...And a Happy New Year

February 5, 2014

Halvo woke up with a new sense of purpose and was determined once again to help patch up Chaney’s relationships; namely with Alex. He didn’t want to outright fix them himself, but he wanted them to at least talk to each other. After what happened a couple days ago, he wasn’t sure where he and Chaney stood, so he wanted to be super cautious. Truth be told, Halvo was nervous to contact Chaney for the first time in his life, and he wasn’t sure how to handle that. Chaney had always been one of the people he felt most comfortable around. Now he’s afraid he ruined the ease that their friendship once held because he got caught up in a moment that may or may not have been there.

He rolled out of bed and slowly began to get ready, figuring that Alex would be working in the record store today. He hadn’t talked to him since he had come over to pick Chaney up, and their encounter was brief. He was hoping to eventually figure out what happened between Alex and Chaney and act as mediator to help them work it out.

Halvo finished getting ready and slipped on his shoes before heading out the door. Not knowing Alex’s schedule, he hopes he’ll be able to take Alex to lunch; maybe try and sneak Chaney there, he wasn’t sure yet. Then again, Halvo didn’t want Alex to hate him for inviting Chaney to their lunch behind his back. That wouldn’t be a great way to kick off this new friendship they had recently established.

He drove to the small record shop in silence, trying to figure out what he was going to do about mending the siblings’ relationship when Halvo felt something hit his side of his car, and everything he saw went black.

---

Chaney was sitting at her desk, with Stephanie looking over her shoulder, as they were working through the massive stack of paperwork they needed to file into the computer. They were working all through the morning into their lunch break when an unknown number calls Chaney’s phone.

They both exchange confused glances before Chaney picks up her phone and answers.

“Hello?” Chaney asks with uncertainty.

“Hello. Is this Chaney Masters speaking?”

“It is. May I ask who’s calling?”

“Yes, I am a nurse at Oasis Hospital. I’m calling on behalf of a Mr. Eric Halvorsen. He has you listed as an emergency contact—”

“Oh my god! What happened? Is he alright? What’s going on?”

“Miss, calm down please. He was in a car accident. We aren’t sure where he was heading, but he was taken by ambulance to our hospital.”

“Can you tell me anything about his condition?”

“I’m afraid I can’t miss. I’m sure you will be able to find out more once you arrive.”

“Sure okay. Thanks so much.”

Chaney hastily hung up her phone and began frantically packing up her stuff and clearing off her desk.

“Chaney? Mind telling me what’s going on?”

Chaney looked up from her frantic packing to see a perplexed Stephanie.

“Oh uh, yeah. That was a nurse from the Oasis Hospital. Halvo was in a car accident.”

“Oh my god. What are you still doing here? Go!” Stephanie stressed.

Chaney was fumbling with her stuff and struggled to hold on to anything because she was so frantic and in a hurry. She kept dropping everything she had a hold of due to being so worried about Halvo’s state of being.

Chaney was holding onto her bag, and rushing out of the building, almost knocking over her boss on the way out of the office.

“Chaney? Are you okay? Where are you headed in such a rush?”

Chaney looked up, startled that she nearly ran over her boss without realizing it.

“I’m sorry Mr. Rickford. I just got a phone call from the hospital that my best friend was in a car accident. I’m his emergency contact, and I need to make sure he’s okay.”

Mr. Rickford’s face softened upon hearing her news.

“I hope everything is alright. Go ahead and check up on your friend and take the rest of the day off. Stay as long as you need, but please keep me updated on their condition and if you need to be out longer than today.”

Chaney nodded before running as fast as she could down the stairs. She couldn’t be bothered waiting for the elevator. She sprinted to her car and sped towards the hospital, luckily knowing exactly where it was at and thankful that it was relatively close to where she worked.

From the time she got the phone call from the hospital until the time she arrived at the hospital, barely 10 minutes had passed, and she was surprised that she didn’t get a speeding ticket on the way over. She hastily grabbed her purse from the passenger seat, and tore inside, locking the doors to her car over her shoulder as she ran inside.

She burst through the doors and ran up to the nurse’s desk.

“Can you tell me anything about Eric Halvorsen and how he’s doing? Can I see him?”

