CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

GOOD DAYS — SZA
I don't miss no ex, I don't miss no text
I choose not to respond

MAY, 1994.
FOURTEEN MONTHS BEFORE.

APRIL CAME AND left, bringing May in a flurry of band practices as the Battle of the Bands approached. When they weren't performing at Sonny's, Sunset Curve spent every second of their spare time in the Montez's garage. They arrived after school and left well after dark almost everyday.

Each of the teens were grateful for their hectic schedule because if their lives calmed down, there was nothing to distract them and the reality of their home lives would seep in to leave a bitter taste in their mouths.

Things at the Mercer household had come to an inevitable climax. After coming out to his friends, Alex grew less tolerant of his parents' blatant homophobia and there was only so much time until he snapped. He was planning to come out to his parents over a nice dinner or in a public area where they couldn't make a scene, but after one argument about his disgraced cousin, Eloise, he shouted that he was gay in the middle of their living room. If it weren't for Kat calming is parents down, he would've been kicked out of the house for sure.

At Bobby's house, Jenny seemed to have taken over more than she already has. Her perfume hung in the air and her belongings were slowly trickling in. She even placed potpourri in their washrooms. What the hell was potpourri? Aside from the sudden take over, his father had been as absent as ever. There was a hole in the chest of the teenage boy, making him feel like a child yearning for his father to come home and pay him attention.

Reggie and Luke's home lives weren't any better. Reggie's parents fought endlessly and he was one argument away from begging them to get a divorce. Gone was the kid who wished they would love each other again. He was tired of the late nights comforting whichever parent didn't walk out and he was tired of being the middleman. Luke, on the other hand, was less concerned about his parents' relationship and more concerned with their relationship with him. The more time he spent with the band, the less him and his parents got along.

There were countless times a member of the band would storm into the studio to distract themselves and Olivia as no exception. After ignoring what seemed like her father's millionth phone call (all gone to voicemail), she marched into the studio and suggested that the band play Story of Another Us for the Battle of the Bands.

They worked on it for weeks, making small changes and perfecting what needed to be perfected. The day before the competition, it seemed that they had finally completed their mission.

"Livy," Alex started once the final note rang out. He stared at her with wide eyes from his spot behind his drum set. "This song is really good. Like the arrangement, the actual lyrics. You've been holding out on us."

Bobby nodded. "Yeah, I think this is the best song you've ever written." Unlike the majority of their songs, Olivia had written this one all on her own. He glanced over at the brunet standing next to her. "Sorry, Luke."

Luke paid him no mind and stepped closer to Olivia, his voice dropped in volume so only she could hear. "Are you sure you want to play this, trouble?" His eyes were swimming with concern.

Olivia leaned against her microphone stand and looked up at him. "Luke, we've gone over this."

"I know, I'm just double checking," Luke said innocently, adjusting the guitar strap on his shoulder. "I know this song is really personal."

"I think that's why I need to perform it," Olivia admitted with a small smile.

There was a knock at the garage door, catching the attention of all the teenagers within.

Reggie, who was returning his bass, froze. His head snapped up to look at his friends. "Was that a knock at the door?"

He was met with equally confused confused expressions. No one knocked on the door. The boys each had a key and anyone who would visit—Sylvia, Kat, or Mikey—never knocked, they just walked in.

"Liv," Bobby hissed, "go check."

Olivia gave him an incredulous look. All she could think about was the horror movie marathon they had last month and how she'd be the first to die. The one who investigated the suspicious noise was always the first one to die. "Me?" she exclaimed. "Why me?"

Reggie made his way to hide behind Alex and his drum kit. "Because you're the closest to the door."

Olivia rolled her eyes at him before turning her gaze to Luke. He gave her a shrug and stepped away further away from her.

"You guys suck," Olivia stated. Fully preparing to get sucked into a horror film, she stepped out of the garage. Her mouth fell into an 'o' as her gaze landed on the boy in front of her.

Jason Cummings stood with his hands shoved in his pockets, nervously rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. A hopeful look crossed his face as Olivia stepped out. "Hey."

Olivia glanced back into the garage, shutting the door once she saw the boys were occupied with something else and their attention was no longer on her.

Out of all the things that could've knocked on her door, she would never have guessed it to be her ex-boyfriend. She'd rather it be a ghost, to be completely honest. The pair haven't spoken since their phone call two months ago.

