Cause a Scene Like You're Supposed To

Alex Gaskarth woke up with a headache, not like it was any surprise to him, or anyone else. It was as if these hangovers were becoming some sort of tradition; they were expected by this point. Alex missed out on countless nights, all because he couldn’t even remember what took place during them. He didn’t know if drinking as much as he did was even worth it anymore; all it did was waste time.

No, that’s the hangover talking.

The night before, he knew exactly what he wanted, and that was alcohol. Especially when Jack left he and Maria alone; Alex needed to rid the anxiety that she brought along in her back pocket, feeding to him constantly. He could admit to the fact that she was gorgeous, and all that really did was add to the amount of awkward tension the situation held. She was dangerous, and honestly, that scared him. She scared him.

When Jack came back with the alcohol, they downed it all, and that was that. It was all Alex could remember. But just because he couldn’t remember doesn’t mean that it wasn’t fun to picture what could have happened.

Smiling slightly at his ridiculous mental pictures, Alex yawned in his bunk, stretching his legs so they slightly broke out from underneath his sheets. He rolled out of bed and walked towards the bathroom of the bus, gripping the handle of the door loosely and tearing it open.

“Oh, sorry, I should have knocked,” Alex said awkwardly when he saw Maria standing by the sink. And he thought he looked disheveled. She looked twice the mess he did, with her brown hair out in all directions and light bags forming under her eyes. She looked up at the boy in the doorway, nodding slightly as if to say she didn’t mind that he barged in in nothing but his boxers.

“No, it’s fine,” Maria replied, trying her best to smile slightly.

“You okay?” Alex asked, watching her wipe her mouth with the back of her hand. “Have you been throwing up?” he asked without waiting for a reply, slight concern coating his voice. She filled a paper cup with tap water before nodding her head ‘yes’ to answer both of the questions.

“Too much alcohol,” She shrugged slightly before taking the cup to her mouth, rinsing it out with the water. She wiped her mouth again, walking past Alex without any more words, and out the bathroom door. Alex shrugged, grabbing a towel and placing it next to the shower before locking the bathroom door and removing his boxers, jumping into the hot water.

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Lucy Murphy was confused; she didn’t understand how her mother could just forget her out of thin air. She knew she would always remember who her mom was—how did her mom not know who she was? It made absolutely no sense in her head, but everyone else seemed to understand it just fine.

Christine and Kara told Lucy that it was just a “boo-boo”, but that didn’t make any sense to her, either. When Lucy got hurt, she cried and called for her mom. When her mom got hurt, she didn’t call for Lucy. When her mom got hurt… she forgot her?

What Christine and Kara also told her was that her mom would remember her soon—Lucy didn’t even know what soon was. She didn’t keep track of the days; she didn’t care about the days. When you’re three, you have more important things to worry about than the future. When you’re three, you live in the moment.

Lucy was forced to live in the future, and she didn’t know how.

Sure, she had to wait for things before. When she wanted ice cream, she’d have to wait for the ice cream man’s loud music to play, signaling his arrival. And then she’d have to wait until her mom fished out her money and ran out with her.

But that’s just the thing: her mom was always there. Lucy liked her mom a lot more than ice cream; she liked her even more than the Spongebob Squarepants ice cream from the ice cream man, you know, with gumball eyes. And there weren’t a lot of things she liked better a good Spongebob frozen treat.

Lucy just hoped “soon” was something she could handle.

Glancing around the hospital waiting room, the little girl noticed how many people in there were crying. It was another thing Lucy didn’t understand: she didn’t understand what this place was even for. All she knew was that her mom was in room number 208, and she wanted to go in there again. She wanted to go in there and force her to remember her. She had to.

Maybe she was kidding.

Maybe this was just a game.

In that case, Lucy wasn’t laughing.

In fact, no one was.

Lucy watched as the man in the white jacket talked to her grandmother, though listening to their conversation didn’t do her any good. It was all gibberish to her; it was full of medical conditions and terms she didn’t understand. The only thing that made sense to her was when he said that they could take her mom home tomorrow.

But what about that night?

Katherine had been saying goodnight to Lucy every single night since she was born.

But that night would be different.

Where was Alex when you need him?