woke up to someone banging on my door. I pushed off the couch and opened the door.
"You stood me up!" Winter growled as she burst into my apartment. My eyes widened, and I looked at the clock. 9: 48 A.M
"No, I didn't! We were having lunch at two!"
"Last week," she answered instantly, "We were supposed to have lunch at two." Winter's angry aura switched to a disappointed one. "What's with you, Mahina? We have been trying to get together for weeks since I finished finals."
"Snow, I'm so sorry. I-"
"I don't want excuses, Mina. I want answers. I know you can be busy with your music, but come on. For God's sake, you fell asleep on your couch. Again. You hate sleeping on it because it screws up your neck."
I was quiet for a moment, "I'm having an episode." Winter's aura softened slightly. "I almost missed a really important interview because I couldn't bring myself to get out of bed. That's why I woke you up at six am with a call, and I ran into Kennedy at the dog park the other day, so that doesn't make it any better. I know that doesn't sound like an answer, but that's all I have for one."
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Winter wrapped her arms around me, tenderly. Tears welled in my eyes, and my back started to shake.
"I didn't want to lose you." I tightly hugged her back, "They always leave after I admit it."
"Mina, I'm not going anywhere. You do stupid shit with me the no one else will do." She released me and wiped my face, "You're my best friend, and I love you. I'm always going to support you."
"Thank you," I mumbled, "Can we still do lunch at two?"
Winter laughed, "As long as you don't leave me hanging this time."
***
"Well, we're almost out of time for this session, but we do have a couple more questions for you, Mina." Sandy, the interviewer, said as she scrolled through the iPad on her side of the table. I adjusted my headphones and cleared my throat. "KimmySierra on Twitter asks; who are your inspirations and why?"
"Wow, that's a good one. You know, there are a lot of people who inspire me, and you can definitely tell through the beats, and the way I arrange my music, and everything else, even in my daily life. A lot of my inspiration and drive comes from the people I'm subscribed to on YouTube because they have encouraged me to do what I do since I started." I smiled and adjusted the headphones again. They were very uncomfortable headphones.
"Who are you subscribed to?" Sandy flashed a very fake smile my way.
"I really find the smaller channels so I can be more involved. I really like Toasty Jack, he's a super small YouTuber, but he is so energetic and really loves what he does. I also really look up to bigger channels like Markiplier and Jacksepticeye. My favorite person of all time is probably CrankGameplays."
"Our last question comes from Hailey underscore ex oh ex--"
"I recognize that username," I interrupted Sandy and smiled, "Hi Hailey! Happy birthday to your friend Megan, by the way."
"Hailey asks; are there any tips you can give to someone just starting out on the uke?"
"Learn the most basic chords first! Get used to switching back and forth between them, and it will make playing covers SO much easier! The most common ukulele chords are C, A minor, G, and F. Always make sure it's in tune before you start playing as well; otherwise, you'll get used to the sound of the quote-unquote, "untuned" version of the song rather than the correct version."
"Well, that's all the time that we have for today, sadly!" Sandy gave me a sad look. "Thank you, Mina Moon, for joining us this week. Next week, we have Ed Sheeran!"
"Hey Sandy, why doesn't Ed have a girlfriend?" I used all my might to contain my laughter at my joke.
"Why?"
"Sheeran away!" I burst out laughing, "I mean no offense with the joke, I personally love Ed Sheeran's music, and he is a great man."
"And with that, tune in next week to play Would You Rather with Ed Sheeran!" Sandy announced and waved at the camera, recording our little interview.
"And," the producer spoke to us as I re-adjusted in their chair, "we're out!" I quickly removed the headphones and rubbed my ears.
"Thank you for coming in, Mina, but next time, leave the jokes at the door, okay?" Sandy gave me another one of her fake smiles as she walked past me.
Did she just say what I think she just said?
I turned around and watched her tell the producer to cut out my joke. I stormed out of the recording booth and stood in front of Sandy. "There won't be a 'next time' because I won't be doing another interview with someone as rude as you are off the air." I picked up my bag and walked out of the studio, seeing Winter's car across the parking lot. I jogged over to it and realized she was talking to someone in the car next to her.
"Hey, Winter," I greeted as I climbed in the passenger seat.
"Luna?" I heard a familiar voice ask. I turned in the direction of the sound.
"Oh, hey Terre," I gave a small wave and felt my cheeks warm up when he smiled at me.
Excuse me, heart, what the frick is this?!
"You know him?" Winter snapped her gaze to me.
"Uh... yeah, I met him the other night. My mom took me to their bakery." I looked down at my lap, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.
"Well, it was nice talking with you, Terre!" Winter said, and started the car.