The lady behind the desk calmly looked up at Chaney from her computer and just as serenely replied, “I’m sorry miss, but unless you’re a relative, I’m afraid I can’t tell you anything. If you’ll take a seat over here—”

“No! You don’t understand! My best friend was just in a car accident. The hospital called me because I’m his emergency contact. Surely you can tell me something.”

“I’m sorry miss, but unless he doesn’t have any other relatives present or he has it in writing that we can tell you, I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do. Please take a seat in one of these chairs and someone will be with you shortly.”

Chaney groaned in annoyance and stomped over to an empty row of seats against the wall across from the desk. She pulled out her phone and contemplated whether Halvo’s parents knew about what happened or not, debating on whether or not to call them. She figured since she was his emergency contact that they didn’t, but she decided to call anyway. She was scrolling through her contacts and was about to call his mom when his parents came running through the doors she recently came through.

They ran to the desk demanding the same information. The lady behind the desk seemed to be just as unwilling to tell them anything as she was to Chaney. She motioned for them to take a seat and they begrudgingly turned and went to look for a seat when they both saw Chaney sitting there. His mother immediately came running over to her and engulfed her in a huge hug. They both started crying, full of worry for one of the most important men in their lives. His father was next, and as he hugged Chaney, he whispered in her ear, “I’m so glad you’re here. You’re just as much a part of his family as we are. Thank you for being here.”

Chaney could only nod in response, not having the strength in her voice to reply. The three of them sat down and Chaney pulled her phone back out and decided she should probably call John and let him know what was going on.

“Chaney? What uh, what’s going on? I wasn’t expecting a call from you…”

She sniffled, trying to conceal her tears. “I know, I just wanted to let you know about Halvo…”
John picked up on the hesitance and worry in laced in her voice, and began to panic as he drove.

“Halvo…Chaney, what’s going on with Halvo?” He was beginning to worry more and expect the worse the longer Chaney went without replying. “Chaney, you have to tell me what’s going on. What happened to Halvo?”

She took a deep breath, and Mrs. Halvorsen squeezed Chaney’s free hand as encouragement. “John, um, Halvo….he…he was in a car accident.”

John felt like the world stopped. He had to especially concentrate on his driving as he was transporting his band and crew in this rental van and didn’t want to put anyone else’s life in danger due to this news. He, too, took a deep breath to calm himself as he heard the earth shattering news that his best friend was hospitalized from a car wreck. He thought he would pass out right then and there, but was able to hold himself together enough to continue asking questions.

“So, have you heard anything about how he’s doing? We’re currently en route back to Tempe as we speak. We’re actually crossing the Arizona border right now. We should be there in about 4 hours.”

“We still haven’t heard anything. I just got here. They called me a few minutes ago. I’m here with his parents now. I’ll let you know as soon as I find out anything.”

John nodded his head, trying to let this new reality sink in. “Alright. Thanks Chaney. We’ll be there soon.”

John hung up, and could barely concentrate on driving. He had to keep driving because he needed a distraction. Not to mention it would only add to his anxiety if someone else drove. There was a reason he liked being behind the wheel. Even under normal circumstances, he hated being a passenger. He would let others drive, but he much preferred it being him, music, and the road. He couldn’t explain it, but something about that made him so much more at ease. After hearing about Halvo’s current state however, were he to relinquish his driver’s seat so he wouldn’t crash, he’d have even more time to sit and think about what was going on with his best friend. Four hours to stew over the worst possible scenarios, and praying none of them were true.

John continued to drive, his knuckles turning white from gripping the steering wheel so tightly. He didn’t realize how tense he had become in his position, simply by trying to hold himself together.
Garrett put a hand on his shoulder and shook it a bit to try and get his attention since John had seemed to zone out a bit since he got off the phone.

“Dude, are you okay? Who was on the phone?”

John looked briefly at Garrett who was concerned for his friend, and he then quickly looked in the review mirror to see that the entire van had gone silent and was watching so they could hear what was going on. Without saying anything, everyone could tell that something was up, but they weren’t sure what.

John cleared his throat before speaking, hoping he would be able to muster up enough courage to speak.

“That was uh, Chaney, one of Halvo’s friends. Apparently, Halvo was in a car accident and is currently hospitalized. She doesn’t know anything yet but will keep me posted.”

He averted his attention back to the long stretch of road that lay ahead of him, and away from the worried stares of his fellow bandmates in the van.

