Chapter 43
It was a beautiful, hot Sunday morning. The sunlight streamed through the curtains on the window right above my bed. Drowsily, I got up and shifted the curtains away. I looked at the scenic view outside, some people lying beneath the trees, others jogged, chatted or were generally enjoying their Sunday. And all that beauty made no sense to me, as the first person that came to my mind was Cameron. Why the hell was he the first thing that came to my mind in the morning? Honestly, I didn't want to, but still somehow he crawled back into my brain.
My 19th birthday had flew by uneventfully. It was the worst birthday of my life because I was sad and I didn't know why. I had dinner with Kai and Xander for which I paid and we ate cake. Of course, I got many birthday wishes from my family and friends. Even Cameron remembered and texted me at midnight with the same old 'Happy Birthday' and I replied to him with the same old 'Thank you'. And, that was all the conversation we had in those three weeks after he had drunk dialed me.
Then, why did I still think about him?
Before I could create an imaginary picture of me and him together enjoying the warmth of the morning, I shoved his thoughts away. Thinking about lost love is the worst way to destroy a holiday. Fortunately, I had only a week of classes left until I could go away and hide from all these feelings.
I called up Kai to know his plans for today because that day I had nothing. My boss had forcibly asked me to take a day off and give other workers a chance as I had been hogging up a lot of shifts. I had finished watching every one of my favorite TV shows on Netflix. I was hoping he would have something for me that would take me outside of these four walls.
"Hello?" Kai's sleepy voice greeted me.
"Are you still sleeping? What about the gym?"
"I'm not going today, I'm still sore from yesterday. And crazy woman, you need to take a break someday too."
"But, I'm fucking bored. I've nothing else to do, and you're coming with me."
"No, you've been going crazy with the working out thing lately. You need to relax." His advise sounded genuine. And for the first time I thought he was right, I was overdoing everything.
"Kai, you've been through this right," I said, sighing. "How long does it take for these damn feelings to go away?"
"Have you tried dating other people?"
"He is the first thing that comes to my mind every fucking morning. You think I'm capable of dating other guys?" I raised my voice a little.
"Don't get serious with anyone. I'm just saying go on casual dates." He pressed further.
"No, I just can't to do that. Do you have a better plan?" Just thinking about dating other people scared the shit out of me. I didn't want to get hurt again.
"Actually, I have. You know what, I'll call Xander and you take out your bathing suit cause we're all going to the beach today."
I had no choice but to agree. I missed the days when I had no time to even think, everything was in a tight schedule. Now, I had to depend on the guys to plan my day. Well, it was between dying from boredom or dying from the heat outside.
The afternoon was turning out to be unbearably hot, all I wanted was to sleep in a room with AC. I met Kai and Xander all dressed up at a restaurant where we were supposed to have lunch before we head out to the beach. Both of them were wearing shorts and T-shirts.
Seeing me Kai took off his sunglasses and looked at me disappointingly, "I thought you were wearing a bikini,"
I was wearing a swimsuit under my purple kaftan and denim shorts. "I don't have one here," I was quite embarrassed to admit that.
"What, you're in LA and it's summer! You're like the only girl without a bikini." He told me the obvious.
"Well, I'm not as comfortable with my body as you are. Plus, have you looked at other girls on the beach? Dude, I'd not even want to wear one after seeing them."
"I totally understand, Ally. I'm not taking off my shirt either." Xander informed.
"This is ridiculous," He shook his head and turned to me with confused eyes. "I thought you were comfortable with your body and stuff, you have been working out."
It was true that I had lost a few pounds and I was in the best shape of my life but still I was conscious when it came to exposing. "Yeah, you won't understand. You're all pretty." I was surprised by my own voice, I didn't know my self-esteem had stooped so low.
"Yeah it's us, the not-so-good looking ones who suffer." Xander said dramatically, as he linked our arms together and marched us inside the restaurant. He managed to get a hearty laughter out of such a pathetic situation.
"For the record, I wouldn't go to a restaurant wearing a bikini. We came here to eat not to show off." I clarified to Kai who has always been kind of a show off for which we never fail to mock him.
After a heavy lunch, Xander and I dumped ourselves inside Kai's car. I didn't want to do anything other than take a nap after drinking that huge glass of milkshake.
"Oh god, I feel so bloated..." Xander whined as soon as the car started moving.
"I told you guys to not eat so much before going to the beach," Kai chimed.
"Shut up, you skinny ass. We are not on a diet forever like you," I scolded him from the backseat and he rolled his eyes as usual. Since, Kai started going to the gym, he was obsessed about always maintaining a healthy diet.
"Yeah, I'd rather feel nauseous because of full stomach than an empty one." Xander lectured. He was peeved at Kai and his stupid diet.
"Okay, can we talk about something else?" Kai asked and both of us fell silent. "Like how I managed to get us tickets for Avicii's show."
"What?!" Both of us screamed in disbelief staring in bewilderment at Kai's smug face.