She wrapped her sweater—Luke's sweater—righter around herself. "Jason."

His eyes roamed her innocently. She wasn't the same girl he once dated. She might look the same, but her confidence was evident in the way she held herself. He gave her a tight lipped smile. "You look good."

"Uh, thank you...?" She wasn't sure how she should take the compliment. "What are you doing here?"

He sighed. "Look, I know you said you want nothing to do with me, but I heard you were playing Battle of the Bands tomorrow... and I wanted to wish you good luck."

Olivia's brows furrowed. This support, no matter how small, was all she wanted when she first told him about the band. It's better late than never, she supposed. "Thanks," she said with an awkward nod. "I'll be sure to pass it along to the rest of the band."

Jason nodded, fighting with himself on whether or not he should apologize. Turning on his heel, he made his leave.

When he was about to walk up the steps near the garage, he stopped and spun around. Thankfully, Olivia was still standing there. "I'm sorry," he said. She looked up at him, shocked by the sincerity in his tone. "For everything. Really. I know I said some messed up things, did some messed up things, and... I was an ass. It was never anything that you did."

"I know it wasn't," Olivia replied without missing a beat. She knew he was the only one responsible for their downfall. The only thing she was guilty for was staying with him when she knew she was falling out of love.

Jason was about to say something else, but Olivia cut him off. There had been one question swirling in her mind ever since she started hanging out with Luke. When she asked Luke, he didn't know the answer, so she knew she'd never get one if she didn't ask now.

"What happened between you and Luke?"

Jason cracked the slightest of smiles. "He liked you," he confessed after a few seconds of silence. "We both did. At first it was just a middle school crush, I called dibs on you and he backed off, but then we started high school and over the summer you just—" He shrugged his shoulders at the memory. "You got really, really pretty. I know I never told you that enough."

Olivia thought of Luke and how he reminded her every day without fail.

Jason continued, knowing any chance of her taking him back was long gone. "Anyways, it wasn't a schoolboy crush anymore. Luke told Josh he was gonna try and ask you out, then Josh told me."

"So you cut him off because he liked the same girl as you?" Olivia questioned, trying to make sense of things.

Jason nodded. "I used getting onto the lacrosse team as an excuse. He was the only one in our friend group who wasn't into sports so we would've drifted apart anyways." Saying all of this out loud made him feel bad for treating Luke the way he did. At one point of his life, he and Luke were as close as brothers. Saying what he did made him realize just the kind of person he had become. "I got to you first. I needed to keep him far away from you."

"Wow," Olivia drawled, almost huffing in bitter disbelief. "Looks like you were a dick for longer than I thought."

Instead of getting mad like he usually would when someone called him a name, he laughed. Because he missed her, even if the Olivia he once knew would never call him a dick to his face. "Yeah, looks like it." He watched as a corner of Olivia's lips quirked upwards, but it left just as fast as it came. "This new you that you've got going on, she seems cool."

That fleeting look on Olivia's face returned, but this time it stayed long enough for Jason to confirm that it wasn't his mind playing tricks on him. He turned and started his walk up the stone steps. When he was halfway to the top, he threw her a glance. "I'll see you around."

Olivia watched him as he left.

When she returned to the garage, the boys were chatting away, each taking turns speaking to the camcorder Luke kept stashed away. They broke away from their conversation when they noticed her in the doorway and turned to her.

"Who was it?" Luke questioned.

She raised her eyebrows mockingly. "A ghost."

Reggie let out a gasp and his jaw fell open. "No!"

"Dude," Alex started, staring flatly at him. "Ghost aren't— Okay."

A laugh rang through the air as Olivia returned to her mic stand. She shook her head as the boys prepared to practice again. Her gaze gravitated to the shaggy haired guitarist as her mind returned to Jason's words and out of the entire conversation, she had one take away. It wasn't that Jason had shown genuine remorse or his wishing of luck for tomorrow's festivities. It was the reason for his and Luke's fall out, and that reason was her.

With her eyes fixated on the bright eyed boy, she revelled in the fact that he used to have a crush on her.

A part of her hoped that he still did.

RAE SPEAKS !
next chapter has a little bit of a twist hehe

whenever jason cummings makes an appearance ever: