~~~~
"Good thing I didn't wear heels," Claire says as we get out of the car. Since cheap parking in downtown is nearly impossible, especially with a concert nearby, we have to park in a garage farther away from the venue.
"Omg look at the sky," Lisa points at the sunset.
"We should take pictures," Claire gasps.
"You girls and pictures," Eric whines, making a few of us glare at him.
"I'm down," Sofie walks toward the side of the garage while Claire and Lisa catch up to her. It has an open view of the purple and orange sky that's perfect for a picture.
"You good?" Eva asks out of no where.
"Yeah," I shrug, stopping in front of Sofie. She bends down to get good angles of Claire and Lisa.
"Hey," Conrad throws an arm around my shoulders and I smile up to him. Jae follows, standing next to him, and Eric leans on a concrete post.
"Get in here," Claire waves at the rest of us to join. "We can use a timer," she reassures after me and Eva look at one another.
"Where will we place your phone? Smart ass," Lisa shoves Claire. Claire looks around, at each of us, waiting for a volunteer. None of us seem to care who does so I decide help out—I prefer to take the pictures anyways.
"Here," I stick my hand out for her phone. She smiles appreciatively then ushers everyone around her. I position myself in the middle, aligning the phone to fit all of them in frame.
"Okay, ready? 3..2..1.." I spam the button, taking pictures from different angles. I know how picky Claire is, maybe the others as well, so I take plenty. I hand back Claire's phone and she immediately goes through the hundreds of photos.
"Jae, you didn't even smile in any of these," Claire glares at Jae who slowly backs up from her intimidating gaze.
"All of you boys didn't," Lisa points them out in each photo Claire scrolls past.
"Shit, we gotta go," Claire looks at the time
and rushes to the exit. I adjust my outfit, from crouching down to take photos of them, and begin following the rest of the group alone.
~
"I think it's this way," Sofie leads us through busy streets. While we walk deeper into the city, I admire the buildings and cute shops that run along the roads. I haven't been to downtown in a long time—it's a foreign feeling.
"What's up?" Jae follows in sync with my steps.
"Nothing much," I look up to see faint stars in the sky.
"Why are you walking alone?"
"I'd rather not get pushed onto the road," I gesture to the reckless drivers, whizzing by into traffic. Everyone is walking in pairs. I don't want to interfere with their conversations by being a third wheel.
"Especially with Eric's fat ass," Jae smirks.
"I heard that," Eric abruptly turns around to glare Jae. I laugh under my breath.
"Are you excit-" Jae's phone interrupts him. "Shit," He pulls out his phone and my eyes wander to the contact name. My eyes widen but I hide my shock. I look ahead of me, giving Jae the time to answer his call. In the meanwhile, I notice Claire glancing behind her shoulder at, most likely, Jae.
"Finally!" Sofie relaxes her shoulders once the line of people for the concert comes into view. We stop at an intersection and wait for the signal to walk.
"As I was saying," Jae wraps his arm around my shoulders. He tucks his phone into his pockets. "Are you excited?" He nudges me and I can't fight back a smile.
"Of course," I cross my arms to create more warmth.
"I can't wait to see him shirtless," Jae longingly admires and I laugh at him for it. I feel him rub my arm up and down to rejuvenate more heat.
"What? You're looking at me like you don't want to see him shirtless as well?"
"Nope I do, because I know he is better looking than the four of you," I point to each guy as we walk down the road.
"You're delusional," he scoffs. "Don't get me wrong Jay Park is my man, but have you seen this," he points up and down his figure.
"Fuck him, have you seen this..." Eric suddenly turns around to us, doing the same gesture as Jae. Conrad pushes Eric forward and gives me an apologetic smile.
"No I haven't," I answer mid laughter. I notice a smirk sneak Jae's face. I immediately know what he's thinking.
"You can check anytime Ellie Mae," he says seductively, making me shove him to the side. I run ahead of me where the rest of the girls are. I don't want to handle Jae's teasing.
