We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

I knock on the door to my hotel room. I hear stumbling and a few pained profanities before the door opens. Jack’s eyes are red, and his hair is stuck messily to his forehead. Jack looks confusedly around. “Why aren’t you inside the room?”
“How did you get in my room?”
“You gave me your key last night, I think. I woke up cuddling with your purse...” Jack looks behind me, clearly expecting Alex. “Where is he?”
“I was hoping here.” Jack’s eyebrows furrow at the hostility in my voice.
“You’re either really hungover or really pissed off.”
“Both.” I enter the room and look around, glad to see it’s not nearly as trashed as the other room. “I woke up in some huge suite with this blonde chick and Zack passed out in the bathroom. I called Alex from Zack’s phone, and Danielle picked up.”
Jack’s eyebrows fly up. I pick up my phone and find near fifty notifications. “What the fuck happened last night?”
“I wish I knew.” Texts from Alex asking where I am at around 4:30 in the morning, calls from my brother and all the other band members, and texts from Rian from about ten minutes ago.
I call Alex again from my phone. After the third time calling, his groggy voice picks up. “Hello?”
“Where are you.”
It gets quiet on the other side of the line, probably because of the blunt demand. “What are you talking about?” I snatch my room key and exit the room.
“Where the fuck are you, Alex?”
“Please, can you not yell? My head is pounding.”
I take in a deep, calming breath. “Alex, who is it?” I hear from the other line. Everything gets quiet for a moment. “Hang up the phone. Come back to bed.”
“What the fuck?” Alex mutters. It gets quiet again. “Oh my god…Virginia, what the fuck happened last night?” I hear shuffling and then a slamming door. “Where are you?”
“I’m in my hotel room. I was hoping you could tell me because I woke up next to a fucking girl, Alex.”
“Um, what?” I can’t tell if he sounds mad or confused.
It gets quiet for a moment, and it sounds like he’s fast-walking. “I know that was Danielle.” My voice comes off quiet and scared. The line goes dead, and I stare at the phone in confusion until I hear footsteps near me.
Alex approaches. “Babe…”
“Don’t.” I slide the key into the door and enter the room.
“I found Rian,” Jack states, hiking his thumb towards Rian who is cradling the ice bucket in anticipation of puking.
“I know where Zack is,” I let him know. “Call him and make sure he’s alive and if he knows who that fucking chick was.”
“Where’s Cody?” Alex wonders. Realization sinks in that I have no memory of seeing my brother since we left last night.
“Oh my god.” I quickly dial Cody’s number, and it goes straight to voicemail. I look at Alex in panic. “His phone’s off.” Alex furrows his eyebrows. “Alex, what if he’s dead?”
“He’s not dead,” Rian chimes in. “I saw him a few hours ago, and then I passed out.”
“He can’t have gone far. It’s only eight in the morning, and my last call to you was at…” Jack pauses to check his phone. “Five-thirty this morning. I know I was with him then.”
“The last time he called me was at four,” I add.
“I don’t remember anything at all,” Alex sighs. He looks at me apologetically.
“Oh, fuck no. This in no way means you’re off the hook,” I snap. My phone buzzes in my hand, and I immediately perk up, thinking it’s Cody. “Hey, Mom.”
“Hi, honey, are you and your brother still meeting me for lunch?” I rub my eyes as every scenario of this lunch date flies through my mind. “Honey, you there?”
“Yeah, we’ll be there. Text me the address, okay? I’ve got to go.”
She says goodbye, and I hang up. “We need to find him. Immediately.”
We scour the hotel, up to the room where we collect Zack, and eventually make our way back to the room Alex came from. “Maybe I should—“ Alex begins.
“Absolutely not,” I cut him off. “This is ending now.”
Alex breathes out a sigh and knocks on the door. It pulls open. “Alex, hey!”
“What happened last night?”
“We ran into each other at the club downstairs at maybe three, and you were taking shots at the bar with Jack. I offered to buy you guys a round, and a few more shots later, you wanted to go to bed.”
Alex listens carefully, trying to pick apart what’s a little bit more fabricated than the rest of the story.
“You were begging, so I did what you asked…” Her lips tug into a smirk as her eyes flick to me.
I step in front of the door and push it entirely open. “Alright, listen, bitch,” I begin, “my brother is missing, and I’ve got four hours to find him. So, instead of flirting with my boyfriend, why don’t you go fuck yourself?” I finish off with a sweet smile before turning away and heading down the hallway.
The four guys are silent.
I turn around. “Let’s go.”

I rest my head in my hands and stare at the coffee in front of me. “We’ve officially become the movie the Hangover,” Jack laughs, trying to make light of the situation.
“Speaking of, did anyone check the roof?” Rian questions.
“We checked the whole building,” I sigh. “Where is he?”
A phone starts ringing, and we all scramble for our phones. “It’s me,” Alex declares. “Dude, where are you?” It gets quiet. “Okay, stop being a bitch, first off,” Alex begins, and I realize he’s probably not talking to my brother. “You’re lying…no, hang on, how do you have this phone?” He rolls his eyes at the person on the other line. “Stop. I’m not having this discussion at all.”
Jack sees my pissed off expression and snatches the phone right out of Alex’s hands. “Hi, can I speak to Cody please?” He smacks Alex’s hand away as he tries to reach for the phone. “Look, Danielle, I know you remember last night, and I know you think you have the power in the situation, but seriously fuck off. Now, I’m going to ask you again. Where is Cody—tall, blonde hair, about 18-years-old?” Jack listens for a moment before he hangs up.
He hands Alex his phone back who takes it and then punches his best friend in the arm while muttering, “dick.”
“Room 937,” Jack declares. I quickly rise to my feet and track down the room.
Upon knocking, the door to the room pull open immediately. “Oh my god. Bethany,” I gasp. The poor girl looks confused and worried.
“Virginia?” she questions. “Oh my god, I’m so glad to see you.” She quickly wraps her arms around me in a hug as she invites us in. “Cody’s phone was missing, and I lost your number when I got a new phone. I’ve been trying to get a hold of you all morning.”
“Cody’s here?”
“Yeah, he’s been puking for the past two hours.”
I let out a sigh of relief and grip Alex’s arm as I fall back into the chair next to me. “Thank god. None of us know what happened last night…wait, how did you get here?”
“I came to the club with some friends, and the last thing I remember is running into your brother. Can’t say I complain, but I have no idea what happened last night. And I’m scared.”
I glance at the four boys behind me, all who have at some point been in the same situation—one of them in the same situation right now. “I’m going to take care of things here. You guys can head back to your rooms and shower.”
The boys head out of the room. “Wait, Virginia,” Alex begins.
I shake my head to stop him. “Get your shit together, figure out what the happened, and then come talk to me.”