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Eight: Best News Ever
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2024-10-29 19:42:56"How's school today?" her mom asked at dinner time the next day.
She shrugged, "Fine," she answered almost simultaneously with Max.
There was nothing eventful for her except spending the whole day with Jan celebrating her new relationship status with Kyle. He finally confessed to her and asked her if she wanted to be his girlfriend on Valentine's Day. How romantic.
There's not much she could say about her own Valentine's Day. That last note she received was occupying her mind, but no one was sending her signals or trying to approach her about it. It was anonymous, it will probably stay anonymous. She didn't want to think about it too much.
"I have a surprise for you, actually," her dad said as he wiped his mouth with a dinner napkin.
She looked up at him, "What is it?"
"Do you know my friend Bo Wigley? He's a big promotor and he runs his own event organizer in Goldstone?"
She furrowed her brows, "Not really."
Her mom laughed lightly, "Oh you're gonna love this."
Her face beamed, "What is it?"
"Anyway ... he's promoting a big concert in Goldstone on Spring Break and he's got 5 tickets to the show ... I twisted his arm to get them because the show was sold out since last month."
She had a wide smile on her face, "Whose is it? Did you get the tickets?"
"Yeup," her dad was grinning with pride. "Would you like to go to a Harry Styles concert in Goldstone in March?"
She couldn't hear anything past Harry Styles. She was screaming and jumped off her chair to run and hugged her dad, almost choking him in the process and deafened his ears. She couldn't believe it, she almost fainted.
"Oh my God! Thank you ... thank you ... thank you ... dad ... oh I love you ... I love you ... I love you!" she dangled around her dad's neck and rammed him with kisses on his cheek.
"Alright ... alright ... you're welcome, I know how much you like Harry Styles, and this concert is in Goldstone, I had quite a discussion with your mom about letting you go, but Max will go with you ... right, Max?" he said to Max who was still eating his dinner.
"Yeah, you might have to stay the night at a hotel, I'll book some rooms there ... there are 5 tickets, you can ask Jan and Theo," her mom said.
"I actually thought I could get away with it ... Peyton had bought some tickets for that concert too, she's going with Theo and Mia," Max said. Mia is his girlfriend.
"Really? Why didn't you tell me they were getting tickets? You know how much I wanted to go?" Hazel protested.
"Because ... I don't really want to go, it's not like you'd go with Peyton and Mia?"
He had a point, but that did not dismiss the fact he had deprived her of the chance to go and see her favorite One Direction member. She frowned, "You could've said something about it," she muttered.
"Okay, that's not a problem at all because now ... you're all going!"
"So Theo, Peyton, and Mia have their own tickets?" her mom interrupted.
"Yeah," Max nodded.
"That means we have two extra tickets, do you know anyone else who wants to go?"
All the girls at her school would love to get tickets, it would be so cool to show off to them that she was going. "Well, Jan's got a new boyfriend, maybe he'll go."
"A new boyfriend? Who is it?" dad asked.
"It's Kyle Langfield, a sophomore, he's in the basketball team ... oh ... can I bring my friend Lee? He might want to go."
"Who's Lee?" mom looked at her curiously.
"He's Kyle's friend ... well, my friend too, we've been hangin' out at school lately, he's a dancer ... actually I was going to ask if I can go to his dance practice on Saturday? He's going to pick me up at 6."
Her parents looked at each other. "A boy is going to pick you up on Saturday night?"
Max was listening to the conversation. He was equally interested to know what it was all about.
"It's not a date or anything, he's cool ... he's going to be dancing for the tournament opening in March ... so can I? Can I ask him to go to the concert?"
Her mom raised an eyebrow, "Sure ... we don't want to waste a ticket, it was really hard to get."
"Yeaaay!" she did a little run around the dining table with her arms up. "I'm gonna call Jan and tell her the news ... aarggh ... it's gonna be epiiiiccc!!" she ran upstairs without finishing her food.
"Hey, you haven't finished your food!" her mom yelled.
"I'm not hungry." Followed by the door being slammed.
Her mom and dad then turned to look at Max who was still eating. "Lee?" she asked.
He tilted his shoulder, "That's the first time I heard it ... I'll look into it."
"Drive them up to Goldstone, keep an eye on them at the concert, okay? Be a good brother ... you know how much she likes Harry," her mom said his name as if he was already part of the family, or at least, the cardboard cut out in Hazel's room had already been part of the family for years.
