Dear Liz

All the time I kept thinking of better ways I could have said good-bye to her. I tried to make it up to myself by texting her almost everyday.

"Hey, Elizabeth. What's up?"

"Hello, Cornelius. Not much. Where you at today?"

"_________. It's nice here."

"Have you bought me souvenirs?"

"...Sure have."

They would go like that all the time.

Sometimes I called her, though, when there was a good story to tell about some stupid shit Pat or Garrett had done, mostly. Sometimes it was about particularly sweet, funny or creepy fans.
But, truthfully, I called her to hear her voice, to hear her laugh and it took all my willpower to not let an "I miss you" escape my mouth.

About a month later I was back at AZ.

I was beat; we all were. Yet, somehow, Jacqueline managed to convince us all to go to this party at her house after our last show in Phoenix.
We were all expecting a somewhat small gathering like the one before we left, but we were all surprised to see well…I'd say about half of Arizona cooped up in her house.

I assure you, given other circumstances I would've turned around and gone home. However, there was a certain beauty I was hoping to see after a not-so-long time.

If only I had turned around and stayed home.

I thought it would take a while to find her among all the people that were in there but it was like my eyes know where to look –I spotted her almost immediately.
With a smile, I walked towards her. When I reached her, I tapped her shoulder and she turned around.

"John!" Her pearly whites showed and she excitedly gave me a hug. I grinned as I held her tightly. "How are you?" she asked when we let go of each other.

"Tired…but just fine. What about you?" I answered loudly, to be heard over the sound of the loud music.

"I'm alright. I saw you play today! It was only for a while, though; I had to help Jackie clean this up for the party." I nodded, looking around.

"Yeah, about all these people…where'd they come from?" She shrugged.

"I have no idea," she laughed. "I guess they all want to meet The Maine." I laughed and was about to retort when Rex gave me a pat on the back and began talking to me. Then Moose came a long and by the time i turned around, Liz had already left.

The night went on smoothly; just talking with old friends, chatting with some new people and finding out that, indeed, there were some people there that were fans of the band.

At some point, I decided it was time to go grab another beer in the kitchen and then go searching for Liz. A cigarette would've been nice.
Actually, I was just looking forward to enjoy her company after having done so for a while.
However, when I walked into the kitchen, Ashley was sitting on the counter telling a bunch of really bad jokes to guys I had never seen in my life. The all laughed stupidly, probably just to try and get in her pants and Ashley was way too drunk to notice.

She tried to get off the counter, but some spilled beer made her slip and fall hard on her ass and hit her head on the counter. She only let out a "whoops" and began laughing like a mad woman.

"Alright show's over guys," I said to all the strangers as I helped Ashley get up.

"Ash, are you alright?" she turned to look at me with tired eyes and I could smell the alcohol in her breath. Her eyes widened when she recognized my face.

"Jonathan!" Well…maybe not? "I haven't seen you in ages!" she then swung her arms around my neck and gave me a sloppy hug as she tumbled back and forth. She hiccuped and burped and then she lost all the little strength she had left. I managed to catch her before she hit the floor again. "I don't feel so good…" I really wasn't one to talk but I definitely wasn't going to have her puking on my shoes.

"Come on, Ashley. I'll take you to the bathroom." She giggled and I began dragging her out of the kitchen and into the hall where the bathroom was. "Where the fuck is Kyle, anyway?" I said to myself but apparently she heard it too despite the deafening music. She stopped moving completely and when I looked at her she was staring at me like I had said something horrible.

Her eyes began to water and her lip to tremble. My eyes widened and I tried to think about what I had said wrong.
I caught her, once again, before she landed on the floor and she began crying uncontrollably.

"Ash, Ashley! What's wrong?"

"He-he broke up with me yesterday!" she managed to say between hiccups that made her sharply intake the oxygen. I really had fucked it up. How was I supposed to know, though? No one keeped me informed of those things.

She started crying harder and harder until eventually it was like she forgot how to breathe.

"Ashley, it's alright! I'm here, okay? Just calm down. Please, calm down." I was starting to freak out then. I wasn't sure if I should look for someone else or take her to the bathroom and throw freezing water at her or what.
But before I could decide she seemed to find the solution herself.

She crashed her lips against mine and I could feel her calm down. I figured that, if that's what it took, it wouldn't be that bad to stay like that for a while. It didn't mean anything to me and, when she sobered up, she'd probably not even remember it.

If only she hadn't decided to walk in right at that moment.