"Yeah, he's having a show at the Venice beach and it's open for like only 200 people. And since not many people knew about it, I got us 3 tickets." He explained and we still couldn't believe that we were going to see one of the best DJs in the world live.
"Don't tell me it is today?!" I realised out loud, my eyes nearly jumping out of the sockets.
"Yes, it starts around 6 though, until then we can just chill around the beach." I was so elated that I just wanted to hug Kai for his achievement.
"Wow, great job! But, you didn't even tell me," Xander asked with his own grin.
"Yeah, it was a surprise. I thought we could have some fun before we all head back home for summer."
"You saved our summer!" I announced raising my hands in victory. Until today, I had hated every day of summer. But, today I would get to see one of my favorite DJs. It was almost unbelievable how quickly my mood went from sleepy to excited in a matter of seconds. And just like that my whole summer went through a drastic change of plans.
*
The beach was crowded aptly as it was a hot, sunny Sunday evening. The thing I loved about LA was that here no one was scared to be who they were. They wore what they liked, ate what they wanted to, did whatever they do, without any fear of getting judged. Like the Hollywood Boulevard was always filled with mimicry artists, magicians, musicians, who were not afraid to showcase their talent.
Inspiration was around every nook and corner of this marvellous city. Taking a huge inhale of the humid air, I relaxed my shoulders and closed my eyes. Kai and I were laying on the chairs under a big umbrella basking in the sun while Xander was playing volleyball with a group of strangers.
"I gotta admit, this feels pretty good." I told him, soaking in every ounce of positivity I was feeling.
"See, I told you. Want a beer?" He asked and I opened my eyes to see him holding a two cold bottles.
"Sure, this is just perfect." I took a huge gulp of the bitter liquid, staring at a bunch of beautiful girls and guys bouncing around the sand.
"So, how are you doing?" Kai asked and I instantly knew what he was talking about.
"I don't want to talk about it." I stated, flatly.
"Talking about it will relieve some of the burden," He said and when I refused again, he suggested, "Okay don't talk about what you miss about him, talk about what you don't miss about him."
"Hmm, that's something to think about..."
"When I list out all the things I hated about Sophia, I conclude that indeed I made the right decision. I'll give you an example?" He sounded so excited I wondered if hating on the person you once loved was actually possible.
"Sure," I said, interested to hear his idea.
"Number 1- She was obsessed with looking her best all the damn time. Even when we're at my apartment watching TV, she never fails to be perfectly dressed. And it used to drive me crazy, you know how much of a slob I am at home." He explained, horrifying memories playing in his eyes.
I laughed and immediately understood what he was talking about. "Cameron was obsessed with romantic comedies and true love and all that mushy stuff. Sometimes, I wonder whether he was really a guy or not." With my revelation, I managed to make Kai shriek with laughter. He almost spilled his beer.
"Hey, I believe in one true love, but I can't watch those boring predictable chick flicks." Kai defended after he had calmed down.
He continued bashing Sophia, "She made me listen to Adele whenever we were driving somewhere. It was ridiculous. She said that I was heartless because I didn't like Adele."
"Oh don't even get me started on his crush on Adele and Justin Timberlake. I swear to god if he ever saw the two of them together he would start hyperventilating. He was such a fan boy." I chuckled remembering the times I wished I could block my ears because I couldn't bear one more N Sync song. "And he loved N Sync." I ended making a disgusted face.
"Really? I think Backstreet Boys are better."
"I said the same thing!" I raise my voice thinking about the coincidence.
Kai put his fingers on the side of his forehead and shook his head. "I swear, she didn't have the word 'chill' in her dictionary. She was always so uptight."
"With Cam, it was always his feelings, his pain and his family. What about me? I have feelings too, you know. Now looking back, I'm realising how selfish he really was." I slumped back in the chair and folded my arms. I felt so relieved to have finally said those things that had been running through my head for the last few weeks. Saying it aloud made me truly accept that it was over and I wouldn't want it any other way.
I sighed, I was on the last stage of a break up- Acceptance. I turned to Kai, "Thank you, for making me hate him. It's nice to be able to share all this shit with someone."
"Yeah, I feel so much better. We can talk so easily about this to each other cause we've been through the same things." He had a wide grin on his face.
"Yeah, I can't talk about him so freely with anyone else, not even Ava. She wouldn't understand."
"Whenever, I talk to Xander about Sophia, he tells me to go fuck myself." We laughed together so hard that we couldn't lay down, we had to sit up just so that we won't choke on our beers.
"After all you give so much to this one person, it's hard to forget them even though we hate them now." It felt so good to bash Cameron that I could feel real resentment building up against him.
"Whenever we want to bitch on our exes, we come to each other." He said, and raised his bottle in the air. I clinked mine with it and gave approval to his deal.
"To being free!" I said, and we both had the same relief on our faces.
We were so engrossed in gossiping that we didn't realise when the stage was set up for the upcoming show. Many people were on the beach waiting around the stage for it to begin.
Xander came running out of nowhere and charged at us, "What are you guys doing? I've been waiting for you two to come. The stage is all set, let's go!"
