Ashley was an absolute wreck. She was an absolute, complete, and total wreck. The last four months she had spent most of her time downing cups of black coffee like it was water and scribbling song lyrics into a beaten leather notebook. Occasionally she would stumble out of her apartment, caffeinated and distracted to have a quick meal at a diner on the corner. She had quit her job two months ago and was had finally ready to commit herself to her second love—music. Certainly she had the inspiration.

It wasn’t that Spencer had forgotten about her. She called her weekly, leaving messages on her answering machine begging for some form of contact. She sent e-mails, text messages, and even stopped by once or twice. But the brunette ignored her. It wasn’t that Ashley had forgotten about Spencer either. She thought about her constantly, especially late at night when she curled up in her massive bed alone.

Ashley had spent the entire day in bed, lazily strumming her guitar, sipping a beer, and ignoring her ringing phone. Eventually she unburied herself from under a barricade of blankets.

“Why am I doing this?” Ashley wondered aloud as she picked up her guitar case. She had agreed to do a show at some local bar a few weeks ago on a whim, and now the fear of performing again plagued her nerves. But she couldn’t back out now, and so she and her guitar case headed out of the door and into the night.

“So I was like, hello, I live here!”

Spencer glared at Lindsay. The more drinks Lindsay downed, the louder she got until nearly everyone in the bar was staring at their table.

“Linds, come on…” Spencer said, resting her head in her hands.

The date had gone miserably. Somehow her casual conversation in that grocery store during what felt like weeks ago didn’t allow her to see that her date was the most boring woman alive. Though she was more valiantly known as Captain Crunch, her actual name was Shelly and in the last fifteen minutes she had divulged that she loved studying nuclear fission and her cat’s name was “Whiskers.”

“What?” Lindsay said, slamming her hands down on the table, “I’m just trying to have a good time, Spence. Lighten up.”

But Spencer couldn’t lighten up, especially after her eyes settled upon Ashley’s, the brown orbs making their way closer and closer until they were merely inches away.

“Hey, Spence,” Ashley said, leaning down and saying it in her ear so the blonde could hear her above the steady noise of the bar.

“Ashley…what are you…how is…hi,” Spencer said, her words clumsy and jumbled.

“I’m performing here tonight,” Ashley replied before looking around the table. She finally noticed that Spencer was with other people and she quickly analyzed the situation, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I just thought I’d say hello.”

“No, wait. We should talk…what are you doing after this?” Spencer asked, completely forgetting that she was on a date.

“I don’t know. I’m probably just heading straight home or…”

“Hi, Ashley,” Lindsay said before swallowing the remainder of her fifth shot of the evening.

“Hey, Linds. What’s up?”

“Spencer, myself, and these lovely ladies are sort of on a date here. Do you mind?”

Ashley clinched her jaw, “Sure, I’ll let you get back to that. See you later, Spencer.”

“But wait…Ash,” Spencer called after her, but it was too late.

Ashley sat in the back of the bar tuning her guitar and cursing her bad luck. Out of all the bars, out of all the nights, of course Spencer had to be sitting front and center—on a date. Ashley didn’t know what to do. She could bolt and put the night behind her or go on stage and sing the lyrics that Spencer had inspired. She could let her know how she really felt. A second later, that decision was made for her.