"Party on the bus!" Brian yells as he and Howie come onto the bus carrying two six packs each.
"Awesome. I could totally use one of those," I say, taking a beer from Brian.
"Excuse me miss, but aren't you under age? No alcohol for minors," Brian says, seeming serious.
"You're not serious are you?" I question.
"Nah. I'm just messing with ya," he laughs. I hit him playfully in the stomach.
"Yuck. It's warm," I say after taking a sip from the can. I go over to the mini fridge and put some ice from the mini freezer into a plastic cup. Brian puts some of the beer in the fridge. I then go into the entertainment room where everyone is sitting.
"Yuck. You guys drink warm beer?" I ask, noticing they all have a can.
"No," Carolyn laughs.
"Howie's were chilled," Brian smirks as he comes into the room after me. "I put the warm ones in the mini fridge for later."
"Ugh," I groan, sitting down next to Nick. "You could have mentioned that."
"I could have," Brian laughs.
"So when's the party starting?" I laugh, looking around the room at everyone sitting down and enjoying their drinks.
"OK. Forget I said anything about a party," Brian says, raising his beer. "Drinkin' on the bus!" he corrects.
"Sounds good to me," Carolyn chimes in.
Brian, Carolyn, A.J. and I were still in the entertainment room while Nick and the others had already gone to bed.
"Brian, has anyone ever told you you look like a turtle upside down?" Carolyn asks, completely drunk as she lay on the floor looking up at Brian.
"No. But thanks C," Brian laughs.
"No problem!" she says, putting her hand to her head and soluting him.
"How much did she have to drink anyway?" I laugh, watching as she attempts a hand stand but fails.
"A lot," A.J. laughs. "Though it doesn't take much for her to get drunk," he explains. "She's never had a very high tolerance for alcohol."
"Ally," Carolyn says.
"Yeah?" I laugh.
"I wanted to tell you how happy I am for you and A.J," she says.
"What are you talking about?" I question, giving A.J. a worried look.
"You and A.J, silly," she says, taking a seat next to me. "Oh, or should I say I'm just happy for A.J? 'Cause you don't love him back right? I guess I shouldn't be happy for either of you then!" she giggles.
Brian looks at us with confusion.
I look over at A.J. and he motions to get Carolyn out of the room.
"We don't know what she's talking about," A.J. says calmly, lying to Brian.
"Sure you do," Carolyn insists.
"C'mon Carolyn, let's go to the washroom and try to get that beer stain out of your shirt," I say, making up an excuse to get her away from Brian before she blurts anything else out.
We leave the entertainment room, closing the door behind us and go straight into the washroom.
"Carolyn, what are you talking about?" I ask as she leans against the washroom wall.
"What are you talking about?" she laughs.
"Carolyn, what were saying about me and A.J?"
"Oh. A.J. and you. On the first day on the bus I heard him tell you he woves you," she giggles.
"You did?" I ask with surprise.
"Uh huh," she replies, looking drowsy, before leaning over the toilet and vomiting.
"Oh shit."
That night, I hadn't slept much and was now very tired. We had arrived in the next city and everyone was now eating breakfast in the hotel restaurant, except for Carolyn who was badly hung over.
"Well, that was good," I say, after having eaten my breakfast in record time. "I'm going to go back upstairs to see how Carolyn's doing." I get up and push in my chair.
"Want me to come with you?" Nick offers sweetly.
"No, that's OK. Stay and finish your breakfast." I lean down and give him a kiss before going.
I go up to our floor in the elevator and knock on her door.
"What?" I hear her groan.
I turn the door nob to see if it's unlock and the door opens easily. I peak my head in and see Carolyn laying in bed with the pillow over her face.
"Hey," I say quietly.
She moves the pillow to see who it is. "Hey Ally. Come in," she says, sounding miserable.
I go in and sit on the side of the bed. "How are you feeling?"
"How does it look like I'm feeling?" she grumbles.
"Not good," I laugh.
"I'm glad you're here, I need some tylenol."
"At your service," I laugh and get up to get it for her.
"There's some in the bathroom on the sink."
I grab two of the white pills from the tylenol bottle and fill a plastic cup half full of tap water.
"Here ya go." I hand her the pills and cup.
"Thanks." She sits up and swallows the pills in one gulp.
"So do you remember anything about last night?" I ask.
"Only that we were drinking," she says jokingly, rubbing her aching head. "Why? I didn't do anything stupid did I?" she asks, looking a bit worried.
"No," I smile. "Don't worry."
"Good," she says, sounding relieved. She lays back down and fluffs the pillow under her head.
"It's just you said something that kinda took me off guard."
"What'd I say? If it was bitchy I'm sure I didn't mean it." She fluffs the pillow a bit more and closes her eyes.
"No, it wasn't bitchy," I explain. "Actually, umm... you were saying how you overheard A.J. and I talking that first day on the bus," I say nervously.
Carolyn opens her eyes and sighs. "Ally, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to say anything about that," she says, sounding frustrated with herself.
"No Carolyn, I'm sorry. God, you must feel so betrayed by me." I pause. "I really didn't want any of this to happen," I say sincerely.
She sits up and looks at me. "Ally, you're my friend, I know you'd never go after my man. I did overhear part of your conversation that day on the bus so I know that it's A.J. who has feelings for you and not the other way around. Besides," she smiles. "He's not my man anymore. We broke up, so he can love whoever he wants to."
I put my arms around her and wrap her in a hug. "Is that why you said you didn't have feelings for him anymore and went off with Mike?" I ask regretfully.
"You caught me," she laughs awkwardly.
I break away from the hug. "So you are still in love with A.J?"
She nods yes but doesn't speak.
"God, I feel like such a bad friend," I sigh.
"Ally, don't. You can't control who falls for you," she says sweetly. "I mean if something had happened between you two I admit I'd be upset," she says.
A guilty feeling washes over me.
"But it's not like you two are dating or anything. You're with Nick. And yeah, it does kinda suck that A.J. happened to fall for one of my best friends," she laughs. "But it happens."
I hug her tightly. "You're the best, C."