"Hey," I say out of breath.
"What happened to you?" Sofie chuckles, turning around to see where I came from. She looks at me again, instead with a smirk. "Never mind," she shrugs before walking faster to the other girls.
I stop for a moment at the realization. Sofie has really ditched me. I jump when someone pokes my side. I quickly spin around to glare at Jae. He continues walking and acts oblivious to what he has done.
"Rude," I catch up to him, nudging his shoulder.
~
"I can't believe we're actually here!" Lisa squeals and everyone agrees with her excitement.
We're gathered in a circle, slowly shuffling forward in line. We make small talk and have discussions on the most weirdest things to pass time, like what color is nothing?
"I'm telling you it's black!" Eric frustratingly throws his hands in the air. I stand in between Claire and Jae, observing their debate.
"How about this," Lisa uses her whole body to explain. We laugh at how serious the topic has become. "When you point a flashlight at a white—blank wall. What do you see? What would you say if I were to ask you, what's on the wall...nothing."
"Really—"Eric opens his mouth to say something but Lisa continues her side of debate.
"What color is the wall white. What color is the light that shines through a flashlight...usually white." she shrugs with a victorious smile.
"That doesn't even make sense," Eric practically rips his hair out. I watch as everyone stares in between their argument. I face Jae and he's smiling down at me. I return a shy smile, looking back at an unamused Eric.
From my peripheral vision, Claire glances at Jae. I take a step back as I don't want to interfere whatever's going on between them.
"To see color you need light...If there is no light, then there's no color and only darkness, which is black!" Eric yells, making some onlookers glare at our direction.
"He's got a point," I shrug.
"Thank you," Eric says in relief and Conrad pats his shoulder encouragingly.
"Whatever," Lisa rolls her eyes, turning away from the group.
"Ticket," the security says. We pull out our tickets and hand them to her.
"Follow this lane for a security screening," the guard tells us. We thank her, then impatiently move deeper into the venue.
"We're here!"" the girls exclaim, jumping up and down, as the boys laugh at us.
~
"I think I'm going to cry," Sofie's voice cracks at the end.
"I feel you," Claire barely says in a whisper and Lisa agrees by nodding her head.
As expected, the concert's amazing. We all had the time of our lives, sang, danced, cried, all night long. It's to a point where we've either lost our voices, an earring, or a couple of bucks. I'm quite worried for Conrad—how can someone steal money from his wallet?
The concert ended almost an hour ago. Since there're too many people, we decided to leave later so we wouldn't get stuck in traffic.
After pushing ourselves in between hundreds of people, we manage to leave the stadium. However, we still have huge crowds and the rest of the building to get through. We're shoved and tumbled over by desperate fans. They want to go home like everyone else.
I try my best, maneuvering around them. I stay close as to not lose the group but, they have a hard time figuring out a way to smoothly leave the premises.
"Calm down," a man, bigger than myself, pushes me back into the mids of chaos. He seems to not care whom he tramples over.
I start to feel a sense of anxiety. I'm overwhelmed by everyone around me—I'm suffocated. It doesn't help that I don't know as to where I'm going. I'm a short woman, who can't see beyond the tall heads. I can't find any of my friends. The hordes of people are shoving each other into different directions.
I start to panic. The feeling in my gut swells to worry, stress, and fear—I don't do well in hectic situations. I almost scream when someone grabs my hand, pulling me towards the opposite direction. I'm about to retaliate at their firm grasp until, I realize it's Jae. He pulls me deeper into his side and guides us outside.
"You're fine, I got you," he attempts to comfort me through the loud yells and screams of fans. It's hard to listen, or even care to respond, because I'm busy calming myself.
Once we step outside, I finally breathe in the fresh air. My overheated body cools down from the wind. I'm absolutely stunned and, overall, I don't feel good. I just want to go home and be alone—away from people.
