Prank Calls | D.R.

Chapter 20

Drew's POV

      Here goes nothing.

      All four of the other guys are listening. Chance and Brady are both together, on the same screen. They're video chatting from Brady's computer, I believe. Chance looks the same as the last time I saw him. It was only a couple of days ago.

     Brady, on the other hand, looks different, slightly. His face seems more defined and less childish, like he grew a whole year in the course of a couple of months. I don't know what kind of water they have in Cleveland, but I want some.

      Michael, unlike the two of them, is somewhere else (probably the hospital). Putting it as lightly as I can, he looks horrible. It looks as if he hasn't eaten in days, his cheek bones extra prominent. There are layers of bags sitting under his eyes, showing he hasn't slept in a while. His face is ghostly pale as well.

       Sergio is with me, looking at me from the couch in the other side of the short table. Mia is also right next to me.

     "Oh my gosh, is that the Mia?" Brady asks, his eyes wide. She laughs.

      "Yep, that's her," Sergio answers for the two of us.

        "I heard Drew got a girlfriend. I thought it was a load of crap, but I still heard it, and now I see it's true," he sits there, dumbfounded. "Remind me to never doubt the media again."

      "I'm not doing that," Chance laughs from beside him.

     "So guys, I called you to address... everything I guess," I awkwardly sigh. Mia stands behind me and rubs my shoulders.

      "You've got this," she tells me quietly. I smile back at her.

     "Like...how I've been acting, and the reasoning behind it, and stuff," I trail off. Brady looks confused. Sergio looks interested. Chance seems intrigued. Michael's face is blank.

     "I thought that's just who you've become. The fame got to you and your personality just adapted to it," Brady shoves some type of food in his mouth. Chance nods in agreement.

     "Same thing here," Sergio chimes in. This is exactly what I didn't want. One of them points something out, and they all join in.

     "I'm going to explain everything, just hear me out," I sigh once. I'm really doing this.

     "Everyone thought that the reason I acted out, the reason I got into all the alcohol and drugs, was because I was becoming famous, and I thought I was better than everyone else. Am I right?"

      "Yeah," Chance murmurs for all of them.

     "That wasn't the case. I used it as a coping mechanism," I feel Mia squeeze my hand reassuringly, and I squeeze her hand back.

     "Coping mechanism? Drew, the five of us, we're a family. You can talk to us about anything that's bothering you," Sergio tells me with sincerity dripping out of his voice.

      "Well...I just thought... I thought..." I'm trying to find the best way to put this, but it's tough.

     "You can tell us Drew. We'll listen," Chance says reassuringly.

     "I thought you guys didn't want me in the group," I whisper out, but they all hear it.

     "We've always wanted you in the group. The band wouldn't be the same without you. What made you think that?" Brady looks concerned.

     "Well...you guys all loved Mikey..."

    "And we loved you, we still do," Sergio interrupts me to say that.