Tonight is the night of the first showcase I will ever do as a student at Waverly High. This week leading up to this day had the entire school in complete panic mode; decorations were being put up and it was announced very morning on the loudspeaker in every classroom. I didn’t realize just how serious a showcase like this was for the school; it felt like the Grammy Awards for a performing arts high school.

I stepped out of the bathroom stall and looked at myself through the mirror. The other guys were laughing and talking near the sinks in the boy’s bathroom. We’re all dressed up in fancy tuxedos; with brow ties and everything. It definitely feels like the real deal now, I mean at every recital or school concert I did when I was younger we wore a button down short and whatever pair of pants we wanted to wear. This feels like a completely different level of performing.

“Mr. Harrison wants us back in the band room, guys,” one of my classmates stated. The other guys begin to get their stuff and talk as they exit the bathroom. I take a deep breath before gathering my stuff to do the same.

I begin to walk down the hallway back to the band room when all of a sudden, I feel someone grab my shoulder.

“Hey, dude,” Davy said as we walked down the hallway together. “You’re ready for tonight’s show? You have, like, 30 songs to perform.”

“Ha ha,” I sarcastically laughed. “I’m just ready for this showcase to finally start so we can perform already.” As Davy and I continue to walk towards the band room, our band-mates keep walking ahead and passing us; one of them being Aaron Serrano. I rolled my eyes at the sight of him. We hear Mr. Harrison’s voice coming out of the band room, making sure that we all get to our final rehearsal before the showcase later tonight.

Everyone gets in their seats as Mr. Harrison closes the front door. The room is quiet; I can tell we were all nervous to do our first showcase as students here at Waverly. Who knows who’ll be sitting in that audience watching us? Who knows if we will be any good; what if we don’t live up to the expectations of the other Waverly students before us? Mr. Harrison stands in front of us before he speaks.

“Tonight is a big night for all of you,” he began to say. “This will be the first of many showcases coming your way, so even if you are nervous or feeling intense about tonight’s performance, make sure that no matter what, you have fun doing what you guys love to do.” Mr. Harrison looks at me and Aaron before pointing us out to the class. The class turns around to look at us; Sophie does as well. “We have some of our dual majors participating in the Dual Major Performance tonight, so please stay after your performance and support not only them, but your fellow Waverly classmates as well.” The class looks forward again as Mr. Harrison addresses the class again. “Lastly, good luck and be the best that you are on that stage.” The class claps after his speech and begins to gather their things in order to line up for the show. I get up from my seat quickly, wanting to talk to Sophie before we all left for the auditorium. Aaron nudges me to make room to pass me with this things, not even looking back to say anything. I wanted nothing more than to just kick him in the mouth. Davy walks towards me once more while looking at Aaron pass by me the way that he did.

“Of course Mr. High-And-Mighty probably got off at the praise Mr. Harrison gave you guys about the dual major performance,” Davy mentioned. I don’t say anything back. I see Sophie walking by with her instrument in hand with the other members of the string section. As Sophie got closer to us, I smiled and waved at her.

“Hi, Scout,” I said to Sophie. She looked up and quickly smiled at me, then looked back down as she walked by. I was a little hurt that she didn’t stop to say hi back. It was our first showcase and she knows just how much it meant for the both of us. I thought she would’ve stopped and wished me good luck or possibly calm me down after seeing just how fucking nervous I am for this showcase. I didn’t get anything but a quick smile of acknowledgement.

“Are you and Sophie good?” Davy asked.

“Why wouldn’t we be?” I said, trying to play off the exchange as if it was nothing. “Her section had to line up.”

“Oh,” Davy answered. “I thought maybe you were mad at her for talking to Aaron the other day or something.” Aaron? I quickly look at Davy feeling very confused and concerned. Why would Sophie be talking to Aaron of all people? Sophie knows that Aaron was the reason why I was temporarily suspended from my dual major status. She knows just how much work had to put into learning all of the band pieces on top of the dual major pieces that I missed during my suspension. She knows how I feel about Aaron, so why is she talking to him behind my back and not even telling me?

“Aaron?” I began to question. “Like, Aaron Serrano?” Davy looked at me like I was crazy.

“Yeah; who else?” Davy answered. “I don’t know what they were talking about, but they were loud enough for it to be heard from down the hallway.” One of our band-mates taps Davy to tell him to line up in his section. Davy walks away from me without explaining anything to me. A part of me didn’t want to know more; I felt sick to my stomach knowing that a girl I like was talking to Aar–

I mean, my friend. My really good, supportive… funny… smart… beautiful friend.

I look over at Sophie; she’s standing in line with the rest of the string section talking to the other band-mates. I can’t help but look at her and not feel the things that I feel. She makes me nervous, especially when we hang out in complete silence and she just looks at me and smiles. I feel like besides Mollie and my other friends, she’s the only other girl that actually listens to me; not when she feels like it or when it has to do with her, but actually listens. She always talks to me like she wants to her what I have to say. It’s nice to have someone like Sophie in my life.

I began to walk to where Sophie is standing; I have to talk to her. I can’t help not knowing why she would need to talk to Aaron and why all of a sudden she’s so cold towards me. I don’t care if we have to be in our spot before we enter the auditorium; Sophie means more to me than any performance I can do tonight. Maybe that means something.

I walked up to Sophie, in which she immediately stopped talking to the other band-mates and looked at me. She looked nervous; sad even. Why was she sad to see me? Why did she look like wasn’t happy to see me?