The three of us ran towards the stage, Kai showed the tickets and we managed to elbow our way to the front of the crowd. Thankfully, not many people were there to fight for their spot. I looked up at the stage, equipments were being checked by several people. The DJ's board was set higher than the stage. On the front of it, the name 'Avicii' was written in bold and italics.
"Oh my god, I'm gonna see my first celebrity!" I scream in excitement. "People back home are gonna be so jealous."
"Hey, get your phones out now. I want a good photo with him." Kai ordered and we followed his instructions. That day even I had no problem with taking pictures, I was going to click pictures like a paparazzi to store this memorable moment in my phone and tease everyone else that I saw a celebrity.
The famous DJ walked out on the stage with his signature reversed black cap and black T-shirt. He smiled at the crowd and grabbed the microphone. "How we doing today LA?" His Swedish accent and charming looks were enough for me to swoon. Even though he was far away from us, I was already in love with this guy.
The crowd went nuts. I had heard never people screaming so loudly. "Oh my god, it's really happening!" I exclaimed getting a laugh out of the two boys beside me.
"Ally, don't faint okay? Breathe." I was fine but Xander had to exaggerate.
"Do you not see how cute he is?" I yelled back at them, pure adrenaline pumping through me.
"Okay, no body stops dancing today! We make this the best night for our lives." Kai pledged and we nodded vigorously. We twisted our heads back to the stage where my new love was probably moving around nobs because music started blasting through the giant speakers right away.
"Are you ready?" His sexy voice said again and everyone screamed together. "So let's get this party started!"
He played his famous tracks first to which the crowd sang along every word. We hopped, yelled, danced and sang so much that my heart was racing. We swayed our hands in the air just like everyone else occasionally when the music mellowed. It was incredible to feel like I was a part of something.
As the tracks ended the crowd went wilder because we were coming closer to the end. "Alright LA, this is the last song of the night. I think you all know this one, it's called 'Wake me up'." We cheered and the beats of the familiar song blazed through the speaker. "What a great crowd you guys have been, thank you so much for coming out! For one last time, I want all the hands up." He stretched out his hand in the air and every hand on every body lifted with it.
So wake me up when it's all over, when I'm wiser and older.
As he swayed his hand to the words, we copied and for a moment I looked at the people around me in the audience. They were smiling just like me. It was a new type of belongingness I was feeling. I didn't know these people around me, but I felt connected to them in a strange way.
The song came to an end and I felt a little sad that it was over. But, I screamed with the crowd nevertheless. He thanked the crowd again and took a selfie with all of us behind him. I prayed that our squished tiny faces came in that picture.
Those were the two best hours of my life. And after that high energy party, my ears were ringing from the loud music, my whole body was sweaty, my breaths were laboured. But, still I'd do it all over again. It had been a once in a lifetime experience.
The stage lights turned off and people started dissipating to their old lives but with a new hope. The sun was still above the horizon, the sky was covered in a mix of red, orange and golden hues.
"That was the best concert I've ever been to!" Kai said, his hair were messy from nonstop dancing like ours. We looked like shit but we felt wonderful.
I turned around with a smile and stopped when a hot shirtless guy came running towards us. At first I admired his body thinking this day couldn't get any better. He wore red trunks, his face was strangely a mixture of panic and confusion. Suddenly, he stopped in front of me, held his stomach with one hand, and he threw up his disgusting, mushed up lunch all over my sandals and bare legs.
"Oh god!" I screamed in horror while one guy still stooped in front of me and the other two were laughing their asses off. "What the hell dude?" I yelled furiously. My legs were covered in white and yellow scum of what looked like mustard, beer and rice and now I smelled like a rotten egg too.
Another guy came running up to us, probably the friend of this idiot, and steadied him. "I'm so sorry on behalf of him, he drank way too much." His friend was cute too but I was too angry to pardon them.
"Can't you take care of your trash?" I lashed out at his friend.
"I said, I'm sorry for him."
"Whatever." I replied arrogantly.
His friend held him by his shoulders. The puker looked as if he would just pass out. So, he was dragged by his friend probably to the washroom.
"This day just gets better." Xander muttered, the smugness on his face annoyed me.
"I just got puked on, I could use a little help here." I moved my slimy legs which were even more disgusting now because the sand was sticking on my feet.
"Sorry, I'll get a bottle of water to wash away that crap." Kai offered, suppressing his grin.
"We have the ocean behind us, just let the waves wash over your feet." Xander suggested.
"Great idea." I said and carefully picked up my foot. My eyes were on the mixture of puke and sand below. "I'd need to bath like a hundred times to get that smell off." I murmured to myself not even looking up to know where I was going. I simply followed the noise of the waves while the guys were traveling right behind me.
"Uh-oh, Ally..." I heard Kai's apprehensive tone but I was engrossed in my own predicament that I had to go shower again.
"Don't look up now but I think your ex boyfriend is kinda already near the waves..." He trailed off.
My head immediately snapped towards the direction Kai had said. My eyes wandered on the waters in panic until I saw him, shirtless and smiling.