Chapter 1: Don’t Be So Sad, We Will Not Lead You On

“Wait – you’re leaving me?” Roxanne huffed to her boyfriend, William as he starting folding his clothes and packing them into a suitcase. Tears streamed down her face as she watched him carry clothes from the dresser to the suitcase on the bed.

“Roxanne,” William sighed as he put down his clothes. He put his hands on her arms, trying to keep her calm. In this view she looked like a child in parallel to his height. “I am so sorry. I have to. This is a big deal for the band, and we simply can’t pass it up.” William wrapped his girlfriend into a hug and kissed the top of her midnight black hair. Her face dug into the red sweater that covered his chest.  “But, why, though? What about us?” she asked as she pulled away, drying the tears coming from her blue-gray eyes. He blew the small strands of hair out of his face and lied, “I’m sorry, but I can’t keep being with you.” He took a deep breathe to keep his own 18 year old self from crying. “Go to college, Roxanne. You got accepted to Brismont, you have to go. Passing it up is stupid.”

“But that’s all the way in Maryland, you’re going to be in Chicago with Remember Maine, all high and mighty and famous. I’ll be stuck in the middle of buck fuck no where!” Then she ran out of his bedroom and down the stairs. “Roxanne!” William called as he chased after her.

William got to her just as she reached the doorknob to the front door. “Roxanne. Don’t be mad at me—“

Roxanne cut him off, “Just forget it. I’m just one of the ‘little people’ you can thank when you win a Grammy.” Then she opened the door and slammed it behind her. William looked out the front window towards the driveway and saw his ex-girlfriend wipe her tears with her black sleeve then climb into her green pick-up truck.

As he watched her drive away, a single salty tear streamed down his cheek. When she was out of sight, he leaned against the wall between the window and the door and slid down covering his face. His started sobbing. “I shouldn’t have lied like that. I wanted to be with her, I just can’t.”

He gave out a deep breath, dried his remaining tears and ran his fingers through his hair. He got up and walked over to the phone hanging on the wall in the kitchen. The first number he could think of was the number he dialed. “Johnny? It’s Bill. Um…can you—great. See you in a few. Bye.”

He walked into the bathroom adjacent to the kitchen and threw some water on his face to block out the look like he was just crying. He dried off his face then brushed his short, brown hair. He let out a cough and heard the doorbell ring. “Like nothing ever happened.” He said to the mirror.

He whistled as he walked over to the front door and opened it. His best friend Johnny Minardi stood holding an envelope in his hand and a smirk on his face. “Hey Johnny, what’s up?” William asked as he welcomed Johnny into his house and closed the door behind him.

“Nothing much, you?” Johnny asked William, “Oh right. Sorry dude. Want to…talk about it or something?” William giggled at Johnny’s attempt to make him feel better. “If you want to man, “, he started, “it’s a long story. But first, what’s in the envelope?” He nodded at the envelope. The two sat down on the couch and Johnny handed William the envelope.

He opened it quickly and curiously. His jaw dropped when he saw the contents of the envelope. “Holy shit dude. Do you know what this is?” William asked his friend. Johnny shrugged and said, “It’s addressed to William Beckett isn’t it? Against the law to open someone else’s mail, my friend.”

“Since when has the law stopped you from doing something?”

“You got me. Anyway read that.”

“It’s from Brismont. I got a full scholarship because of my academics and they want me to go.”

“So… what are you going to do?”

“Decline.”

“What?! Why?”

“Uh, Roxanne’s going to Brismont, I think.”

“Oh. Do you want to tell me what happened with her? I still don’t understand a single thing.”

“Oh, Johnny. You should actually know this. You might want to get a drink, first.”

“Hold that thought, Bill.” He jumped off the couch and ran into the kitchen to grab something to drink. “Grab me something too.” William called, still on the couch. A few moments later, Johnny appeared back in the living room with two glasses full of sodas in his hands. He put them on the coffee table and joined his friend on couch. He was in for a lasting story.

“Okay, shoot.”

“Okay, well, you know that Roxanne and I have been going out since like, the ninth grade. And yesterday, I got a call from Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy. Pete Wentz, dude. He wanted me to move up to Chicago and give him and the guys a taste of Remember Maine and possibly a chance at the big time, a record, maybe. And then he tells me it will be a year long thing. This means, no college. And Roxanne and I were going to go to Brismont before I got really into music. We promised each other, no career moves until we graduate college. I called her about four hours ago and told her. We spent about 30 minutes on the phone and then I told her I had to go and start packing. Before I was even half way done, she storms over and confronts me about leaving her and breaking my promise. I try to calm her down and the only way to do that is by—“

“Breaking her heart?” Johnny interrupted.

“Yeah, I told her she should stay true to her part of the promise and go to Brismont without me. She got mad because I will be in Chicago and she will be in Maryland. She left, and um, I don’t think she’s coming back.”

“Wait…did you lie to her about not being able to be with her?”

“Well duh, I still have feelings for her, I want to be with her, but I really can’t. It would be too hard.”

“Why don’t you just, I don’t know, go to Brismont with her?”

“I can’t anymore. That choice is out the window. She’s probably got someone else already.”

“Okay, she’s not that pretty.”

“She’s got a great personality. And she’s completely gorgeous. My neighbor probably asked her out and she’s calling him now with her answer.”

“Bill, you’re being insane. She’s still single, she’s thinking about you right now. And she is most likely rethinking Brismont.”

“How the hell do you know that?”

“Okay, so I don’t, but when am I wrong about relationships and girls’ minds?”

“Never. I know, I know. Now, Mister Right, what do I do?”

“First, you call her,” Johnny handed William his cell phone, “then, you tell her that you are sorry. Finally, you tell her that you put of Pete and Pat’s offer and you go to Brismont with her.”

“I can’t do that man. Can’t.”

“What? Why?”

“Once in a lifetime chance, dude. If I pass up now, this won’t happen again.”

“Fine. Then this is your choice. The perfect girl or the perfect job. What’s it going to be?”