“Hey, Sophie,” I said, feeling like this was the first time I ever spoke to her.

“Hi, Milo,” she answered back quickly. “We’re going to head to the auditorium any minute now, so–“

“I know,” I quickly said, trying to not waste any time before that happens. “Can I talk to you for a quick second? I promise I’ll get you back in place before we have to go in.” Sophie looks hesitant, but ultimately walks away from the line to talk to me.

“What’s going on?” Sophie asked once we found a spot to talk at. I didn’t know where to start, in all honesty. I didn’t know what to bring up first or how to bring it up without it coming of the wrong way. Either way, I had to say something fast before it was too late.

“Are you mad at me?” I asked. “I just feel like for a day like today, you would’ve been more supportive or something.” Sophie’s eyebrows scrunch together; I definitely did not mean for it to come out like that.

“You’re not the only one performing tonight,” Sophie spat out. “Maybe I was also just too busy trying to get my things together for my performance as well?”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” I said without letting Sophie say anything else. “It’s just… you’ve been around for all the practices and you know how much work I had to put into learning all these pieces for the band and the dual major performance–“

“So is my hard work for my performance not valid to yours just because you’re doing much more?” Sophie asked, now annoyed at me. I didn’t understand why she was acting this way. She wasn’t letting me speak, and she wasn’t listening to me anymore. It was like Sophie wasn’t herself , and I have no idea what happened to change that.

Besides talking to Aaron.

“Why are you acting like this?” I finally said back. “It’s like ever since you spoke to Aaron, you’ve been so distant and cold with me.” I can tell my Sophie’s expression that she did not know that I knew about her talk with Aaron. She quickly gains her composure back before she answers.

“My conversation with Aaron had nothing to do with you,” Sophie answered. “Why does that even matter?”

“Why would you have a conversation with him? You know how I feel about him,” I asked; I was done trying to sugarcoat how I was feeling with Sophie. She clearly didn’t care how she was making me feel in this moment.

“He’s one of our band-mates,” Sophie said. “Just because you don’t like him doesn’t mean he doesn’t exist in our class.”

“You never spoke to Aaron before,” I pointed out, trying to not get loud. I was getting angry at Sophie; who the hell was this girl I was talking to? What did Aaron tell her to make her act this way toward me? “Seriously Sophie, what can you and Aaron possibly talk about?”

“Oh wouldn’t you love to know,” Sophie mocked, rolling her eyes at me. “Not everything is about you, Milo. For once, maybe you should think about someone besides yourself.”

“What are you even saying?” I asked, clearly confused at this whole conversation. “I’m just saying that Aaron has no business talking to you. He doesn’t even like you.”

“Yeah, apparently I’m hard to like,” Sophie said as she tried to walk back to her spot. What does that mean?

“Sophie,” I said as I grabbed her by the hand. She quickly yanked her hand away from me. Now I was angry. “What the hell is wrong with you?! I didn’t do anything to you–“

“Milo, you didn’t even ask me how I was feeling about this performance,” Sophie snapped at me. “Not once did you acknowledge the fact this showcase is bloody nerve-wrecking for me. My mum couldn’t even make it here tonight because it conflicted with her job! I know I’m not performing for that audience tonight; there’s barely anyone there because they know the string orchestra always performs at the beginning of the showcase. I’m not performing that solo for anybody but the people who rehearsed the same two songs with me for the past four months. But no, you just wanted to talk to me about a boy that you despise and see if he said anything to me about you.”

I didn’t know what to say in this moment. I didn’t know that Sophie was going through all of that; she never told me she was feeling these things. She normally would; we confine in each other and for Sophie to hold all of that in and not tell me before the showcase was weird.

“You know, maybe Aaron isn’t that much of a jerk as you made him out to be,” Sophie said.

“Are you fucking serious right now?” I spat out, furious that Sophie would even say anything like that. “Dude, he was the reason I got my dual status suspended! He doesn’t care about anyone but himself!”

“At least he goes out of his way to care for the people he cares about!” Sophie said. What? “You want to know so bad what Aaron spoke to me about? He was looking for Mollie! He saw that I was the last person to talk to her and wanted to know why she was so upset. He didn’t ask me ‘oh what did you tell Mollie about me’, but he was genuinely trying to find out why Mollie was upset.”

“Mollie?” I questioned. “Why was Aaron asking you about Mollie?”

“Because that’s what you do when you like someone!” Sophie answered out loud. “When you care about someone and like someone, you make it known that you do. You do anything to make that person feel happy; you put aside your own problems for that one moment because you know that the person you like and care about is not okay.”

“Aaron likes Mollie?” I simply asked. Sophie rolled her eyes and began to walk back to her spot in the line. We were all about to start walking towards the auditorium. I wasn’t done with this conversation; I needed to know what the hell was going on.

“Yes,” she finally confessed. “And he made it so known to her that they are actually dating now, because when you like someone, Milo, you tell them. You don’t just leave them in the dark questioning their very existence because you’re more worried about yourself!” I couldn’t hear anything around me. I felt everything in my body drop to the pit of my stomach. Aaron and Mollie are dating? My best friend is dating my worst enemy? Mollie is supposed to be my best friend; her dating Aaron would be like me dating Laurie. Aaron has done nothing but make my life a living hell since the day I met him, and for Mollie to know this and not tell me he was her boyfriend? I feel hurt and betrayed.

