Chapter 16
The Next Afternoon
Melissa:
I went running to the others to tell them the great news.
"Durbbie!" I said barreling into the back of the bus. "Dude! You gotta hear this!"
"What?" she asked still slightly dazed from the shock of it all.
"They got him!"
"Scott?"
"Scott!" I said happily.
Durbbie, obviously more excited than I ever would be, started dancing around. Suddenly, she stopped. "What's going to happen to him?" she asked.
"I guess they'll ship him back home and then he'll go to jail," I said slightly scared of how Durbbie would react to this whole thing.
She didn't look too happy. "Where is he now?" Durbbie asked looking at the floor.
"They're holding him at the airport until they can get the proper security to get him home."
AJ:
Durbbie grabbed for her phone. "Durbbie don't!" I said also grabbing for it.
"Leave me alone AJ," Durbbie said in a very determined manner.
"He's not good for you. Let him go!" I said as our hands collided on the phone.
"It's not your problem," Durbbie fumed as we basically started wrestling for custody of the phone. After a slight struggle, I had her pinned to the floor. If I had a third hand, I could have taken the phone. No such luck. "It's MY phone!" Durbbie said stubbornly.
"Yeah, but you're MY friend!" I said in just the same tone she had used.
"I don't believe this! AJ let me go!"
"Not until you promise not to call!"
That sobered Durbbie up pretty quickly. "You're aware that it's one small move and you're a soprano right?"
"I think the fans will understand," I said letting my sarcasm seep through.
"Give it up AJ. It's no use," Melissa said in the background. "She's the most stubborn person you'll ever meet."
"Yeah, well, that makes two of us," I said evenly. Durbbie had taken the moment to kick herself out from under me and send me flying to the ground without the cell phone.
Durbbie:
"I'm outta here!" I said angrily and ran out the door of the bus.
I ran and ran until I thought I was going to pass out. I forgot my inhaler. Damn thing. I looked at the cell phone in my hand and started to dial. The events of the past five minutes came rushing back to me.
**It's MY phone!**
**Yeah, but you're MY friend!**
I swore under my breath. I hate it when I'm wrong.
Brian:
After Durbbie ran out, Melissa curled herself into a ball with her knees pulled into her chest and her head resting on her folded arms.
"You OK?" I asked sitting next to her.
Melissa looked at me for a second before responding. "You know, you're not exactly the person I want to talk to right about now."
OK, that hurt. "I don't get it. Why not?" I asked.
"I think you have a pretty good idea," she said evenly.
"I really don't," I said. What was going on?
"You know Brian, out of all the people on this bus, I thought you would be the one that would always be honest with me. I guess I thought wrong. I'm sorry I wasted my time." And with that, Melissa got up and left.
Nick:
"What just happened?" I asked taking Melissa's seat.
Brian put his head down and looked at the floor. "I wish I could tell you."
"Why'd she leave?"
"I think I just messed a really good friendship."
I fell silent. How in the world did that happen? I laughed nervously. "It's not like you kissed her or anything, right?" I asked trying to make light of the situation. Brian's expression totally changed. "Right?" I asked again. Brian shook his head. "Oh man. You REALLY messed up," I said.
"You're telling me. You think I planned this?"
He had a very valid point. "So I guess that's why she got upset when she heard you talking to Leighanne," I said quietly.
Brian looked at me. "She heard that?" I nodded. He swore. "I never intended for her to hear that," he added quietly.
"Always happens that way," I said just as quietly as I got up.
Kevin:
It seems like it's just another interesting day on the bus. Durbbie ran off because she's mad at the world, Melissa and Brian aren't exactly on civil terms, Howie's trying to stay out of it, AJ thinks it's all his fault, and Nick's stuck between Brian and Melissa. But, the thing is, since the past two shows have been canceled because of the security issues, I've really enjoyed the time I've been spending with Kristen. We've stayed up for the past two nights just talking to each other. Now I remember why we're getting married in the first place.
Kristen came up to me and drew me from my thoughts. "You in there?" she teased. I smiled.
"I guess I kind of spaced for a second," I admitted.
"I guess you kind of did," she said ruffling my hair while smiling that smile that lights up the room. I smiled back. "You OK?" she asked. I diverted my eyes for a second. "Kev, what's wrong?"
"It's the whole thing with the girls. Things haven't been the same since they've been here. Sometimes I almost wish they never came."
"Why?"
"Because of the way everybody's acting. Look at us. We're almost completely torn apart. Between Durbbie's twisted love life and AJ trying to intervene it's a nightmare. And now I don't know what's going on with Brian and Melissa. I thought they'd be the least of the problem, but they're right in the middle. I don't understand it," I said completely being open. "I thought we were better than to do this to ourselves."
"You are," Kristen said sitting next to me and giving my hand a slight squeeze. "They'll only be here another two days and then things will return back to normal. Things will calm down. Don't worry about it."
"I know, but that's the thing. I'm not sure things will go back. I know Melissa and Durbbie are only staying 10 days, but things are so different that I don't know what to think any more. I want to believe that things will return to the way they were, but I've got this gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach that things have really changed, and there's no turning back."
Durbbie:
I walked back into the bus a good 45 minutes or so later to catch the tail end of Kevin's conversation with Kristen. "I want to believe that things will return to the way they were, but I've got this gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach that things have really changed, and there's no turning back."
"If that's the way you feel, then why don't you tell Durbbie? She seems like she'll understand," Kristen tried to reason.
I heard Kevin sigh. "I wish you were right."
That was all I needed to hear to make my decision final.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~