"Sure," he said casually.
It was a given since they were little, Hazel was his responsibility when the parents weren't around. He didn't want to go with his girlfriend but he'd take her sister anywhere. It was the kind of brother he is.
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Tee Shirt Nine: Saturday Night
She spent the whole day trying on outfits to go to Lee's dance party. Fixed her hair in all the ways she could think of while Jan watched from the other end of their video call."Does this look okay?" she held a pink top over a white mini skirt she had sworn to never wear only a year ago. It was the sixth set of clothes she tried to mix and match.Jan grunted, "That looks adorable ... if you were going out for ice cream in the daytime ... it's a dance studio, everyone's gonna be wearing black, you don't want to be the odd one out.""Are you sure? Black? My first choice was black?""I know, I told you it was fine but you went through your whole closet anyway ... I think black is the way to go."
Tee Shirt Ten: Dance Studio
They grabbed something to eat at a Burrito place not far from the studio. It all felt very casual and not at all felt like a date. They were just two friends hanging out on Saturday night because they both didn't have anything else to do, no one else to hang out with.When they arrived at the dance studio, the day was already dark. He took his large backpack from the back of the car, he brought at least three sets of clothes for changing, knee pads, elbow pads, extra socks, shoes. She never realizes that being a dancer was similar to being an athlete.The entrance of the studio was like a gym, they went through a narrow corridor all the way to the back and went into a double door where the dance hall was. It was a wide room, it was maybe half the size of the whole floor of the building, the walls were lined with mirrors.
Tee Shirt Eleven: Meanwhile At Home
Hazel being picked up by a boy they never heard about became a family event.Her mom asked Max to search him up on his social media and ended up spending the whole night stalking Lee's Instagram account. They watched all his stories which led them to his Tik-Tok account. Her mom downloaded Tik-Tok, created a fake account just to follow him.Her dad was still annoyed by the fact Lee was wearing hoop earrings, but then they watched BTS video clips and found out all of the members were wearing them. And from their stalking session, they concluded that Lee's favorite BTS was JungKook, which was accurate, he imitated how he dressed a lot."This is just sad," Max complained. "Leave them alone, maybe they're just friends ... she never mentioned anything about him before."
Tee Shirt Twelve: Sports Tournament
It was the opening day of The Annual Chestnut High School Sports Tournament. The day all high school students in Chestnut had been preparing for the past two months. It was held at Fairview High, the only school that had an adult size soccer field in town.The soccer team was getting ready in the locker room. Soccer was the opening match for the whole tournament that will take place in one week's time. So everyone involved was gathered in the arena that day for both the opening ceremony and the match.The marching band, the cheerleaders, the dancers, the whole lot were packed at the lower ground of the arena waiting for their turn to go out. The dance team was getting ready in the hallway in front of the locker room. They were all part of the opening ceremony and they were going first.
Tee Shirt Thirteen: Lee's House
They took the bus back to Lee's house. He wasn't allowed to drive his dad's car to school. He was only allowed to drive his mom's SUV when he needed to pick up his little sister at the daycare or otherwise it was the bus, or the bike, or the foot.When they arrived at his house which was literally 5 minutes away from hers, she was amazed. His house was huge, it was a mansion."My dad's an architect," he explained looking at Hazel's bewilderment."Wow ... this is so cool ... I mean ... I've never been to a house this big before, Theo's house is big with a pool and everything but ... do you have an elevator? Or a bunker?" she looked up to the ceiling that seemed far out of reach of her eyesight."How many people live here? Do you h
Tee Shirt Fourteen: Going Home
Spending that afternoon at Lee's house made them closer. They played video games in his room, watched video clips of their favorite artists, they seem to have endless things to talk about whenever they're together. It felt like she had found a new best friend.She even got to know his brother and sister because they came into his room and stayed there for a while. He was really good with them too. She didn't even feel like going home even though she had to be home before dark."I can walk home, it's really close.""No ... you shouldn't, I'll take you, come on ... my dad just bought me a scooter, I can finally use it," he said and then he took her to his garage.It was a two-person scooter. His dad bought him the sco
Tee Shirt Fifteen: Kissing Practice
"I can't believe we're hanging out here just because Kyle bailed on you ... so I'm just a back-up now? You're hurting my feelings," Hazel protested as they were sitting on Jan's rooftop in front of her bedroom window."Hey ... no fair ... you've been hanging out with Lee too, how is it with you two, anyway? Have you kissed him yet?""What?" Hazel threw a tissue at Jan, "It's not like that, we're just talking, played video games ... he's cool and friendless ... kinda like me, ditched by you and Kyle.""Talking? Come on ... are you telling me you guys are not into each other? 'cause I think I've seen couples that are less friendly than the two of you," Jan opened a can of beer she took from Kyle.Kyle was supposed to
Tee Shirt Sixteen: Night Stroll
She stretched her legs on the backseat, leaned her head against the door. Now her head felt heavy, and under the night sky, the dim light of the streetlamp, her blurry eyesight can make out the perfect silhouette of TJ Shanley on the driver's seat. The roof of the car was down, she could see the subtle draft gently blowing Theo's hair. He turned to check on her. Sharp nose. Perfect shape lips. A jawline to die for. Dreamy green eyes. Not that she can see it, but she had it embedded in her mind. She could feel herself grinning like an idiot, then she pulled her face back trying to be normal. "You okay there Mickey?" She could see a faint smile on his face, a wonderful gorgeous-looking smile on his ultra-beautiful face.