“You knew they were dating and you never told me?” I asked, more furious than anything else. “You knew this entire time that they were dating and you weren’t going to tell me?!” Sophie looked pale in the face, like she was going to be sick. I don’t think Sophie was planning on telling me this information, because she is looking at me like she just spilled the biggest can of beans imaginable.

“I shouldn’t have even told you,” Sophie quickly answered. “It wasn’t my place to say anything, but–“

“You knew this whole time that my best friend was dating my worst enemy, Sophie! How could you do this to me?” I yelled at Sophie. This was the first time I was this angry at Sophie. It was like everything I ever felt about her and everything I thought about her was a complete lie. Maybe she never liked me; maybe she was just using me for her own personal gain. I thought she was different. Sophie now looked even more angry than she was before.

“Do this to you?” Sophie said. She scoffed and took a deep breath. “You know what? Fine. I’m sorry for keeping that from you, but has it ever occurred to you that Mollie and Aaron didn’t tell me that they were dating? That maybe, just maybe, they made it so bloody obvious they liked each other and were dating, but you just never paid attention?” I looked at Sophie trying to put the pieces together. How could that even be? Mollie and I always hang out… well, most of the time.

Wait. Now that I think about it; it’s been a long time since we actually hung out after school or even spoke to each other for more than 5 minutes during passing. She was with Aaron this entire time, and I never knew. Was I really that so out-of-touch with everything that I didn’t see the signs? How did I not notice that Mollie was dating a guy, let alone Aaron Serrano of all people?

“There’s a lot of things you didn’t pay attention to,” Sophie said.

“What is that suppose to mean?” I asked. Before she could answer, Mr. Harrison yells out for us to get in our spots in line. Sophie walks back to her spot without saying another word. There’s nothing I can do but go back to my spot and walk into the auditorium with the band to start off the showcase…

To then go and sing with my so-called best friend and her boyfriend as the soloists.

I sat outside the school before going home. It was pathetic, but I had nowhere else to go besides straight home, and I didn’t feel like going home just yet. I wanted to hang out with Milo; I wanted nothing more than to go to the pizza place and get a slice while we talked about anything we wanted to. I miss the days when Milo and I did that; I don’t even remember the last time we did something like that.

I guess I didn’t realize it’s been so long because I hang out with Aaron most days after school. Maybe I’m only realizing just how much I miss hanging out with Milo because this is the first time in a long time that I haven’t spent my time after school with Aaron. I was supposed to meet with Aaron near my locker after class, but I ditched him after hearing those girls talk about him in math class. I didn’t understand what was happening; I mean, Aaron and I never made it official; like we aren’t boyfriend and girlfriend, but we act like we are. Whenever we hang out, we hold hands when we walk and he kisses me on the cheek and he always hugs me. Aaron always gave the best hugs.

I start to feel the tears fall from my eyes again, and I immediately wiped them away. The last thing I needed was some dumb kid looking at me cry over a boy on the front steps of the school. I just didn’t know what to do or feel at this moment. I want to run away and hide from everyone, but I feel stuck in these steps. Maybe I’m just here because I know that once I go home, I will just let my thoughts get the best of me and I’ll start crying. I looked at my phone to see if Milo maybe messaged me; nothing. He’s probably with Sophie like he always is.

This is when I get up from where I’m sitting and just go–

“Mols?” I heard Aaron’s voice call me by the nickname he only calls me, and I feel my heart jump around along my chest. I look up and see Aaron standing at the end of the bench, looking directly at me. I looked away quickly; I really didn’t want him to see me upset. It wasn’t long after that I felt him sit next to me on the bench. “Mollie?” Fuck. Not my full name.

I looked up at him and I can see the confusion written all over his face. He looked hurt like me not meeting him after class affected him negatively. That’s not how a guy talking to multiple girls acts. I felt bad, but then I hear those two annoying girls in my head, talking about Aaron like they knew him the way I did. When did I become this jealous? Did it mean that I actually wanted more than what we already are? How can I trust a guy as talented and as known as Aaron Serrano to want to be just my boyfriend? Maybe he has an agenda like every boy on this planet. Why would Aaron actually like me?

“Is everything okay?” Aaron asked. I sighed and faked a smile; I didn’t want to get into everything at this point. If anything, I just wanted my mind to quiet down.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t they be?” I answered, picking the nail polish off my nails. Aaron watched as I did as if he already knew my nervous ticks and defense mechanisms to save face.

“You weren’t at your locker after class,” Aaron pointed out. “You always meet me at your locker so that we could go to practice together.” Fuck. I totally forgot we had band practice in the city today.

“Why didn’t you go without me?” I genuinely asked, worried that his bandmates would be angry at him for missing a practice. Aaron tilted his head like he was confused.

“Because I was trying to find you all this time,” Aaron answered, sounding as if he was growing annoyed at me. I rolled my eyes, getting frustrated all over again at him. Why would be trying to find me? Clearly, if I wasn’t where I was supposed to be, that meant I didn’t want to be found. I wanted to be invisible.

“You should’ve just gone without me,” I started to say. “Now your bandmates are gonna be mad at you for missing a rehearsal so close to the show–“

“You think I give a shit about that?” Aaron interrupted me to say. “Plus, you’re a part of that group. You’re our lead singer,” Aaron emphasized. A couple of weeks ago, Aaron told me that the band wanted to change their image up a bit and thought it would be good to have a girl sing the lead vocals. Aaron asked me if I was interested in joining his band to sing. Of course, I was nervous at first; I was now entering a band that had a solid lineup prior to me ever knowing Aaron. But, I found myself enjoying being a part of the band; not only was I singing lead in a band, but I was hanging out with Aaron and I couldn’t deny the fact that I valued the time we would spend together. Stupidly of me, I thought I was different.

