I bounced my leg in place as I sat next to my mum at the kitchen table. She was clicking and scrolling on different pages on the computer, trying to figure out how to get to the page she is trying to get on. I would rather just be grounded like a normal teenage girl instead of sitting through this process.

“Mum,” I called out for her. She briefly looked at me before she continues to browse through the computer. I already know she was not going to let me get out of this. “Is this truly necessary?”

“Yes,” she coldly answered. “You haven’t spoken to your father in weeks.”

“I don’t have time when he calls,” I explained, trying to make it as believable as possible. My mum shook her head and continued clicking on pages on the computer.

“Well, you have time now,” she coldly responded once more, before turning the laptop to face me. I was getting nervous. Maybe I should’ve just called him on my own time; maybe then I wouldn’t be sitting here with my mom as I have this call with my father.

It wasn’t long after that the screen went blank and appeared my father. He was wearing a navy blue uniform; I expected my father to wear stripes or orange like how a prisoner typically wears.

“Hi, Edwin,” my mom smiled as she spoke to my father. I could tell that my mom still loved my father. Every time I heard her talk to him or visit him on these video calls, she smiled big with her teeth flashing and eye wrinkles showing. It made me upset at times; she was able to forgive him so easily after everything he put us through these last two years. Two years, dad. You broke my trust two years ago on Valentine’s Day.

“Hi, Haeun,” I hear my father say back. I could tell he is also smiling. “How have you been dear?”

“We’ve been fine,” mum answers. She looks at me softly, which is rare for my mum. She was always a hard person to read, but she has been like that for as long as I can remember. I was never close to my mum growing up; I think her Korean culture never interested me growing up, but she was always strict in making me follow tradition and grow up in the ways she did. It was my father that introduced other cultures into my life. It was him that decided that coming to live in America would open doors for me and my future. Now it feels like any opportunity or hope I had left for me in America wasn’t here anymore; it was back in the UK in a prison cell.

“And Sophie? How has she been?” he finally asks. I feel the knot in my throat get bigger and the pit of my stomach get deeper. My mum turns the laptop screen toward me and he finally sees me on camera. I see him on camera. The man on the screen looked like my father; same black hair, glasses, and smile. The only thing was that his facial hair was more noticeable. My father always preferred a clean shave.

“Hi, daddy,” I said to my father. He looked like he was at a loss for words.

“My Sophie girl!” he excitedly said. “You’ve gotten so big, my God!” He laughs after speaking. I miss his laugh. “How’s school going? High school is a big deal, especially being in that school.

“School’s going well,” I answered. ” I’m in the string orchestra in the band.”

“You were always so good on the violin,” he added. “Have you had any performances yet?”

“We have a showcase in a couple of weeks,” I answered. I didn’t want to share too much about myself with him. I just wanted to have this visit and then get as far away as possible. He nodded his head.

“And you’re making friends, right?” he asked. I nodded quickly, even though I can feel my mom’s eyes on me. Whatever; it made him smile. “Your mum told me you sprained your ankle at school the other day. How are you feeling?” I looked at my mom, not surprised she shared that with him on her video visits with him.

“I’m doing better,” I simply answered. “I go back to school on Monday.”

“That’s good,” he answered quickly after. I can tell his time is coming to an end. “As long as you’re keeping your grades up and practicing your violin and are enjoying yourself, that’s all that matters, Sophie girl.” I simply smiled for him. My mother sighed and turned the laptop to face her to say goodbye. I couldn’t help but get up out of my seat and walk away and out of the room. Any longer in the kitchen and I would’ve cried in front of my parents.

I waited until I closed my bedroom door to finally let everything out. I miss him so much.

While everyone was leaving the venue for the night, I waited for Aaron to come out of the back. I was getting nervous; maybe he already packed his stuff and left without telling me. Maybe he just wanted me here at the show, but he didn’t say anything about wanting to hang out after the show or something. I started to feel stupid standing in the middle of this room as the venue got empty. I was beginning to walk out of the venue to just head home for the night.

