I couldn't believe how much time has passed since I met Adrian and the rest of The Decadence of The Fallen. It's been more than a year now but somehow, it feels longer. We celebrated birthdays together. We supported each other through our failures. We cheered each other on with every difficulty we faced. We've been through so much already. The ups. The downs. The in-betweens. I mean I couldn't even imagine a life without them anymore... November 17, 2007. It was my eighteenth birthday and my parents were giving me a grand debutante ball slash black tie event to celebrate this important milestone in my life. My mom was very excited and, particularly, insistent on making me wear a ballgown and having a cotillion for my coming of age party. Well, if you ask me I think that the whole "debutante" idea was completely archaic. I mean, come on! A cotillion? Seriously? I wanted a simple party with just my family and a few close friends just like my 17th birthday last year. But of course,
A week after my debutante ball, something unexpected happened. It was a Monday and it began as ordinary as any other day would. I got up, got dressed, and went to school as usual. I sat through several hours of lectures and quizzes and spent several more of that listening to another one Leslie's stories during her days as the former head cheerleader of her old school. After our chat, we decided to call it a day because Les had errands to run and I had band practice. We said our goodbyes before I headed to the concert hall. The Decadence of The Fallen had another performance coming up so band practiced continued as usual. I arrived to find that the equipment had already been set up and everyone was already waiting for me. Well everyone except Adrian, that is. "Hey, guys. You're all here early. So, should we do a sound check first or should we wait for Adrian to come?" I said trying not to sound too disappointed that he wasn't there. Nobody answered. It was unusual but I tried a
I told Leslie about everything that happened the last time that we were supposed to have band practice. About Celine's comeback. About Adrian's reaction. Everything. Her advice? Just pretend like nothing happened and act like I wasn't affected at all. Well, easy for her to say. Out of options, I ended up saying that I was going to skip a few practices so that I could figure things out but she said that it would only worsen the situation. She even scolded me for trying to run away from my problems and not facing them head on. Sometimes I think that she acts more like my mother than my best friend. I decided to follow Leslie's advice but I was still really apprehensive when I walked through the concert hall's doors that Wednesday. I dragged my feet and held my drum sticks tightly in my hands as I made my way to the stage. I actually didn't know what to expect that day but my gut was telling me to just call in sick and get the hell out of there while I still can. But before I even ha
Celine quickly chased after Adrian and left the concert hall just as abruptly as he did. Spence came in through the doors just as Celine was leaving and tried to ask her about what was happening but she said nothing and just continued to chase after Adrian. Left with no other options, Spence started walking to the stage to ask us instead. "Would you guys care to enlighten me about what the heck is going on around here and why the hell are people walking out?" No one dared to answer. Everyone was still probably taking in the shock of what just happened or simply did not want to interfere with the whole Adrian-Celine situation but I knew that I had to do something. I got up from the drum throne and started walking off the stage. Midway, I felt someone suddenly grab my arm. I was startled so I immediately turned my head to find out who it was and I was surprised to see that it was JD who was holding on to me. "Where are you going, Maddie?" JD had slung his guitar behind him as he
It was a Friday night and I was feeling rebellious so I put on more make up than usual and finally wore the "barely there" outfit that my cousin, Charlotte, gave me for my eighteenth birthday. It was a short, strapless dress in glittering silver that showed way too much cleavage and way too much leg or should I say thigh. It wasn't as if I had a lot to show anyway but I put a black coat over it just in case mom or dad saw me. I got my matching silver clutch bag, grabbed the keys, then hurriedly made my way towards my car. I was meeting Leslie at Below Zero for a girls night out since she insisted that I badly needed a distraction from Adrian. She knew all about what happened and had been trying to convince me to get over it and just focus on myself instead. It took a lot of time before I finally agreed because up until yesterday I had been locked up in my room, crying my nights away. It was a short drive to Below Zero and I was there in no time. I decided to leave my coat in t
I woke up with a terrible hangover the day after and an uneasy feeling at the pit of my stomach, all courtesy of my reckless behavior and my little stint at Below Zero last night. I don't think that I'll be able to show my face there ever again after that whole scene with Adrian and my very "classy" and "graceful" exit afterwards. I can't even remember how I got home last night, much less, get myself dressed in my pajamas and in bed after that but I guess I somehow managed. I brushed that thought off as I got up from under the sheets and headed to the bathroom. Halfway there, I suddenly realized that I didn't manage on my own and that someone had to carry me and bring me home last night. It was Adrian! The last person that I wanted to see me fall from grace witnessed it all firsthand. My life just keeps getting better and better. I felt sick and ran to the bathroom sink to relieve myself of the horrible feeling in my stomach. Apparently, there were still some cosmos left in my sys
I had been forcing myself to go to school and trying to avoid Adrian at all costs after that whole incident. Thankfully, today was a Saturday and band practices were over because our gig was apparently cancelled. I had no reason to interact with Adrian for the next couple of weeks and he was probably busy with Celine anyway so... I was mostly sulking these days and Les had been doing all she could to cheer me up, all to no avail. Surprisingly though, comfort came from a person that I least expected. A person whom I've ignored all this time. "JD!" I waved and called out to him as he pulled into our driveway. He had been checking up on me because Leslie told him all about the Below Zero incident and he saw how I reacted when I rushed off to find Adrian that day when Celine kissed him. He was such a good guy that even my parents couldn't help but root for him. He was the one who saved me from drowning and every time that I saw him, I wished that I could teach my heart to fall for h
It was a week before the Christmas break and the last week of classes when Spence decided to call for a band meeting one last time for the year 2007. He wanted us to finally settle the issues that have been plaguing The Decadence of The Fallen for the last several weeks. With the exception of JD, who I have been hanging out with along with Leslie these past weeks, I haven't really seen much of my other band mates as of late. I think I saw Spence once on my way to class and Warren, maybe twice, at a cafe but that was it. I exchanged pleasantries with them but it was brief and we usually were in a rush to go somewhere else. I guess it was better than not seeing them at all...like my situation with Adrian. I have not really seen him and Celine in a while and JD never really spoke about them when we were together. It was true that I missed Adrian but the part of me that wanted to avoid him had prevailed all this time. But it was ending today. I was going to see Adrian for the first time