Come Wake Me Up

It’s great to see Virginia’s smile in person. “How’s Rachel?”
“A complaining, dependent mess,” she groans. “Her mom is taking care of her, thank God. I love the girl to death, but I could not do that. I’m a bartender, not a nurse. Speaking of bartending, your friend Luke is great. I’ve actually started hanging out with him quite a bit. He invited me out to a party last weekend.”
“Good! Luke’s a nice kid,” I agree. My phone rings, and I furrow my eyebrows the the caller. “Hello?”
“Alex, it’s me.” Saying Flyzik sounds horrible puts it lightly.
“Dude, whose phone are you calling from?”
“From the hospital.” I feel my stomach drop.
“What’s going on? Is everything alright?”
“Jake was in a car accident last night. Drunk driver.” Jake—Flyzik’s best friend, great friend of the band we made down in, and all around great guy.
“Oh my god. Is he okay? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, but…” He doesn’t need to finish the sentence. “There was nothing they could do.”
“I’m so sorry, man.”
He doesn’t answer for a moment. “Uh, I’m going to take few days. I’ve still got to call the rest of the guys, but I wanted you to know since you were closer than the rest of them.”
“Take all the time you need, man.” I can hear him start crying as he hangs up, and I feel the burning in the back of my throat as well.
“Alex?” Virginia softly grabs my attention. “Is everything alright?”
“I…I’m sorry, but I think I have to go.” I pick up my coffee cup.
“Wait, Alex,” she calls as I exit the coffee shop, tears now pricking my eyes at the loss of my close friend. “Hey!” She grabs my arm and turns me around. “Not alone, you don’t.” She offers up a small smile. She holds her hand out, and I feel the corners of my lips try to turn up. But they can’t. So, I wrap my hand around her small one.
I lead her to my car, and we drive silently back to my place. No one else is home right now. Jack’s in NYC with his family, Rian is with Cassadee, and Zack is visiting his parents. I collapse on my couch, and she follows suit, taking a pillow and hugging it. “What’s going on, Alex?”
“That phone call…a really good friend of mine was killed by a drunk driver last night,” I tell her. I feel my eyebrows furrow. “He just turned twenty-three last week. I was with him to celebrate his birthday, and now he’s gone.” It starts sinking in. “It’s not fair that he died so young when he had so much left to live for. It makes me think about what they’ll miss and…I don’t know.” My throat burns again, and my eyes well with tears. Virginia discards her pillow and cuddles up to me, wrapping her arms around my middle. I shrug an arm around her shoulders.
And everything I’ve kept bottled up for so long just unleashes. She sits there and holds me while I cry, confess to her everything I’ve thought about my brother’s death, and say everything I think about Jake’s untimely death as well. Almost my entire life, I open up to her. I tell her about the therapy I went through and the reason Jack and I are best friends. I confess to her what this band has done for me and what I want it to do for every single person who knows us and listens to us and relates to the lyrics. For once, the vulnerability doesn’t scare me as much as it used to.
She doesn’t laugh, doesn’t cry, she just sits there and listens until I’m done. At that point she replies with, “I tried to kill myself last year.” My chest throbs at that sentence. Not this girl.

“Yup, thanks, Mom…I’ll be fine…I love you, too. Bye.” Jack rolls his eyes as he walks in the front door. He glances at me. “You look like hell, too.”
“I feel like hell,” I respond, my voice still rough from earlier. “Virginia’s upstairs sleeping,” I inform him.
“She came over to take a nap?” He’s obviously confused.
I shake my head. “No, I was with her when I got the call, and she came back with me. I think I just poured every aspect of my life out to that girl. Honestly, right now I can’t think of something she doesn’t know about me.”
His eyebrows peak with interest. “Even about Tom?” I nod.
“Hence why I look like hell.”
Jack takes a seat next to me on the couch. “Wow. I’m really impressed, man. I think the band and our families are the only ones that know.”
“They are…she tried to kill herself last year when she was with Jordan to try to get away from him.” I feel the same ache in my chest as I did when she told me. “You never know from how strong she acts that she’s probably the most broken girl I’ve met.”
“Well, underneath your shell, you’re not exactly a well-put-together puzzle either. You and I both know that’s why you hooked up with so many girls. It’s probably why she’s hooked up with so many guys. When you feel like shit, you do anything to feel better.”
“I’m well aware.”
Jack glances at the stairs. “How long has she been sleeping?”
“About two hours. I was asleep until about a half hour ago.”
“So, you’ll sleep together but only in the context of cuddling. Has she agreed to date you yet?”
“Forgive me for not finding the last conversation an opportune moment to spring that question,” I laugh.
“Don’t consider yourself forgiven until it’s official.”
The stairs creak softly as Virginia walks down them, her hair now pulled into a messy bun atop her head. Her skinnies are only cropped on one side now, and her off-the-shoulder sweatshirt hangs off both shoulders carelessly. “How are you feeling?” she asks me, dropping down on to the couch next to me.
“Better, thanks. You?”
“I feel well,” she answers. “I’m glad I got that all off my chest.” She looks at Jack. “You’re Jack, right?”
“Right,” he answers.
She looks at me, confused. “You said he was in New York.”
“Oh, yeah! What are you doing here?” I ask him.
“Things get a little ruined when you get bad news,” he answers. “My mom thought it’d be best if I were here for Flyzik and shit. So, she sent me home.”
Virginia looks between the two of us. “Why don’t we go out tonight?” she suggests. “You two need some cheering up, and it’s club night at the bar. Two dollar pitchers and dollar cocktails until midnight.”
A large smile crawls onto Jack’s face. “I like this girl.”

“Thanks, Hannah,” Virginia says to her friend as she takes the drinks. She hands Jack and I our drinks. “First round is on the house.”
“Sweet, thanks!” Jack takes a huge gulp of his beer. Virginia laughs and takes a sip of her drink.
“What is that?” I wonder, looking into her orange-red drink.
“Sex on the beach—vodka, peach Schnapps, orange juice, and cranberry juice,” she answers. She holds it out for me to sip.
“Wow. That’s really good.” She smiles and nods.
“Fuck, I need a girl,” Jack whines, looking at Virginia and I. Virginia quickly glances around the bar.
“Grace!” she hollers. A thin blonde turns towards us. Virginia waves her over.
“Gin! Hey!” Virginia embraces the girl in a huge. “How’ve you been?”
“Great, you?”
“Pretty good. Is this the guy Rachel said you were seeing?”
“Yeah, this is Alex.” She gestures to me, and Grace waves. “And this is his friend Jack.” Jack smiles brightly when she holds her hand out for a shake.
“Grace, nice to meet you.”
“The pleasure’s all mine,” Jack responds immediately. “Can I buy you a drink?” Grace glances at Virginia, and she just smiles.
“Yeah, that’d be nice.” Jack escorts her to the bar.
“Wow, you literally picked out Jack’s type to the T,” I marvel.
She shrugs and laughs. “I’m a really good matchmaker for other people. Rarely ever for myself.”
“Well, why don’t I change that?” I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her close. She bites her lip and wraps her free hand around my neck.
“Are you asking me out again?”
“Only if you’re answer’s different this time.”
She smirks, pulling my lips onto her own. “It is.”