Westside

Chapter 65 - You look...different

Dylan

RI—

"Hey princess," Ryder answers on the first ring. I didn't facetime him and Maddy is telling me to.

"Hi Ry. I'm gonna facetime you but please don't freak out. Is Axel with you?"

"Yeah hold up. HEY AXEL! GET YOUR FLATASS OVER HERE THE GIRLS ARE ON THE PHONE!"

I hear pounding footsteps and then I hear Ryder yelp. "Ry what the hell is happening?"

   "Doesn't matter. Are y'all gonna facetime or what?"

I take a deep breath and press the button, propping my phone up in the process.

   "Hey," I say meekly when they pick up. They just stare at us.

   "Please say something," Maddy pleads.

   "You look good," Axel tells Maddy and she blushes.

   "Ryder?" I ask.

   "I need a minute," he walks away from the phone and I let my head drop to the table.

   "Fuck."

   "It'll be fine Dylan," Maddy rubs my back and I stand up.

   "Really Mads? My entire fucking appearance just changed and Ryder hates it. I don't think it'll be fine this time."

   "He doesn't hate it," Axel comments and I scream. I thought they had hung up. "He's just shocked."

   "Dylan can we talk?" Ryders voice projects. I grab my phone and run to the bedroom on the plane, locking the door. "I'm sorry for that reaction."

I wasn't expecting that.

"W-what?" I cough, lying on my stomach on the carpet.

"I reacted really badly and I'm sorry. It's just...I don't want you to take this wrong way princess, but I liked how you looked more before all this," he rubs his neck and I sigh.

"So did I. But it's for the sake of the mission."

"Do you know how long you'll be gone yet?" I freeze my hands. Shit.

"Uhm," I giggle nervously.

"Don't tell me it's longer than a week."

"Uhmmm," I repeat.

"A month?"

"Heh."

"2 months?"

"*clears throat* erm no."

"3 MONTHS?!"

"Bingo!" I scowl.

"WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK? 3 MONTHS DYLAN? WHERE THE HELL WILL YOU EVEN BE?"

"Italy."

"So my girlfriend is gonna be gone for three months in another fucking country and if something happens to her I have no way of getting there. Great," he says angrily.

"Ryder I'm really sorry I wish I didn't have to do this. I miss you and everyone else already," I plead and he rubs his temples.

"Dyl, it's 3 months," he says softly.

"We'll call everyday Ry. I promise."

"You aren't gonna be here for the bands first show."

"WHAT?! YOU GUYS ARE PERFORMING?! WHEN?"

"2 weeks."

"Goddammit. Give me just a second," I mute myself and of course forget to turn the camera off. I wrap my arms around my legs and cry for a minute. God I'm the worst girlfriend ever.

"Wait, Dylan are you crying? PLEASE STOP CRYING!" Ryder yells and I unmute.

"I'm gonna miss your first performance. I'm the worst girlfriend ever."

"No you aren't."

"Stop it."

"You're beautiful. You're kind. You're funny. You're considerate. You care about me. You're literally crying over the fact that you'll miss my performance. It's not that important, Dylan. There'll be other ones."

"BUT IT'S A BIG DEAL TO ME! This is your dream coming true, Ryder. And I can't even be there to support you! What the actual fuck?!" I punch the floor.

   "AYE! CHILL THE FUCK OUT DYLAN! Ok yeah it sucks you won't be here but there'll be other performances relax."

   "IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT THAT! I had gotten you a gift for your first show and now I won't even be able to give it to you!" I run my hands through my hair and flinch because I forgot it was different.

   "Yeah that's gonna take some getting used to for sure," he chuckles and I get a small smile.

   "I have an entire new identity too. I'm now Francesca Rossi, a young British girl who loves music and dancing."

   "That's awesome. The look goes with the name."

   "I hate that I had to change how I look," I mumble. "I look so stupid."

   "You look beautiful princess."

   "Meh," I shrug.

   "THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY? DID YOU JUST 'Meh' ME? AW HELL NAH! THAT AIN'T GONNA FLY IF THAT'S HOW FRANCESCA IS GONNA TREAT MY GIRL!" He shouts. He's all worked up and I roll on my side because I'm laughing so hard. I've laughed plenty of times, but this one feels different. This one truly feels real. "Wait Dylan why does your laugh sound different?"

I start laughing again.

   "THAT'S YOUR GENUINE LAUGH?! Shit hold up," he runs off camera and I take that time to recover. "Ok so when I was 13, I liked this girl. It was my first crush and I had no idea what to do. But me having an inflated ego, I assumed she liked me back. So one day at lunchtime I went up to her and said 'hey be my girlfriend." She poured her soup on me and told me to get lost."

I'm on the ground again, laughing so hard there's no sound.

   "You like that one? Ok uhhh what's another embarrassing Ryder story...oh! It was when I met Luke actually. He was crying because Dante was supposedly dead in a plane crash. I found him at school and asked him 'Why are your eyes raining?' He said 'My little brother died in a plane crash," AND I NO JOKE SAID 'Well I guess now they know the amount of peanuts a plane can hold safely in the air.' "

Holy shit he had no filter. I physically cannot breathe right now and I'm crying I'm laughing so hard.

   "DYLAN!" Maddy bangs on the door. "YOU GOOD?"

   "I'M FINE MADS!" I shout. I can finally breathe again so I pick up my phone and walk to the bathroom so I can fix my makeup. "Damn you Ry you made my mascara run!"

   "Oops," he gives me a cheeky smile and I roll my eyes.

   "Oh come on I see you fighting that smile of yours!" He exclaims.

He's not wrong there.

hey babes! i hope y'all are enjoying this book! 5 more chapters!!