You Saved me in the Moonlight

Ten minutes later, and the Nerf fight was still going on. According to Kevin, the rules were simple; all one had to do to end the game and win was to hit the other with one Nerf foam pellet.

Simple in concept, but the way things were going now, I'd be surprised if this didn't go on for the next ten days. I hadn't seen either Joe or Nick in the past few minutes, and the tour bus was so quiet that you could hear every sound.

"Are they okay?" I asked Kevin nervously, peering down the hallway.

"Oh yeah. They're fine. What I'm more worried about right now is you." He said.

My head snapped toward him. I rubbed a scar on my arm subconsciously, from force of habit. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's been a day since you've been with us, and you haven't --" Kevin was interrupted by Joe running down the hallway and stopping in front of us.

"Hey.... guys." Joe panted. "What's.... up?"

Kevin looked at his brother with an amused look on his face. "Narrow escape?"

Joe nodded, grinning. Then he looked anxious. "You haven't seen him, have you?"

I shook my head. "I haven't seen either of you since you started."

"Shoot...!" He looked down the hallway, his eyes scanning for any sign of Nick.

"So, like I was saying," Kevin continued, turning to me, "It's been a day and you haven't contacted anyone to let them know where you are and that you're okay."

"Yeah, well, it's not like I'm missed." I said bitterly, looking away from Kevin's penetrating gaze.

"Do your parents not care, or something?" Joe asked suddenly, looking over his shoulder at me.

"They...!" I started, then caught myself and held my tongue. After a brief pause, I said, "I should probably call my friend, Maddie and let her know I'm all right. I went with her to your concert. I won't tell her I'm with you guys, though. Is that okay?" I asked Kevin, still not meeting his eyes.

"Yeah." He handed me the phone, and I dialed Maddie's number. She answered on the first ring.

"Hello?" Her voice was tense and full of worry, and I immediately felt bad about not calling her sooner.

"Hey, Maddie. It's Erica. I --" I began, but was cut off.

"Erica! Oh, thank God! I thought he'd gone and killed you!" She exclaimed. I became aware of how loud the phone volume was, and how close and intently eavesdropping the two Jonas Brothers had become. "It's all right; she's fine!" Her voice sounded muffled. "You are fine, aren't you?" Her tone became full of worry again.

"Yeah, Maddie, I'm fine. Listen," My grip tightened on the phone, "I'm not going to be in town for a while. You'll be fine without me. I'll call you again when I can."

"But!" She started.

"'Bye, Maddie!" I hung up, not bearing to talk with her any more.

I just owed her that one phone call. That's it.

"It is okay for me to be on tour with you guys, isn't it?" I asked worriedly.

"Yeah, you can just chill with us for a while if things aren't okay at home. Just tell us when you want to go home, and we can have it arranged."

"Right." I said, rubbing my scar absentmindedly again.

Joe opened his mouth to say something, but was distracted by a small pop. He looked down to see a foam dart sticking out of his shirt, right over where his heart was.

"Gotcha." Nick said, emerging from the dark hallway with a big grin on his face.

"Son of a biscuit-eater, Nick! You little sneak!" Joe shouted.

"Well, that was the whole point of the game. I admit, though," Nick sat down on the other side of me, "luring and locking me in your room was a great move."

"I have been known to have my brilliant moments, you know, Mr. President." Joe teased and stuck his tongue out.

Kevin and I just rolled our eyes.

So, I'm going to be living with the Jonas Brothers.

This should be exciting.