Four: the Phone Call

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Laura POV:

Ethan and Michael walk out of their room with their Taco Bell trash. (Yes, Ethan got a pair of clean pants) 

"What time is it?" Ethan asks, putting a new trash bag in the can. 

"11:50" Michael replies. 

"Yay! I'm really exited!" I say, bouncing around the kitchen like a five year old. 

"How was your burrito?" Ethan asks, opening the fridge for more food. 

"Good." I say anxiously waiting for noon. Ethan and Michael's phones both buzz at the same time. Michael jumps to see what the message says. 

"Dan said it might be a bit loud in the background because the drummer is sound checking." Michael says, reading off his phone. 

"I guess that means we can call him now." Ethan says from the toaster where he is toasting a bagel. Michaels phone rings and I see the contact name for Dan is "Dan Caraway", which is my last name. He hands me the phone, and I answer.

 "Hey!" A british voice says from the other side of the phone.

 "Hello." I say, twisting a ring around my finger anxiously. 

"I'm Dan." He says, I can tell he finds this phone call awkward.

Dan POV:

This is the most awkward thing I have ever done. I don't know why I'm doing this or why I said "Hey, I'm Dan." I should've at least made myself sound slightly less awkward than I usually am.

"I'm Laura. As you know... er... sorry. I don't know how to talk apparently," Laura says, I can tell she's just as anxious as I am.

"No problem. Me too," I say as Woody smashing the crash cymbal from onstage. I'm camped happily as far away as I can from the stage as you can be backstage, yet I can still hear it echo in the empty arena. 

"So, you're in Bastille. I heard Good Grief on the way to Taco Bell this morning." She says, clearly having no idea what to say.

"You're a fan?" I ask. 

"A bit. I know a few songs." She says.

"Cool!" I say, actually kind of happy she knows a few. "What do you like to do?" I ask

"I play a few instruments, I have a ukulele and piano here. I used to have a guitar. I like  to draw and do crosswords and sudoku puzzles." She says in a shy voice.

"Cool." I say, exited that she plays piano.

"I have a question..." She says.

"Yes?" I ask, hoping it's not too personal or about her mom.

"Did you do a song with Ella Eyre?" She asks. I can tell she's a fan of Ella by the tone of her voice.

"Yeah, we did a mashup of a song by xx and TLC." I reply, picking at a loose thread on my jeans.

"I'm literally obsessed with Ella Eyre" She responds.

"So am I." I respond, fully telling the truth. "Can I ask you a question?" I ask.

"Yeah." She replies.

"Did you ever get the Orange Letters?" I ask, hoping she will light up and remember them.

"No, sorry. What are Orange Letters?" She asks.

I rub my eyelid. My heart sinks to my toes. "I used to send letters.  All of them were in orange envelopes. They were like, the color of red clay, that you would find in the ground if you would just dig in a backyard." I say, my throat getting cloggy.

"What did you write about?" She asks.

"Things I wanted you to know. That you wouldn't be ever a regret." I say, fidgeting with my shoelace.

"I remember my mom burning envelopes every once in a while when I was really little." She says. 

I don't reply for a bit. "That's a shame." I say.

"The bathroom," She starts. "In our apartment was painted Orange. Like the color of these envelopes."

"Interesting." I reply.

I feel a tap on my shoulder. Kyle is behind me and signals I need to wrap it up. I hold my finger up and mouth "one second"

"Hey Laura, I'm so sorry. I gotta go. I'm apparently needed." I say, feeling guilty for the short phone call.

"Okay, buh-bye." She replies. I can hear a hint of disappointment in her tone.

"Bye" I say, hanging up.

"What do you want, Kyle?" I ask. 

"Everyone was wondering where you were so we split up to look for you." He says, as if it explains everything. 

"Why did you guys need me? I was having a quality conversation about crossword puzzles, ukulele, and Ella Eyre." I reply, realizing how weird I sound. 

"Sounds fun," Kyle says sarcastically. 

"Shut up." I say, walking out the door. I go through the set of hallways backstage. A set of left and rights brings me to the stage. 

"Dan, lets hear keys." I play the chords to Overjoyed, the first song that comes to mind. I go through the sequence of the verse a few more times as the sound is adjusted to the effects for the first part of the concert. 

"Talk into the mic, Dan!" Yells Coop. I talk into the microphone. "Uh... I just got off the phone. I had some cheese earlier today." I say into the mic. "I'm here to where you feel safe cause I've been alone too.." I sing. Kyle sits on the side of the stage and laughs, knowing why that's the first song that came to my head. 

"Alone Too?" Kyle asks, snickering.

"Yes." I reply, into the microphone. 

"Sing something you're gonna sing tonight." Coop. yells from the sound board. 

"I've been behind the doors you've closed, the darkness that you've made your home." I sing. 

"I'm off to learn the drums for this song now. Later, bitches." Woody says sarcastically, walking off into the backstage area.

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Sorry about the cruddy short phone call... I didn't know what to say.


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