Until There Was You

Morgan POV

“We’re switching shifts soon!”, shouts Paul. “But Martin is not driving while I sleep. I don’t care how much he claims his driving has improved, it’s just not going to happen.”

“So you mean I’m driving, basically.”, I tell him. He just shrugs. I check my phone for the umpteenth time. Did I call the right number? Or maybe she’s just shy. But I guess most people don’t call with their own phones without blocking the number. But most fangirls would take the opportunity to call back right? What if she gave other people my number? Probably not, since I haven’t gotten other random calls. But then why won’t she call? Her friends said that she really wanted to meet us. And her letter said that she’s been fans of us since the beginning. Well, of the band. I wasn’t in it back then. She also said that I’m fit flawlessly into the band. This is ridiculous. I’m over thinking about a girl I’ve never actually met. But I wonder…

Suddenly, I’m snapped out of my reverie by Paul. “Morgan! I’ve been calling your name for the past few minutes. There’s a rest stop right there, so we’ll get breakfast, then switch. I need to call Dani and then get some sleep. Driving through half the night is not fun.”

“At least we’re more than halfway there.”, I remind him. “Should I wake Martin up?”

“I got it man. But boy do I need some Starbucks.”, grumbles John, while shaking Martin up.

“Starbucks?”, asks Martin as he gets up. “More? You still never finish it. Very little has changed.”

“But we have those gift cards from that girl Brittany who gave her friends a letter to give to us.”, whines John. “We should use those anyways.”

Instead of replying to John, however, Martin complains about the rest stop. “Man, do we have to eat this crap for breakfast?”

“Unless we want to starve.”, says John and he gets out of the van.

As I’m about to walk into the building, my phone vibrates. Looking at the caller ID, I freeze. “Guys, I have to take this.”, and I leave them.

“Hey Mom. I’m sorry I didn’t call you last night. It was late when we were done, and I didn’t want to wake you. Plus, I was tired.”, I rush out.

“Oh thank heavens darling. You’re alive. That’s all I wanted to know. It’s a mother’s prerogative, you know?”, she says.

“I know Mom. And you know I love you. I am sorry for not calling you at all yesterday. We were busy. Hometown show, you know?”

“Hometown show and you couldn’t visit your own family. Your father says hi too, and we hope you’re having fun and being safe with those boys.”

“Of cour-“, I cut off as I hear that another call is waiting.

“Morgan! Morgan darling. This stupid technology. What happened? Morgan!”, I hear my mom call into the phone.

“Oh. Sorry Mom. I’m here. But I uhh, have to go. We have important things to go over. So. Yea. Tell dad I say hi and that I love him. Love you too! Bye!”, I say while hanging up.

“Hello?”, I hear a timid voice ask. “Is this Morgan?”

“Hi. I’m going to assume this is Brittany? And yes. The one and only.”, I try to say smoothly.

“Oh wow. Hey.”, she says, sounding slightly shocked. “I called to thank you for calling me. And the fact that you didn’t use *67, so that I could thank you. I couldn’t stay last night. Family thing. Which you probably know already because I talked about it in the letter a little bit and you met my friends. Obviously. Because you had my number. Oh. Uhm. I’m babbling now. Feel free to stop me anytime. This is what I do when I’m not sure what to say, and oh! I’ll stop now.”

“Don’t worry about it.”, I think smiling. Her being nervous made me feel better. “We hope to see you at our next hometown show. On our tour with All American Rejects.”

“Oh. Maybe you will, maybe you won’t. You guys haven’t released the dates yet, right? I’m starting college in the fall. Which oddly enough, I didn’t put in the letter. I don’t know why I didn’t. But maybe if you guys play near there, which you probably will, I’ll see you guys. But—sorry—I’m babbling again aren’t I? Wait. I actually have something to ask about that.”

“You’re fine.”, I reassure her. “And sure, ask away.” I try not to think about the fact that she’s going to college. She could be anywhere. And then I wouldn’t know where to look for her.

“Well, I work at Red Blue Records. One of the bands there is Phone Calls From Home. I’m not sure if you’ve heard of them? They’re based in Boston. Uhh, I swear I’m not a booking agent, but they happen to be some of my best friends, and they deserve this so much. And it would mean the world to them if they could tour with you on the second leg with Parachute. Because they’re recording during the first leg. And also, they half asked this for me because I would’ve never talked to any of you on my own because I feel stupid. And ohmygod I keep doing this. Sorry…”, she says trailing off. “But I swear they’re fantastic.”, she adds.

A beautiful girl with a huge heart ,and she’s a loyal friend. And has a good taste in music. Wow. “Well, if you send me some songs by them, I’ll talk to the other guys and see if they’re cool with it.”

“Oh awesome! Thank you so much! I’ve probably taken enough of your time already. I guess I can text you the stuff. If you don’t mind, that is?”, she asks.

“Of course Brittany. Anytime. Have a nice day!”, I say.

“Cool! And call me Britt. Have a safe trip to Nashville. Bye!”, she says perkily and hangs up.

Britt. I was already intrigued by her looks, but now I’m fascinated by her personality as well. Perfection is said to be unattainable, but she seems pretty close.

Walking into the building, I search for the guys. Seeing them at a booth in the corner, I walk towards them. “Dude. What took you so long?”, asks Martin.

“My mom. You know how she gets when I don’t call her.”, I say.

“That long? Wow dude. It gets longer every time I swear.”, says John.

“Yea guys. Let’s just hurry up and go. I hate driving, and the sooner it’s over, the better I’ll feel.”, I say.

“Oh. Dude. I can drive if you want.”, Martin steps in.

Glancing sideways at Paul, I say, “It’s fine. I’ll do my time. I won’t enjoy it, but it’s only fair. Let’s go.”

Looking sideways at Paul, I see him mouth a thank you. Grinning, I head out with the other guys following. I just want this shift to be over so that if Brittany texts, I’ll be able to text back.