2O Something I Can't Live Without

"SOMETHING I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT"

I sat on my bed working on perfecting the lyrics of my new song when my bedroom door opened.

Cherry stood in my doorway. Conflicting emotions filled my chest. I missed my best friend, but I couldn't get over her lying to me for weeks. Yet, I wanted to ask her about Tristan and tell her about Bea Lopez and the summer showcase. I also wanted to throw things at her head.

It was all very confusing.

I opted for a quiet glare as she ventured further into my room. She made the very bold move to sit next to me on the bed. Her pink sundress, popping against her brown skin.

"I gave you a few days to calm down--"

I huffed a humorless laugh. "I didn't know there was a time limit on feeling betrayed by your friend of eleven years."

"I have a really good explanation--"

"And I have really good aim so I suggest you leave," I shot back. "How did you even get in here?"

"I've warned you about leaving the side garage door unlocked."

"Trespassing is illegal, last time I checked."

Her dark eyes narrowed at me. "Can I tell you why I stole your song book or are you going to keep threatening me with violence and jail time?"

I shut my new song book. Holding it close to my chest just incase she got any ideas. "I'm listening."

She let out a breath moving her braids over to her left shoulder. "Remember the last day if school when you asked me to check if the comment left by Bea Lopez was legit?" I nodded. "Well, it was really from her."

"Wow. Another lie from Angela Whitaker. I'm not even surprised." I leaned back against my headboard, arms crossed.

She flinched like I slapped her. "You haven't called me Angela in years."

"Well, that's who you are now," I told her. "Cherry would never lie to me."

I could practically see her brain instructing her to breathe in and breathe out. "When I saw it was the real Bea Lopez, I thought 'This is it. My best friend is going to be a world famous pop star like she Googled years ago'.

"Then why steal my songs? The very reason Bea Lopez reached out to me in the first place?"

"Because..." she said, twirling a purple braid around her finger. "This was a really big opportunity for you. You were still so hung up on Daniel that he was all you ever wrote about. I didn't want this amazing thing you made happen to be credited to some jackass who broke your heart."

She had a point. I pretty much came to the same revelation myself yesterday.

"That day," she continued. "I went to the detention room to tell you the comment was real. You were on the phone with your back turned and Mr. Johnston was practically asleep. Then I saw your notebook on the desk and you were writing yet another song about Daniel. I didn't think about it, I just grabbed the notebook and ran."

She looked down at her lap. "I thought you'd get a new notebook and start writing new songs, forgetting about your old one. Honestly, Faye, I didn't steal it to hurt you."

I looked down at my new notebook. Last night, I took the time to decorate the yellow cover with stickers and lyrics from songs about self love. A new topic I'd been exploring.

"I waited so long to reply to Bea Lopez because I needed those songs," I told her. "Now I can't even bring myself to look at that thing. It feels like some of those songs were written by an entirely different person."

"I think they were," she agreed. "You changed a lot this summer. Especially after everything with your mom."

"What do you mean?" My mom wasn't exactly who came to mind when I thought about my summer.

"Since you had that talk with your grandma about her, you don't seem as angry anymore," she explained. "It was like you had a dark cloud over your head this whole time and you were just waiting for the next lightning strike to throw off your mood."

I hadn't thought if it like that. Since finding out my mom's issues had nothing to do with me, I stopped worrying about her judging my every move. Then again she hadn't been around much to criticize me.

Tonight that would all be put to the test when she joined me and my dad for dinner.

"I really am sorry," Cherry said. "About stealing your songs and for lying to you the whole time. I thought I was doing you a favor."

"Oh, you were. If I'd shown Bea Lopez some of those songs, like "Spicy Chicken Dreams" parts one and two, she definitely wouldn't want me performing at the End of Summer Showcase." Not all of my songs were winners, unfortunately.

Her whole face brightened up. "You got the email?"

"Yes." And I still couldn't believe I was invited to sing. "Wait, how'd you know I would get an email?"

