Back 2 Good

Natalia

It's been almost three months to the day since I left Arizona. It still seems like just yesterday that the whole party incident happened and the more I try to get it all out of my head, the more I end up thinking about it. Since the day I got home, I've received a phone call from Eric every single day. He calls at the exact same time, no matter what they're doing on the tour that day, just to tell me that he misses me.

Nick calls about half as often as Eric does, but he does text. I definitely haven't brought up John to either of them. I want so badly to know how he's doing and if he's okay but I just can't bring myself to say his name. And surprising as it may sound, I've kept in touch with Jayce as well.

As soon as I returned to Massachusetts, I immediately enrolled in some summer courses. I had to do something. My American and British Literature classes, along with a Sociology class and a Psychology class, have kept me fairly busy but now that I'm starting to take final exams, I'm worried about what I'm going to do with all the free time I'm going to have. I've read all the books on my summer reading list already and there's not much around home to do.

I ended up making a friend in my British lit class. Shocking, right? His name is Jesse and he actually reminds me a lot of Eric. He keeps me company, which is nice since Nick is gone on tour and I'm living all by myself.

"Natalia! Your phone is ringing," he yelled from the living room.

"Who is it?"

"Uh...Eric?"

"Answer it," I called back. I waited until I was sure he wasn't going to yell anything back before sticking my hands back in the hot water to finish washing the dishes. Jesse appeared in the doorway about a second later, holding my phone out to me. I sighed loudly as I dried my hands and took the phone from him, sticking it up between my ear and my shoulder.

"You're calling early. It's not even 3pm yet."

"Why didn't you tell me that Jesse was a guy?!"

"I didn't know it mattered?"

He sighed. "Oh, Natty."

I ignored his tone. "So what's up that you called earlier than usual?"

"Oh! Right! Okay, so I wanted to talk to you about Nick's birthday next week"

"What about it?"

"Well, I thought of the most perfect present ever!"

"And that would be?"

You and Jayce!"

"Um, what?"

"Yeah! I want to fly you and Jayce out here! Isn't that a great idea?"

"I'm not so sure about that, Eric. I mean, have you forgotten what happened three months ago?" Already, I was feeling sort of sick just at the idea of seeing everyone who was on that tour.

"Natalia, that's over and done with. It's not like John's mad at you or anything."

I gulped. That was the first time John had been mentioned in our conversations since I left Arizona. "It doesn't matter. I still feel like an idiot for what I did."

He chuckled. "We all do stupid shit when we're drunk, Nat. Don't sweat it."

"What about Jayce though? You think it's a good idea for her to go out there?"

"We both know she and Nick are dying to see each other. That's what matters, right? Since it is his birthday and all."

"Have you asked her about this?"

"I just got off the phone with her a few minutes ago. She said if you go, she'll go."

"Well that's no pressure on me at all," I grumbled sarcastically.

"Natty, pleeeease? I miss you so much. ," he whined loudly in my ear.

"I miss you too, Eric."

"And this can be a belated birthday present for me too!"

"Your birthday was two months ago and I sent your present, remember?"

"But you're a better one."

I groaned, already feeling myself give in to him. "Why can't I ever say no to you?"

"So you'll come?!"

"I guess so," I mumbled. Honestly, I did not for any reason want to step foot anywhere near that tour and here I was agreeing to do it.

"FUCK YES! Okay, I'm going to call the airline right now and fly you out on Friday, okay?"

"Sure," I mumbled half-heartedly.

"Nat, I promise nothing bad is going to happen"

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Eric."

He chuckled. "I'm going to call the airline and then let Jayce know you said yes. But I'll probably still call you at our usual time."

I laughed. "Okay."

"Alright, bye!"

"Bye."

As soon as the phone clicked, I set it down on the table and sat down, running my hands through my hair nervously. Jesse once again appeared in the doorway and sat down in the other chair across from me, giving me a concerned look. "What was that all about?"

"Looks like I'm flying out to meet them on tour."

His eyebrows shot up. "Oh really?"

"I can't think of anything I want to do less, yet I just agreed to go. What is wrong with me?"

He chuckled. "Natalia, you miss your brother and your friend. It's understandable."

"But this is going to be such a disaster!" I whined.

"You've said it before. You're different now than you were then. You'll be fine"

I frowned and crossed my arms over my chest. "I guess I should go pack."