“Yeah, well I didn’t feel like going,” I said, grabbing my bag from the bench and getting ready to leave. Aaron places his hand gently on top of mine to stop me from getting up. I looked at him as he looked at me. “What?” I coldly said.

“What’s wrong?” Aaron finally asked without any gentleness, like he was done being nice to me and wanted to get straight to the point. It pissed me off, why couldn’t he take what I was saying as it was and just leave me the fuck alone?

“Nothing,” I simply said.

“Ronnie said you were upset when you left your class; what happened in your class?” Aaron was trying to put the pieces together. It felt like he was trying to pull out teeth one by one until he was able to get to the root of it all. I warned him, and he wasn’t getting it. You wanna know? Fuck it.

“Oh nothing, just the fact that I had to sit in front of Bella and her annoying ass friend and hear them talk about how she can’t wait to see you at your next show,” I confessed. “So much for inviting me to your showcase because you only wanted me there, huh?”

“Bella?” Aaron asked.

“Yeah, Bella!” I yelled. “What, is she your girlfriend or something, or is she just your biggest groupie?” Aaron looked mad about what I was saying. It was out there and I couldn’t stop any more from coming out. “Because the way she spoke about you, it was like you guys are officially a couple or some stupid shit.”

“Bella is just a girl in my dual major rehearsals,” Aaron explained. “She’s also a senior.”

“Oh,” I sarcastically said. “A senior! Wow, how does it feel to be a freshman scoring with a dumb senior that’s still taking freshman math?!”

“You think Bella and I are dating?” Aaron repeated back to me. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Don’t be one of those guys that deny dating someone when literally she spoke about you as if you were,” I spat back to Aaron. I didn’t see anything but red at this point. I know what I heard and saw with my two eyes.

“What in your right mind thought that Bella and I were dating?” Aaron began to raise his voice back at me. “Seriously, Mollie; she’s just a girl in the dual major rehearsals like we have to talk to each other because we are a part of the same ensemble for the showcase–“

“So, let me get the facts straight,” I spoke over Aaron. “She’s a senior, she’s pretty and popular, and she’s also a dual major. What does she dual major in?” I asked.

“Why?” Aaron asked. “Why does that matter?”

“What does she dual major in?!” I yelled out. Aaron paused to look at me, and I hate the look he was giving me. He looks like he’s just seen me for my true colors like I wasn’t the cool and chill girl he thought I was. I hate how this was going and how I was reacting to everything. I felt like I was suffocating in this conversation and grasping for any sort of oxygen to keep me still breathing. Why did it matter what Bella majored in? Why was that the one thing I wanted to know?

“Vocal and dance,” Aaron finally answered. The answer wasn’t shocking, but I was dreading that to be the answer. I had a feeling Bella was a vocal and dance dual major just in the way she carried herself. She looked like she came from money, and in order to be even considered for Waverly’s dance program alone, you needed the money to be a part of it. Costumes and hairpieces and travel fees… that all had to be paid by the student.

It was something I wanted to do when I auditioned for Waverly, and when I got the acceptance letter to be a dual major myself, I declined it. I couldn’t do it. For Aaron to have found someone who was everything I wanted to hurts the most.

“I guess she was everything you wanted, huh?” I finally said. I wanted to cry and run away, but something kept telling me to stay and to hear Aaron out. I just wanted to understand what was it about Bella that made him want to talk to her and invite her to his shows. I wanted to hear him say the things that I needed to hear, and the longer I sat here waiting for him to say them, the more desperate I became.

“Mollie, are you hearing yourself? I didn’t say anything about Bella in that way,” Aaron tried to reason with me. “I don’t know what you heard from Bella and her gossiping to her friends, but I simply invited her to the show because she asked. Her brother is Xavier.”

“Brother?” I repeated.

“Yeah, Mols,” Aaron stated. “I don’t see Bella in the way you think I see her. She’s a friend.”

“But, she made it seem like she liked you more than a friend,” I explained.

“But that doesn’t mean I like her more than a friend,” Aaron looked me in the eyes as he spoke to me. “And I don’t.” I didn’t say anything after that; in a way, I felt incredibly stupid for letting something like this get to me like this. Maybe I couldn’t hide it anymore. Maybe I needed to know in this exact minute what are we, just so I can either feel some sort of relief or go home and cry my eyes out. Either way, I wasn’t leaving until I knew.

“So what is it, really?” I simply asked. Aaron scrunched his eyebrows, appearing confused.

“I told you, Bella and I are—”

“No,” I interrupted him. “I meant… what really is this?” I asked as I pointed to myself and him. Aaron looked flustered and at a loss for words. What he lacked in this moment I had too much of it, and I needed to control this situation.

“Aaron,” I gently said his name. “I don’t want to be one of those jealous girls and explode on the littlest things, but I realize I acted that way because, well, I don’t know what we are. You never asked me to be your girlfriend.” Everything was now out in the air. I wanted to vomit the nerves out of my stomach. Looking at Aaron piece together his thoughts before he spoke was killing me. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe Aaron never wanted to be more than friends with me.

“I didn’t know you wanted that, Mols,” Aaron started to say. “You never brought this up before.”

“I shouldn’t have to,” I snapped back, feeling defensive. “You should want it too if you felt the same way!”

