The Opportunity of a Lifetime

Chapter 38 (Hailey's POV)

If there's one thing I've concluded in the past couple days, it's that I've been missing Cheryl to death. I haven't seen her once since our fight, and after it happened I knew Cheryl would eventually come around, because she always does, but a week later I had given up hope.

The guys have been checking up on her, but I never got up the courage to do it myself. After a while, even they stopped going back there, because Cheryl would never budge or even speak, unless it was to tell them to go away.

On the outside it may seem like I don't really care, but on the inside its tearing me apart. My heart is telling me to get off my ass and go see her, but my mind talks me out of it. I had promised myself back a couple years ago that I wouldn't ever leave Cheryl alone with her thoughts, but this past week all I've done is broke that promise. I've never felt guiltier; not just for that, but because of what I said in the first place that brought this whole shit storm up.

It wasn't until I had seen the girl herself emerge from her bunk that I really realized what all of this has done to her.

Once full and bright cheeks are now hollowed, her skin has paled, showing sickly bags under her eyes, which are bloodshot, as if she's been crying. She's definitely shed a few pounds. My heart sinks. She hasn't been eating at all. That hits me like a hurricane. My first impulse is to make the woman a damn sandwich, but I'm frozen in place. She looks so heartbroken. Whether that'd be from everything I did to her, or something else, or both, I wouldn't know.

She sees me and stops in her tracks, looking at me with empty eyes. But I see something in those brown eyes. Hope?

"Hailey," she whispers raspily. "I-"

I wouldn't let her finish, because my legs had just remembered how to move, and I jumped up from that couch so fast and barreled into Cheryl so hard that we both slammed to the wooden floor with a grunt. I cling onto her bony shoulders for dear life, never wanting to let go again.

I had shocked her, so she doesn't do anything for a while, which makes me recoil, but then she wraps her arms around me with strength I didn't know she still had, crushing me against her.

"I'm so sorry for everything," I murmur, not knowing what the hell to say to my best friend. "I thought I lost you."

"I'm not losing another best friend. I don't think I can handle it," she replies, making tears threaten to fall from my eyes onto her shirt.

"Hailey, why are you on the floor-" Pete starts, walking into the room. When he sees Cheryl under me, he freezes. "Cheryl?"

He runs to us, and I reluctantly scramble out of our embrace, letting Pete's eyes skirt sorrowfully over Cheryl's grief-weakened body. He looks so sad beyond words, guilty, upset, even happy that she finally decided it was time to come back. He wants to hug her, I can tell, but by the way he's looking at her he probably thinks she will break like expensive china by the lightest touch.

Cheryl makes the move, wrapping her arms around him. He buries his head in the crook of her neck, unwilling to let go. When they do, though, Cheryl attempts to smile at him, but it turns more into a grimace than a smile.

The rest of the guys hear the commotion, walking in with puzzled looks on their faces. Puzzlement turns into immense relief when they see Cheryl, and they all take turns hugging her.

"Can I explain?" Cheryl asks, that rasp that locked onto her voice still apparent. We all nod, walking to the couch and sitting down. I vaguely realize that Joe had left the tour bus door open, but right now I couldn't care less. I need to hear Cheryl's voice.

She looks down at her interlocked hands, taking deep breaths. We all wait patiently, the entire room silenced except for the constant hum of the air conditioner. She finally looks up at us, and that empty expression is back.

"Mike," she starts, her voice breaking, "was my best friend several years back. He was older than me, about thirty, so he always looked after me. He knew my mother, who introduced us later. We just clicked, and always talked after that. He was always on the move, never settled in one place. That made it hard, but when he was in town, I always made sure I saw him. I knew he loved Reba; I'd always sing the two songs I knew from her to him."

She laughs, reminiscing in the moment. But then her eyes turn mournful.

"One day he moved to Mississippi. It made me sad, but I couldn't control it. He was driving on 41 into Arkansas and a drunk driver collided into his car, making him swerve and crash. He was pronounced dead on the scene, and was ejected from the car. I will never forget that moment. That might have been the one time that I had almost given up. When I was first told what happened, I didn't believe it. I wouldn't let myself believe it. But I knew it was true, and the realization of it hit me so hard. Crying was an understatement. For days, weeks, months, I couldn't get him out of my mind. I was a complete mess. I would go out and do things I shouldn't have, I got into the wrong crowd, I did anything to dull the pain. My best friend would be gone forever. I never got to say goodbye, and that was the hardest thing for me. I couldn't settle for the last conversation I had with him, but there was nothing I could do. I-" she suddenly chokes, a single tear dripping down her cheek. I get up and sit next to her, laying my head on her shoulder. I didn't care if she hated touching or sentiment, damn it, I'm going to be there for her. She catches her breath, and continues on.

"It broke me. That is the only thing that broke me like it did. Since then, I had been building a mental wall, brick by brick, cement block by cement block, whatever you want to call it. But I hated that weak feeling, so I guarded all my feelings and became cold. When Hailey said what she did, it cracked that wall. Later, something happened and completely demolished that wall. I have no guard anymore. I'm weak again and I hate it."

I already knew what she had told us, except for that last part. I rub my face with my hands, feeling like absolute shit for everything I've done. Everyone is silent, until a noise behind us makes our heads whip around to the sound.

"Aw, how sweet," Allie purrs, emerging from the doorway of the bus doors. "Our little tough girl has a weak spot? I figured you were just putting up a façade. Everyone has secrets. But yours won't be a secret for long, honey, unless you cooperate and give me what I want."

All of us stare at her in shock. Cheryl glares at her.

"What do you want, Allie?" Cheryl growls.

She grins smugly.

"What I want, my dear friend, is Patrick."