“Mols!” I heard a voice call out for me. I turned around and saw Aaron walking towards me. I immediately smiled and turned around to face him as we continued walking to me.

“Hey, rockstar,” I teased Aaron as he approached me. He started to laugh, like the loud hearty laugh that he does when something is really funny to him. I’m glad I’m able to hear it and be the cause of it at times. “You were amazing out there tonight!”

“Thank you,” Aaron playfully takes a bow. “I appreciate you coming out here to see me perform.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I quickly said back. I bit my bottom lip after saying it, feeling a little weird letting that slip out the way that it did. Aaron smiles before turning around to see his band members come closer to us.

“Mols, these are my bandmates,” Aaron pointed out as his band members came to us. “Thomas is our bass guitarist, Xavier is our rhythm guitarist, and Jordan’s our drummer.” I wave at the three guys, a little nervous at the introduction. They don’t look like they are also freshmen in a high school; I mean I’ve never seen them at Waverly. Aaron turns around to face me. “This is Mollie.”

“Hi,” I started to say. “You guys were awesome tonight.” The guys thanked me as they gathered their stuff. I figured that Aaron wanted to go hang out with his band members after having such a good show, but it was to my surprise seeing the guys give Aaron pounds, saying goodbye to him. They waved goodbye at me, and I return the wave. Once the guys leave, Aaron looks at me and smiles.

“Should we go grab something to eat?” Aaron asked.

“Please,” I begin to answer. “I haven’t eaten anything since lunch period.”

…

Aaron went to a local burger joint that he highly recommended; he typically goes here when he and his band have practice in the area. The burgers were alright, but the waffle fries were to die for. I think Aaron noticed since he trades his fries for my burger.

“You know, I was in that show feeling very lame with my uniform on,” I explained to Aaron, who is wearing casual clothing. It was nice to see how he dressed outside of school. It was very chill; an oversized sweatshirt and some jeans with a pair of Chuck Taylors on.

“I wish the show wasn’t right after school,” Aaron added on. “Carrying a change of clothes and your instrument is not cool.” I sipped on my soda before continuing the conversation.

“Wanna know what else isn’t cool?” I playfully asked. Aaron looked at me, nervous. “Pretending you don’t know what you’re doing but then singing the way you did in your performance.” I smiled, just to let him know I was obviously joking, and it was fun to tease him and watch him squirm. Aaron definitely squirmed in his seat.

“About that,” Aaron tried to explain. I laughed at his nervousness. I was curious to actually know what the explanation is. “The music we have to sing for vocal is sometimes just hard–“

“Hard doesn’t mean singing off-pitch on purpose,” I corrected him. “You know what you’re doing, so why did you ask me to help you in vocal if you really didn’t need it?” Aaron looked even more nervous, which actually now made me feel a little bad for pushing him this hard to tell me what’s been on my mind all night.

“Okay, you got me,” Aaron simply said. “I pretended I didn’t know what I was doing in vocal because I… just wanted to get to know you.”

“You could’ve just come up to me and got to know me though,” tried to explain to Aaron. I felt weird all of a sudden; why would Aaron have to lie about being bad at something just to talk to me. Was I that scary to approach or something?

“You don’t just approach the most talented girl in vocal class like nothing,” Aaron pointed out. I felt myself blush, but I hope that Aaron sees it as me feeling a little cold on this chilly night. “The day you went up and sang in front of the class for the first time, it was like… intense. Like, your talent made it hard for me to just come and talk to you at first.” Hearing Aaron explain why he did what he did has me left with a million more questions.

“Aaron, you’re a dual major,” I tried to reason with him. “That means that you were so fucking good at your auditions, that they decided to put you in two majors.”

“Being a dual major doesn’t mean you’re automatically the best,” Aaron responded back. “And Mols, you’re the best in our vocal class. I was just fascinated with you because even in being the best, you still work hard and practice your music and know what you’re doing not because you know you’re the best or you gotta stay the best, but because you have so much passion.”