“I can’t read your mind,” Aaron started to say. “I can’t assume you feel the same way about me when you haven’t said anything about it.”

“Then what was all that crap after the showcase about?!” I yelled out. Aaron looked around, seeming worried that someone would hear us. I didn’t care enough to lower my voice. “Being the rockstar’s girlfriend? Saying you like me and that you kissed me?! It was like that night happened and never spoke of it again!” Aaron didn’t know how to respond, and I guess his lack of response made me realize that I was a fool all this time. I grabbed my bag from the bench for real this time and walk away.

“Mollie, wait!” I hear Aaron call out. I don’t turn around and I don’t look back. I don’t want Aaron to see the tears falling down my ace at this point.

“Don’t leave Aaron waiting for too long,” I spat back. Oh. My. God. Why would I ever say that to Mollie Castro? I don’t know what has gotten over me, but hearing Mollie blame me for her and Milo’s friendship being different now made me angry; furious even. I don’t know Mollie well enough to judge her, but I can only say what I see with my two eyes, and something told me to say it because it was the only way I could ever hurt someone like Mollie Castro the same way she wanted me to hurt.

Mollie turned around and looked me dead in the face. She looked paler in the face; ghostly even. Something tells me I opened the biggest can of worms I could possibly open. Mollie walks to me without ever breaking eye contact; I can feel my fight or flight response kick in, and all I want to do is run away.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mollie calmly said, which was scary since her face expressed the total opposite of it. “So I suggest you mind your business, Sophie.”

“Does Milo know what I’m talking about?” I asked. I was more curious than being catty at this point. Mollie seemed to be angered at my question.

“Fuck off, Sophie–“

“You can’t blame me for your friendship being rocky with Milo when really it’s because you’re dating someone that contributed to Milo losing his dual major status in the first place,” I confessed.

“You’re just mad at Milo hasn’t even asked you out yet,” Mollie snapped back. I know Mollie is known for saying anything in order to protect herself; Milo told me that much about her. But, this caught me off-guard. Ask me out? Why would Mollie think Milo and I would be anything more than friends? Has Milo mentioned something to her? I mean, they’re best friends and best friends tell each other everything in secret. Does she know more about Milo’s feelings than I do? Why would it hurt so much to hear her say that Milo still hasn’t asked me to be more than just friends? “At least I have a boy that doesn’t play with my heart as much as Milo has played with yours.” Mollie laughed before ending the conversation. She stands there and looks me in the eyes.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I simply answered Mollie’s accusations. The truth was that I didn’t know if she knew the truth or not, and I think she knows that I’m doubting everything coming out of my mouth at this point.

“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t,” Mollie started. “But remember that Milo used to tell me everything before he got blindsided by you. He was my best friend and if he can just ditch his best friend since birth for a girl, imagine what he’ll do when someone prettier and smarter comes along and grabs his attention.” Mollie turned around and walked down the hall. The last warning bell rings and all of the other students go to their next class.

…

I walk into our band rehearsal in the auditorium and watch everyone set and tune their instruments. I walk to the strings section and begin to take my violin out of the case. I was still so angry at the conversation I had with Mollie. Why would I let her get to me like that? Why would I allow someone that barely knows me get the best of me in the way that she did today? Only I know my friendship with Milo, and I enjoy it very much. But Mollie knows Milo best, which bothers me. Someone as cynical and catty as Mollie Castro, knowing someone as sweet and kind as Milo Kamalani bothers me. Doesn’t it worry you, Sophie, that you are the company that you keep? What makes Milo any different?

“Has anyone seen Aaron?” Mr. Harrison asks the class before beginning the rehearsal. No one answers back, or they simply shake their heads no. I scoffed under my breath, not surprised in the slightest.

“Some star student,” I said under my breath as I walked toward the stage with the rest of the ensemble. I took a quick glance at the percussion section and see Milo there. He looks at me and smiles as we make eye contact. I quickly looked away; not only did I need to stay focused since the showcase is in 2 days, but it simply hurt too much to dwell on what I was feeling.

I remember when Milo first kissed me back in middle school. Milo was writing music in his treehouse at his grandparents’ house; the one where he shared that it was his biological mum’s when she was a teenager before she passed away. I was the only other person that ever saw the inside of the treehouse. He was having a hard time with the last group of friends I had and I went to check on him. We spoke about our goals for Waverly and all of the fun things we would do in band class together. Milo made me feel comfortable when he kissed me like it was supposed to happen that night. I thought about that night many times afterward, hoping that one day it could happen again. But, something changed when we got to Waverly. It’s like everything about our friendship changed like all of what happened in middle school was gone forever. We never spoke about the kiss, and we never had conversations about the future after graduation. We never went back to the treehouse together.

Maybe I was so hurt by Mollie’s words because maybe deep down, I knew some of it was true.

…

The bell rings and it’s finally the end of the day. I packed my violin back in its case quickly, hoping that I am out of the auditorium before Milo can come up to me and talk. I didn’t want to talk. I wanted to go home and do my homework and practice for the showcase and hide in my room until I had to come back here tomorrow. Once I closed my violin case and picked it up, I scanned the auditorium to see if Milo was still in there. To my surprise, he wasn’t. While I was relieved that I didn’t have to talk to him, I was a little hurt that he didn’t come to check on me. Milo was always good at knowing something was wrong. I know he’s probably running to the dual major rehearsal for the showcase, but it’s something that I’m used to at this point. Milo was going to be a dual major this whole time Sophie, what did you expect?