No one spoke. No one could wrap their minds around what John had said, and like him, prayed that the worst hadn’t happened. There wasn’t anything any of them could do at the moment, but continue to drive there and hopefully arrive in time.

---

Chaney got off the phone with John and held her phone in her lap. She was still trying to keep herself composed, but she wouldn’t deny that having Mrs. Halvorsen holding her hand helped out. She was trying to be strong not only for his parents, but for Halvo as well. She didn’t know what she would do without him, and she began reflecting back on all the crazy times they had together.

Chaney was a junior in high school and was fretting about prom. This was hers and Halvo’s first year to go to prom, and she didn’t want to be the only girl to go without a date. Her prime choice was obviously John, but she knew that was a long shot. He still had no idea who she was. They never shared the same social circles or crossed paths in school. How would he know who she was?
She and Halvo were walking around the mall to kill time and she was expressing her worries to Halvo about prom.

“Halvo, what am I going to do about prom? I mean, I don’t wanna be the only girl without a date. It would be weird if I were to ask John, so that’s out. Besides you, I don’t know any other guys, and I know you were already talking about asking that girl Kate from your Chemistry class…”

He smiled. “Yeah, she’s pretty great. However, right as I was about to ask her, that football douche
Bret beat me to it.”

“Wait. So Bret asked her to prom?!”

Halvo nodded. “It sucks. I was hoping I’d be able to go with her. Oh well. That leaves me open now. How about I take you?”

“I don’t wanna take you off the market!”

“That’s true. I’m quite the hot commodity. Every girl wants a piece of Halvo.”

“God, please quit talking in third person. It inflates your ego way too much.”

“Well, my ego isn’t the only thing that’s being inflated…” he retorted.

“You’re exasperating!” she groaned.

The two continued to walk around the mall in silence until they reached the food court. They made their usual stop at Auntie Anne’s for pretzels and grabbed a table to sit at.

Before they started eating, Halvo then got on a knee on the ground and grabbed one of Chaney’s hands.

She looked at him with a quirked eyebrow, wondering what the hell he was up to.

“Chaney Masters, I would love to escort you to prom. Would you go with me?”

As corny as he could be at times, this was perfect. She laughed and nodded.

He got up off the floor wearing his famous cheesy grin. “Prom will be fun this year. We can make fun of all those couples who are there hoping for a fuck afterwards. We won’t have to worry about that. We can simply focus on having fun.”

She laughed at his antics. “Ya know, I’m excited about going with you, too. I’m looking forward to spending prom with my best friend.”

***

They both had the time of their lives at their prom. They went to Pizza Hut beforehand and split a large meat lover’s pizza. Neither of them dressed up too much. She still wore a nice dress, but it wasn’t nearly as formal as the other girls’ dresses.

Halvo wore a white button up with suspenders, a navy blue skinny tie, and a nice pair of slacks. Chaney wore a dress that matched the color of his tie. It was a strapless dress that went up to her knees. They spent the night dancing and cracking jokes. They had as much fun that night as any time in the past.

The night ended too soon, and Halvo drove them to a small ice cream parlor that they hadn’t been to since they were kids. They got their ice cream cones and sat outside, enjoying the warm Arizona night. The two ate in silence, simply relishing one another’s company.

Once they finished, Halvo slung one of his arms around her shoulders as he led her back to his car. He opened her door and walked around the front of the car to get in. They then spent the next couple hours driving around vacant desert roads with the windows down and blaring mix CDs that they’d made for each other years ago, happily reminiscing on their childhood.

Chaney never wanted the night to end. Never had she had such a fun time with someone. At that particular moment in time, she remembers leaning back against the door, her hair blowing all around her face as she felt the desert wind brush through her hair, and looking at Halvo. He was driving with his right hand, his left arm propped on the window of his door with his hand out the window waving in the breeze. It was pitch black outside, but the light from the moon and the dashboard display lit up his face enough for her to make out his features. He had a smile on his face as he sang along with Third Eye Blind. In that moment, she never felt so content. She knew in that instant that this moment they were sharing would be engrained in her mind forever. She never felt so much love for her best friend. She realized just how amazing their friendship was, and how this night wouldn’t have been half as wonderful had it been with anyone else.

Chaney was shaken from her memories by his mom shaking her arm lightly to gain her attention.

“Chaney, sweetie, the doctor’s here to talk to us.”

Chaney could see the worry etched into Mrs. Halvorsen’s face and if just for her, she would stay strong. She needed to be strong for her second mother.

