There is a small, not well-known in New Jersey, the USA. Its name is Elmer. The beauty of Elmer is that it's one of those towns where everyone knows each other, so it's like a big family living in one place. All the local people who had been living here for generations usually own a store or a restaurant, coffee place and stuff like that. Well Charlotte Cooper was one of those people. She was an eighteen-year-old high school graduate whose parents owned a local pastry shop named 'Grandma's Cakes' which had been founded by her grandmother. The only dream Charlotte had was to move out of Elmer and study forensics in London, and now when she graduated high school, she finally could. Or she thought so.
Her parents decided to go on a 'short' trip around the world. Five years later she is 23 and her parents still haven't come back. Every day for the last five years all Charlotte did was hope for her folks to come back so she could finally start living outside of this small town.
In the meantime, she was running the pastry with her best friend Michael (Mike) Jones who was a complete opposite of Charlotte. He was a lead guitarist in a band, The Elmer stars, and his dream was to have a world-wide tour with his band and write a hit like 'Sweet child of Mine' by Guns N' Roses, his favourite band. He was working with Charlotte just so he could pay for all the equipment for his band. Despite all their differences they have been best friends since kindergarten. The only thing Mike didn't know about Charlotte was how sad and empty she felt inside. Unlike him, she didn't have any hobbies or something she did that fulfilled her. Sure, cakes were nice, but they weren't her true passion, even forensics weren't was she truly felt she was meant to do. Because of that, she struggled hard to be happy in life, but that made no difference.
So, one day she finally felt it was time to say something to Mike, who knows, maybe he could help her. She came to the pastry shop and found Mike there, slicing bread for an old customer. She smiled when she saw him. Only seeing him made her feel better. After Mr Williams, the customer, left she said:
"Hey, Mike! How are you?"
He looked at her with his bi brown eyes, smiled and said:
"Hi, Char, I'm great, thanks for asking."
He knew how much she hated that nickname, but he still called her that all the time just because he wanted to tease her.
"Oh, for Christ's sake. How many times have i told you not to call me that. I feel like a dog when you call me 'Char'." She replied with an annoyed expression on her face.
He laughed like she had said the funnies thing ever and then replied:
"Aww, come on, you know I don't see you as a dog. A cat maybe..."
He chuckled when she got offended again, playfully of course. She just murmured something close enough to 'idiot' and made her way to the kitchen so she could start baking. He was still laughing at how easily he could push her buttons. The whole day Charlotte was thinking whether she should tell him or not. Finally, she was about to tell him when he ran into the kitchen and yelled:
"WE GOT IT. FINALLY. I can't believe it, Charlotte, we finally got it!"
He ran to her and hugged her. She didn't know what was going on but she sceptically hugged him back.
"Mike, what did you get? What are you talking about?" he was quite for a few moments, still enjoying the moment before he spoke again: "My band and I are going to play at a music festival in California. We are the opening act for all the famous rock bands."
That meant absolutely nothing to Charlotte since she had never been 'connected' to music the same way Mike had, but she she was happy for him and his band. "Oh, my God, Mike! That's amazing, I'm so happy for you."
After a moment, she opened her mouth again, she wanted to tell him about her feeling of emptiness when, again, Mike interrupted her:
"Okay, Charlotte, would you come with me and the band to California? Please? We could close the pastry shop for a week and go on a little trip. We haven't travelled anywhere for God knows how long."
He looked at her, his eyes filled with happiness and hope. Charlotte smiled and said:
"Of course I'll go with you to California. Thank God we finally have a chance to go somewhere."
Okay, great, she thought. She could tell him about her problem in California, away from everything. The time of the big trip had come. They closed the pastry shop for a week, packed their things and flew to California, Los Angeles to be exact. Charlotte, Mike and his friends, Andy (he was the singer), Mick (the drummer), Bob (the bassist) and Jamie (she was the rhythm guitarist) were backstage at a big music festival where they performed.
All the famous people were walking pass them and it was both cool and terrifying. It was really scary for Charlotte since it was her first time being at a music festival/concert that was this big. Mike ran to Charlotte and said:
"Charlotte, I just saw Queen, AC/DC, Dire Straits, Bowie, Nirvana, Metallica...", he continued listing all the famous rock band names but the only thing that was in Charlotte's head was when she was going to tell him she didn't know what to do with her life and that she felt empty. After some time she just said:
"Mike, calm down. Focus on your performance and you'll do great. And forget about all the bands because that will just distract you."