I walked out of the auditorium towards the exit of the school before I hear someone call out my name. It caught me by surprise considering no one ever calls for me unless it’s a teacher or Milo. I turned around and see Aaron walking toward me. Aaron?

“Yo, Sophie,” Aaron said coldly. “We need to talk.”

“About what?” I asked, scrunching my eyebrows together. What was there to possibly talk about with Aaron Serrano?

“What the hell did you do to Mollie?” Aaron asked, visibly angry. I was confused; I didn’t do anything to Mollie besides–

Oh.

I swallowed hard because I was nervous. Was Aaron talking about me knowing he and Mollie were dating? Why would he be upset at the fact that I knew that? It was pretty obvious to anyone that saw them together that they were very couple-like.

“I didn’t do anything to her,” I answered back. “Now if you excuse me–” Before I can walk away from Aaron, he steps in front of me. I look up at him, getting annoyed now.

“Mollie is upset,” Aaron started to say. “Ronnie told me you were the last person to talk to her. Why is she so upset?”

“What?” I scoffed; it was the only reaction I had to this situation. “I don’t know why Mollie is upset or what Ronnie told you, but I didn’t tell her anything that wasn’t obvious already.”

“Stay out of my business and focus on your stupid little violin solo,” Aaron mocked. I was sick and tired of people talking to me in any way that they wanted to at this point, especially when it comes to me being a violinist. I despised Aaron when he spoke poorly about my section in the ensemble; any dual major that talks badly about anyone and their talent shouldn’t be a dual major in my opinion. Your role as a dual major means that you help others in their craft and showcase leadership and professionalism. Milo always made me feel like I mattered in the ensemble whenever no one else did. He encouraged me to always be better than my last performance and no matter what, he was always there to listen and give constructive criticism when needed. it’s a shame that Milo wasted a month without his dual major status when it really should’ve been Aaron.

“Stay out of my business and go focus on your stupid little girlfriend,” I snapped back. I hate that I just called Mollie “stupid”; it wasn’t like me to belittle another girl but for her to say that I was the reason for not only ruining her friendship with Milo but now her relationship with Aaron, I was really irritated at this point.

“Don’t you ever talk about Mollie like that!” Aaron aggressively spat back. My heart stopped as I listened to Aaron yell at me like that. “Stop putting your nose in people’s business before it gets you hurt in the end.” Aaron walked away and toward the exit of the door. I finally exhale the breath I kept in, trying to catch my breath in the process. I wanted to cry. This isn’t something I ever wanted to get in the middle of all of this. I wanted nothing more than to just go back to my own little world where I didn’t know Mollie or Aaron or Milo at this point. Milo. I began to wipe away tears that instantly fell down my face once I was alone. I run towards the corner of the hall to exit the school until I bumped into Davy by accident.

“Hey, Sophie–” Davy nervously said to me. I didn’t say anything back; I ran past him and exited the school. I need to leave now.

I need to breathe.

“Ms. Castro,” I hear my math teacher call for me while she waits at her classroom door. I turn around to look at her as she points her fingers toward the inside of her classroom. I turned back around to face Aaron. He smiles at me as he nods his head toward where I need to go.

“Go before you get in trouble, Mols,” Aaron teased as he rustled my hair with his hand. I jokingly rolled my eyes as I looked toward my classroom. Aaron hugs me from behind as he whispers in my ear. “I’ll see you after class.” I feel the butterflies jump around in my stomach as his voice echoes in my ears and throughout my body. Before my math teacher calls out for me again, I run toward her class before the bell rings as Aaron walks in the other direction. I looked at Mrs. Jacobs, who looked at me; clearly not impressed that technically I was on time.

I go to the back and sit in my seat. Everyone in the class is still talking to each other before they all run to their seats as the bell rings. I take out my notebook and pen, looking around at everyone else before looking forward. The two girls who sit in the seats in front of me still continue talking with each other; they are honestly so annoying because they never shut up and then wonder why they don’t pass the Math tests.

“Did you see Aaron in the auditorium last period?” one girl asks the other. I immediately look up at the girls wondering why they are talking about Aaron. I try to not look like I’m all in their business, but I can’t help but feel angry hearing other girls talk about Aaron.

“I did,” the other girl answered. “He was in the hallway and we spoke for a little bit.” I could feel my blood begin to boil hearing this stupid, pathetic girl talk about Aaron. Why would Aaron want to talk to someone like her? She literally is the most uninteresting person ever, and she does nothing but chew gum loudly and gossips with her just-as-stupid friends.

“Oh my god! What did you guys talk about?!” the girl’s friend excitedly asked.

“His band,” the girl answered. “The last performance he did was so badass like his vocals just make you melt.”

“Bella,” Mrs. Jacobs called out. “Please let this be the first and last time I catch you talking during class.” Bella. Ugh, she even sounds like a stupid girl. As Mrs. Jacobs turns back towards the board, Bella’s friend leans towards Bella to continue talking.

“Did he invite you to his next show? Brian told me that he has another show coming up.”

“He told me about it!” Bella excitedly answered back. “He said he would love to see me there and you know I’m going!”

I felt all the butterflies in my stomach fall from the sky and hit the ground to die. I was just with Aaron in the hallway talking about that show. I was just in his band practice to prepare for that damn show. He had just hugged me goodbye before I got to my math class. Was Aaron leading me on this whole time? Was he just using me? Was he lying this whole time? Was it truly too good to be true? I couldn’t focus in class and I don’t even remember if I took the right notes and everything. I just wanted to do two things at this moment: hide under a rock and disappear forever, and tell Aaron how much of a dickhead he was. Why it had to be you?

