Beautiful Mess

Chapter 7

   I could hear yelling coming from the opposite side of the door. Curious, I turned to Chase, who had offered to carry my bags in. He rolled his eyes before opening the door.

   "Shit, Ian. You killed me," Adam yelled. He threw up his hands in defeat and threw himself against the couch. Ian shook his head and snickered.

   "Can you stop being a girl?" He asked.  I heard Chase laugh to himself from behind me, making me laugh as well.

   "God, can you two give it a break?" asked a tall, brown haired guy. He wore a t-shirt and boxers, eating a bowl of cereal as he rounded the corner. He not once glanced over at Chase and I. "You guys have been at this for two hours. Shut up."

  "You wouldn't be saying this if you gave the game a chance," Adam said. Ian agreed. Chase stepped around me, motioning me to follow. I took one more glance back the three of them before following Chase down the hallway.

  "This is the room you'll be staying in," he explained, dropping my bag on the bed. I was surprised to see that the bed sheets were plastered with flowers and ruffles. I glanced around the room and noticed that it, too, had flowers on the walls, which were painted pink. Chase put his hands in his pockets and stood awkwardly, not knowing what to say.

   "This is interesting, " I said. He looked at me with a curious look. I motioned for him to look around the room. "This. What's a group of adolescent males doing with a room full of flowers?" Chase snickered.

  "Adolescent males?" He laughed.

  "Yeah, like the stage between teen and adult,"I explained.

   "I know what it means. It's just weird to hear it out loud," he said. I sat down on the bed waiting for an answer.

  "It's a long story," he answered. He ran a hand through his hair before letting out a sigh. "Well, I'll be in the living room with the guys. Make yourself at home. Just do whatever you want,"he smiled.

  "Who's that guy eating the cereal?" I asked pointing to the brown head currently drinking the last bit of milk. Ian yelled as he killed Adam's character.  Chase turned and looked before realizing that I hadn't met him.

  "That's Lucas," he answered. "He's kind of a downer."

  "Shut the hell up," Lucas yelled at Ian. Ian turned around and smacked his leg before going back to the screen. I looked over at Chase and nodded, understanding completely. "God, can a man get a little piece of quiet around here?" Lucas got up from the couch, walking past my bedroom door, still not once noticing me.

  "You get used to him, " Chase defended. I nodded. I started to dig in my bag as Chase started to walk out of my room.

   "We're leaving at eight, so just in case we don't see you tonight, you'll know what time to be ready, " Chase said. He took one last look before walking out the room.

   I sighed, taking my phone out of my bag. I had three missed calls from my mom, one from Sam and two texts from Hannah and Sonya demanding to know where I was. I deleted the missed calls and texting both of my friends back to let them know I was fine. Suddenly, I received a message from Maddox. I contemplated opening it. I knew he would be furious. I broke the "agreement" that he had set up. If this music thing didn't fall through, I'd be paying my dues when I got back. Lord knows I didn't want it to happen again. I deleted it, realizing that doing so had lifted a giant weight off my shoulder.

  I searched in my bag for my pajamas, noting the exhaustion that was settling in my body. I sifted through until I had all my bathroom necessities and made my way to the living room. Chase had joined Ian and Adam in playing Call of Duty. The three of them were leaned up against the couch, engrossed in killing each other. From the looks of it, Chase was teamed with Ian and Adam was on his own, each accompanied with computerized teammates.