May 2016

Trent was sitting with Nicole in her dorm room as he helped her pack. Nicole was joining the Drama Brothers on their North American summer tour, and she was so excited. The record label the band's under had gotten around to hiring Noh and Nicole as the band's assistants for the tour, though it was only so they could join them and get the summer accommodations paid for. This would also be Nicole's first time in America, and she was so excited she got to come.

Nicole's music played in the background, which mostly consisted of Taylor Swift songs.

"I'm so psyched you're coming with us." He said to her.

"Me too, I don't know what I would have done all summer without you."

Nicole heard a text notification come off her phone, and her smile turned into a horrified, surprised look as she read who it was from. She read the text over and over, not being able to comprehend it in her state of shock.

Hey Nicole. It's me, Abigail. To make a long story short, you were right about everything that night after prom, because I found out that Brett's been cheating on me. I only found out because I came to his school a day early to surprise him and there she was on his bed with her bare ass right there in front of me.

Can we meet up? Can we talk? I miss you, and I want to rekindle what we had. I feel so bad that I let my misguided trust for Brett get in the way of our friendship. I know it sounds selfish, and it's the last thing I deserve, but I miss having you around, and want to start fresh with you. I hope that you're okay.

"Nicole?" She took her eyes off the text and looked over to Trent.

"Yes?"

"Are you okay?"

Nicole wanted to pretend like she wasn't still upset at Abigail, but deep down she was still hurt. She didn't know if she could brush her feelings aside and listen to what Abigail had to say, whether this had happened three years ago or ten years ago. It was all petty high school drama, but it didn't stop her from hurting.

"Have I ever mentioned Abigail to you?"

"Who's Abigail?"

"She was my best friend in high school."

"Was?"

She sighed as she began to tell the story of how everything fell apart between the two.

May 2013

Nicole didn't mind being a third-wheel to Brett and Abigail at prom; she was just happy to have a group to go to prom with. She was with them all night, but at the prom afterparty held by another band senior, she had a few minutes with just Brett while Abigail had to go to the bathroom.

"Nicole, can I be honest with you for a sec?"

"Of course." He started fixing himself a drink as he spoke to her.

"We've been friends for a year now, since the beginning of junior year," he said as he made sure nobody else was listening. "And as friends, we can confide in each other, right?"

"Right…"

She wasn't too sure where he was going with this, but let him go on.

"I've been with the same girl practically all of high school. She's amazing, the best part of my life, all that good stuff, but… I don't know if I want to have only one girl in my life anymore." Nicole put her hands on her hips and leaned into him as she comprehended what he just said to her.

"What?"

"I'm only 18, there are other girls I'll meet, other things I'll experience. What if Abigail is only the love of my life because I haven't brought myself to meet anyone else?"

"How could you say that?" Nicole exclaimed.

"I'll stay with her this summer, and if I still feel this way come fall, I'll break up with her."

"I don't know why you're telling me this. I'd feel bad keeping this from her." Brett began to groan.

"Come on, Nicole, it's not like that. We're friends, too, I can't talk to you without you telling Ab?"

"She's my best friend. I can't just keep a secret this big from her. What happens if you end up breaking up with her and I have to comfort her knowing I could have told her this would've happened?"

"And what if I'm just overthinking this and I don't break up with her?" Brett responded.

Nicole was beginning to feel uncomfortable, and just as the conversation was getting too heavy for her to handle, Abigail came back from the bathroom. She'd been drinking a little too much and was pretty out of it. She couldn't sense the newfound tension between Brett and Nicole, and wrapped her arms around Brett's neck.

"It's getting pretty late. How much longer should we stay?" Abigail asked.

"I actually have Noah on the way. I'm getting pretty tired."

Abigail reached over to Nicole, and gave her a big squeeze.

"Let me know when you get home, okay?"

When she turned around to walk out, she could hear Abigail talking to Brett.

"I found an empty room if you want to go in there."

"You know it, Abs." He kissed her cheek as he led her into the room.

Nicole was feeling antsy, and knew she couldn't be here any longer. She took out her phone and began to dial Noah, who answered after three rings.

"Can you pick me up? Please?" Noah could sense the rush in her voice.

"Of course. I'll be over in ten minutes. Is everything okay?" Nicole paused.

"I can't talk about it now. I'll see you later." She hung up her phone and frantically began looking for her clutch purse. She took it from the couch and sat out on the porch with her elbows leaning on her knees, still in her prom dress as tears escaped her eyes.

Nicole was sitting crisscrossed on the bed as she fidgeted with her hands and scrunched her nose. She tried so hard not to cry over the memory, but it was already happening.

"So what happened after that?"

"I asked Noah for advice, and he said if it were him, he would have wanted to know, so I told her, and she didn't believe me. I thought I was doing the right thing…"

"You were doing the right thing." Trent said as he took her hand into his.

"I told her to go ask Brett, and he denied the whole thing. He said I made it up."

"That's terrible." She began to take her phone out and showed him the text, which he read over a few times before responding. "Are you thinking of seeing her?"

"I don't know. Should I?"

"You don't have to be friends with her again, but it could be worth it to hear her out."

She took out her phone as she laid her head underneath his chin, and wrapped her legs around him as she looked for Abigail on social media. Once she was non her account, she found a few photos of Abigail at her university performing with marching band and orchestra, as well as the absence of Brett in her recent photos. She kept scrolling and found some of their high school photos; there was a photo of the two at their last marching competition, as well as a few selfies of them hanging out outside of band.

"I didn't know you had braces," Trent said.

"I got them off right before prom." Nicole chuckled softly as she continued scrolling through, then put her phone down next to her nightstand to look at Trent.

"I feel like I made a mistake choosing Astronomy as my major. I love Astronomy, but I also love music. Signing up for jazz band was my way of keeping music around, but it's not fulfilling enough for me."

"Can I confide something in you, too?" He asked as he peered down at her.

"Of course."

"I've loved these last few years being with the Drama Brothers, but I feel unfulfilled, too. I still want to continue doing something in music, but I want something more stable, and I don't know how to have a career in music without performing. It's hard admitting it because my dad never approved of me performing for a career. I don't want him to think he was right." Nicole scooted up as an idea popped into her head.

"You should come here next semester."

"But what about the Drama Brothers?"

"Just enjoy the tour, you can figure it out over the summer." He cupped her cheeks in his hands and gave her a kiss, and they both smiled as he let go.

"I see your face light up when you talk about your jazz band rehearsals. You love music. You should change your major." Nicole's cheeks went red.

"I don't know, what about Astronomy?" She asked as she laughed.

"Double-major. Have the best of both worlds. It seems like music education will make you feel more fulfilled, but if you want to do both, go for it." She paused as she thought about what he said, and the two began to sit up as he stroked the small of her back.

"It's getting late. You should probably start heading back."

After slipping their shoes on, Nicole grabbed her key and ID as they began walking to the parking lot. It was a long and reflective walk as they both pondered what they said to each other, and before they knew it, they were at Trent's car. He held her hands in his as he kissed her goodbye.

"I'll see you next week." He said as he let go of her hand.

"Text me when you get back home."

"Of course."

He put his key into ignition as he sat in the car, then waved goodbye as he reversed out of the parking lot. She waited until he left, then returned to her dorm alone.

Her heart pounded trying to think about what to say back to Abigail. Should she even text her back? It's been three years, but it still hurt the way Abigail spoke to her. But at the same time, if she never spoke to her again, she would always wonder what could have been.

She stared at the text once more and locked her phone. She blared her music and went right back to packing.