The bell rings and I quickly pack up my things and get up from my seat, walking past the two stupid girls who were talking about Aaron. I walked out of the classroom and before I realized it, I felt tears falling down my cheeks. I quickly wiped them away; I didn’t want anyone in the hallway to see me crying over a boy like a pathetic loser. I walked to my locker and quickly opened the door to get my things before my next class. I didn’t take my head out of the locker and I didn’t want to, but I hear someone call my name as everyone is now in the hallway during passing. I slowly take my head out of the locker and see Milo next to me, opening the door of his locker now.

“Hey Mol,” Milo says as he smiles at me. I tried my best to fake a smile back just so I didn’t have to get into anything I didn’t want to get into at this moment. “Guess what?”

“What?”

“Guess,” Milo said back. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms.

“Milo, I’m not in the mood to be playing your stupid and useless guessing game,” I said as I turned back toward my locker. I should’ve just played along; now he’s definitely gonna say–

“Dude, what’s your problem?” Milo spat back; clearly, he was annoyed with me and now I was annoyed at him. Dude, you don’t get to be annoyed at me for not playing along with your stupid game. “I feel like I can’t even talk to you anymore.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I said as I slammed my locker shut. I was fuming; I swear there was smoke coming out of my ears because my face felt like it was on fire.

“I literally wanted you to be the first to know that I got back my dual major status,” Milo confessed. “Wanna know why? Because you’re my best friend, Mollie.”

“Well congrats to you,” I sarcastically said. “Now you can go back to being too busy to even be my best friend,” I spat back at him. I didn’t know where this was coming from, but it was already out in the world and I can only defend my feelings and heart from anything and everyone at this point.

“You’re such as asshole,” Milo yelled at me. “Seriously Mol, when was the last time you even tried to hang out with me?”

“Why should I try when I already know the answer’s gonna be no?” I yelled back. “You think you’re such a great best friend to me when really, you’re being just as much as a shitty best friend back to me.” I could feel the tears forming in my eyes. I didn’t want Mlo to see that I was that upset with him. To think about it, I was mad at Milo for the same reason I was mad at Aaron; they both would rather spend their time with someone else and not with me like I wasn’t good enough for their company. Aaron, I can deal with it on my own, but Milo? He was supposed to be there for every inconvenience because he was supposed to be my best friend.

“You didn’t even tell me where you were a couple of weeks ago and still haven’t said anything,” Milo counteracted. “At least I chose to keep you in the loop on what’s happening in my life when we don’t hang out. I don’t know a goddamn thing you do these days besides come to school and see you in vocal class.”

“Well maybe I just gave up on you actually caring about what’s going on in my life,” I spat back. “When was the last time you actually asked me how I was doing? Huh?” I could see it on Milo’s face that he knows I was right about that. Milo hasn’t asked me if I was okay; he used to sense it once he would see me but now, when I feel like absolute garbage that was tossed to the side of the road, he doesn’t see it. “You only care about Sophie!”

“Don’t bring up Sophie,” Milo threatened. “She has nothing to do with this–“

“She has everything to do with this!” I snapped back at Milo. “You are so stupidly in love with this girl that you do not see what you have done to our friendship! Ever since that groupie came into the picture, you’ve done nothing but ignore me, blow off our plans for her, and protect her like she’s this twig that can break at any given second!” The first warning bell rings as I turn away from Milo, walking quickly down the hallway. I don’t see anything or anyone; I just wanted to get to my next class so that I don’t dump into Aaron. I was supposed to see him after class but last this point, I don’t want to see or hear from him. I look up as I hear my name being called once more; this time it’s a girl’s voice.

“Mollie,” Sophie calls out my name and runs in my direction. I turned around as she stops in front of me. “Have you seen Milo? I have to talk to him–“

“Of course you do,” I interrupted her. “A groupie will always be a groupie, no matter what time of day it is.” Sophie scrunched her eyebrows together once I answered her.

“What?” she asked.

“Give him some space for once,” I quickly spat back. “Like seriously don’t you realize that you’re the reason why Milo and I don’t even hang out anymore?”

“How dare you put your falling out with your best friend on me?” Sophie said.

“Oh! So the groupie speaks,” I said as I laughed and turned around to go to class. “I don’t have time for this–” Before I can finish my sentence, my eyes widen and my heart sinks to the pit of my stomach.

What did she just say?

“Did Mr. Harrison tell you what he wanted to see me for?” Milo asked me as he closed the auditorium door behind him.

“He didn’t,” I answered as we started walking down the hall to return to the band classroom. “How’s vocal rehearsal going?”

“Ehh,” Milo responded, shaking his hand back and forth as he did. “It’s fine, it’s just not as exciting as band used to be.” I nodded my head, understanding where Milo was coming from. Band class hasn’t been the same since Milo’s dual major status was suspended; it’s made me not want to be in band class anymore since no one but our teacher cares about the string orchestra section. At least when Milo was there, he always looked excited to hear the strings play or rehearse. Milo looked at me before saying anything else.

“Band’s not too exciting either,” I admitted as we turned the hallway’s corner. “Our rehearsal is actually making me sleepy.”

