Those words hurt, they stung like hell. No matter what he did to distract himself, he just couldn’t stop thinking about it. With a deep sigh, Joel sunk into a chair on his back porch, slinging his trusty guitar into his lap. His fingers strumming and fingerpicking mindlessly, playing what could only be assumed was “Helplessly Hoping.” His mind wandered, and as he played he held back tears. The worst part was how almost everyone at the dance saw it unfold. How they saw Ellie dish out such disrespect towards Joel. It hurt his pride. It made him feel less than. In a way, Joel figured that this was all what he deserved. It was karma for his shitty actions in the past. Joel continued to mindlessly strum, holding back a wave of emotions. But he forced himself to get lost in the music. His trance stopped when he heard the wood of the porch creak. His gaze lifted to see you, Anon, sneaking up the porch stairs. His expression lifted slightly, surprised to see you. He lowered the guitar, and croaked out with an incredibly broken but somehow soft voice; “…Hey”