Annie was a dark haired, hazel eyed, beautiful girl. She lived in a tiny town that had nothing for her to do in terms of the things she liked. Annie was always a lover of music in general. She never discriminated against a genre. As far as she was concerned, all music deserved an audience. Music to her was a form of one’s self-expression. The more people heard the songs, the more they could relate them to their lives. Everyone has a way of expressing themselves. For Annie, it was poetry. She had days where all she did was write poetry to express the hurt she had felt from her past and to move on with it. Annie had always been a shy girl who never seen herself as everyone else did. Being the shy girl that she was, Annie was a keep to herself kind of girl till one day she embarked on a whole new journey in her life. She decided to leave the confines of her happy home and try something completely out of the ordinary, especially for a girl like her. She would take long drives on the weekend to see live music. That became her favorite thing to do from the moment she stepped foot in that place and seen her first local band. That is where she met him. The guy she gave her heart to, and he never knew. Jake was the lead singer in a band that she fell in love with for their music before she noticed him. Jake was a fair haired, blue eyed guy, full of tattoos and piercings. He was the complete opposite of Annie but always the man she fell for. For almost a year, she did nothing but think about him. How much she wanted to be with him, how much she just wanted him to love her like she did him. He flirted, and so did she. Neither one of them made that first move. Then one day during a music festival, she had been drinking and had decided she would tell him her feelings. That is the day he walked in with her, Stella, the girl he had chosen to date. Stella was the complete opposite of Annie. She was beautiful and seemed to be nice. Annie never looked at herself as beautiful in any way shape or form. She was the “sweet” girl that everyone seemed to like once they got to know her. Annie was the girl that always had her guard up from things stemming from her past tryst. But when she let you in, she gave you her all. For better or worse, it was who she was.

The same night that Jake showed up with Stella was the same night Annie met Markus. Markus was the bass player in another local band that Annie had seen before. Markus was like Annie in a lot of ways, more ways than the two of them could have ever imagined. They both had the same shy qualities, and both seemed to be guarded. They both had a small group of people who they could trust, and those are the people who they kept close to their hearts. They quickly learned a lot about one another and became friends. Annie enjoyed going to see Markus’s band play as well as still seeing Jake’s band. Markus had dark hair and dark eyes and just a hint of tattoos and piercings. Their first conversation lasted a good two hours. They talked about everything from the different types of music they liked to the movies they both enjoyed. They both missed their home states. Annie was from Pennsylvania, and Markus was from Wisconsin. They both now resided in Florida where the local music scene was prominent with musicians that wrote their material and just wanted to be heard. There were very few outlets that would allow these musicians to be in the spotlight and showcase their heartfelt songs. The ones that did are where Annie would run into Markus the most. They both shared a love and appreciation for the local music scene. Annie might not have been a musician, but she knew talent when she heard and saw it. Markus being a hard-working musician would go out as often as he could to show his support and understanding to his fellow musician. When Markus wasn’t on stage, he was just hanging out and that is when they did most of their talking. Both would have smiles that could light up the room. Their group of friends soon noticed a connection between the two of them. They hadn’t seen either of them have a connection with anyone else.