Daydreaming Nightmares || A. Knight

Red Sparks

{chapter 2; Red Sparks}

Awsten sat at a free table at the food court in the mall he went to, not really paying attention to his surroundings. He had ordered Chinese, his go-to meal when he was feeling down.

But a moment can be crucial. Awsten had learnt that from experience, and now memories were coming flooding back. He recognised her by the way she walked, or how she talked animatedly, waving her hands about, even her silhouette.

As if on cue, she came waltzing past his table, with a guy en-suite. He was tall, tanned and had blonde hair pulled back into a manbun. 'Everything I'm not' thought Awsten, his happy mood - even though it was mostly fake - disappeared with one big huff.

She scanned her eyes around the area, stopping suddenly when she reached the boy whose heart she broke, only a month prior. It seemed as if she was pointing him out to the Liam Hemsworth lookalike, which only made Awsten want to sink into the hard plastic of the chair he was sitting on.

Hood up, eyes glassy, Awsten had never felt like this in public before. Red flashed before his eyes, but was quick to be replaced by a melancholy blue.

He quickly stood up to leave, but the  sharp words he heard behind him made him pivot on his heel, to the direction of his ex.

"Fancy seeing you here, Awsten" she spat out his name with a venomous tone. Of course she couldn't leave the poor soul be, she had to rub it in. It was one of the parts of her he had learnt to overlook, but now it was as clear as daylight.

"What do you want" he asked solemnly, his eyes threatening to spill with tears.

"Oh honey, I just wanted a chat, you know how I am!" Her blonde 'friend' smiled along with her words, but Awsten knew better. It was another one of her schemes to bring out the worst in people and then play the victim, the only difference was that this time her focus was on Awsten, not her old 'bitchy' friends she has back in fourth grade.

He needed to get someone, or get out of there before he collapsed on the hard linoleum floor. He could feel his breathing getting shallower, and his head spinning.

"Hey" someone called out, dragging out the 'y'. Awsten visibly relaxed at the sound of her homely accent, letting out a breath.

"Gracie, don't worry about it" he sighed, not wanting to get his sister involved in his relationship drama. Gracie merely rolled her eyes at the girl that was standing in front of her and turned towards her brother, sighing. "You're lucky you were an ass to me when we were younger, otherwise I would've stood up for you" she mumbled, completely ignoring the blonde couple that she was prepared to fight just seconds ago.

++

Back at home, Awsten, Geoff, Otto and Gracie were sitting on various spots around his living room, not speaking. They had addressed the situation that had happened earlier at the mall, but it was obvious to them that Awsten didn't want to talk about it. He had taken up his regular position on his L-shaped sofa, and the only thing that seemed to interest him was staring at the wall and occasionally paying attention to Jet, who was running against his shaky body trying to obtain his owner's full attention.

Finally Awsten spoke, breaking the silence, "You guys should go. I'll be fine"

"Are you sure" questioned Otto, a look of concern on his usually happy face.

"Don't worry - just please let me be. I need time to process this and staring at a wall in a room full of people isn't helping. I'll call you later, when I'm feeling better" Awsten let out a shaky breath as his friends slowly made their way to the door.

Now in his own company, Awsten felt relieved. There was a hint of loneliness in that solace, but he chose to ignore it and focus on writing new material - something that was angry, fast paced, something that made him feel like he could battle Hulk and win.

He felt as one with his body as he racked his brain for rhymes and metaphors, words to express his anger, but in a poetic ah form. His notepad was soon overflowing with new album ideas, themes and subliminal messages that he could later tweet.

Highs don't last forever, nothing pleasurable does. They always come with the excruciating pain that was the aftermath - or in Awsten's case - his phone telling him that he needed to finish recording Entertainment, so the album could be released later that month.

Oh, how he wished that love didn't exist.