Standing By

Dual Roles

(Mitch)

I was floating down a river, a nice, peacefully rocking river, on an inflatable turquoise raft, a cocktail in one hand, a camera in the other, headphones in and blasting awesome dance music, and my eye on the hot eye candy on the river bank. I was thinking about ways to introduce myself, how to best flirt, how to talk to him, and how to get his attention and to notice me. Whoa. Was it just me or was he looking at me? Oh my God, he was! OK, time to make my move. I decided the best way to do things would be to stand on the raft and sing out to him. That's the only natural thing to do, right? Making sure my hair was just right and pinching my cheeks to give them a bit of color, I stood up and balanced perfectly on my raft. Justin Timberlake would be perfect right now. I started singing Can't Stop The Feeling out to him and he did turn to look. He must have liked what he was seeing, because he started smiling at me. I started dancing my little ass off for him, letting him see exactly what he could have. His smile was getting bigger—but the raft starting lurching. I shrieked, trying hard to stay on and not look like a complete fool, throwing my arms out to balance, but I was losing my footing anyway. I started falling off the raft—towards a waterfall. Holy shit, where'd that damn waterfall come from? There was no waterfall two minutes ago! I shrieked again as I was tossed against a rock. Ohhh my God, I'm gonna die! I opened my mouth and got a mouthful of water as I started to drown, thrashing about in the water.

"Helllp," I moaned as the people on the bank were just watching—watching me and pointing at me. Even Scott was pointing at me and I swear I could hear his voice as he spoke to Kevin, saying, "Look, he's drowning! See?" And starting to smile about it! I was starting to cry about my best friend just grinning as I met my sorry end when something fell hard on my face— and I woke up.

I found myself lying on the floor of my hotel room, between the two beds, with my phone now laying on my neck. That must have been what fell on my face. I sat up slowly, rubbing my eyes. Ugh. Was it morning already? Or did I just fall out of bed at some point? Poking at my phone nearsightedly, it seemed to be telling me it was 6:26. Blech. I rubbed my nose and climbed back into bed. I was just closing my eyes when I remembered I was supposed to meet the others in the restaurant at 7:00. Just two more minutes, I needed two more minutes. I let my eyes fall shut. Of course, two minutes turned into ten before I heard a loud knocking on the adjoining door, and Scott stuck his head in.

"Making sure you're up. I know how hard it is for you in the morning."

"It's not morning," I mumbled, my voice heavy with sleep. "Look out the window. It's pitch black out there."

"It's 6:40. We're meeting Home Free and everyone for breakfast at 7:00," he reminded me, coming over to my bed. "Come on, Mitchie, wake up."

"Nooo," I moaned, pulling the cover over my face. "Don't wanna."

"But you have to." Scott pulled the blanket back away from my face and placed a soft kiss on my forehead. "Wake up."

I grunted at him, trying to grab the blanket back, but he was too quick. He pulled it all the way off me and I groaned, insulted by the cold air on my legs.

"Seriously. Get up," Scott ordered. "It's 6:40. You have twenty minutes to pull yourself together or I'm going to dress you myself."

"OK, OK, OK," I complained, sitting up. "Mornings suck."

"Yep, I know." He yawned widely. "Twenty minutes, Mitch."

"I heard you the first time." I stood up and rolled my head around my shoulders, trying to get a crick out of my neck. I took a quick shower and brushed my teeth, then popped my contacts in. I was trying to decide between five different shirts and three different pairs of pants when Scott came back in.