wash away your sorrow

Diane;

“That’s totally rad, you should come by tomorrow. I’ll give you my number,” Morgan said, pulling out her phone.

“Definitely, yeah. How many people are in your roommates band?” Diane asked. She wanted to know everything about this band, and hopefully the band wanted to know everything about her when Morgan told them who she was.

“Three. They’re all super chill. Their old lead singer was kind of crazy, but she moved to Del Sol Valley to achieve fame. Can you believe how stupid that is? Del Sol is full of wannabes and like three celebrities,” Morgan said bluntly. Diane wasn’t sure if she was always this upfront of if it was the alcohol making her talk. Still, drunk thoughts are sober words.

“I live in Del Sol Valley,” Diane said, attempting to defend herself.

Morgan’s eyes widened. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I thought you were from around here.”

“Well, I’m not. I live with my best friend and a roommate.”

“Hmm. Is your best friend the reason you moved to Del Sol?”

“Yeah, how’d you guess that?”

“You don’t have that desperate for fame look in your eyes.”

Diane;

“So, Diane. What do you like to do? What’s your career? What are you good at?” Morgan badgered Diane after she sobered up from laughing.

“Give her a chance to breathe...,” Caleb, the guy in the light shirt, mumbled. Diane could already tell that he was the silent type, but she was pretty sure he was a force to be reckoned with. She would hate to get on his bad side.

Morgan shrugged Caleb off and waited expectantly for Diane’s answer.

“Well... I like music,” she said shyly. She didn’t know why but music had always been something personal to her and when she shared her passion, she felt like others could take it from her. She knew it was a silly fear, especially because she wanted to have her music in the open someday, but she was sure that day was faraway.

“Music? Morgan’s roommate is in a band!” Valentino said excitedly.

“Oh my gosh!” Morgan chimed in. “She is! And they just lost their lead singer!” She threw her hands over her mouth. “I mean, horrible for them, really. I shouldn’t sound so excited, but this is great for you Diane!”

“Great for me? How?” She asked, with clear confusion in her face.

“I can introduce you to the band! Do you sing?”

Not only did she sing, she was very good at it.

Diane;

“Hey guys, this is Diane! The girl we’ve been dancing with for the past hour. Diane, this is Caleb, the one in the light shirt. And this is Valentino, the one in the dark shirt,” Morgan chirped. Diane could tell she really loved her friends. “By the way,” she leaned in and whispered. “If you really wanna piss him off, call him Val. He hates it.”

“Morgan!” Valentino complained. “I heard that! You are such a loud whisperer when you’re drunk! He turned to face Diane completely and Diane had to repress gasping for air. Valentino was absolutely gorgeous, much handsomer than any guy she’d ever grown up with or met while in Del Sol Valley. “Don’t listen to Morgan here, she doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” he said as he glared at Morgan.

Diane found herself lost in his dark brown eyes. Or at least she thought they were brown, she couldn’t really tell in this dim lit room. “Val, eh? Is it because it sounds like a girl name?” she teased.

“Morgan!” He groaned. “I told you it sounded like a girl’s name, now will you please stop calling me that?”

Diane;

Diane;

Diane was about an hour into dancing with Morgan, the red-headed girl that had invited her to dance. Diane never knew she could like dancing so much, but feeling the rhythm of the music and letting that take over the way she danced was exhilarating. She felt so free and alive, especially with that girl Morgan, she was so much fun to hangout with.

Because Diane was having so much fun, she had completely forgotten about Keelie. Shit, she started to panic. She couldn’t find her anywhere on the dance floor. 

“Hey, you wanna sit down?” Morgan’s voice asked, cutting through Diane’s thoughts.

“Yeah, sure,” she agreed.

Morgan face lit up. “Oh, yay! You can meet my friends now. Caleb, Valentino! Get over here!” She gestured to the two boys dancing nearby.

Diane;

When Diane and Keelie got to club, the first thing she noticed was a girl in a striking blue dress tearing up the dance floor. Of course, there really wasn’t a lot to notice yet because it was still kind of on the early side.

Ashton;

Diane;

Right as they were about to leave, Ashton’s voice cut through the sound of their heels hitting the wooden floor.

“Um, so are you guys going clubbing or something?” Ashton asked the girls while glancing sadly in Keelie’s direction. If Diane had to guess, he probably wanted to come with them, especially because of how great Keelie looked in her dress.

“Keelie, can you even breathe in that dress?”

“No, so let’s hurry up and take this picture so I can move again.”

Diane;

Diane didn’t hear Keelie come in. She just finished trying on the last dress and she loved it, but she wasn’t used to wearing dresses, so she felt pretty insecure in it.

“Wow, Di. You look great,” Keelie said lacking enthusiasm. For a second, Diane was worried Keelie thought the dress looked horrible, but then she glanced at Keelie in the mirror and noticed she looked visibly distressed.

“Keels? What’s wrong?” Diane questioned. She had a feeling Keelie’s shift in mood had to do with a certain brunette male roommate.

“Nothing,” Keelie brushed off the question. “I’m gonna get dressed then we can leave.”

Diane;

Keelie;

Keelie was in the middle of doing her makeup when the door opened. Immediately, she knew it was Ashton. His clean scent filled up the room, leaving her momentarily intoxicated off of his scent.

“Keelie...,” Ashton said softly, as he took a step closer to her. 

“Ashton, I’m in the middle of doing my makeup,” Keelie tried to say rudely, but it came off softly. She wasn’t mad at him. Honestly, she wanted to be as close to him as possible, but she knew that wasn’t an option, so she pushed him away.

“Can we talk after?” he asked. He was desperate to talk to her, which Keelie liked, but she was trying so hard to get over him and it wasn’t working.

“No.”

“Keelie, please,” he begged. “We need to talk”

Keelie didn’t even turn to face him. She knew she couldn’t look at him without being drawn to him. “No we don’t. Please leave me alone.”

Ashton;

It had been days since Ashton had spoken to Keelie and he wondered if she missed him as much as her missed her. He understood why they weren’t talking. He still didn’t want a commitment and he was pretty sure she did. Plus, there was the issue of him using her to get over Karen, which was pretty low. He knew he had no one but himself to blame for that.

“Okay, I laid a couple of dresses out for you on your bed. I want you to go try them on and pick your favorite, while I do my makeup in the bathroom,” Ashton overheard Keelie say.

Keelie;

Keelie could feel his gaze on her the entire time she was doing Diane’s hair. It was driving her crazy. They hadn’t spoken in days and that was also driving her crazy. She missed him, even just as a friend. She missed their morning talks over breakfast before he went to work. She missed their evening tv session before they both went to bed. She missed him. Thankfully, she had a distraction to look forward to. She loved going to the club and meeting new people. She loved the pulsing lights as she danced. And she loved how the alcohol made her feel giddy. But, tonight she had different plans. She needed more of a distraction than alcohol. She needed something to make her feel extra good, and she knew she could find it at the club.

Finally, she was done with Diane’s look. “Okay, I laid a couple of dresses out for you on your bed. I want you to go try them on and pick your favorite, while I do my makeup in the bathroom.”

Diane looked at her like she was crazy. “The dresses you normally pick for me are short as hell! There’s no way I’m wearing any of them!”

“Diane! I promise you’re going to like at least one dress, okay? Go try them on.”