A Mess to Be Made

The next morning I woke up as Kian was rolling out of bed. He told me it was about 9:15, and that I should probably go back to sleep since we hadn’t slept that much. I lazily shook my head, and pushed myself up knowing I had to make sure Katie was awake. I cracked my bones as I walked out of the room behind Kian, and walked into Katie’s room where she was sprawled out in the middle of the bed.

“Katie, wake up, you have to be at work in about an hour,” I said gently shaking her shoulder.

“It’s too early,” she groaned with her face in the pillow, “Will you make me some coffee?”

“Vanilla creamer and a bagel to go with it?” I asked as she rolled onto her back.

“You’re the best cousin ever,” she said with a smile before shooing me out of the room so she could get dressed.

I tip-toed through the living room, not wanting to disturb Brian and John, and padded into the kitchen. I quietly put the coffee on to brew, and stuck a bagel in the toaster oven for Katie, and pulled a cliff bar and yogurt out for Kian. I fished around for Katie’s beloved vanilla creamer in the fridge, and smiled in triumph as I pulled it out along with the cream cheese.

“You know me so well,” Kian said with a smile as he spotted his breakfast on the counter, “Is the coffee almost done?”

“Yeah, about two minutes to go I’d say,” I said glancing at the pot, “What time are you off today?”

“Hopefully by 5, if that new girl actually shows up on time,” he said hopping onto the counter, “I don’t see what Connie saw in her when she was hiring.”

“Her hipster clothes?” I said with a small laugh, “I don’t either, she sucks at her job.”

“Enough about that lazy bitch! So where are you going to go for lunch today?” He asked opening his yogurt.

“Probably Santiago’s,” I said grabbing two travel mugs, “I know they all like Mexican, so I figure it’d be the best place.”

He merely nodded, now more focused on his breakfast, and I poured the now brewed coffee into the mugs. I poured a large amount of the creamer into Katie’s, and only a tad into Kians before handing him his mug. I took Katie’s bagel from the toaster, and put the cream cheese on it before she came hopping into the kitchen. I handed her the cup and bagel, before Kian hopped off of the counter, and the two walked out the front door to head to work.

I decided to pour my own cup of coffee and check my email and social sites while waiting for someone else to wake up. I sat down at the dark wood table, and opened my macbook that I had left abandoned on the table the night before. I patiently waited for it to load, and sipped on my coffee that practically burnt my tongue. My email was full from professors sending out book requirements and I made sure to save them all before closing the Mail program.

Facebook was next on my agenda, and I checked the random notifications before noticing I had a friend request. I hovered over the icon, and felt a smile creep onto my face as I saw Brian’s name next to the accept button. He must’ve searched for me after I went to bed, and I was glad we were working things out slowly but surely.

“Would you like some coffee?” I asked a tired looking John as he sat across from me.

“Yes please,” he said with a tired nod before yawning.

I stood up from my chair, and walked over to cabinet grabbing one of the red coffee mugs. I filled it to the top, and took it John, hoping he still liked his coffee black. He thanked me for the cup, and sipped at it gingerly as we made small talk.

“Is Mexican okay for lunch today?” I asked once he seemed more awake.

“It’s still our favorite,” he said with a smile, “Do you think we should wake the others up since it’s nearly 10:30?”

I nodded, and walked to the guest room to wake up Miranda and Jess while John worked on the others. Miranda was still the hardest person to wake up, just like she had been back in the day. Jess finally got her up after prodding at her face annoyingly. I informed them that we’d leave in a little over an hour, and walked out to my bedroom so I could get ready for the day.

After a long shower and bath, I had curled my hair and done my make-up. I pulled on a bohemian printed sundress, and fastened a wide, woven brown belt around the my waist. I grabbed a pair of brown wedge sandals from the shelf in my closet, before strapping them on and grabbing my purse from my desk chair. I double checked myself in the mirror on the back of my door before heading out, and joining everyone in the living room.

“Everyone ready?” I asked as I silently counted the bodies in the room.

“Still waiting on Brian to finish shaving, and Jess to finish her hair,” Miranda said from her spot on John’s lap.

I nodded, and leaned against the counter as small talk floated throughout the room. I fished my sunglasses and keys out of my purse so I would be ready, and snapped my head up as I heard sneakers slapping against the wooden floors in the hallway. I saw Brian emerging, and had to do everything in my power not to let my jaw drop. He was only wearing some cut-offs and a white shirt, but they way they hung on him had me in complete awe. When I glanced up at his face, I noticed him giving me a once over, and I instantly felt my cheeks heat up.

“I guess we should go,” I said clearing my throat nervously, “Otherwise the place might have a really long wait.”