He nodded and went to find his band. Charlotte too a seat where she was supposed to and waited for the festival to start. The first band that performed was Mike and The Elmer Stars. They sang two songs and the audience reacted really good to a new band from a small town like Elmer. After they were done. they sat next to Charlotte and watched the rest of the festival. Charlotte was getting a little bored since the festival lasted for three more hours until... She heard a guitar intro she had heard before but she didn't quite know the song. And then she saw them. Stage light blinded the audience before it was visible that Guns N' Roses made their way onto the stage. She was blown away. The melodies, the guitar riffs, she actually felt butterflies in her stomach. Since they were a new band to her, she asked Mike what were the names of their songs. He listed:
"Well, these are the most known ones. 'Welcome to the Jungle', 'Paradise City', 'Sweet Child of Mine' and 'November Rain'. It's a shame they only did four songs."
Yeah, it really was a shame, Charlotte thought. After Guns N' Roses, the band that made quite an impression on Charlotte was Queen. They performed some great songs that she liked very much. She just didn't realize that those songs were by Queen. After that, she finally loosened up. She listened to music and it was extraordinary. Mike watched her and saw something new. It was like the new Charlotte was with him in that moment. She couldn't stop smiling the whole time.
After the festival was done, they got back to the hotel. Mike's friends were inside talking and laughing, while Charlotte was on the balcony, looking at the stars and thinking. She realized something. This was the first time she had forgotten about the feeling that had been constantly nagging her. At that stadium, at that festival... she finally felt alive, full, like she was complete. Her thinking was interrupted by Mike.
"Hey, Char. How was the festival? Did you like it?" She came back to reality: "Yeah, it was great. Thanks for bringing me with you. I really liked it.", she said with a smile on her face. This was the first time Mike had seen her so happy. It made him feel something... new? He realized how beautiful she was when didn't have that face expression like she saw a dead cat, which was unusual for her. His heart was beating faster, his mind was suddenly filled with thoughts like 'Should he tell her he thinks she's beautiful?' and 'Is he falling for his best friend?'. Finally he spoke:
"You know, you are really pretty when you smile. You should do it more often."
She looked at him and blushed a little. After she gathered her thoughts and words, she spoke: "Thank you, Mike, it's nice of you to say that."
He smiled back at her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Charlotte leaned onto him. Well, that moment was something new. That feeling from the concert came back. She had butterflies in her stomach again.
'What is happening?', she thought. 'Why did she have that feeling? He was her best friend.' After a few moments of silence, Mike spoke first: "Are you feeling this too?", he asked. Charlotte looked up at him and replied:
"Yeah. What is happening? I mean, we're friends. This has never happened before..."
They were both quiet, didn't know what to say. so they just stayed like that and watched the stars for a while until they got really tired and went each to their own bed.
The next few days were a bit awkward between the. They were both thinking about their feelings and realized they both loved each other. I mean how could they not? They do everything together, they work together, they went to the same school, plus they have known each other since kindergarten.
That awkwardness between them disappeared when they were at Venice Beach. Mike came up to Charlotte, nervous about what he was about to say, he took a deep breath and finally said:
"Charlotte, the festival was the greatest day of my life. I finally got to play in front of thousands of people, and it was amazing. It felt like flying. But besides that, it was the day that changed everything. It was the day I realized I loved you when you smiled at Guns N' Roses you were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my life. When you were finally happy and not cranky and I... I was blown away. The same as you were with rock music. And the point of this is--- that I love you, Charlotte Cooper. I love you with all my heart."
She froze, but in a good way. After a few seconds she hugged him and squeezed him like she was afraid he would disappear.
"I love you too.", she said.
His bandmates were whistling and clapping. Mike just told them to shut up and continued to hold Charlotte. Unfortunately, the trip had to end.
When they got back to Elmer, the whole town was proud of the local band performing at such a well-known festival. The biggest surprise was when they got to the pastry shop. They were welcomed by Charlotte's parents, Jack and Barbara. They were done travelling and decided it was Charlotte's turn to have the life she had always wanted. They were surprised to find out that Charlotte's dream had changed.
She didn't want to study forensics in London anymore. She wanted to be the backup singer for Mike's band and travel the world with them. Her mom freaked out and started saying that she wasn't thinking straight and that she wouldn't make a decent living. Jack just calmed Barbara down and convinced her that Charlotte would be fine, and even if she wouldn't, she could always go back to baking cakes. They all laughed at Jack's response.
After a year, Charlotte was in London, bit not to study forensics. She was on a tour across Europe with Mike and The Elmer Stars. She was the happiest version of herself at this point. She felt so grateful that something so simple as music changed her life. And she wanted to do to other people the same thing Guns N' Roses had done for her. She wanted to save someone. The only weapon she needed was music.