Mistakes and Misunderstandings

I woke up, unsure of where I was. On someones couch in a small room, under a blanket. Make that a moving room. I could sense the floor moving beneath me. The memories came rushing back as I sat up, wrapping the blanket tighter around myself. Max had told me to spend the night on MIW’s bus so he could talk to his band. I really hoped he followed through. He’d been a jerk, but I still missed him and really cared about him.

There was nothing I could do now, and we were currently in a cellular dead zone, so even if the guys had texted me, I wouldn’t know. Unwrapping myself, I tiptoed towards the front of the bus, trying not to wake the snoring figures behind the curtains. I was shocked to see Ricky looking wide awake, though it was just a little after seven in the morning.

“Hope I didn’t wake you,” he said, looking up from his book. “The guys are used to me being up this early and having coffee.”

I shook my head. “I’m usually the first one up too. Is there more ready?” Ricky nodded, silently filling another cup of coffee for me. We sat silently, him reading and me watching the unchanging landscape between checking my phone every few minutes, hoping for even a single bar.

“We should be getting close to the next city in about an hour, so reception should start improving soon,” Chris said. “Unless Ricky has been torturing you and you can’t wait to call for help,” he added with a smile.

I hadn’t even heard him come out. How was it possible for someone so tall to be so quiet? “No, just hoping for a text from Craig.” Or Max, but I highly doubted that. “I want to know how things went.”

Dropping into the seat next to me, Chris wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “Well, I don’t know what all the drama is about, but whatever it is will work itself out. And if not, you’re always more than welcome here.”

I muttered a quick thanks, rubbing my arm through my sleeve. I’d never really noticed this part of the healing process, since I was constantly cutting out the pain I felt. It was tough, rubbing enough to satisfy the itch, but not so hard that the fabric tugged at the scabs. I saw Ricky watching me, a concerned look on his face. I shook my head, letting him know I hadn’t made any new additions. As much as I’d wanted, I’d managed to resist the temptation.

One by one, the rest of the guys filtered out into the living room, and it wasn’t long after that we started seeing signs of civilization. I was only half paying attention to whatever movie had been popped into the player, everyone around me nearly beside themselves with laughter, when my phone about had a heart attack with all the texts and missed calls that were coming in with the return of service.

I scrolled through the list of missed calls first. Craig had called 46 times, Monte 28, Robert 23, Sam 19, Aaron 37, and Blake 42. The number of texts was about the same, and all consisting of a similar message. “Call us, please.” “Why aren’t you answering your phone?” “Please don’t do something stupid.” But only one text stood out.

“I did it, Max.”