She nodded her head and rose to follow the Halvorsens over to where the doctor was standing by the double doors.

“I assume you’re Eric’s parents?”

They nodded their heads. He looked over to where Chaney was standing and began to question before Halvo’s dad spoke. “She’s family as well.”

The doctor nodded before proceeding. “He suffered some major bruising and he broke a few ribs. Nothing looks too serious. We want to keep him overnight to make sure there isn’t any internal bleeding, but he is very lucky. His injuries were minor considering the circumstances. You are free to see him now if you’d like. He may still be asleep because his pain medication is strong and will put him to sleep. However he should be awake soon. You’re free to go in and wait for him to wake up.”

He began to walk towards where Halvo’s room was located, before leaving the three with Halvo.

Chaney stood back a moment to observe Halvo from the window while his parents rushed in to see him.

Halvo was sitting upright, watching TV as if nothing happened. He was laughing and joking with his parents. It was odd to her to see him in such a state. His face was cut up badly, and you could see the various bruises and scratches along his arms from the broken glass.

When Halvo looked out the window and saw Chaney standing out there, his smile grew and he motioned for her to come in.

She motioned that she would be there momentarily, but she first needed to inform John on what was going on before she went any further. If she could alleviate any of his stress over this, she would.

She made a quick call to John informing him of what the doctor told them, and she could hear the relief in his voice as he replied. The guys would be there within the next couple hours, so she knew she would have some time with Halvo by herself before they came.

---

When John got off the phone with Chaney, he couldn’t help but audibly sigh in relief. Halvo was still alive. He was in good spirits from what she could see. They would be in Tempe within the next couple hours. It would all be alright. He thanked whatever being there was out there and relayed the news to the rest of the guys. His anxiety had definitely lessened after hearing how his best friend was doing. He didn’t know what he would do if something was to happen to Halvo, and he’d rather not think about it.

---

Chaney silently stepped into Halvo’s room, not wanting to interrupt his time with his parents. Once she stepped in, his parents graciously stepped out, knowing that the two would want to talk alone.

She was afraid to approach him. All she wanted to do was attack him in the biggest hug she could muster, but knew it would hurt him if she did so she stood back.

Noting her reluctance to come closer, he encouraged her to do so.

“Indy, c’mon. I’m alright! Yeah I have some cuts, bruises, and a few broken ribs, but nothing that won’t heal over time. Seriously. C’mere and give me a hug. I’ve missed you.”

She couldn’t restrain herself any longer and ran over to his bed to where he sat with arms open. She leaned over the bed, and as delicately as possible, hugged him as tightly as she could.

His arms squeezed in response as she nuzzled into his embrace. He began stroking her hair, thankful to have her here beside him.

She whispered, “I thought I’d lost you,” so softly he almost didn’t hear it.

He chuckled, “It’ll take more than a car to get rid of me, Indy.”

They both only hugged each other tighter as they sat there in silence.

She wasn’t sure how long they sat there embracing one another, but she was content to continue doing so. The last time they had been in this position had been a few days ago when Halvo was showing Chaney her new apartment. Her heart continued to swell in thankfulness over this boy holding her so closely. She felt like her heart could burst from how much love she held for him.

Halvo eventually moved over on his bed so Chaney could lay there beside him instead of awkwardly hugging him over the side of the bed. They continued to lay there, her head lying on his collarbone, and her left arm delicately draped across his torso, so not to hurt him.

Luckily most of his injuries were in one location, and were considerably minor at that. His lower left ribs were broken and he was badly bruised around that area, all from impact. He was fortunate that the car that hit him, hit his car just behind the driver’s door, therefore lessening the impact of him getting hit directly. He hit his head pretty hard on the steering wheel on impact, hence why he passed out, but he didn’t have a concussion which was a medical miracle in his case.

John and the rest of the guys came in at some point during Chaney and Halvo lying silently on the bed, and John wondered if he should disturb them. Upon looking through the window, he could see Chaney had fallen asleep, and Halvo was lying there watching TV and stroking her hair.

Halvo seemed to sense John’s appearance because he looked to his left out the window and saw John, Garret, Pat, Jared, and Kennedy standing outside. He motioned for them to come in, but to be quiet; motioning to a sleeping Chaney.

The guys came in, all visibly relieved that Halvo was doing so well.

