Pick The Poison And Pour Yourself A Glass

My alarm woke me at 6 am. Just enough time for me to finish my packing.

I grabbed 3 flannel shirts, 5 tees and what else? Why don't I just pack all my stuff with me. Yeah. That would do.

As I was folding my last shirt, I remembered to call my mom to inform her that I was leaving for California. She wasn't answering, so it went to voice mail.

"Hey mom. Me and Spencer are leaving by 8. We're going there by bus so it would probably take 2 weeks to get there. I know it's kind of late, but it's the only way. And don't freak out if you see a huge tour bus in front of the house. See you then. Bye."

I hung up and went straight to shower.

As the warm water ran all over my body, it cleared up my head. Which made me feel less-stressed.

Why am I feeling tensed again? Is it with the cafe? Spencer? Me leaving for California? William?

Wait... William? Why? Why am I thinking about that boy again? That boy who I barely know? He's different. Very different indeed. I meet a bunch of guys all the time, but I forget them instantly. Why can't I do the same to William?

I grabbed my towel and got out of the shower.

After drying, I clothed myself in a purple rugged tee, a hoodie, denim shorts and my all-time favorite black Converse.

An hour later, someone knocked on the door.

Must be Spencer.

"Spencer? I called out to make sure. "Is that you?"

"No, it's your worst nightmare,"

I rolled my eyes and opened the door.

"Haha. Very funny," I faked laugh and lead her in my tiny apartment.

"Done packing?" she asked as she sat on the edge of my bed.

"Yup," I said, fixing my hair to a messy pony.

"Wear your hair down," she said as she studied my face.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because, you look prettier that way," she grinned and removed the black elastic from my hair. "Bill would appreciate it more."

Him? Again?

"Hey!" I said trying to get the elastic back.

Oh shit. I could feel my cheeks burning again.

"Caught ya," she smiled. "Just admit it, hon. You'd make our lives much easier if you did."

"I..." I stuttered.

I didn't have anything to say. I ran out of words. This is just great.

"The bus is already here," Spencer said as she flipped her sidekick.

I grabbed my luggage and my handbag and we then went outside to find an enormous tour bus right in front of my apartment.

"You girls ready?" William asked as he escorted us to the bus.

"Hell yea," Spencer answered.

Once we were inside, we were filled with awe. Everything that we needed was there. A small kitchen. bunk areas, everything.

"Hey. Let me help you with that," William smiled at me and got my luggage. Which was kind of big.

"There are 2 extra bunks at the back," he continued and lead us to the back of the bus.

When we got to our "room", William left and told us to rest for a while and said "It's gonna be one hellluva trip,"

Tsk. Men.

As we started unpacking our stuff, Spencer asked the most idiotic question I've ever heard from her. No, second most idiotic question.

"What's in that big luggage of yours, Brooks?"

"You know... shit," I said in a sarcastic tone.

"Haha. Smart answer," she said and stretched her arms out.

I don't know why Spencer always refer stuff as shit. I now use that term so we'd communicate better. My trucker best friend. Oh well.

We continued unpacking and Spencer finished first. After, she landed flat on the bed and turned over to her side, indicating she'd take a nap. Another 5 minutes have elapsed and I was now done with the unpacking.

Thank God.

I then decided to follow Spencer's example, since I lacked sleep.

I closed my eyes and did my best to reach Dreamland. Unfortunately, I ended up thinking... again. Thoughts raced through my head like, why my mom wasn't answering her phone. She never does that. Never. What if... no. Don't even go there. This is why I hate reflecting. I always end up with doubts and pessimistic thoughts. As I have said before, this might kill me. Someday.

I could now feel my eyes getting heavy, and sleep approaching. Please. Take me to Dreamland or whatever the hell you call it.

Alas, I did arrive to Dreamland.

It was the Spring of May and school was just about to end and Summer was nearing. It was like any other school day. But I felt that something wasn't right. The hall was filled with different kinds of cliques. I was one of the normal students, I was an average person. I opened my locker and found a letter. It was from him. From Ian.

"Meet me after school. We need to talk. -Ian"

Our relationship was pretty much was pretty much fucked for the past week. I didn't know why though. 3 more periods before dismissal. Just enough time for me to think.

Dismissal came and I went to the place where we'd meet. The park.

Upon my arrival, I saw Ian seated in one of the swings. I joined him and seated on the swing beside him.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," I said back.

"So what's up?" he asked.

"Nothing much," I softly said.

I wasn't looking at him. And neither did he. I was just staring at the ground.

We were silent for a few minutes. But he had to break the silence.

"Listen," he breathed heavily. "It's been rough for the past days."

I didn't say anything.

"What I'm trying to say is that, maybe it would be best if we... go our separate ways."

"What went wrong?" I asked out of the blue.

"I really don't know,"

"Have you found someone better?"

"Of course, not."

"Then what went wrong?" I asked again. But it was more of asking myself.

"I guess... there should really come a time that these kinds of things just happen. You know?" he said.

I could now feel that he was looking at me.

"I guess so,"

"So I guess this is it," he stood up.

He looked at me again.

"See you around then," he said and went on his way.

At that very moment, when he left, I broke down in tears. I tried holding it, but it was too much. Our relationship was messed up, we were too. Both of us knew that. The problem was neither of us wanted to believe that. We believed in happy endings. We thought that we'd end up having a family of our own and live happily ever after. Much to our dismay, we were wrong. Dead wrong.

"Wake up,"

I opened my eyes.

It was Spencer and William.

"You alright? I could hear someone sniffling and when I looked at you, you were crying." Spencer said, concern all over her tone.

I wiped the remaining tears away and smiled.

"Nah. It was nothing. Just a bad dream, that's all."

Spencer rolled her chocolate brown eyes and said, "I won't force it out of you, since I KNOW what that dream was about,"

"Sorry to interrupt, but is it alright if you'll cook dinner?" William asked.

"Yea. It's alright,"