Hearing Aaron talk about passion makes it feel real. This guy not only has to juggle the workload of two majors in school but also is a part of a band that is up and coming into the scene here in the city. It takes someone with passion to recognize other people with passion. It felt good to hear it from someone that doesn’t really owe you anything to tell you that you are good and worthy of the spot you’re in. I smiled. He returned the smile. I sighed before saying anything back.

“That means a lot, Aaron,” I began. “It’s hard to always feel like you don’t belong in a place or have people doubt your ability to do things because, well, they just see this girl who’s constantly getting herself in some sort of trouble.”

“Even the greats were badasses,” Aaron responded back. It made me giggle. “Even more of a reason to like you.” I looked at Aaron; I felt my stomach drop all the way down to my ankles.

“You… like me?” I said, without thinking at first. I shook my head, trying to cover up my tracks. “I mean, you like me as a friend, right?”

“Mols,” Aaron began. “I like you.” I felt all the air in my lungs evaporate. The Aaron Serrano, confessing that he likes me? I felt every jar of butterflies in my stomach explode, and there was no way of catching them all to put them back together. It was too late; I think it’s been too late for quite some time now.

“I like you too, Aaron,” I confessed. He smiled at my response, and it felt good to know that someone actually likes me for me, and not for the version that everyone wants me to be. The truth is I know I’m a mess, stubborn, and someone times don’t think before I speak. But if Aaron can like me for my broken parts, then he also actually really likes me for my good parts. Aaron gets closer to me, closing the gap between us. I feel myself beginning to blush even harder than before; this time, I hope Aaron knows it’s because of him.

“Would it be okay if I, uhm,” Aaron began to say; he was clearly nervous. Show him what it was like to be a badass, Mol.

“Kiss me,” I demanded. Aaron looked at me, surprised at my response. I smiled before he smiled and caressed my face, bringing me closer to his lips. He gently kissed me on the lips, and the electricity went through my body and brought me to life. It was innocent, nothing too aggressive or weird but… safe. I felt safe with Aaron. Our lips separated slowly. He looked into my eyes before releasing his hands from my face.

“Let’s get you home, rockstar,” I teased. Aaron laughed his infamous laugh before saying anything back.

“Not before we get the rockstar’s girlfriend home first,” Aaron flirted. I think I’m gonna like staying naturally red in the face.

I walked to my locker and looked at the shelves where my textbooks were. After rearranging my bookbag to take what I needed to take for the weekend, I hear someone’s voice behind my locker door. I rolled my eyes since I knew exactly who it was.

I slammed my locker shut and see Milo standing there. He smiles at me, and I immediately turn the other way to walk to my last class for the day. I can hear Milo following behind me, which annoys me.

“Mol? Hey, Mollie?” I hear Milo call out my name numerous times before I get fed up and finally turn around and face him. He steps back after realizing just how much he was breathing down my back.

“What?” I spat back.

“So, I’m guessing you’re still mad, huh?” Milo asks me, even though he should already know the answer to that. I don’t answer back, which causes Milo to sigh. “Look, I’m sorry about the other day. I should’ve actually seen that I texted you and not thought that I did. It was a mistake.”

“It’s always a mistake for you,” I answered back, not really feeling Milo’s apology. At this point, I was sad that Milo would ditch me for a girl that he’s known for, like, 2 minutes over his best friend he knew since birth. He swears that he’s not replacing me with Sophie, but it’s hard to believe that whenever he forgets he has other friends outside of Sophie and makes these “mistakes” over and over again. It started to make me not want to care about him anymore because it definitely felt like he didn’t care about me anymore. “It’s like the whole world stops whenever Sophie gets in your vision.”

“She was injured, Mollie,” Milo emphasized. “There was no one else around that could help her.”

“I don’t care about that,” I sat back. It was the truth, I didn’t care that Sophie got hurt and has been out of school for the week. It just makes me feel like he’s only saying sorry because she’s not here for him to follow like a lost puppy. “You still could’ve remembered to text me.”