“You? Sleeping in class?” Milo teased. “The world is coming to an end.” I couldn’t help but laugh along with Milo. I really do hope he’s able to come back soon to band class. We finally get back to the band classroom and enter; the band class turns around to see Milo and I walk into the room. I can hear Davey call out to Milo as we both walked toward Mr. Harrison; he couldn’t help but wave and say hi back. Some of our other bandmates called out for Milo; he was very popular in this class when he was here.

“Alright class, quiet down,” Mr. Harrison says to the class. I return to my seat as Milo walks up to Mr. Harrison. “I’m giving you 5 minutes to go over your music before we continue our rehearsal.” Mr. Harrison takes Milo to his desk. I opened my binder of sheet music to go over a couple of trouble spots in the piece we’re doing for the rehearsal.

“So,” I hear Davy say as he sits next to me. He clearly tries to hide from Mr. Harrison as he talks to me. “Whatcha think Milo’s here for?”

“I don’t know,” I quickly answered, hoping that would end the conversation. Apparently, he didn’t get the memo.

“You think Milo is coming back?” Davy asked. “I mean, Aaron hasn’t been showing up to band practice so there’s no one really playing in percussion.” I looked at Davy, not aware of that information. The two sections of the ensemble have been having separate rehearsals, so I didn’t know what was going on with the other half of the band.

“Aaron hasn’t been to rehearsals?” I asked. Davy shook his head.

“Not that I know of; people say it’s because he’s a dual major and he gets special permission to come whenever he pleases, Davy answered. “But whatever, we already know Milo’s the better musician anyway,” Davy said as he walked back to his seat. I turned around to the seats where Milo and Aaron would sit. Did Aaron quit? I look up front to see Mr. Harrison letting Milo go, indicating that the conversation has ended. Milo turned around to walk out of the band room. I looked at him, hoping he would give me some sort of sign that things went well. He walks past me and looks at me, flashing a smile and a thumbs-up. I look forward, smiling. I think Milo’s back.

…

I opened my locker to take out the books needed for my next class. The hallways are full of chattering students in passing. I look up and see Aaron and Mollie walking down the hallway together; it makes my stomach turn. Something tells me that Mollie hasn’t told Milo that she’s friends with Aaron, which Milo despises. If she did, I know Milo would’ve told me about it, and it annoys me that for Mollie to be his best friend, she hasn’t really been acting like one. I quickly look away, back toward my locker. I can see that Aaron has just walked up to his locker, which is two lockers down from mine. I don’t look up or say anything, but that doesn’t mean Aaron understands the social cues of someone that doesn’t want to be bothered.

“Hey, Sophie,” Aaron says to me. I look at him quickly, barely giving him a smile. “So how was the band rehearsal today?”

“You’re asking me that?” I responded to Aaron. I was confused that out of all of the people in our band class, Aaron wanted to ask me how the rehearsal went.

“Well, you are in band, and I know you had to have been at the rehearsal,” Aaron slyly said back to me.

“Well, maybe you should start actually showing up to band rehearsal if you want to know what is happening in band rehearsal,” I spat back, closing my locker before walking away.

“I’m a dual major, sweetie,” Aaron answered back. “My time is needed in vocal as that show is coming up first-“

“It’s Sophie,” I corrected him. “And quite frankly, I don’t care.” Aaron’s eyebrows scrunched together, clearly, he was getting offended at the way I was responding to him. “Then maybe you don’t deserve to be a dual major.” I don’t know why that came out of my mouth, but it was too late to take it back.

“Why would I listen to a mediocre violinist,” Aaron spat back. “I was trying to be nice and ask a simple question about rehearsal, but clearly you’re hurt or intimidated that Mr. Harrison doesn’t get on my case as much as he does with your weak little section.” I was getting angry; I refuse to let someone as shallow and conceited as Aaron Serrano get the best of me.

“Mr. Harrison’s not on your case because he just asked Milo to come back for band, ” I said as I looked at Aaron right in his face. “Clearly, the ensemble doesn’t need you as much as you think we do.” I turn around to walk away from Aaron; I was going to be late for my next class and I didn’t have time to argue with Aaron. I knew Aaron was very self-centered, but I didn’t think he treated others like complete garbage. Something told me he only treated me that way because he knows Milo and I are friends, and clearly he has some opinions about Milo being his competition. It felt good to tell him that Milo was coming back to band and that he got his dual major status back, but the pit in my stomach tells me otherwise. Is he going to try to get Milo in trouble again? Was it my place to even say anything about Milo coming back? Was that even true that Milo was coming back to band? I mean, he really didn’t tell me anything besides that everything was okay.

Did I just add fuel to a fire that had nothing to do with me?

I get lost in my spiraling thought, not realizing that I bumped into another girl in front of me.

“Watch where you’re going,” the girl said. I immediately recognize the voice being Mollie’s. I look at Mollie and she rolls her eyes.

“Sorry, I-” I began to say before she walks past me, going in the opposite direction I was going. Mollie, from what I gathered in my own observations, was a mean girl. She has never really been nice to me unless Milo was in the same room as the both of us. Again, I don’t know why Mollie refused to be nice to me if her best friend was friends with me; but then I quickly realize that Milo is not nice to Aaron and vice versa. Maybe Milo does know about Aaron and Mollie? Maybe that’s why Milo and Mollie have been so distant from each other lately?

“Ms. Lee,” I hear a teacher call out. I look at the teacher standing at their classroom door; it was Mr. Kamalani leaning against his classroom door frame with his arms crossed across his chest. “Get to class.” I nodded my head before I quickly walked past him.

I need to find Milo before Aaron does.