Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 81520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Mom: Walking into yoga. Dinner tonight?
Me: Have fun! And sure. I’ll come over after Felix gets out of school.
Then I text Kaylee to see if she’s free for coffee.
Kaylee: I wish. Classes all day. Boo.
Kaylee had a rough go of it after her breakup with Braxton. Despite my best efforts to help her get through her first year of college, she failed out and moved back home. She took the rest of the year off and started over again the following year. She buckled down the second time around and will graduate in December. She already has a job lined up that she’s excited about.
Bored, I pull up my social media and scroll through everyone’s Monday morning posts, a mixture of inspirational and hating Monday memes.
I stop on one post in particular and hover my finger over it, deciding whether to like and comment. It’s from Raging Chaos’s official page. The picture was taken at a recent award show—Gage, Declan, and Braxton are standing around the man in the middle, who’s holding the award in his hand with a huge grin spread across his face: Camden Blackwood. My best friend. Well, my ex-best friend. We haven’t spoken in years, not since that night when everything changed. When Tori took her life, Kaylee cheated on Braxton, and David asked me to marry him.
Braxton and Kaylee broke up.
We buried Tori.
And then the guys left for LA, never looking back.
None of us even bothered to walk across the stage—our diplomas were mailed to us.
I tried to call Camden, but he said they needed time. Needed some space. So I did what he asked. A few months later, while I was in my dorm room listening to music while studying, their first song hit the radio. “Raging Chaos.” It was the name of the song and their band—their introduction to the world.
A couple of months into college, David and I were going through a rough patch—being in college was different than being in high school. I was close to calling off the engagement and ending things between us, but then fate intervened, and despite being on birth control, I found out I was pregnant. David insisted on us getting married before Felix was born, so, in December, we were married. It was a small wedding, just close family and friends. I sent the guys and Camden an invite to our wedding, but they RSVP’d they couldn’t make it. The day of the wedding, a gift arrived from Camden congratulating us—it was the newest camera out at the time with a note that read: So you can capture all the memories.
In June, I gave birth to Felix, and once again, a box was waiting for me when I got home. It was a baby book to print the pictures I took and create a scrapbook. There was a note inside as well that read: You’re going to make a wonderful mom.
My heart hurt that he could easily throw our friendship away, reducing it to gifts for the occasions, but I didn’t know what to do or how to fix it, so I followed his pages and watched him and the other guys climb up the ladder of fame. I always knew they’d be successful. Between Camden’s soothing voice and the raw talent of Gage, Declan, and Braxton backing him up, it was a given. But what I don’t think anyone expected was how quickly they would blow up.
Every song has topped the charts for weeks, every album has won awards, and every tour has sold out. I’m so proud of them. And I miss Camden so damn much.
I click on the picture and comment congratulations even though I’m sure they probably have people handling their social media for them, and none of the guys will even see it.
Closing the app, I pull up Google. Without thinking about it, I find myself searching for videography jobs. With Felix in school and David busy at work, there’s no way I’m just going to sit around here doing nothing. I got my videography degree for a reason, and it’s time I actually put it to use.
As I’m searching for possible job leads, my phone rings. It’s Bailey.
“Hey, long time no hear,” I say when I answer.
“Hey, you. I just saw your mom at yoga, and she said you’re back! When were you planning to let us know?”
“Umm… soon…”
“That doesn’t sound convincing.”
The truth is, since Camden stopped talking to me, I kind of shied away from the rest of his family. I always comment and like their posts, but I haven’t seen any of them since I moved to Boston, and since David despises New York, my mom always visited us.
“We just got back a few days ago and are still settling in. We actually rented a place not too far from my mom.”