She chewed at her bottom lip. "Well, after it was clear Bea Lopez wasn't going to email you back, I called her. Her assistant, actually."

"How did you get her assistant's number?" I asked, baffled.

"You can find anything online if you know where to look," she said simply. "Anyways, I did some of best begging and got you a spot in the showcase."

I was amazed at my friend's skill set. "Just like that, huh?"

"That, plus, I had to pretend to be you for a phone interview," she quickly added. "If she asks, you had a really bad head cold."

A laughed bubbled out of me. So that was why I got the invite without having to meet Bea Lopez in person.

I leaned over, pulling her into a hug. She squeezed me back just as tight. Emotions I'd been holding back since she stepped into my room welled up in my eyes. "Thank you, Cherry, for always having my back. But let's skip the stealing and lying next time."

She giggled and I could tell she was crying, too. Pulling away, she wiped her tears before saying, "Deal. Now, let's talk about the End of Summer Show Case. We only have, like, a week to prepare."

I picked up my new songbook, opening it to the song I'd been working on. "Before you came in, I was working on something new. Do you want to hear it?"

She hopped up from the bed, pulling me along with her. "Why is that even question?"

***

My dad looked nervous as we parked in the lot of The Galactic Grill, the space themed restaurant we went to the other day. My dad couldn't stop talking about the nachos, or the heartburn they gave him, but he was ready for round two apparently.

My mom was already there waiting at a table. She was a little dressed up for a restaurant with an arcade. She had a fresh blow out and wore pearls.

Normally, she was either in a pantsuit or one of my dad's old shirts, so this had to be the influence of my grandma.

My grandma had away about her that made people want to be on her level. I spent a summer with her when I was twelve and started dressing like Blair Waldorf from Gossip Girl.

It surprised me when my mom didn't mention my cut off shorts being too short. They weren't. They passed the fingertip test. One therapy session and she was a new woman. I hoped it wasn't an act.

She smiled wide as we joined her at the table. My dad and I on one side, her on the other. "Hello, Henry. Faye."

"You look nice, Abby." I swear my dad was blushing.

So was my mom as she thanked him.

My dad gave me a pointed stare as my mom glanced down at the laminated menu.

"You do something different with your hair?" I asked, trying not to sound as awkward as I felt. The last few times we've interacted didn't go so well.

She lightly touched her hair. "Yes, actually. Highlights."

"Cool."

Her shoulders dropped as she let out a loud sigh. I prepared to tune out whatever was about to come next.

"This is ridiculous."

"Abby..." my dad cautioned.

"Can we skip over the tension? Your dad says you have a performance."

I shot him a look. He might've been ready to accept his wife as a changed woman, but I wasn't there yet. The last time I shared good news with her she tried take it from me.

"That's amazing, Faye. Really." As she spoke, my dad watched on. The hope of us getting along was all over his face. I didn't want to disappoint him, but I couldn't fake how I felt.

"I'd rather not talk about it," I said, picking up my own menu.

"Faye--"

"Dad, I'm sorry, but I can't forget the way she's treated me all my life because of one therapy session," I told him truthfully. Turning to my mom, I added, "I agreed to this dinner because it's obvious Dad misses you and wants you home. But I can't 'skip over' how I feel."

As a waiter named Aries took our orders, I realized why my dad suggested a public place for dinner. Other than a space themed restaurant being right up his sci-fi loving alley, he knew it'd be harder for me to leave the table and lock myself in my room. Which was exactly what I wanted to do. He was good.

My mom cleared her throat once the waiter left, smoothing invisible wrinkles from her dress. "I'm trying here, Faye."

"I can see that. I only hope you're trying to be a better person for yourself, because you can't make someone forgive you."

She seemed surprised by my insight. Honestly, so was I. The sad truth was that you couldn't control how people felt about you.

Maybe, one day, I could forgive my mom. But I'd need more than a single summer.

*********

Faye and Cherry are back together again!!

Faye's mom is being civil for once, but only time will tell if she's being genuine.

Thank you so very much for reading 💕