chapter sixteen. message in a bottle.
angelina's mother liked to send boxes of old stuff every now and then. angelina would store it in a unit she was temporarily renting - the dorm was small enough already. however some stuff she pinned on the wall.
today was one of those days. olive and tommy were playing uno on olive's bed, while angelina dug through a cardboard box that looked slightly beat up from the delivery process. mainly same old stuff, photos, yearbooks, little things she used to keep in her room, and a few records that previously hung on her wall.
pursing her lips as she continued digging, angelina came across an old camcorder. this caught tommy's attention, making olive turn as well. they both jumped to angelina's side, leaving the uno game behind.
"god, how old is this thing?" tommy furrowed his eyebrows, taking it out of angelina's hands and holding it delicately. "looks like something i used to film youtube videos with when i was twelve."
"there's a note with it," olive handed a sticky note over to angelina, who immediately recognized her mother's handwriting. "god, this thing must be ... what? six or seven years old?"
Angelina -
Found this while digging through the basement. Thought you might have some memories in it.
furrowing her eyebrows, angelina took the camera back and opened it carefully, blowing some dust off. tommy and olive looked from behind her shoulder, watching intensely as if they might miss something.
"i used this thing 'till i was around seventeen," angelina said, not looking back at the two. "dunno what i have on here, though."
going through different videos, it was all around the same sort of thing. some videos of elodie and kasey from school dances, some band concerts, graduation photos - angelina kept going, though. she had a feeling there was something there.
and she was right.
"woah, woah, woah, go back a bit," olive put her hand up, making angelina go back a couple videos. "what's this, now?"
it was a very scuffed video of angelina playing acoustic guitar. rewinding a bit, angelina restarted the tape, fixing the grip in her hand so all three friends could watch. they all seemed a bit confused, until old angelina finally spoke.
"so why can't you see?"
"woah." tommy raised his eyebrows as the video finished. it was scuffed, but it was clear. angelina remembered filming the video like it was yesterday. she remembered being very pissed, that's for sure.
"woah indeed, tom simons." angelina closed the camera, putting it down in her lap.
this could really go somewhere, though. she thought, biting the inside of her mouth and thinking. she certainly knew a lot more about recording than past angelina had, and maybe her old dream could come true.
"liv?" she asked, finally turning to make eye contact with olive. "could i use your backup mic?"
olive smiled softly, reading perfectly into angelina's mind and thoughts. their best friend dynamic had come back even after years of being apart, and olive knew exactly what angelina was going to do.
"hell yes, you can have my backup mic."
angelina didn't sing much anymore - though she was in the art program for recording music. it just wasn't really big on her anymore. a lot of impulsive decisions were made on the night of her graduation.
the attention the video she made that night had gotten a lot of attention. we're talking, over a million views. angelina deleted instagram and youtube that night, disabling both of the accounts. social media was just not for her.
maybe it could be?
honestly, angelina didn't have much free time. her final school year was ending this year, and she was turning nineteen sooner than she liked. her original plan had been to go into a record label and help someone else become an artist, but what was stopping her from becoming one? she'd surely enjoy it far more.
for some godforsaken reason, angelina was not allowed into tommy's house. she knew they lived with two others, and the raven haired girl could only assume they just didn't want them to meet her.
now being caved to the music room in the university, angelina sat there in cluelessness. not like she had forgotten how to play the instruments, but it was more of where to start. this stuff used to come naturally, but it had almost been two years since she lay hands on an acoustic guitar.
her face in her palms, angelina had absolutely zero ideas. she remembered lyrics to a majority of her songs, but it was the 'being in a whole public area' thing that psyched her out.
that's part of the reason why she played in her basement more than anything - it was private.
right before giving up, angelina's mind struck the best idea she'd probably had in days. her mom had sent her boxes before, what are the chances she'd sent a certain book? and maybe she could possibly convince tommy to let her try in his house.
it's not like the house is small, anyway - she could keep plenty to her own. angelina was good at not bothering people.
putting the guitar back in it's case, angelina sprinted off to the dorm side, racing off to the number '541'. when she reached it, angelina wiped off the words 'tommy is the best' on it, replacing it with 'angie is awesome'.
unlocking the door quickly, angelina threw her bag to her bed, missing it and causing it to fall off the side. she pulled the drawer open harshly, digging through it to find her car keys. when she finally found it, she turned to see olive looking at her strangely.
