed, giving off a slight smile.
“Everything’s going to be fine,” I reassured her, still holding her close. “Don’t worry about Mollie; I’ll make sure she comes around.”
Vero smiles as she lets out a sigh of relief.
…
I knocked on Mollie’s front door nonstop, knowing that today was a day she would normally be home after school. I knocked and knocked and knocked until someone answered the door. Mollie’s mom was the one to finally answer it.
“Jesus, Milo; you’re banging like you’re the police,” she said as she placed her hand on her chest.
“I’m sorry,” I began to say. “Is Mollie home?” Her mom looked at me with disbelief as if she couldn’t believe this was the reason for the door banging. She opened the door wider to invite me in, then closed it behind us.
“Mollie,” she shouted out towards the staircase. “Milo’s here!” She turned around to face me. “You can go upstairs.” I nodded my head, racing up the stairs towards Mollie’s room. I immediately noticed that her door was closed, which was something she never did.
I was now banging the door of Mollie’s bedroom. “Mol, I know you’re in there.” Silence. I sighed loudly; I was so over the nonsense already. “Mollie!” I yelled, banging on the door harder. Thankfully, the door swings open, and Mollie appears to be annoyed.
“What are you doing banging on my door like a madman?!” she spat back at me, visibly annoyed. I was used to Mollie being this way, so her threats and looks didn’t scare me.
“We need to talk,” I said, walking into her room and closing the door behind me. Mollie was not amused at me taking control of the situation.
“Who the hell do you think you are just barging into my room? You have no right–“
“We either are gonna talk it out, or yell it out to each other; you choose,” I stated to her. Mollie knew I was being serious in the way I was now looking at her. Her face went from being stern to slightly worried as her eyebrow angled upwards.
“Well, let’s talk.” Mollie turned around and sat in the beanbag chair in the corner of her room. Mollie had a cool bedroom; it was located in the attic of the house and it had that treehouse feel inside of it. Mollie’s room was covered in dance metals and trophies, and her desk was never kept clean. I stood in the middle of her bedroom and took a deep breath before starting the conversation.
“You need to make up with Ronnie,” I began to say. “She feels horrible that you just cut her off because of me.”
“I didn’t cut her off because of you; I cut her off because she seems to value her friendship with you more than me,” Mollie spat back, crossing her arms along her chest. “Besides, why do you care about what I decide to do with my friendships?”
“Because Ronnie is your best friend,” I pleaded, trying to not make this situation about Vero and I. “She’s in the band because she’s crazy talented. I wanted her in my band.”
“That doesn’t explain the fact that she hid it behind my back,” Mollie counterattacked.
“I told her to hide it,” I confessed. Mollie blinked a couple of times, seeming as if she was hearing this news for the first time.
“You told her to keep it a secret?”
“Mol, you would’ve ripped out my throat if I told you Ver–Ronnie–was in the band after asking her to be a part of it. I’m not saying your feelings don’t matter, but whatever you’re going through with Aaron has nothing to do with her.”
“Do you hear yourself?” Mollie said, seeming to be flabbergasted. “This has nothing to do with Aaron. I’m upset that you assumed that I wouldn’t be able to handle the news about this band because of my ex.”
I looked at Mollie, not really believing the words coming from her mouth. I knew Mollie her entire life; Mollie almost never truly spoke out loud about her emotions and would pretend they didn’t matter. Mollie was always a tough-as-nails type of girl, but I’ve been through the moments that showed her vulnerability. Her softness. The side of Mollie that she didn’t even quite understand. As the person whose seen that side of her, I’ve avoided ever getting her to that place, even if that meant keeping secrets from her.
“Then you join our band,” I suggested, already knowing the answer.
“I’m not pity-joining your band,” Mollie spat back, getting up from her bean bag and paced in her bedroom. “I’m not about to sing all the songs you wrote about you and Sophie’s relationship.” Huh?
“Where did that even come from?” I asked, feeling a bit defensive.
Mollie rolled her eyes before she answered. “Everyone knows those songs you performed were about Sophie.”
…
“Everyone is gonna know these songs are about Sophie,” Vero pointed out, laying on the studio floor as she threw a stress ball up in the air. Vero carried one around and only took it out when she really needed to focus when she felt stressed. I immediately looked at her throwing the ball up repeatedly.
“Not all of them,” I debated, walking over to Vero. She sat up and looked at me, clearly not believing me. “Maybe the first few songs, but not everything I write is about her.”
“Who are you trying to convince? Me, or yourself?” Vero questioned. I looked at her before answering, not knowing how to answer at first. Thankfully, she smirked at me, as if she knew what the answer was. “I get it.”
“Get what?”
“You’re going to write what’s heavy on your heart,” Vero explained. “That’s how the best music is created.”
…
“Believe what you want to believe,” I began to say to Mollie. “I know the truth behind the songs I write.” Mollie turned her head and looked at me. She stared intently, as if she was looking to find some sort of imbalance of my composure. Just how I knew Mollie her whole life, I sometimes forget she’s known me for the same amount of time.
“Be honest with me,” Mollie began to say. “And I’ll be honest with you.”
“So you’ve been lying to me?” I questioned.
“Not lying; just fibbing,” she corrected. She folded her arms along her chest, looking at me with a smirk on her face. “Do you like Ronnie?”
“What?”
“Do. You. Like. Ronnie. Or Vero,” Mollie repeated in a teasing manner. “And don’t lie to me; I saw the way you looked at her at the performance.” I felt my face get hot, which means it’s also probably a bright red color. I don’t remember much from the performance besides the fact that we did it and the crowd really liked us. I also only remember seeing Sophie’s face in the crowd, watching us perform songs that were once inspired by her.
What no one knows is that they were all able to be finished because of Vero.
“We are a band; we’re suppose to look like we have chemistry,” I fibbed, trying to get the suspicion off of me. It hurt talking down on Vero like that, but what Mollie doesn’t know won’t hurt her, or her friendship with Vero. Mollie squinted her eyes in a suspicious way as if she really didn’t believe what I was telling her. “I mean, you should know; you were once in a band.”
“Yeah,” Mollie spat back. “Because I was dating the lead guitarist.” Mollie got up from where she was sitting, opening the front door of her bedroom, which meant we were now both on good terms. I looked at her before she could exit the room. “Something tells me you’re about to do the same, to which all I can say is that if your break Ronnie’s heart, I break your fucking face.”
Mollie’s threats weren’t just threats; they were promises.