“I know, and I’m sorry. I truly am,” Milo said, more gentle than he was before. I hated to be mad at Milo. I never feel like myself when I know Milo and I are fighting. We are best friends for a reason and I think it’s because we balance each other out. I sighed before I said anything back, and I guess he saw that as me considering his apology. “We can go hang out today after school and go for pizza. I know it’s not the usual day we do that, but–“

“I can’t,” I answered back. “I already have something to do after-school.” Milo cocked an eyebrow up and looked at me before entering our vocal class.

“Since when do you have other things to do after school?” Milo asked. I rolled my eyes at him, walking into the classroom with him following me. I look at my classmates who are already inside the classroom. I spot Aaron singing with the baritones at the back of the class. “Hello? Mollie?”

“What?” I turned around, annoyed all over again.

“What are you doing after school?” Milo asked.

“I missed my dance practice earlier this week so I’m making up with Jennifer today,” I said as I walked over to my seat. I tried to sound as convincing as I could because the last thing I wanted to do was hear Milo talk about Aaron. Mr. Kamalani quiets down the class so we could get started on our vocal rehearsal.

…

I ran out of the classroom as soon as the bell rang. I didn’t want Milo to know where I was going, and I needed to get to this venue as fast as I can so I was able to come home at a time that my mom doesn’t suspect something. I hate that I’m not able to wear something cool and that I have to go in this lame-ass uniform, but I think Aaron understands that his show was literally happening in the city, just an hour after school ended. I can’t lie; I was nervous to go and see Aaron’s band play live. I felt like it’s just a scene I never been a part of, and to make matters worse; I look like a lost school girl that couldn’t get her way ahead the city or some shit. But the closer I got to the venue, the more excited I got to see Aaron. As someone as talented as him being a dual major and all of that, I was excited to hear Aaron pay outside of school. What was he like in this scene? Was his band the coolest thing ever? Will outside-of-school Aaron actually like me being here while he does his outside-of-school stuff?

I finally entered the venue and I’m immediately surrounded by people dressed in dark, gothic clothing. Fuck, now I really stand out in this place. I walk around and see people talk to each other before the performances begin. I wish I was able to hang out with Aaron before his performance; I didn’t know how to fit in this crowd and everything in me wanted to leave and go straight home. Mol, he invited you. He wants you here.

The room goes dark and the stage lights up. The audience cheers and claps their hands as a guy comes on stage introducing the upcoming bands. I walk a little closer to the front of the stage, trying to get a better view.

“Alright! Welcome to tonight’s showcase! We have some veterans returning to perform tonight, but tonight’s opener is new to our scene,” the guy announced. The crowd cheers after every sentence that this guy is saying. “This band comes from our friends in Brooklyn and they have some serious talent. Give it up for Quiet Divison!” The audience cheered as the band came out backstage. I see Aaron holding his guitar, walking center stage to where the mic is. His long hair swooshes in front of his face as he hooks up his guitar to the amplifier. I can’t help but keep a stupid smile on my face watching him on stage. He looks great on stage.

“Hello, New York City!” Aaron shouts into the microphone. The audience cheers in response, including myself. “We’re Quiet Divison, and we got some new music for you guys to rock out to!” The audience claps and cheers the band on. Aaron turns around to see if the rest of the band is ready to start. When he turns back around and faces the audience, the music starts.

The drummer begins the song and the guitarists quickly follow, Aaron begins singing the song, which blows me away. He’s singing in an octave I haven’t heard him sing in before; his pitch is nearly perfect and his enunciation of the words sounds like it’s a studio version recording. In the middle of the song, Aaron steps away from the mic to do a guitar solo. I couldn’t help but yell in excitement; it was something that traveled through the veins in my body and converted into serotonin. I started to dance and join the audience; I was literally having the best night of my life watching Aaaron play tonight. To top it all off, Aaron begins to riff for, like, 8 bars straight; my jaw literally drops as I hear him sing so passionately into the microphone. It felt like the song was literally 30 seconds long, but when it finished, the crowd went wild, and so did I. The band smiles, especially Aaron as he looks into the audience and sees me there. I think I’m melting.

“Thank you! You guys were an amazing audience!” Aaron shouts towards the crowd, and the audience returns the support by clapping and cheering them on. As he exited the stage with his band members, I immediately feel like I need more of what I just saw.