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Tee Shirt 121: It's A Wrap
Okay ... let me wrap this up for you ... I decided to finish high school at Pinehurst Valley because ... well ... because I wanted to be close to Hazel for another year at least. I've never had a friend like her before and ever since Eli ... she's the one thing that made my life seem livable again. We spent the rest of the summer in Goldstone with my dad's charity program. We worked with under privilege children in the nook and cranny of the city. We volunteered at the nursing home. Hazel loved that one because I had to perform every week for the elderlies, they loved my singing, apparently, they think I was adorable and reminded them of their grandsons. Made me feel less special knowing there are at least 7 kids that looked like me. The whole program went well. She got extra points for her portfolio. So did I. Though it didn't matter to me because I know I'm not going to Uni after this. I'm concentrating on my new channel which Hazel had agreed to help with. She loved that to
Tee Shirt 120: Baby
She finally came out of her bedroom looking fresh out of the shower. Her mom felt a heavy burden just lifted off her shoulder. Hazel was feeling better. There was still deep sadness on her face but she forced a smile and said 'Hi' and gave her a long hug. The day was getting dark and Claire's relief was short-lived because Hazel was on her way outside to meet the boy in a designer hoodie in his white Lamborghini who looked like he hadn't had a good sleep in days."He's been waiting for an hour," Claire said.She had turned on the light on their porch so the two of them can have a good talk on their new balcony swing. Claire poured a generous amount of red wine into her mug and peeked outside their window and saw the two kids embracing each other warmly."Hey, baby ... how are you doing?" he said and kissed the top of her head.She shook her head and started to cry in his chest."Oh ... I'm so sorry ...""No ... I'm sorry ..." she said and held her tears back. "I'm sorry I missed your
Tee Shirt 119: Boys Don't Cry
Claire was leaning against the door frame of their entrance with her arms folded in front of her. He waved at Theo as he climbed into his car with all his stuff in the backseat. The boy had been crying, she could clearly see it on his face. She could still remember what it was like to be young and in love and heartbroken. It was the best of times and it was the worst of times. Theo had told her everything. She appreciated his honesty though she was disappointed at the same time. But he was devastated, Claire knew that people sometimes underestimated how deep the emotional scar is for boys. Some men couldn't really recover from the hurt they feel in their younger years. It only goes to show how Theo really felt about Hazel. She wanted to understand the situation though she can see how much it had hurt her daughter too. She let out a sigh as his car drove further away from their house. Theo was going back to Gastonbury after many attempts to apologize to Hazel. She had closed her doo
Tee Shirt 118: Birthday Boy
The party was held at The Silver Tongue, the most exclusive club in Goldstone. As the son of an A-list celebrity, he spared no expense and went all out for the celebration. He booked the whole third floor for the event and invited everyone he knew in the city. Including Mandy and Dennis. As soon as Marlon and his entourage arrived, the party began in full swing. The music was loud and thumping, and the dance floor was packed with guests showing off their best moves. Marlon was the center of attention, surrounded by his friends, who were all dressed in the latest designer clothes and jewelry. The bar was fully stocked with top-shelf liquor, and bartenders were serving up creative cocktails in elaborate glassware. The party-goers were drinking and toasting Marlon's big day, and everyone seemed to be in high spirits. He wasn't in a particularly good mood that day, a big part of it was because he hadn't heard from Hazel since she went back to Chestnut. As if she had disappeared from t
Tee Shirt 117: Tangled Up
