Why Don't We One Shots

Skater Boy - Jorbyn

CORBYN'S POV

"Corbyn!" I hear a voice from behind me and roll my eyes. Jack and Daniel giggle and walk ahead of me. Jonah Marais, a skater boy, comes rolling up next to me, kicking his skateboard up and catching it to walk with me.

"What do you want Jonah?"

"Didn't you get my texts?" Jonah asks, his cheeks rosy from the cold of the morning. "About tomorrow night?"

I sigh. "Yes Jonah, but as I have told you before, I'm not interested. In you or the concerts that you want me to go with you to."

"But-" Jonah begins. I cut him off.

"Let me make myself clear," I hiss, turning to stand with Jack and Daniel on the stairs. "I don't have time for skater boys like you. I am class president, in charge of prom and graduation, and I'm a top student on his way to being a valedictorian. You, on the other hand," I scoff, looking him up and down, "are a walking disaster with no future. Keep that skateboard, boy. You might need it someday, to sell when you don't have money for food. Dreams don't pay the bills, hot shot." Hearing the bell ring, I turn on my heel, Daniel and Jack close behind. "Later, Skater Boy."

Rounding the bend in the stairs, I see Jonah shrug and smile, putting his board back down and skating away. I shake my head. Some people never learn.

My weekend was unusually calm, void of the committee meetings and club functions that would normally happen, leaving me to do nothing but read and study for two straight days. When I finally get to school on Monday, everyone is buzzing.

"What's going on?" I whisper to Jack. He usually knows all the gossip that goes through our high school.

"Working on it," he says, keeping his eyes trained on his screen.

"I mean, really," I say to Daniel, rolling my eyes. "What could've happened in this small town that could be this interesting? Come on people, wake up and smell the-"

"Oh. My. God." Jack shoves his phone in my face, shutting me up. "It's Skater Boy!"

In the video currently playing on Jack's phone, Jonah is sitting on a stool on a stage. So this must've been what he had wanted me to come to, I think. A concert. But he never said it was his concert.

"This next one is for the boy I wanted to come here with me tonight," Jonah says. Someone in the crowd whistles, and Jonah smiles. "Unfortunately, he was...let's say he was busy, and he couldn't come. But this is for him anyway. He came from being broken, but he's gotten to a place where he's proud of who he is, and I'm happy for him. After all, we are all broken - that's where the light get in." Someone whoops. Jonah takes a breath and starts singing Saturday Nights by Khalid. Beautifully, at that. Cheers and applause come from the audience once he's finished, and I scroll down to read the caption of the article:

SMALL TOWN TEEN BECOMES OVERNIGHT SENSATION: COVER GOES VIRAL IN JUST 48 HOURS

"No. Way," I breathe. "Where is he?"

"My very valuable and reliable source says that he was whisked away to Los Angeles in pursuit of the record deals offered to him," Jack responds, plucking his phone from my hands. "The glamorous life of a superstar."

By the time we get to 5th period, there's a post on Jonah's twitter.

@JonahMarais: just signed with @AlanticRecordsOfficial! Here's another little something for y'all.

This cover might as well have been a target on my chest. In the video, Jonah, backwards ball cap on his head, moves a cup rhythmically to Cups from Pitch Perfect. The only difference was the words:

"I got my ticket for the long way 'round
The one that ends up in LA.
Maybe I would've liked your sweet company
But honey, I'm done with all the shit you say.

When I'm gone
When I'm gone
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone
Thought my heart was on the floor but I'm better than before, oh

I hope you miss me when I'm gone."

He did it. He actually made it.

And all I could think about was how I could be there with him, supporting him. If I hadn't been so stupid, so ignorant, I could've told this boy how I truly felt about him, the same way I had felt when he knew me before. When I was broken. But instead, I let my pride get in the way, and now I'll never get him back. He won't want to come back. Not to me.

He was a skater boy, I said see ya later boy. He wasn't good enough for me. Now he's a superstar, slamming on his guitar. Does your pretty face see what he's worth?

~