Aaron Serrano, you got me hooked through music.

We left the hospital once Gabby was able to see Sophie. Like she expected, it was a sprained ankle, so she probably won’t be in school for a couple of days until it’s healed. I felt sad seeing Sophie in so much pain, but I was glad I was able to distract her by talking and telling her some really lame jokes that would make anyone forget what they were feeling. I wish I was able to stay with Sophie while she was at the hospital, but her mom was called shortly after we got to the hospital and came for Sophie.

I look out the passenger window of my dad’s car and see that we are finally in front of our house. I look at my dad, who looks at me before getting out of the car.

“You’re okay, bud?” my dad asked me. I nodded my head; I didn’t want to say anything back. He takes a deep breath before saying anything to me. “Sophie’s going to be alright.” He gets out of the car and I follow him. I didn’t want to bring up the fact that Mrs. Lee already hates me for being Sophie’s friend, so just seeing me in a hospital with Sophie just proves her point some more about how she feels about me.

As I got out of the car, I look at the front steps and freeze in place. My dad says something before I get the chance to.

“Mollie? What are you doing out here?” he asked. Mollie looks directly at me, furious. My dad turns around to look at me and then looks back at Mollie. “I’m sorry, I know Milo was supposed to hang out with you after school today, but he had helped a friend that got injured in school.” Mollie looks at my dad and smiles, trying to play it cool.

“Oh, I didn’t know that. I could’ve gone home to do something productive in the two hours I waited for Milo to come here,” Mollie responded. She grabbed her backpack from the stoop and started to walk down the stairs. “I should be on my way home before my mom gets worried.” Mollie runs down the stairs and walks past me to walk out of the gate door. I turned around quickly to try to grab her, but she immediately pulls away when I do.

“Mol-” I began to say.

“Get off of me,” Mollie answered, angry.

“Can I just explain what happened?” I tried to plead with her. I really was waiting for her to come out of the school like we both agreed on, but it had been way past 20 minutes and I figured she had left or got something else come up that she needed to do. Plus, what was I supposed to do seeing Sophie fall down the stairs and hurt her ankle? I wanted to explain this all to Mollie, but I sometimes forget that once Mollie is set on feeling a type of way, she doesn’t really listen to anyone.

“Now you want to tell me what happened after being dead silent for the two hours I waited here for you?” Mollie spat back.

“I tried to text you, but-“

“Yeah,” Mollie interrupted. “But the message didn’t go through. How about you come up with something different so that maybe I’ll actually believe it?”

“Mol, I swear! I tried texting you that something came up and-“

“Then show me,” Mollie insisted. “Let me see your phone.” I was caught off-guard when Mollie asked to see my phone. I didn’t want to show her my phone, and I was annoyed that she didn’t trust me or my word.

“Why?” I asked, trying to buy time.

“Because I don’t trust you when you say that the message wasn’t sent. Like, is your phone that shitty?” She opens her palms up in my direction. “Let me see your phone.”

“No,” I answered, now annoyed. “I don’t need to show you anything, and as my best friend you should believe what I’m telling you.”

“How can I when every time you tell me something, the opposite always happens? Especially when it comes to Sophie,” Mollie added. I widen my eyes at the sound of Sophie’s name. Mollie looks at me and laughs. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure out who the hell is this other friend.”

“She was injured,” I finally admitted.

“But you didn’t tell me!”

“I tried to, but the message didn’t go through!”

“Stop fucking lying to me!”

“Okay, that’s enough,” my dad intervened and separated us. “Do you need a ride home, Mollie?”

I walked past both my dad and Mollie and run up the front steps to my house. I didn’t want to see Mollie anymore and wanted this conversation to be over. I slammed the front door shut and entered the studio door instead of going straight upstairs. I at on one of the chairs in the studio and took my cellphone out of my pocket. I opened Mollie’s text messages and see that I had wrote a text to Mollie, but never sent it. I turned my phone screen off and shut my eyes before taking in a deep breath. Maybe I am such a shitty best friend.