Monica's P.O.V.
"What was that all about?" Michael asks as soon as I return into the living room. Everyone else is gone and I'm still in shock as to what just happened because words are not processing in my brain right now. Finally, I remember the main reason Ashton pulled me aside.
"Oh, um, he just wanted to give me my ring back," I reply, sitting next to him on the couch.
"And he had to do it in private?" Michael questions. He glances at me with an eyebrow raised.
"Don't ask me why he didn't want all of you to see," I respond, shifting uncomfortably. I don't know why, but I don't want to tell Michael specifically what happened. I know he's my best friend and we tell each other everything, but does he really need to know? It's about a guy and I'm pretty sure he can't give me advice about this. Well, actually he probably can since he is a guy and knows guy stuff, but it's kind of awkward considering it's his bandmate.
"So that was it? He just returned your ring to you?" he inquires.
"What's with all the questions? And yes, that was it," I firmly say, turning my head to look at him. He shrugs and focuses on the TV.
"Okay, sorry," Michael apologizes.
"I'm gonna get something to drink, do you want anything?" I announce, standing up.
"Um, I'm fine for now," he answers, not looking up.
Walking in front of him, I pad into the kitchen and rummage through their fridge to see if anything's good. Usually it's packed with delicious drinks but today they're scarce. I give up trying to find something appetizing to please my thirst and I settle for water, filling a small glass from the sink. As I take a sip, I glimpse out the window at the patio Ashton and I relaxed on a couple of days ago, recalling the enjoyable, yet intense, conversation we shared. An image of his bright, smiling face appears in my mind and lifts up the corners of my mouth to form a slight grin.
"Monica? Are you alright?" Michael calls out from the living room. His voice snaps me back into reality and I have to blink a few times to realize it's the present, not the past.
"Uh, yeah, I'll be right there!" I respond, taking one last look at the patio and heading into the living room. My butt isn't even on the couch yet when suddenly, the front door opens and someone walks through, practically skipping down the hallway. It isn't until they peer around the corner of the hallway and living room that I recognize the girl standing in front of us.
"Tatiana!" I scream, running and giving her a big hug. Michael gets up from the couch and hugs both of us, but I'm able to squeeze out of the group huddle and Michael ends up pulling her into the couch with him.
"Okay, Michael! Okay! Let me go!" Tatiana laughs, tangled in Michael's arms.
"Sorry. I've just missed you," he declares. He unwinds himself from her and I settle on the couch with them.
"I've missed you both, too," Tatiana replies.
"So how was your vacation?" I ask. She's been gone for the past few days on a trip with her family, resulting in her skipping school and unfortunately, the gig. She didn't want to miss the gig, but her family has had this vacation booked for months and there was no way she was getting out of it.
"Pretty good, but I would have rather stayed here, even if it meant going to school," she reveals. "Everything was fine until my brother came down with a fever and it wasn't pretty."
"Oooh, that sucks," Michael delivers.
"Yeah, now I'm hoping I won't get sick. That's also another reason why I'm here right now because I don't want to be around him at home," Tatiana continues. "Anyways, how was the gig?!"
"It was amazing! They did such a good job!" I answer first, chuckling because I looked over at Michael a second ago and he was about to speak, but I beat him to it.
"Really?" Tatiana smiles.
"I messed up so badly, though!" Michael complains, leaning his head back on the couch.
"You weren't horrible at all!" I contradict him.
"Did anyone record it?" Tatiana asks. I stop and allow my mind to return to the gig, but as far as I can remember, I don't think anyone did.
"Oh, shit, I don't know," I reply, looking to Michael.
"I think Calum's mum might have, but I'm not too sure," he says. "The lights were so bright up there that I couldn't see anything."
"Aw, damn, I really wanted to see it," Tatiana frowns.
"There will be plenty more, though. This first gig went really well that we're all hoping to stay as a band and keep writing songs," Michael voices.
"Sweet! So eventually I will make it to one of your gigs?" she questions.
"Yeah, definitely," Michael speaks. "Don't worry, we'll get you to one."
Tatiana beams at us and we chat about the gig and her vacation until it's time for us to leave. I'm longing to tell Tatiana about Ashton because she doesn't know anything about us; I never told her about the eye contact at the first band rehearsal and so much has happened since then. As soon as we hit the pavement outside, I spill everything: from the eye contact to the gig to the patio conversation and the hilarious band proposal, not to mention the returning of my ring and the wink. Once I'm finished, we're almost at my house already and I inhale a deep breath, finally glad I was able to tell someone. Her expression reads everything that I need to know.
"Oh, my God, Monica, that's amazing!" Tatiana responds, in awe of my story.
"I'm just still surprised at everything that's happened and I can't believe how fast I fell for him," I admit.