Halvo gently shook Chaney to wake her up, so he could introduce her to the guys.

She hadn’t realized that she had fallen asleep, and turned red as she realized this fact. Her blush deepened when she discovered Halvo and she weren’t alone in the room. She was embarrassed for John and the other guys to see how desperately she clung to Halvo when she fell asleep, afraid of losing him. Not that she would admit this to anyone, but she didn’t want to let Halvo out of her sight for the time being. She was scared she would lose him, and she realized today how much she depended on him.

She sat up, and tried to smooth down her sleep-worn hair; taming it the best she could.

John proceeded to introduce Chaney to the rest of his band. Upon introducing Pat, Chaney interrupted him.

“So you’re Pat!”

Pat nodded and smiled, slightly wondering why he stood out more than the rest of them.

Chaney lightly hit her forehead, acknowledging her lack of explanation. “Pat, you’re the one that had a birthday recently.”

His grin widened now that he knew what she was talking about.

“Oh! Ha ha y-yes. I d-did have a bir-birthday.”

She chuckled slightly at his stutter, finding it endearing. She could quickly tell that he was most likely the “baby” of the band, or so she assumed, until she found out Garrett was indeed the baby, being just over two weeks younger than Pat. Despite that fact, she still considered Pat the baby of the band.

She didn’t talk much as she let the guys interact and catch up with Halvo. She moved to get up, but Halvo grabbed her arm, and pulled her back on his bed to sit, clearly wanting her to stay. She smiled at him, and sat there as the guys joked with Halvo. She heard all about the acoustic tour they had been on, with their last show being this Friday in their hometown.

Not knowing much about this side of John’s life, she could tell he was so passionate about his music, as were the rest of the guys. They regaled stories from the road. That quickly turned into the guys and Halvo swapping tour stories, obviously ones told many times before, as they would react to various parts of the story before it was actually told. She was amused at hearing the exciting lives that these six men lived, and wondered why she never bothered to ask John about it before. She knew he was in a band, but she had no idea that he actually made a living from doing so.

They stayed and talked until one of the nurses came in, signifying that visiting hours are over and that they needed to go home. The guys each walked by the bed, giving some sort of handshake to Halvo before leaving the room. Chaney leaned down and kissed Halvo on the side of his head, and hugged him tightly before she left.

As Chaney walked out his room and shut the door behind her, she nearly jumped when she saw that John was standing right beside her when she turned around. She looked around and didn’t see any of the other guys around, and questioned where they had gone.

John answered her unasked question by replying, “They’re in the waiting room. I told them I’d catch up. I wanted to talk to you before we left.”

Chaney swallowed hard, partially hoping he wanted to talk about why he was treating her the way he had been. However, the timing for such a conversation was less than desirable. She nodded however, signifying that she was willing to hear what he had to say.

“Chaney, I uh, wanted to talk to you. I know before we discussed that we would talk Friday. I still plan on waiting until then to do so.”

She sighed in relief, hoping her reprieve wasn’t noticeable.

John chuckled slightly, seeing that she was happy to hold off on their conversation for a couple days. He wasn’t quite ready for it himself, especially considering the day’s events.

“Honestly, I just wanted to see if you wanted to see our show Friday. It’s not a show typical of what we do, but it would give you a small taste of what I do. Not to mention, you can get to know the guys more. They seemed to take to you pretty well, especially Pat. Then again, I think it had to do with remembering his birthday. Speaking of, how did you know about that?”

Chaney’s face burned a deep red. She didn’t want to admit that she had been stalking his Instagram, or any of his social media for that matter. She refused to follow him, not wanting him to think that she was clingy or desperate for his attention.

Instead, she replied vaguely, “A little birdie told me.”

John began to question what she meant, but she cut him off before he got the chance to say anything.

“As to your invite to your show, that may be fun. I’m not typically a concert-goer, but I’ll make an exception this time. It could be my birthday present to Pat.” She replied teasingly.

John chuckled, “Sounds good. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it. I’ll see ya Friday.”

He turned and walked towards the waiting room as she stood there trying to absorb everything that was going on.

She looked back through the window towards Halvo’s room to see how he was, and he had watched their entire exchange. Once they made eye contact, he was grinning widely and giving her two thumbs up in approval.

Chaney rolled her eyes and smiled as she waved bye to Halvo before heading out to her car.