Chapter Text
Catering sucked, but there was no other way to make money in this one horse town. I was hoping that my first day on the job wouldn’t be a huge deal, but of course it was. We were catering to some engagement party. No one told me the details, I just had to show up and look nice.
I was carrying my second load of food out to one of the serving tables when I spotted someone from my past. I almost dropped the tray I was holding when I saw her. My breath caught in my throat and all I could do was stare.
Demi Lovato. The girl I had fallen in love with back when we were in high school. We hung out in different groups - I was more with the jocks and she hung out with the choir and drama people - but we knew each other before we were assigned to be partners on a history project together in sophomore year. When living in a small town, you pretty much have the same people in all your classes growing up. We just never talked much.
We ended up becoming really good friends right away and my feelings for her started then. A couple months later, her Coming Home date dumped her days before the dance and I volunteered to be her date. That’s when we started dating.
It was a whirlwind romance. We fell hard for one another, but it was a perfect match. We were both stubborn at times, but it never tore us apart. We probably would’ve still been together if she hadn’t gotten the full scholarship to a college out of town.
She didn’t notice me, thank God. I don’t know what I would do if she saw me. Would she even acknowledge my existence? I doubt it.
She looked more beautiful than ever. These past seven years apart had done her well. Those brown waves that I remembered running my fingers through constantly had turned to blonde and her curves were more noticeable which made me feel good because she had had trouble with her weight back when we dated all those years ago.
I wondered why she was here for this event. If there had been an engagement in town, I would've heard about it; word travels fast here. I watched on and thought about this while people gave her hugs and told her congratulations. My heart sank. This was her engagement party. Demi, my Demi, was going to marry someone else.
That's when I dropped the tray.
The platter collided with the tile and the sound echoed throughout the banquet hall. I could feel all eyes on me as I instantly dropped to my knees and began to clean up the mess. I looked up and opened my mouth to apologize, but the words wouldn't come out because I suddenly realized that Demi was looking back at me. Our eyes locked and I was flooded with flashbacks: driving in the car with her around town and getting lost, our first time in the back seat of said car on that same day when we parked at the beach, having her fall asleep on my shoulder countless times, dancing with her at homecomings and prom, and saying goodbye to her for the last time.