A Million Reasons

So my mother has been gone for over 3 weeks and I'm starting to get worried. I've tried calling her but each time it goes straight to voicemail. I've come to a last resort; to call my lovely brother. Or step-brother I guess. When my mother and Jeff got married, Jared and I got along great, but as we both hit our teenage years, we started drifting away. Jeff died when I was 15 and Jared was 21. Jared kind of kept to himself after that. He moved out soon after that. I stayed with my mother in our old creaky house for as long as I could stand it, because I knew she couldn't live on her own. Though she hadn't been as considerate, obviously.

I dialled the number, it rang 4 times before somebody picked up.

"Hello?" The male voice answered.
"Hey Jared, it's me. Macy." The line went dead for a few seconds, making me think he hung up before the same voice spoke again.
"Macy, what's the matter?"
"My mom left a while ago and hasn't returned. I was just wondering if you were up for some company. I'm worried." I said meekly.
"Yeah Mace, sure."
"Thanks Jare." I said. "I'll be there soon, okay?"
"Yeah. See you later." He said before the line actually went dead.

I hung up the phone before walking into my bedroom. I grabbed my suitcase and stuffed it with clothes. I grabbed my necklace that I got from Jeff before he died. It was a little oval shaped pendant, with little shiny sparkles in it. Stars. When Jeff gave it to me he said, To my favorite star of all.We got along extremely well. I look to him as my father. He was the only father figure I had growing up, so when he died I broke a little. He always treated me good, like I was one of his own. He treated me better than my own mother did. She was a completely different person before Jeff died. She was loving, caring and anything a daughter could ask for, a mother. Now she's completely focused on work. When she was here, she painted. When she wasn't, she was either a gallery for paintings or simply getting away from our shabby house.

I zipped my suitcase and threw it in the trunk of my old Volkswagen Golf. Man I loved that car. I walked back inside and grabbed my book. I glanced at all of my school stuff. I hadn't been to school in a week. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do about that yet, but that was the least of my worries. I grabbed my key from the hook on the wall before locking my door. I started my old car up, and chugged all the way to the road.

I made one last stop at my favorite place before I left Flagstaff. I hopped out of my car and made my way through the daisies to my favorite old tree. I sat down in front of it, just admiring the beauty of this place. After a while I decided that I should probably get on the road. Before I left the sacred grounds, I picked a daisy and wove it into my ponytail.

I arrived at Jared's house a little after 10:30pm. The sun had already started to go down before I left Flagstaff at 8:00 so I knew I wouldn't be getting there until fairly late. I grabbed my suitcase and locked my car before walking to the door of his cute little home. I knocked gently, waiting for someone to answer it, hoping that I didn't wake anyone, even at an early hour. I knocked once more, after no one answered, and I was about to turn around to go to my car, when I heard the door open and turned back to see my red-haired brother, still scruffy as ever. I dropped my suitcase, and ran to him and hugged him as hard as I could. He laughed lightly at the sudden impact and hugged me back.

I pulled away smiling.
"Good to see ya sis." He said smiling back. I smiled wider, if that was even possible, before picking up my suitcase. He stepped out and grabbed my suitcase from my hand before stepping out of my way to let me in the house. I smiled gratefully and stepped into his cosy living area. He led me towards a set of stairs, slowly climbing them before leading me to a small bedroom, with a tiny bed in the corner. It didn't look lived in, so I guessed it was a spare bedroom. He set my bag down and stepped back, as if welcoming me into the room, I walked in and sat on the bed. He turned to walk out of the room.

"Jare?" I said quietly.
He turned back to me. "Yeah Macy?"
"Thanks." I said before getting up to hug him again.
"Goodnight Macy." He said pulling away.
"Goodnight Jared." He shut the door gently.
I was pretty certain that my mother simply left, and didn't ever plan to come back. All I wanted was to know that she was okay, I wasn't going to ask her to come back for me, I knew she wouldn't anyways. I just wanted to hear her voice one last time. Tomorrow I'll call her. And tomorrow will be the last time I'll talk to my mother. These were the last thoughts I had before I fell asleep on the comfortable bed that I would call my own for the next few days.

