Publicity • mgc

12. The Wise Driver

Once the words slipped past Karina's mouth, Michael gasped, taking a step back.

"Um- what?!" He yelled. Karina shushed him, placing her hand over his mouth. "Mikey please don't say anything I don't even know what happened." She pleaded, hot tears still pouring out of her brown eyes.

"Guys, we have to get going." The bus driver said, poking his head out the doors.

"Five minutes!" Michael asked, the driver nodding his head. "Explain everything, right now."

Karina nodded, trying to stop crying. It was just really confusing and scary to her, she had no idea what her feelings were and she was afraid of everyone seeing her looking like absolute crap. She hated being around anyone when she was crying, and now there were three girls in that bus who hated her guts and it was 100% positive they would make fun of her.

"We were just hanging out. All of us. And then Casey, Mir, and Nia went to get drinks and chips from the front of the bus and Rena and I stayed behind. We were listening to music and throwing paper balls at each other and we started play fighting and we both fell back on the couch and-"

"Karina, will you breathe, darling?" Michael interrupted her. He wanted to hear what happened next but she seriously looked like she was about to pass out.

Karina took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "And she was on top of me and we just kissed." She paused, looking at the ground. "We just kinda stared at each other for a second then I excused myself and left. Michael, I'm scared."

Michael chuckled, finding the story kinda cute. "Scared of what?"

"I don't know! Am I lesbian? Bisexual? Demi-sexual? What if I come out as something other than straight and everyone hates me, Mikey?"

Michael just shook his head, hugging his best friend tightly. "Whatever it might be, I don't care. I'll love you regardless, Kari. Everyone will love you regardless."

"Everything's turning to shit and I'm crying way more than I was when Ash and I were together." Karina mumbled, letting go of Michael. He still kept his arms around her, she needed all the comfort she could get and no amount of protesting will make Michael let go. "You're gonna be fine." Michael said.

"That's all everyone says to me. "You're gonna be fine" , "You'll be okay" , "It'll get better" , is there anything useful that you could say?" Karina huffed, pushing Michael away from her. She didn't realize it, but she was having a hard time with the breakup. She needed advice, she needed help to make the breakup easier, but she's been hearing the exact same words for the past three months and it was angering her at how clueless herself and everyone were.

"What do you want me to say?" Michael scoffed, crossing his arms. "You're you, Karina. You're the best at not caring and living your life, you have the answers to what you're looking for. Also, i'm really bad at advice." He chuckled.

Karina shrugged her shoulders, sniffling. "I wanna go home."

"Well, we're in Texas next week."

"That's too long. I want to leave now. I want to be alone, in my apartment." Karina hugged herself, rubbing at her arms. She wanted time to think and get herself together. Being around her ex-boyfriend and his new - probably not fake anymore - girlfriend sucked. He's moved on, and she so badly wants to as well. She doesn't want to use anyone to move on either, she just wants to get over him.

"You have a meeting tomorrow, you kinda can't leave." Michael mumbled, opening the doors to the bus.

"Fuck the meeting. They're dating now, really dating, we don't need meetings anymore." Karina walked up the stairs, greeting the bus driver and sitting in the passenger seat.

"You're not gonna come hangout?" Michael asked, poking his head through the curtains that separated the drivers quarters and the rest of the bus. Karina shook her head, grabbing the blanket that was thrown across the passenger seat. The driver always kept it there, in case it got too cold or he really needed to stop and take a nap. Michael shrugged his shoulders and went back into the lounge.

Karina buckled up and sunk into the seat, waiting for the driver to start the bus. "You alright, Karina?" He asked, turning on the engine and putting on a cap. He was a wise man, always having something smart to say. Karina took off her shoes and propped her feet up on the dashboard.

"Did i just get ditched?" Karina asked, snuggling further into the blanket.

The driver sighed. "If it makes you feel any better, you're still my favorite 5sos girlfriend." He laughed, beginning to drive. "I don't really think any of the girls back there are good for the guys. And i would know, im forty-three, i've had my fair share of bad girlfriends."

Karina smiled, shaking her head. "So...how do you get over someone?" She asked, turning her head to face him. He stopped at a red light, taking a sip of his coffee. "You do what makes you happy. It's simple."

"How so?"

The driver pressed on the petal and they slowly swerved their way onto the freeway. The speed limit increased and the radio that was once on was shut off. The sound of the cars passing by and the wheels on the cement soothed the both of them in a weird way. "You're a popstar." He chuckled. "You sing and dance for a living, is that not what makes you happy?"

Karina rolled her eyes. "I don't sing and dance every hour of the day-" She went to say his name, but she realized she didn't know it.

"Call me CJ."

"...CJ." Karina paused, looking out the window before them. "It makes me happy, but-"

"I had this beautiful girlfriend once." Cj cut her off. "She was everything to me, i loved her so much. And then one day she dumped me for this other guy. He was less intelligent than me, but he was a football player in college and i was just a senior in AP classes." He paused, looking over at Karina who was listening intently. "I sulked around for a really long time. I watched her be happy. And then i decided i should be happy."

"So what did you do?" Karina asked, wide eyed with curiosity. She leaned forward, turning her body around into a comfortable position.

"I lived in the moment."

Karina furrowed her eyebrows, not understanding.

"How does that work?"

"The past is the past. The future is the future. The present is the present. Go with the flow, things will fall into place."

"I still don't get it. How did you get over her by living in the moment?"

"I forgot about our past. That was old news, it was back there. I decided to fess up and just go with whatever gets thrown my way. And you know what got thrown my way? My wife."

"Your wife?" Karina smiled, her whole face lighting up.

CJ nodded. "After my ex-girlfriend, i just hung out with friends and laughed a lot and had a bunch of good times. I didn't think so much about what was going to happen next and i didn't worry about what had already happened. And then one night, while i was moving into my college dorm, a brunette bumped into me and dropped my textbooks."

"And then.."

"And then fast forward five years, we get married. And we have kids, and we have jobs, and i'm here. And you know something?"

"What?"

"I'm happy."

-

i was watching girl meets world and i somehow came up with an inspiring chapter idk man

this is so messy but girl meets world really teaches life lessons ok

~mari