Everyone nodded, and I let them walk out before me so I could lock everything up. I followed them to the elevator. I sent AJ a quick text while we waited for it to reach our floor, and told him to be out front so we could just stop and grab him quickly. When we all piled in, I ended up next to Brian and against the wall. With my wedges, I was now as tall as the bottom of his eyes, and I had to bite my lip as his bare arm brushed against mine. In the lobby, we went our separate ways, and the four of us started on our walk to pick up AJ and then head to lunch.

========

At lunch, it was almost as if there hadn’t been a year and a half gap in our friendship. Conversation came naturally, and I mainly ended up catching up with Stephen and John. They told me how much their parents had missed me, and how it was weird to see mine now, and I promised that I would try my hardest to come back to Arizona for a holiday in the near future.

AJ and Miranda didn’t even seem to notice that we hardly talked to them, because they were busy talking to each other, and flirting relentlessly. I could tell John was noticing his girlfriend flirting with another guy from the looks he kept shooting them, but he wouldn’t say anything.

“Will you guys be home for Thanksgiving, or should I plan on heading down for Christmas?” I asked as we dug into our plates.

“We’re still on tour then, so Christmas works,” Stephen said sipping his iced tea, “Mom’s going to be so excited that you’re coming back. She always did say you were the daughter she never had but always wanted.”

“Come on Stephen, we all know you’re basically a girl,” John said causing the pair of us to laugh.

“Only because I actually bother to shower and do my hair,” Stephen said noting John’s messy hair.

“He’s like Grizzly Adam’s,” I said with a laugh.

“You like my messy hair, don’t ya babe?” John asked grabbing Miranda’s attention.

“Of course,” she said with an airy voice, “We can always fool people into thinking that we’ve just banged.”

AJ, Stephen and I twisted our faces in disgust while laughing, and I could see John shooting AJ a smirk of triumph. I shook my head, and turned my attention back to my enchiladas, and listened to Stephen tell me about Ryan, and Justin’s band’s progress.

Not long later, I pushed my plate away from me, feeling stuffed and chugged down some water in an attempt to cool my burning mouth. I had just set my empty cup down on the table, when the waitress brought our checks over, already having separated them. I pulled a ten out of my wallet and tucked it in check holder, not needing change. The others did the same, and we exited the restaurant into the hot August air.

“Sadie, do you know why Miranda is acting like such a damn whore today?” John asked once we were on the sidewalk and loud enough for Miranda to hear.

“Excuse me?” Miranda asked stopping in her tracks and turning to face John, “I’m acting like a whore because I’m being friendly to someone since you just decided to ignore me? If you’re that insecure maybe we should take a break so you have time to pull your head out of your ass.”

I stood next to Stephen and AJ awkwardly as we watched the scene unfold in front of us. The two were bickering and before long Miranda was pushing her finger into John’s test while talking through a clenched jaw. I gingerly touched her shoulder, assuring her that it wasn’t worth physically harming him.

“You’re right, he wouldn’t be a good fight anyways,” she said with a huff, “And John? I think I need a break so I can whore around for a bit and let my true colors show.”

With that Miranda turned on her heel and kept walking in the direction we were originally heading. I walked quickly to catch up with her, cursing my choice in shoes for the day, and caught up with her right outside of my building. I assumed that the boys had decided to do something else, because I didn’t see them coming down the block.

“You okay Mir?” I asked as we sat on one of the chairs in the lobby.

“Tour’s really just taking a toll on us,” she said shaking her head sadly, “I always thought we’d be the perfect couple. We never used to fight, and now I feel like that’s all we do. I didn’t want to end up like a normal touring couple, but I guess it was inevitable. We didn’t want to end up like you and Brian. No offense.”

“None taken,” I said patting her back, “And touring with your significant other sucks, while I loved seeing Brian everyday, there were days when I wanted to kill him, and be as far away from his ass possible. You guys have made it longer than us, so you have that.”

“I didn’t really want to take a break from our relationship, I just said it out of anger,” she said quietly, “I may have just ruined everything.”

“If John is as smart as he used to be, he’ll know that you were just blowing off steam. Talk to him about everything tonight on the van ride once everyone else crashes, and explain yourself,” I said as we stood up, “I know you two can work it out. On the bright side of things, I get to come to Arizona for Christmas, and I’ll get to see you for more than a few hours!”

“I can’t wait for it,” she said forcing a smile, “Wanna watch some old movies?”

“You read my mind.”

For the rest of the afternoon, Miranda and I watched all of our favorite movies, and barely acknowledged the boys as they came back. I sadly watched as everyone made sure they weren’t forgetting anything, and gave them all hugs before they piled into the van and started on their way to the next city. I knew that the next four months would be the longest ever, and filled with anticipation of my Arizona trip.