"Pleasure's all mine," I glanced at Terre to see a wide smile on his face, but for some reason, my heart ached because of it, "It was nice to see you, Luna! When do you think we can hang out again?"
His question shocked me, "Oh, um..." I looked at Winter for help, and she mouthed 'Friday.'
"Maybe Friday?" I shrugged.
"Yeah! I'm free Friday. I'll text you?"
"Y-Yeah! Sure!" I felt my face burning, and I hoped Terre couldn't see it.
"Cool! I'll see you later then!" With that, Winter put the car in drive and exited the parking lot.
***
Once we reached Kendall's Koffee and Cafe, Winter snagged the back corner booth. We sat down, and I just waited for Winter to start her interrogation. Surprisingly, she didn't question me. The waiter came around to our table, and we placed our order. Winter got a salad, and I got a bagel sandwich.
"Alright, spill. Who is Terre, and why don't I know about him yet?"
"I met him last night."
Winter gave me an annoyed look, "I met him last night," she mocked.
"Don't mock me!" I laughed, "My mom took me to a bakery just outside town, and it was a really cute place. His mom is gorgeous, like, wow! Anyway, we just kind of hung out last night. He taught me how to make pretzels, doughnuts, we were going to make a cake, but I had to leave."
"And where did the scab on your head come from?"
I looked down at the table, snickering to myself, "I tripped over a bucket."
Winter bust out laughing, "You tripped on a bucket!?"
"Yes! Shut up!" I laughed harder with her.
"Alright, ladies, here is that salad and bagel sandwich. Enjoy!" The waiter dropped off our food and retreated to his station.
"Anyway, I tripped on the bucket, and then he cleaned my cut up."
Winter gave me a look. "I don't like that look, why are you giving me that look?"
"You fell for Terre, didn't you?"
I tried to bite back my smile but failed. "Not on purpose! Who said anything about liking him? Not me!"
"Not me!" Winter mocked again. "There's something more to the cut story, isn't there?"
I shook my head no as I laughed. "Don't lie to me! I have cracked your code, Mahina!"
"Okay, fine! When he put the peroxide on the cut, I kept squirming because it hurt, and that's when he called me Luna."
"Oh?"
"My name means moon in Hawaiian, but moon isn't a nickname, so he used the Spanish version instead."
"Go on. There has to be more."
"If you would stop interrupting, I would!" I took a bite of my sandwich. Kendall's Koffee has the best sandwiches. I swallowed and continued, "Anyway, after he finished cleaning the cut, he put a band-aid on it. Then he kissed it."
Winter dropped her fork, "He didn't!"
"He did!" I smiled, thinking back to that moment.
"You're crushing, aren't you?"
"Uh, what?! No way! I can't like Terre, I hardly even know him."
"Like that hasn't stopped you before." Winter gave me a more serious look. I knew she was talking about Kennedy.
"I really like you, Mina. Like, a lot. Will you go out with me?"
I remember panicking because, at the time, I didn't like Kennedy like that.
I slapped on a smile, "Y-Yeah! I'd be dumb not to!"
You were also dumb to say yes.
"Mahina, Terre isn't like Kennedy. I checked his vibe, he doesn't have bad vibes." Winter chuckled to herself, and I gave her a small smile. She noticed I didn't laugh, Winter never misses anything. "You're still hung up on Kennedy, aren't you?"
"How can I not be, Snow?! We were together for two and a half years. Two and a half. Sure, I may not have liked him when we first got together, but I learned to love him, and I can't just "unlearn" how to love him." I sighed and licked my lips, "I can't just let him go. Part of me just wants to go back to him even after everything that happened."
"What's everything?"
"All the names he called me, his empty promises, his unfaithfulness, the emotional abuse I suffered through because I loved him? Graduation, moving in together, supporting my dream, you know, everything."
"Mahina, he broke you."
"No-"
"Yes, he did. Do you remember how confident you were before him?"
I gave her a confused look, "I wasn't confident before Kennedy."
"Yes, you were, Mina. You were the girl everyone looked to for confidence. You were so bubbly and outgoing, and everyone loved you. So when you sat by me the one day at lunch in sophomore year, I thought it was a dare because I wasn't someone people just saw. If anything, I was the one they ignored, but you saw me and snagged me. You created the woman I am today. You gave me the confidence I needed, and now I'm going to do the same for you."
"You have fun with that." I finished my sandwich and my phone dinged. I picked it up and saw I had a text from Terre.
Hey Luna, it's Terre :) I just wanted to make sure I had the right number saved for you
I chuckled slightly to myself and sent a reply; Yep! You got the right one :3
"You totally have a crush on him."
"I do not!"