Anathema

Chapter 22: Secrets

  There's a place I go where there's no heat
But it never gets cold, and that I know for sure
There's a rusted gate and a chandelier,  

Maive seemed to have perked up a lot more than the other day. She was gradually eating more and more and she was smiling and joining in on conversations every now and again. As far as anyone was concerned, it was as if something flicked like a switch and she was now completely normal and the sadness was only a mere phase. It's as if nothing bothered her in the least.

Everyone seemed to be on a good note and were happy playing video games, performing and touring around. And of course eating all the food on the planet.
Except for Tyler. He didn't know what he saw the other night nor did he want to pry and ask questions. He didn't know whether he should bring it up with Maive and Josh or just to let it be and pretend it never happened. He didn't even know if it was Maive and Josh in the first place. He didn't know what to think or what to do. He decided to play it safe and not ask directly. Knowing Maive would probably kill him for asking such a 'preposterous' question.

Maive was in the back room in which Tyler used mainly for music production while on the road. She sat horizontally on the seat, letting her feet dangle off the end, scrolling through her phone. Her phone started buzzing and Ruby's name appeared on the screen. Maive swiped accept and put the phone up to her ears.

"R-"

"Oh thank God you picked up. Listen, your Mum was super worried about where you were so I may or may not have kinda maybe lied and said you were on a school camping trip" Ruby spluttered out quickly and breathlessly, voice almost a whisper.

"-uby" Maive continued, a little dazed.

"Wait what?" Her brain finally caught up and she sat up instantly in her chair.

"She's going to call you. I have to go I shouldn't be calling you in the middle of my maths lesson. Bye" Ruby quickly hung up, Maive sat there with her phone still up to her ear, trying to process what happened. She sighed and put her phone on her lap, rubbing her face in frustration.

----

"Hey man! You usually win. What's up?" Tyler and Josh were sitting on the couch playing Mario Kart 64 on the TV to kill some time while travelling to the next town over. Josh put his controller down, lightly shoving Tyler. Tyler was usually very competitive when it came to Mario Kart and didn't understand why he wasn't basically screaming for a re-match and accusing Josh of cheating.

"Where were you last night?" Josh leaned back a little bit.

"I was looking for you but I couldn't find you. We were having a Mario Kart marathon" Tyler wanted to prove his theory right and wanted to see if his best friend and band mate would lie to him about his whereabouts the previous night.

"I-uh. Went for a walk. Needed some alone time with the fresh air" Josh shrugged as if it weren't a bit deal. Tyler sat back in his chair, picking up his controller.

"I'm gonna crush you Joshua Dun!" Tyler said changing the subject back to the video game, his competitiveness coming out strong.

"Try me" Josh challenged, gripping on the game controller tighter.

--

"Hey Mum" Maive answered her phone quietly, unsure of what was about to go down.

"Do you know how many times I've tried calling you in the last week and a half?" Maive furrowed an eyebrow.