________________________________________________________

I woke to the sun shining into the window beside my bed. I stretched like a cat and walked into the bathroom across the hall from me. There was also another door, making me wonder what it was for. I looked in the mirror hanging above the sink, seeing droopy eyes, and pale skin. To be honest, I looked like shit. I went back to my room and got dressed. I grabbed my makeup bag and walked back into the bathroom. I put a little bit of concealer over the blue under my eyes, making me look a little bit more alive, before putting on a little bit of mascara and eyeliner. I combed my fingers through my hair and brushed my teeth, before deeming ready to face the day.

I walked down the stairs and walked into the kitchen, hoping to find some sort of coffee. I smashed into a hard chest when I walked through the doorway, crashing to the floor with a thud. I looked up to see beautiful green eyes peering down at me.

"Oh my god. I'm so sorry." He rambled before helping me up.
"It's okay. Really." I reassured before walking towards a steaming coffee pot. I poured a big mug of it before sitting down, the tall lanky man still standing there.
"So who are you?" I asked like a little kid.
He chuckled under his breath before answering, "John, and who are you?"
"Macy, I'm Jared's step-sister." I said putting my free hand out in a gesture to shake hands. He walked his long legs a couple steps before reaching me. His rough hand clutched my soft tiny hand shaking it up and down.
"So where is Jared?" I asked.
"Uhm. He went to get Pat and Kennedy." I gave him a questioning look. "We're in a band together, there's Garrett too." I shaped my mouth into an 'o' shape as if understanding.

We sat there in silence for a few seconds before he asked,
"So Macy. Tell me about yourself."
I blushed slightly, I was really shy. "Uhm. Well I'm from Flagstaff. I'm 18. My middle name's Noelle, I love daisies, and Zooey Deschanel." I laughed lamely at the rhyme. "What about you?"

"I'm from Tempe,but I live in Chandler," He said, "I'm 24 my middle name is Cornelius, I'm the fifth John O'Callaghan in my family and I love our band." I nodded.

Just then, Jared walked in with a short boy with long hair and a boy with short hair and hazel eyes following close behind.

"Hey Macy." Jared greets. I wave at them all.
I point to the one with long hair, "Kennedy?" and the one with short hair, "Pat?"
They both laugh and the one with short hair says, "Other way around."
I blush, "Sorry. I'm Macy." They both greet me before grabbing a cup a coffee.
"So what are the plans for today?" John asks.
"Practice then a party tonight." Kennedy says.
"Hey Macy, are you gonna come tonight?" Pat asks.
"Uhm.. I'm pretty sure Jared doesn't want his little sister trailing behind him to everything." I say shrugging.
"Nah, you can come if you want Mace." Jared says.
"Really?" I ask hopefully, not really feeling like staying home alone tonight. He nods.
"It's final then, Macy's coming. Oh and you should come to band practice too." Pat says. I shrug, agreeing.

After a while of just being lazy, we head over to Garrett's. We walk into a pretty big house.

"Hey, Garrett! We're here!" John yells. A boy with a scruffy looking face comes down the stairs and smiles friendly at us all.
"Hey. And who's this pretty little lady?" He asks, gesturing to me.
I blush for the 500th time since I've been here, "Macy." I say quietly. "Jared's step-sister."
"Well it's nice to meet you Macy Jared's step-sister." I smile. We all walk down to his basement, where lies, a drum set, some amps and various instruments scattered around. I sit on the fading green couch in the corner and curl my feet under me. They start playing, and man I didn't know Jared was that good. And then there's John. Holy Mother of God. That man can sing and can he do it well. There and was a lot better than I expected it to be. The sounds of all the instruments and John's voice combined sound heavenly, I got so mesmerized that I didn't even know they stopped playing.

"So Macy, what'd you think?" Pat asked, excitedly, still high on adrenaline.
"You guys sound amazing!" I said happily. They all beamed at me, and I could tell that they were serious about this and they'll make it far, I can tell. After that, we just watched a bunch of zombie movies (courtesy of Garrett) and I got really scared, so I just tried to go to sleep. I fell asleep to the sounds of horribly unrealistic zombies eating people.