"Omg Ellie!" Eva jogs up to me. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," I smile, hoping it'll convince her. "I just need a breather," I pace back and forth.
"We thought you were following us?" Claire walks up to me.
"Honestly, me too" I joke in hopes to enlighten the mood.
"All good?" Claire asks after a few minutes and I nod. When everything resolves to normal, sort of because I'm still shaken up, Sofie starts to lead us back to the garage.
"I'm making this my wallpaper," Eva changes her lock screen from a picture of her and Roman to the shirtless, sweaty, and good looking artist.
"I saw that," Roman grits out. Eva looks at me with wide eyes before running away from Roman. I shake my head at their bickering. I notice that Claire walk la up to me but, she suddenly turns around.
"Are you actually okay?" Jae asks. "I can tell you were panicking."
"Well, I was about to," I frown. I tilt my head down as I don't want him to see my disappointment. I mentally scold myself for causing a scene. I'm embarrassed for making them worry for something they shouldn't have.
"Did you at least have fun?"
"Hell yes," I say and he laughs at my genuine enthusiasm.
"You're a lucky motherfucker. You know that right?" Jae pouts as he looks at the teddy bear that I'm holding.
"And what about it?" I tease. He's jealous, the Jay Park, handed me the teddy bear. "Unfortunately, my phone ran out of storage as he was giving it to me." I frown, thinking back to the memory. I obviously don't need a picture to capture every moment, but they're personal connections—they're meaningful in their own way. It's nice to look back on the times I've enjoyed myself, which are rare.
"Well, I know what could make you feel better?" Jae looks into the streets of Toronto.
"Like what?" I furrow my brows. I'm curious as to what's his idea.
"Good thing I took lots of videos and pictures," he takes out his phone. I watch him as he pulls up his gallery and shows me them.
"Shut up!" I stop walking. I'm in utter shock. Jae nods, making the cheekiest smile appear on my face.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," I practically throw myself onto him. I feel him tense, before his arms wrap around my waist, and pulls me into a tighter hug.
"No worries," Jae laughs.
"3..2..1.." I hear and immediately look over to Eva. She takes a picture of us, while the rest of the group stares. I quickly jump out of Jae's arms, adjusting my clothes.
"Awe," Lisa swoons and Sofie stands next to her with a hand over her mouth.
"A girl wants some sleep," Claire stands a distance away from us. She realizes everyone's falling behind, so she drags us to the garage. I look back at Jae and he has a blank expression. I hesitate to say something, which I eventually decide not to. Instead, I decide to catch up to Eva and Sofie because they can get my mind off of things.
~
After what felt like years of walking, we finally reach our cars. Everyone's saying their goodbyes before we depart and end the night.
"How much for the teddy bear?" Jae asks as I side hug him.
"Never," I glare, causing him to pout. He puts on a disappointed look. I know he's being sarcastic. "Go home," I wave to him as a final goodbye. I enter my car without looking back, however, I do notice him shaking his head with a grin.
"Best day ever!" Eva claps her hands at the back seat.
"Everything alright?" Sofie asks Claire. She sadly slumps down in the passenger's seat. Her upset mood catches all of our attentions and we become concerned.
"I'm just tired," Claire leans her head against the window and closes her eyes.
"Me too," I yawn but shake myself awake for the drive home.
~
I quietly make my way to my bedroom. I don't want to disturb my parents' sleep. Ill get in so much trouble if they wake up. I get ready for bed as fast as possible because I'm exhausted and my body's begging for sleep.
I desperately climb into my covers. It's the best feeling ever to be consumed by the softness. As I plug my phone in the charger, there's a notification from Eva.
Eva:
I think you might want this;)
~~~~
I tried to make it clear, in the last chapter and this one, that Ellie has trouble communicating and expressing her thoughts/emotions.
I hope throughout the story, you start to understand the way she is. I think I have an idea for her character so let's hope I can execute it properly.
-$gb