A Defining Mistake

Chapter 4 - See The World

A loud slam jolted Ada from her restless slumber. She sat bolt up right in bed dazed in confusion. Her headphones had fallen off in her sleep and, judging by the pain in her back, she had slept on top of them for most of the night. Ada followed the wire and found her phone dangling off the edge of the bed. 8.12 am. She collapsed back on the bed in relief, landing uncomfortably on her headphones.

After tossing and turning, trying and failing to get back to sleep, Ada gave up and slid out of bed. She found an errant jumper lying on the floor and slipped it on, not wanting to be confronted by Jo in just her pyjamas. Padding down the stairs, the house was in silence. A large part of her was thankful, she didn't want to have the awkward conversation with Sabrina about the night before but a small part wanted to get the confrontation over with so they could sort their differences out. Her phone held no new message from Sabrina and the kitchen sides had no note. Ada tapped the sides in indecision, unsure whether she should be the one to message her first and equally unsure if Sabrina even remembered their disagreement last night. As far as Ada was concerned, she had done nothing wrong. She was perfectly entitled to ask Sabrina to keep the noise down in her own house.

Midway through her breakfast, a bacon sandwich slathered in bbq sauce, Ada's phone began to ring. She picked it up with little concern, assuming it would either be Sabrina calling to apologise or Jordan calling to confirm the day ahead's events. It was neither. It was Luke. She stopped mid chew, thumb hovering over the answer button. The call rang out and Ada relaxed, putting her phone down and breathing out heavily. A few minutes later her phone pinged again notifying Ada of a new voicemail. She turned her phone over. It wasn't until Ada had finished in the shower and chosen her clothes for the day that she was brave enough to listen to the voicemail. She decided to listen to it before putting on any make up. Just in case.

"Hey um Ada, I guess you're not answering my calls. I don't really blame you to be honest. Listen, can we talk? I really owe you an apology, a proper one. And, well, I should probably wait until we talk, if you even want to talk to me that is, but screw it. I miss you, Ada. I want to try and make it up to you. Try again. We were good together, you and me."

Ada was speechless. She hadn't expected that at all. Luke wanted to get back together and apologise. She couldn't deny the little fuzzy feeling she got when she thought about him. That fuzzy feeling died quickly when the humiliation of his actions swept over her again. She chewed her lip, torn. Her phone dinged again, startling her out of her trance. It was Jordan this time, with a video of him waking the band and crew by blaring a foghorn so they would be on time for the minibus. Ada laughed out loud and rewound it, watching it again. On the second watch, she spotted Jo snoozing on the sofa of the bus lounge. Luke's voicemail temporarily forgotten, Ada sat at her dressing table to finish getting ready.

-x-

The minibus pulled up outside Ada's home, honking long and loud at the end of her long driveway. Pulling her on thin grey cardigan, slipping on her shoes and grabbing her elephant print backpack, Ada locked her house and ran down the drive. She said a breathless greeting to the driver before settling in a window seat in the middle of the bus. The driver watched Ada click her seatbelt into place and, satisfied, began the journey to the music venue. Half an hour later, ten grumpy adolescent men and one excited Molly got on the minibus. Ada stared around her incredulously. Jo, Molly and Alyx joined her in her row.

"Are you all hungover?" she asked as the minibus rolled into motion. There wasn't much response, other than a low grown that emanated across the bus. Ada began to laugh. "Wow you guys are lightweights."

"Hey!" Sam turned slowly in his seat. "How dare you! This is the earliest we've been awake in weeks!"

"It's 11am," Ada rolled her eyes. "This is the rock and roll life huh? You better not ruin the day at the zoo by being hungover and grumpy, I swear to god."