Theo sat on his bed, his head buried in his hands. He couldn't believe the mess he had gotten himself into. He loved Hazel with all his heart, but he had lied to her. He couldn't even remember how it had all started. He left his girlfriend in Gastonbury because he knew he wanted to spend the summer with the girl that got away. The moment he saw her at the dance, he was instantly back to where he left off and his girlfriend just disappeared in the background. Grace ... her name ... his girlfriend. It was never serious with Grace. It was never serious with any of the girls he had been with after Peyton. Subconsciously, he was trying to move on from losing Hazel because he was too much of a coward to fight for her in the first place. He knew it would have to be Hazel. He had taken their relationship for granted for years, but they were just kids. One year apart from her had only made his feelings stronger and he had ruined it for the both of them when he couldn't stop himself from fa
Tee Shirt 116: Surprise
It was a nagging feeling. That's what she had. It was bothering her and she couldn't ignore it any longer. Sure ... she needed to get her stuff to better prepare herself for the summer program. But Theo will only stay for so long and she needed to be with him, at least to explain in person how her summer is going to be.She wanted to stay in Goldstone, it was her initial plan before Theo came along. The nagging feeling told her to go back to Chestnut to see if their new relationship was going to last beyond that summer.She didn't tell him she was coming back, she wanted it to be a surprise. The minute she arrived, she went straight to Theo's house.He was surprised or more like shocked to see her. The look on his face was not what she expected. His eyes bulged wide, his face was drained of colors, and his mouth gaped open."Micky?" his voice was almost inaudible.She laughed, "Yeah ... who do you think it is? I wanted to ask you if you're surprised ... but it's pretty obvious," she r
Tee Shirt 115: Change Of Plans
He had planned to ask Hazel at the end of her stay in Goldstone, but he found himself asking her on the first day she arrived. The thought had been haunting him for weeks since he left Chestnut for his family therapy. The only thing stopping him from executing his original plan was his unexpected friendship with Hazel. He would consider anything not to lose what he had with her. Having her around made him feel excited and energized to do whatever it is he was planning to do. Being with her made it easier for him to forget how fucked up his family situation was. Every day spent with her was joyful. Even Dr. Seymour told him that he made huge progress since the last time he was in therapy. Marlon knew it had a lot to do with Hazel. He introduced her to his YouTube team and let her hang out when they were working on their next project. He wanted her to be interested. He wanted her to want to be involved. He wanted her to change her mind though neither of them had made any decision, Ma
Tee Shirt 114: Neon Dreams
She remembered the first time she arrived in the city of Neon Lights. This time she arrived in style, in a white Lambo with one of the most eligible bachelors in town. He was high, she was laughing, and the music was loud but Goldstone was louder. Hazel had underestimated how famous Marlon really was. It's different in Chestnut where she was used to him being her 'buddy', her celebrity friend from the Big City but Marlon never felt too big for her. In Goldstone, he's a Rock Star. People recognized his car. There were literally fans asking for autographs and pictures with him. She could hear people calling his name while they walk on the sidewalk. Eating out in fast food restaurants was not an option, they would have to go to Hotels or fine dining or have food delivered to his penthouse. "You should try going out in public with my dad," he said and put on his sunglasses at 8 PM. "Worse?" she assumed. He shook his head a little, "You can't," he tilted his brow. "He has bodyguards
Tee Shirt 113: Road Trip
Marlon took a drag of his cigarette while leaning on his car. He glanced at the pair after a while and muttered, "For fuck's sake." It's been 15 minutes since they said they were saying goodbye to each other and every time he looked over his shoulder they were kissing passionately on Hazel's porch. They finally stopped when Hazel's mom stepped out of the house. They hugged and her mom said something about not drinking, don't do anything illegal, and calling her once they get there. Things his parents never said to him. He dropped his cigarette on the ground and put it out with his Givenchy sneakers. "Drive safely, young man," Claire said to him when walking Hazel toward his car. "I mean it ... it's a fancy car, and I know what it can do ... but not while you're driving my baby," she tapped on his Lambo. "Yes ma'am," he gave her a two-finger salute. "How about we video call you all the way to Goldstone so you can see how slow I drive?" he teased her. "That's not a bad idea, actua
