Chapter Text
Flynn laid in her bed, staring at her ceiling, wondering how she'd gotten there in life. Awake at two in the morning, alone and lonely. Her life wasn’t bad, no, not at all. It, from most perspectives, was wonderful. A nice apartment, a stable job as a PR manager and some friends.
However, while laying in her linen sheets by herself in a queen sized bed, a loneliness settled over her like a suffocating blanket. It was just her and the plants that she had given names to.
She sighed before sitting up, looking at her hands, stretching them out before her before fiddling with the single golden bracelet on her wrist. The star and moon charm dangled delicately off the chain, their golden hue faded over time as silver shone through. Flynn remembered tan hands with purple nails latching the clip of the friendship bracelet. She remembered the hug afterwards and the bright smile on Julie’s face.
Shaking the memories out of her head, Flynn got out of her bed. The hardwood floor was cold underneath her feet and the room was dark except for the twinkling fairy lights around her window.
She looked at her closet, the thought of her memory box crossing her mind before she pushed that thought away by saying to herself, “Nope, not doing that to myself.”
Instead, she headed her way to the kitchen to grab a soda. Even as a twenty three year old, soda was still her go to for when she was feeling down and, no, it didn’t matter that it was two in the morning. As she sat on a stool at her counter, sipping her soda, she scrolled through her phone. There were texts she didn’t want to respond to, a full calendar filled with meetings and posts that barely got a chuckle out of her. She shut off her phone, tapped her fingers on the counter a few times before she stood up, walking quickly back to her room.
The closet doors were open now and she sighed to herself but continued anyways, “Guess I am doing this.”
She reached up to the top of the closet and pulled out a medium sized, bedazzled box. She smiled softly as she traced the words 'never forget' that was written in rhinestones. With a deep breathe in, she opened the box and the first item visible was a graduation picture from high school.
Her, Carrie, Nick and Julie all stood in cap and gown with big smiles on their faces. They had formed a little group back in high school after the whole Caleb fiasco had happened. Defeating an evil, jazzy magician ghost really brought people together. They were an unlikely crew, but they understood each other better than anyone else back then. Shared supernatural experience did that to people.
Flynn turned the graduation photo around to see small messages written from everyone in the photo.
'You're a queen and never forget that. Better stay in touch or I'll kill you <3' - Carrie
Her and Carrie had mostly lost touch with the rising fame of Dirty Candi. They had tried to occasionally get coffee before they both got extremely busy. Even though she still got the occasional text check in, any interaction with Carrie was few and far between. She guessed that was adulthood as a sort of numb acceptance wash over her.
'Stay cool, Flynn! Can't wait to see you go off and do great things :)'- Nickey Poo
Weirdly enough, Nick was the only one in the photo that she had managed to stay in the touch with. Nick hadn't gone off to be famous but instead chose to be a music teacher/lacrosse coach. After everything that happened with Caleb, it made sense for him to choose a slower paced life. Flynn was grateful for him. Nick had become one of her closest friends, someone she could confide in. Even if it was he just brought a twelve pack of diet cokes when he came to listen to her rant about work. The simplicity of it is what she needed sometimes.
She ran her fingers over the next set of words, 'Wouldn't be where I am if I was flying solo without you! Love you always and forever' - Julie
The words stung against her fingertips. It wasn't either of their faults, really, it was a matter of schedule and time. The more they got into adult life, the busier their schedules were. As time went on, there was no room anymore in Julie's life to just hang out. Flynn knew that people grew apart all the time but, somehow, she never thought it would happen to them. It stung to be abandoned for the greater lights of fame, but she scolded herself for thinking like that. Julie deserved all of it. Every single spotlight she was under and all of the adoring fans. She deserved it.
Instead of continuing to dwell on it, she carefully placed the graduation photo next to her and continued through the box. Most of it was photos or small keepsakes, though, one photo stuck out to her as she continued. It was Julie and her in the old studio, sitting together, with three light orbs floating in the room. She smiled as she tried remembering the placement of the three ghost boys at the time. Reggie was on the couch, Alex was on the piano and Luke was right next to Julie. That’s where he always was, it only made sense for that light orb to be him.
She remembered how she felt when she watched Julie and Luke share a mic on stage together, a fire in their eyes. A small, burning jealousy would fill her core, but she always pushed it down and ignored it. She would make jokes about how Julie’s crush was a bad idea, but she knew it would never get through. They were in love, at least at the time, and Flynn wasn’t going to stand in the way of her best friend finding love. Not that it mattered in the end anyways. Flynn wasn’t in the picture anymore.
Upon realizing that she was making herself feel even more lonely, Flynn started to put away all the memories until she noticed a braided bracelet underneath a Polaroid. She gently pulled it out to see pink and purple strings that had faded from wear and time. After looking at it for a full minute, she slipped the bracelet onto her wrist. It was snug but it still fit.
For a second, she thought of putting it back on the box but something compelled her to keep it on. Maybe what compelled her was the photos of Julie smiling right next to her, or the small messages she left on some of the polaroid's Flynn took. She wasn’t sure, but either way she had two fading bracelets on her wrist. Two reminders of things that were firmly in the past. She stopped fiddling with the bracelet, shaking her head, as she put the rest of the items back.
After she put the box back into the closet to collect dust, Flynn finally laid back down in her bed. In the morning, she would return to her routine. Go to the office, work with her clients, eat lunch with Nick if he’s not busy and then she would go home to no one but her beloved plants. It stung, it truly did, but she could sleep the burning off. At least, in her head she could.