Stranded

I rolled out of the bunk, careful not to fall face first. Sara was already gone, though I haven’t a clue how she got out around me in that itty bitty bunk. It was nearing one o’clock and I was surprised I was allowed to sleep that long.

“Makay-kay! Jack called when I opened the door to the bus to go find a soda machine near the venue, no such luck though.

“Hey, Jack-a-roo.” I greeted, hugging him. From behind Jack I saw Caleb, Sara, and Kyle heading a group that included mostly everyone on tour.

When Caleb was in hugging range, I pulled him towards me too. “What the heck, dude?” Jack growled, seeming to have snapped from jealously.

“What?” Caleb questioned innocently, letting me go.

“Why’re you trying to take my girl, bro?” Jack challenged. I giggled at his use of the word ‘bro’.

“Who said anything about Makahla being your girl, huh?” Cool! Guys fighting over me!

“Wow…took him long enough to snap.” Sara said under her breath, handing me a soda and peach ring.

“Told you it would work.” I gloated.

We watched as they threw words back and forth, nothing more, like punches though.

“You don’t care about her!” Caleb accused. Sara giggled. But then we heard a punch land. My head snapped back to them, eyes wide. Caleb was holding his nose, blood dripping down.

“Guys, that’s ENOUGH!” I shouted as Caleb launched toward Jack.

Sara dropped her goodies and ran towards them, jumping on Caleb’s back and hitting his head to get his attention. Under different circumstances, I would’ve been laughing my head off at that picture, but I was trying to wrestle Jack away from Caleb.

The others were shouting too, but I couldn’t understand what was being said. Once they were finally pulled apart, I glared at the both. “That’s it! I’m going on Mayday Parade’s bus, and neither of you are going to talk to me!” I finalized.

“Oh my goodness! A KITTY!” Sara shouted, rushing into the street without looking. I noticed a car coming towards her and my stomach squeezed sickeningly. I started to sprint towards her, but Alex was faster.

They hit the sidewalk with a thud and Sara cried out as her head hit the ground. She sat up, the small black kitten huddled in her arms. “What in the world?” She exclaimed.

“You know, I just saved you, I should get a thanks.” Alex rubbed his scraped elbow.

“That was Mat…parking his rental car!” Sara gestured to Matt. “And now, I’ve got a killer headache, scraped up elbows, and poor little Train is frightened. Why didn’t you look at the car, huh?” Sara chewed Alex out, and not it was their turn to be stared at while they argued.

“I’m sorry for caring!” Alex shouted after a few more exchanges.

“This is what Alex gets for not telling her about Lisa.” I whispered to whoever was beside me. I think it was Jonathan. I was too busy smiling at my best friend.

“You know what I’m sorry for? I’m sorry I ever—“ Sara stopped, about to say something. Even though I could practically read her mind, I didn’t know what she was going to say. Instead of finishing, Sara walked calmly over to me. "Can we keep him?" She asked.

“Well, since he doesn’t have a collar, I guess he’s a stray. He looks pretty dirty too. I wonder if his mommy’ somewhere around here.”

“Oh! His mommy? The poor thing! We have to find her!” Sara went wide-eyed and sad. How she always did when there was an animal in need.

“Sorry you ever, what?” Alex asked from behind her, still heated. Sara’s face dropped.

“Nothing Alex…just let it go.” She said. I figured it was about time Sara and I spent some quality girl time together. First time since we started this tour.

“Let’s go find those kittens, huh?” I said cheerfully, pulling her along. Since it looked like it was going to rain, we grabbed jackets. Sara’s was black so that the blood from her scraped elbow didn’t show and ruin her jacket. I chose my black and blue striped one.

She tucked Train in the front of her jacket, poking out of the zipper and we set off on Mission: Find the Lost Cats.

“So…what were you going to say to Alex?” I asked once we were far enough from the bus. We had refused any offers for help.

“That…I’m sorry I ever like him in the first place.” She shrugged. “It seems like I always fall for the totally wrong guy.” I slung my arm around her shoulder.

“Nonsense! They just fall in love with the totally wrong girl. For the record, though, I think he really does like you.”

Sara snorted unladylike. “Yeah…right.” We walked in silence for a couple minutes. “So…who are you going to choose?” Sara asked and I gave her a funny looked. “Caleb or Jack?” She elaborated. I let out a long ‘oh’

“I’m not sure. I kind of like both of them now. And they did fight over me…” Sara chuckled at that. “Caleb’s a real gentleman while Jack’s….not. But, Jack is also hilarious.”

“Caleb’s hilarious.” Sara interjected.

“They both are. Caleb’s a ‘booger-stuck-in-someone’s-nose’ funny, while Jack’s more of a ‘someone-getting-hit-with-a-pineapple-while-riding-a-unicycle’ funny.” After that was said, we both just started laughing hysterically.

“Nice description.” Sara nodded.

“It’s true though!” That was the funniest thing about it.

We searched diligently for the kittens while talking more. Finally, while on my hands and knees looking under a dumpster, I found them. “Sara!” I called and she rushed over.

It took both of us pushing the dumpster (which was on wheels mind you) to get it away from the cats.

The momma cat was keeping three other baby cats warm. We both ‘awww’d’ at the picture of cuteness before scooping them up and heading back to the bus.