A Defining Mistake

Chapter 10 - It's Not Goodbye, It's See You Later

Ada woke to the sound of unintelligible shouting. It was the day she had been dreading, the last day of tour before their month break. Everyone was excited to spend a few weeks with their families, friends and partners and in their own beds. Everyone except Ada. She was going home to an empty house and had nothing but interviews lined up with news outlets that had persistently speculated on her relationship status. The last couple of months had been healing for Ada, soothing the wounds inflicted from her experience on Am I Enough? and the disappointment that came from mistakenly letting Luke back into her life. Being on the road was fast paced, noisy and didn't allow much time for wallowing in self-pity. Ada dreaded the quiet nights she'd be spending in her house all alone where, if she found herself upset, there wouldn't be anything going on to distract her or someone always awake to console her.

Begrudgingly, Ada slid out of her bunk. Hiding away only meant she was missing out on the camaraderie of the last day. She sloped down the stairs, trying to take in every moment of the last morning aboard the bus before she had to leave, stopping in the bathroom to brush her teeth quickly. From the bathroom, Ada could just about make out what the shouting was about. It sounded like Jo and Alyx were arguing about which cereal they considered to be the best. Ada almost choked on her toothpaste as she laughed at the ridiculous argument. This is exactly what she would miss. Following the noise to the lounge, Ada passed a lost hoody on the floor and slipped it on over her pyjamas. She burst into the lounge, interrupting the argument.

"Everyone knows that cocoa pops are the best cereal!" she said, matter of fact.

"You eat your cereal with like no milk, you have no say in this argument," Alyx dismissed her as Jo cheered. "Rice crispies win, always."

"See! Ada knows what's up," Jo was smug, peppering Alyx with rice crispies. Jordan walked into the crossfire, rice crispies slapping across his face. Mild annoyance crossed his features before he shook it off. He was very much used to this.

"Alright!" Jordan banged his clipboard on the side of the sofa, silencing the shouting from inside the tour bus. "I need this bus packed up and ready within the next three hours okay? The first coach for Sam, Miles and Mikey leaves at 2pm. Then it's Oscar and Lincoln's coach at 2.30pm, Ian's at 2.40pm, Alyx, Jo and Ryan at 3.05pm, Curtis at 3.15pm and last but not least Ada at 3.45pm. If you miss your coach, that is not my problem so make sure you are ready to go."

"God you have to clean your own bus?" Ada pulled a face. "You guys need to be more successful."

"Ooh sorry Miss winner of Season 3 Am I Enough? with her all houses all around the world and all the cleaning staff she could want for," Alyx put on a squeaky voice and pulled a snobby face. His face grew serious. "I happen to think that cleaning our own bus shows that we're successful but still grounded."

"And besides, I wouldn't want to inflict cleaning of this kind on a poor unfortunate soul," Jo interjected.

"That's a Disney reference," Jordan pointed his pen at Jo as Ada burst into song.

"These poor unfortunate souls!" she stood up on the table, pretending she was in an opera.

"Alright, alright," Jordan held a hand out to help Ada off the table. His serious demeanor cracked slightly when he grinned at her. "We now have 2 hours and 50 minutes before the first coach arrives. Let's go!"

The bus cleaning and packing up took forever. Ada had somehow managed to mix up her belongings with the rest of the guys, despite her clothing being significantly different to theirs. She found one of her heels in the mini fridge along with what used to be an egg sandwich. While her bags were packed within an hour and her bunk stripped and clean, everyone else had barely started. Jo was munching on a pack of old snacks he had found down the side of his bunk while Ryan was busy collecting his large collection of hats into a bag. Somehow, he'd managed to end up with ten more than he came with despite having no recollection of buying any, with many still in their plastic wrapping. The only way he knew they were his was because they had his name on.