Sparrow of the Dawn

Down in a Hole

The next day, I wake up alone in Jake's bed. I reach under my pillow for my phone to look at the time. I have slept until 1pm. "Hey sleeping beauty," Jake says as he enters the little room. He sits on the edge of the bed and kisses my forehead as I cover my sleepy face with the covers.

"I look like sleep," I say, annoyed. Jake chuckles and gets back up. 

"Get your cute ass up. I'm taking you on a lunch date before tonight's show," he says.

"Lit. What city are we in?" I ask.

"Cleveland," he answers. I sigh, get up, and walk to the bathroom to get ready for the day. On my way, I see Danny, Sam, and Josh sitting at the little table near the bedroom curtain. All three guys smile and wave at me awkwardly, as if to cover up that they were just talking about me. I get ready quickly, brushing my teeth, pulling my mess of hair into a tight bun, and smearing makeup on my face almost carelessly. 

"Alright I'm ready," I say, less than enthusiastically. "It's Sam's birthday, don't you think we should bring him, too?" I ask.

"He's got his own plans with that girl," he tells me.

"Ah."

Jake and I exit the bus together and walk down the short street to a cute restaurant called Luca's. "Whoever drove this morning picked the perfect parking lot to park in!" Jake says smiling. I nod and agree. We walk in, and are seated in the back of the restaurant near a big vase full of clipped sunflowers. "These are so beautiful, just like you!" he says. There's a sweet light in his eyes that I haven't seen before.

"What's with you today?" I ask him.

"I am just so happy to be here with you. After all that drama with Christa, I am trying to soak up 'chill Lex'," he says with a smile. I look at him confused. "I mean... I guess I feel like there may be some drama with Sam and Aubrie." Ah, there it is.

I am disappointed but not offended at Jake's statement. Of course there may be drama. Me and Sam kind of had a thing for a half a second, but I don't want to be a predictable girl looking for the next episode of guy drama. I take a breath and reply, "Jake, the last thing I want to do is start drama with those two. I am happy for Sam. I have you."

"Okay, but what about Aubrie?" He asks.

I shrug. "I forgive the girl, but I don't think it would be a good idea to get close to her again right now." Jake rolls his eyes. 

At this point, I stop talking and look over the menu. Our waiter has not even stopped at our table yet and I am getting anxious. "If the waiter comes, can you just order me a water and some cheese ravioli? I need a minute."

"Hey are you--" Jake begins to speak but I get up too fast to hear the last of the sentence. I walk outside and reach into my bag to look for the emergency pack of cigarettes I brought for, well, emergencies. I can't find the pack and I'm getting frustrated when I look up to see Sam and Aubrie holding hands and walking on the opposite side of the street. They look like they just got back from a carnival because Aubrie is holding a pink bear and Sam is holding a box of popcorn. That's sweet I think to myself as I slide around the corner to avoid being noticed by the pair. I guess it is pretty dumb to be jealous. I know Aubrie isn't trying to steal Jake from me, it just feels like history will repeat itself. 

After thinking for what seems like an hour, I walk back into the restaurant and sit back down. "What happened?" Jake asks. 

"I was being dramatic. Thank you for being so patient with me," I say, giving a clearly fake smile.

Jake looks at me concerned. I bet he can guess what happened when I went outside. "After the show tonight, we're all going to get drunk together and see if we can't get rid of all this tension and anxiety," he says calmly in between bites of bread. I know that isn't the right way to ease into things involving my traitorous old friend, but Jake seems confident in his suggestion. I shrug and begin to eat my ravioli quietly. All of us, young adults, drunk on a bus. What's the worst that could happen?

***Thanks for all the nice comments/messages I got while I was away! I have been working on writing a new chapter since I saw Greta in Cleveland in June but some stuff went down and now here we are. Let's see how long it takes me to write the next chapter