~ wdw imagines ~

1. my rescuer (ds)

i run through the crowd, tears streaming down my face. i'd been through hell and back before, but nothing had ever hurt like this.

the atrium of the hotel where the dance i'm currently attending is light and cool smelling, like seashells. but the smell does not calm me, but instead, gives me an uneasy nostalgia for summer, when stress was unknown, and i was happy.

i remember the summer of 2017 as a golden age, one year ago. i had spent my summer in los angeles, interning at a music store. i had become acquainted with daniel seavey, a boy in a successful "man band," as his bandmates liked to put it. the band, why don't we, was world famous, and filled with some of the most talented and hardworking boys i had the pleasure of knowing.

but daniel and i became closer than i could have ever imagined.

we wrote and sang songs together for most of the summer, and it was the happiest time of my life.

i will always remember that summer of my life as the golden age of my teenage years, young and in love with a boy who loved me equally back.

but as the summer ended, i had to leave los angeles, and return to the east coast.

more than anything, i wish i could have stayed in daniel's arms forever.

but i was sure he had forgotten about me; we hadn't talked since last thanksgiving.

but now, i needed him more than ever.

i had been heartbroken by my date, torn apart that night in ways i couldn't have ever imagined. it's one thing to be cheated on by your date, but to be in a place where none of your friends are; a place you most certainly don't belong in, is the scarier thing. i felt like a stranger in the ballroom; i didn't know one kind face. every person in that room, including my ill-fated date, had some cruel gesture towards me, i knew it. but seeing him kiss a random girl like she was his soulmate ended it all for me.

we ended things almost simultaneously. how could i have wasted my time on such a horrible person?

i was filled with sorrow and i felt like an outcast in a place where i had no friends. if only i could see just one loving face...

i need to breathe.

the fabric of my winter gown tears at my skin, like the claws of a tiger. i can feel my running mascara burning my cheeks, as i look for an escape.

i see a small pool, with fake lilypads and an artificial waterfall. beside it, is a marble bench that manifests as my place to rest for the moment.

but as i walked over to the pool, my heeled feet marking across the carpet, i bump into a large cluster of people, accidentally. i collide almost head on with a figure, who i don't look at for one second. i look down, not looking at the other voices of the crowd. i hear a few whispers of the group, some familiar, some not, but i'm so distracted by my emotions, i can't recall the voices.

"i'm so sorry," i say, not moving my head up to look at the figure i had just collided with, and i keep walking. i ignore the murmur of voices behind me, until i hear the voice of the figure, ringing like a chiming bell breaking the cold silence.

"excuse me for one moment," i hear the figure say softly to another member in the cluster.

the voice is familiar, i know it.

i know it, but i keep walking.

i see the bench so clearly now, i can make out the chocolate marble cracks in it's heels. but before i reach it, i am stopped by a voice.

a boy's voice.

"excuse me, but are you alright?" i hear the voice trail off.

i immediately stop, my eyes wide and filled with tears. i recognize the kind tone of the voice, sweet like honey and filled with compassion.