Page 27 of Finding a Melody

To tell you I'm sorry”

There were a few more chords played before the speaker was turned off. The class erupted into applause. The hallway echoed with the same response from the surrounding classes. The school loved them.

My heart was working overtime in disbelief, my mind trying to figure out if it was just a joke or not.

My brain told my heart to believe it. They really did do it.

I kept my head down, letting my hair create a curtain as I closed my eyes and tears fell to my desk.

They were too good to be true. And too unfair. Most of all, they weren’t avoiding me. I wasn’t alone.

Chapter Nine

I was waiting in the parking lot by Seth’s truck when the five of them finally came outside toward the end of lunch period. They looked a little dejected, gripping their overloaded backpacks and gym bags.

They came toward his truck, still not spotting me as they talked to each other. When they came closer, I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at them.

“You guys are idiots.”

Their heads shot up, finally noticing me. Their mouths dropped in a gape.

“And unfair. Why would you do that?” I asked as my throat tightened with emotions. They got themselves in trouble just to prove that they really were sorry. And that song. That song made it impossible to not care about them more than before.

They stepped closer, but I put distance between us, not wanting them near me just yet.

“We wanted to show you we were serious,” Seth said in a soft voice.

I took in all their expressions and saw the sincerity in them. They were completely genuine. They weren’t skipping class to avoid me but because they were planning and executing a very public apology. Massive relief slammed into me, making my body shake. I had thought... well, I wasn’t sure what I thought. A million wrong things, apparently.

“We are sorry. We shouldn’t have pressured Justin to tell us,” Paxon said.

“And I shouldn’t have told them, no matter how many times they asked,” Justin added.

“Yeah, we should have just trusted you to come to us,” Bryan said.

“We should have been fucking patient,” Toby joined in. “We just care too much about you.”

This time they stepped closer, and I was too frozen to move away. They were tearing at my heart. Their sincerity was legit, and I could see the pain in their expression as they waited for my response.

I licked my lips. “You really are unfair,” I said, running a hand through my hair.

Toby broke out into a smile and then he was there, pulling me into a hug as he swung me. “Thank fuck, I can’t go with not being around you for longer than eight hours.”

I patted his back until he put me down. “Why eight hours?”

“It’s when I have to sleep. Though even then, you’re still in my dreams.”

I laughed at his corny response, trying to ignore the way that little bit of flirting made my stomach flutter.

Seth stepped up and leaned toward me. “Thank you,” he whispered into my ear, kissing my temple.

I blushed as warmth coursed through my body, and he smirked as he stepped back. Everything he did seemed so extra flirty to me. While it unnerved me and scared me, I liked it at the same time. It was the kind of attention I wasn’t used to.

Paxon stepped closer, his expression unsure. “We really are sorry. That was something we should have waited for you to open up about. We overstepped your boundaries.”

“You did,” I said, and he flinched. I sighed. “But I think I understand what you mean. If I knew one of you guys were being hurt behind closed doors in your home, I guess I would be sticking my nose in your business.”

That got a smile from Paxon as he pulled me into a hug, kissing the top of my head. He stepped back; his cheeks were a little pink but his shoulders had slumped down in relief.