"what the fuck are you doing?" she folded her book closed, which was a book they were meant to read for english. "you goin' somewhere?"
"off to the unit, i wanna find something that i think could help me," angelina picked up her bag. "wanna come?"
"uh, yes," olive said in an obvious tone, putting down the book on her computer desk. "thank you for saving me. this book is utter shit."
"moby dick is a good book, what do you mean?" angelina scoffed.
olive closed the door behind them. jogging to catch up with angelina, who was speed walking. "maybe it's just the fact that the word 'dick' is in the title. i dunno, but tommy laughs every time he sees it."
angelina rolled her eyes, getting into her car. olive plugged in her phone and started to play music, adjusting her chair from the last time they used angelina's car. tommy sat shotgun last time.
"so what exactly are we looking for?" olive played her playlist named 'farts intensely".
"my old songwriting notebook," angelina said, turning into the parking lot. "i know a lot of the songs in it, but i have a feeling it might help me out a bit, i dunno."
olive nodded.
"and, i have a little proposition." angelina added on, dragging out the 'and' in her sentence.
"oh goodness, what is it?" olive sighed, closing her car door behind her and walking into the building behind persephone.
"could you convince tommy to let me record in his house?" angelina said quickly. just when olive looked as if she was about to speak once more, the raven haired girl began speaking again. "please? i dunno why you guys don't want me in there, but i won't bother anyone, i promise! just for the day?"
olive pursed her lips and sighed. they could work something out, right? and toby isn't even the issue. if they could just get ranboo out of the house for the day . . .
"i'll text tommy." she clicked her tongue.
"you're the best!" angelina grinned widely and side hugged olive, who seemed unsure of the whole idea. pulling out her phone, angelina began digging through boxes for her book.
shithead
hi tommy
fuckface
what
shithead
well damn no need to be
rude mr simons
fuckface
oh, i'm sorry miss adria.
how may i be of service?
shithead
that's more like it
angie wants to record in ur
house and she seems really
set on it
fuckface
we've talked about this though
we can't risk ranboo and ann
seeing each other
they'll be wrecked
shithead
i know i know
she's not letting it go, though
fuckface
r u at a storage unit or is life
360 going wacked
earlier it showed me tubbo was in
the middle of the pacific ocean
he was right in front of me
shithead
off topic
but angie's looking for something
and i wanted to come with because
that book i'm reading for english
is shit
fuckface
well should i try and get ranboo out
even earlier?? i mean he's only leaving
at 6
what about toby
shithead
i think toby is gonna be fine
but yes get ranboo out of there a little
bit earlier than he's supposed to be
fuckface
well what do i tell him
shithead
idk we were in theater for two years
i'm sure you can improvise
fuckface
well damn
fine i'll talk to u later shithead
shithead
bye bye fuckface
i love u
fuckface
i love u too
"i got you a few hours at most. go ahead, bow down to me," olive put away her phone, turning to angelina who was sitting on the floor with a book in her hand. it was unopened. "angie? you alright?"
"i found it."
olive jumped to angelina's side at once, looking at the brown book that looked full of plenty. there were sticky notes sticking out of it, doodles on the cover, and 'angelina phan' written on it.
"can you open it?" angelina asked. "are the songs even in there good?"
olive opened the book and flipped through random pages until landing on one. there were a lot of notes on it, and even a few dry wet marks on it. clearing her throat, olive read aloud.
"you're on the phone with your girlfriend, she's upset," she said, her fingers trailing over the words. "song's called 'you belong with me'. sound familiar?"
angelina froze. that really had to be the page olive went to?
"that song's about oliver." she muttered, furrowing her eyebrows.
olive nodded, her phone buzzing a few times in her back pocket, taking it out, it was a notification of three different people. she allowed angelina to continue looking in the book, reading the texts.
me with an r at the end
sorry we can't stream today 🙁🙁
i was planning on it before i picked
her up from the airport but tommy is
kicking me out of the house earlier
than planned
ur bf sucks
poo tubbo
your boyfriend is really bad at
improvising oh my god
fuckface
WOOOOO DID IT I'M SUCH A
GOD
i got u about three hours
☽˚⁀➷ AUTHOR NOTE . . . ⚘
tommy and olive's relationship is everything
i've ever wanted and more
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