"It sounds like he likes you, too," she replies, nudging me.
"Shut up," I say, blushing and looking down.
"Just promise me you'll go for it. I know you want to," she advises, walking with me up my driveway. "And whatever happens, you know I'm here for you."
"Thanks, Tatiana," I smile, stepping up to the door. "See you tomorrow!"
"Yup! See ya!" she voices, waving at me and disappearing into the street. Turning the doorknob, I walk inside my house and I'm shocked at how tired I am already. It's not too late, but today has been insane and I just need sleep.
.
During training the next day, Avalon has us partner up and battle each other with simple and defensive spells. Obviously they don't do much harm, but they're very useful. As usual, I'm against Michael and I'm kicking his ass.
"Come on, Mikey, you can do better than that!" I scorn, hoping to get more of a challenge from him. He responds by aiming his wand at me and shouting the words for the Paralyzing Jinx, which I successfully block. Not even a second later, I shoot a Blasting Spell at him, causing him to fly backwards a few feet and land on his back.
"Geez, Monica," he pants, getting back up.
"You're not focused," I retaliate. "You are so much better than thi-"
But before I can finish, Michael launches another spell at me, this time hitting me and knocking me over. He was too fast for me to block it, but while I'm still on the floor, I use the Tickling Charm to make him feel as if he's being tickled, which distracts him and gives me time to stand up. I position myself and hurl the Freezing Spell at him, causing him to stop in mid-action and his entire body to be fixed. Seconds later, he unfreezes and takes in a few deep breaths, hunching over.
"I need a break," he gasps, looking up at me. I can see beads of sweat on his forehead already, surprising since he hasn't really been trying, but then again, being knocked over time after time can be exhausting.
"You need to concentrate on blocking these spells, Mikey," I tell him, inching forward. "How else are you going to defend yourself?"
"I know, I know," Michael says, still heaving.
"Once more and then a break?" I suggest.
"Alright, fine," he gives in, straightening himself. We point our wands at each other but he's quicker at saying the spell and a bright light shoots out of his wand, temporarily blinding me. Suddenly, I feel something circling tightly around my body and it causes me to drop my wand. When I can see again, I look down and notice ropes tied around me, restricting my body movement. Michael propels a spell to disintegrate the rope to ashes and releases me. Rapidly, I pick up my wand and shoot a Disarming Spell at him, to which he blocks. I do it again and he also blocks it. Once more I say it and the same happens. Smiling, I nod at him and we head over to the benches.
"That last one was a good run," I speak, taking a drink from my water bottle.
"Yeah," Michael agrees. He sits down and watches the others battle it out.
"You finally focused," I half joke, resting on the bench next to him. Folding his hands together, he glances down and sighs.
"I don't know what's gotten into me," he admits. "I used to be better. I used to beat you all the time."
"Yeah, I know. I kinda like the fact that I'm the one owning you now," I tease. He stays silent. "Is something wrong?"
He answers, "I think it's just me. I don't know."
In my mind, I believe it's the band. Now that they've gone through their first gig and they're concentrating on new songs and more gigs, his mind is in music land. It's fine, but when we're here, the band has to be erased from his memory for a couple of hours until training is over. I'm not saying the band is bad for him and I will support them until I die, but he's a Galaxy and he needs to understand what that really means. He can't stop or get out of being a Galaxy. It's in his blood. It's in our blood.
"We still have about ten more minutes if you want to go again," I offer, checking my phone.
"Avalon's group in Classroom B!" Avalon shouts throughout the training room, causing me to jump.
"Or not," I sigh, stooping down and gathering my things. Our group huddles around the benches as everyone else collects their bags and we follow Avalon to Classroom B. Once we enter in the room, we get comfortable on the chairs and Avalon stands up at the front of the room.
"As I said last week, all of the trainers and I have been watching you closely to see if any of you could possibly take on the Acerbus Procella mission. I would just like to thank all of you for not being stupid and trying to impress us because by doing that, it doesn't mean you have what it takes for this mission. The ten people have been selected and I'm proud to announce that one of those people are in this room right now," Avalon declares.
The room ignites with chitters from everybody as they whisper to their friends about who they think is the chosen one. Avalon waves his hands to shush our group and the gossip hushes.
"The lucky person is..."
Really, Avalon? A huge suspenseful pause? Just get it over with so I can go home. I'm not even that nervous because I know it's not going to be me. I'm not qualified for this mission and neither is Michael, so to be completely honest, I really don't care who gets chosen. Michael is really my only friend here and as long as it's not us, I just want to leave.
After a few seconds, Avalon finally opens his mouth to reveal the name of the person.
"Monica."
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Dun, dun, dun!
Rachel :)