Are You Happy Now? - Part 1 (COMPLETED)

Chapter 15 - Part 1: "Where Are You Now?"

A lot had changed in the last eight months. Michelle continued to live in L.A, thought she had moved to a different apartment, closer to the Maverick studio where she spent most of her time these days. She liked the new apartment. It was smaller than her previous one, but it was nicer, closer to the beach, and had parking. Michelle didn't mind the size of it. In fact, she liked it, it forced her to live minimally which was probably a good thing.

Teddy and her had grown quite close. They spent a lot of time together, working on songs and just hanging out. Michelle considered him her best friend. Even though he was older than her, she felt he met her at her level and understood her. He didn't treat her like she was younger than him. He had made it clear he was interested in her romantically, but was also respectful of her boundaries. She knew she could trust him, and he had been a very good friend to her. It wasn't that Michelle didn't like Teddy...she did in fact. He was good-looking, sweet and talented...just her type. And most importantly, he was a musician - she just wasn't ready to be in a relationship again yet. She wanted to remain focused on her music. She didn't want another boy distracting her from what she thought was important at this time in her life. She was almost 20 years old, in fact her birthday was next month. She was no longer a teen, she was an adult and wanted to be taken seriously. She also didn't want to jeopardize their working relationship, he was after all, in her band. That said, because of what Taylor had done to her, Michelle found it very hard to trust another guy, which she could tell was frustrating for Teddy, because he had proved he was trustworthy.

She knew, though, that if she decided to get involved with him, that Teddy would be a good fit for her. She thought what may be holding her back from reciprocating his feelings was the fact that a part of her compared him to Taylor...and she hated herself for that. She knew it wasn't fair to Teddy. She knew she'd never find anyone like Taylor again, she needed to accept that, but a part of her kept looking for someone like him. She knew that to a girl no one was like their first love.

As for Taylor, Michelle didn't think about him much anymore. Sure, every once in awhile, she'd see something that reminded her of him, but she'd quickly push it out of her head. Her hurt had turned to anger. She couldn't imagine what she would say to him if she saw him again, and luckily she hadn't gotten that opportunity. She missed him sometimes, but mostly she was just angry at how things had ended.

Her time touring with Hanson, her time with Taylor seemed like a lifetime ago to Michelle. She'd changed so much. Sometimes she wondered what had changed her. There was no doubt she had changed. Was it Taylor? Getting her heart broken? Was it the miscarriage? All she knew was that she wasn't the same person she was before she met him. Or was it that she had just changed, as people naturally do? She wasn't sure, but she was in a good place now, and she was grateful for that. She hadn't heard from any of the Hanson's since her and Taylor's breakup, and that had hurt, but she tried not to take it personally. Little did she know what would soon change.

Michelle took one last deep breath and pulled herself out of her thoughts before heading out to play her show.

She smiled as she faced the audience before her. This was where she truly felt alive and happy, playing her songs for others to enjoy.

"Hello L.A.!" she said joyfully, "Are you ready to hear some new music?"

---

The next day

Michelle had decided to take it easy the next day, last night's show and party had taken a lot out of her. She was hanging around her apartment, not doing anything in particular, when her phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID before picking up.

"Hey Bob," Michelle said, putting the phone on speaker, and plopping down on the couch. "What's up?"

"You are what is up, little lady!" Bob said excitedly into the phone.