They Never Saved Me A Seat So I Built My Own Table Chapter 09
The four of them still went to the festival.
Standing at the entrance, each holding a ticket, no one said a word.
The year before, after we’d failed to get tickets, I had forwarded the band’s tour announcement to Bruno.
[If they come back next year, we have to go.]
He had replied with a simple *okay*.
But when Bianca had managed to get four tickets, he had just assumed I didn’t like crowded events.
It wasn’t until right before the show, when he searched “festival” in his chat history, that he saw the dozens of messages I had sent.
The show dates.
Links for buying tickets.
Public transit routes.
A list of which songs would be best live.
Most of those messages had gotten nothing more than an emoji in reply.
Some had gotten no reply at all.
Standing in the crowd, Bruno suddenly turned and asked, “Which one of you ever actually heard Alessia say she didn’t like festivals?”
No one answered.
Because no one had.
Whenever they needed someone to be the odd one out, they had simply made the decision for me.
After the concert started, cheers erupted from all sides.
When the band began to play my favorite song, Bruno stared at the ticket stub in his hand, unable to speak.
In that moment, every single one of them thought of me.
On the way back, Matteo found an old voice message on his phone.
I had sent it to him on my birthday last year.
I had asked him what color the graduation gown for the teddy bear should be.
He’d said he didn’t know and told me not to waste money on something so unnecessary.
But a month later, when Bianca said she wanted one because everyone else had one, he had remembered her major, her gown color, and her name.
Nico also found a conversation from four years ago.
I had asked him:
[When we graduate, let’s get a set of keepsakes. Five of us, one for each.]
He had agreed at the time.
But when he actually placed the order, Bianca had been sitting next to him.
So he only remembered the four people right in front of him.
At last, they understood.
I had never been someone who didn’t want those things.
I had just been ignored so many times that I finally stopped asking.