Not Thinkin' Bout You

Chapter 5

PREVIOUSLY: "I don't know. He never gives a straight answer when I ask him about her," she responded as confidently as possible. They seemed to buy it, nodding and letting Christina change the topic to the top her older sister was wearing, even though it meant nothing to any of them. 

"Sorry we didn't call for ages, the airport had really bad reception," Zach's voice explained through the crackling that was being emitted from the phone speaker. Ellody's heart was still racing from the moment when she picked up her phone and Zach's face covered the whole screen. Now she was hiding in the bathroom from Sienna, who wanted to say hi to him.

"It's alright, I'm just glad you called. I was worried for a second," Ellody replied hastily, checking her watch to find out that it was nearly three in the morning.

"Yeah, well we're all good. Uh, Corbyn wants to... talk to you... hold up," Zach said, and there was a muffled noise before Corbyn got hold of his phone and started to talk.

"Hey Ellody! Did you hear from Christina? I haven't been able to get to her since we landed and I know you guys were planning to call when she landed," Corbyn yelled. Ellody winced and turned the volume down a little on the side of her phone.

"Yeah, we chatted about three hours ago, roughly. She was in the first stopover, I haven't heard from her since, but she should land at some point soon for the last one before she gets home," the girl explained slowly. Corbyn cleared his throat before thanking her and giving the phone to someone else, who she assumed was Zach, but turned out to be Jonah.

"It's Jonah. I think we're playing a game called Pass Ellody Around and it's my turn," Jonah joked, and Ellody laughed. She did want to talk to Zach before they had to go again, but Jonah's voice was calming.

"Sounds alright. Where are you guys?" she asked, trying to keep the conversation going so she could listen to his voice. It really was weirdly calming to hear his deep tones coming through the speaker.

"Uh, I think we're on our way to a hotel of sorts. We caught an Uber because the security car got lost, but I don't think he knows who we are anyway," Jonah muttered, and a loud yell erupted from her phone. "Jack wants his turn," Jonah added and he said goodbye to Ellody before hanging up. She stared at the shower screen in disbelief. Did they really just hang up on me? Jesus. Before she could react, her phone was buzzing with a call from Jack.

"Wow. Just wow," she said loudly the second he picked up. There was a lot of laughter from the other side, and Ellody assumed she was on speaker.

"I'm hilarious," Jack assured her before there was a bang and Zach ended up being on the other side.

"They're so stupid. Like me," Zach laughed, and the girl shook her head, grinning.

"I haven't heard from Daniel yet," she teased, even though she just wanted to be left alone with her best friend. Clearly, they were all high in some way, so that wasn't going to happen.

"Oh yeah! Daniel, get over here. Just... yeah, climb over Jonah, no big deal. And- OUCH! That was my foot!" Zach yelled, and there was still more laughter. Ellody wished she was there, she wished she was the one that stepped on Zach's foot, not Daniel.

"Hi Ellody, sorry about all the noise. I think they all did some sort of drugs without me," Daniel muttered, and there was a loud noise that sounded like someone was slapped.

"What was that?" Ellody asked, not really wanting to know unless it had to do with Zach. Or Jonah.

"Um, Corbyn got slapped," Daniel said, and someone yelled and there was even more laughter. She felt a pang in her chest that wanted to be sitting with them.

"Oh. That's just great. Uh, have you heard from... uh, Jess lately?" Ellody asked randomly, remembering that Daniel had a girlfriend.

"Jessie? No, I haven't. I probably won't hear from her until I get to the hotel room and call her, I doubt she'd call first. She's probably hanging out with Baby," he explained, and Ellody felt extremely confused. How could she not call her boyfriend the second he landed? Or at least message? What if the plane had crashed, and they'd died? She'd be the last to know!

"Oh, OK. Well, say hi to her for me. Can I talk to Zach, please?" she asked, silently thinking that Jessie should really care more about the boys. Even though they were completely fine, and the chances of anything happening to them were very low.

"Yeah, sure. Hold on a sec- Jack! Get off him- oh my God. Sorry Ellody, this is going to be a minute. Jack! Wow. Jonah- please- OK, wow. Guys. Just wow." A loud swishing noise came through, and there was a scream.

"Did you just phone flip Ellody?" Zach yelled, and the phone was passed around again. Ellody giggled, wondering what could possibly be going on. "Ell. Babe," Zach said loudly, and there was a distant snort from the other side.

"Uh, hello Zach. It's me. Ellody. Not your girlfriend," she reminded him, feeling her face get hot and red. How could he let words slip like that?

"Yeah, I know. So, how was your drive home? Very safe, I'm assuming," Zach asked, reminding the girl of their weekend and how she checked each of their seatbelts before they drove anywhere.

"Ha ha. So funny. Yes, it was alright. Oh, sorry I've still got your hoodie. I meant to give it back but I forgot," Ellody said hastily, starting to wish that this conversation would end.

"Nah, I knew you had it. You needed it more than I did at the airport, it's fine," he decided, making Ellody blush even harder.

"That was so gross, by the way. I didn't ask for you to lick my face," she added, and the phone was muffled before he spoke again.

"Bro. You were still on speaker. Now Jonah knows I licked your face; he was the only one paying any attention, actually. Jeez," he whispered. Ellody giggled, thinking of the look on Jonah's face when she said that. Thankfully, she didn't have to see him for a little while, and he would've forgotten about it by then.

"Ah, that's a bit weird. Oh well. I guess you have to go? How long is that car ride taking?" she commented, checking her watch. They'd been talking for ten minutes - not that long in Ellody's standards, but a very long time for the boys to be sitting in a car without food.

"Yeah, we probably should. We're about to get to the airport. I mean, hotel. Jesus Christ, my brain is fried," he laughed, and she could practically hear Jonah rolling his eyes.

"Who am I sharing a room with?" Corbyn shouted in the background.

"Not me - I'm with Jack," Zach called back. Corbyn groaned loudly, and Ellody laughed.

"I was asking who I was bunking with, not without," Corbyn added, and Zach sighed into the phone.

"I'll call you at some point, OK? I know how much you need me," Zach said in a weird tone that showed her he was being silly, but that he did know that she needed him.

"OK, I'll talk to you later. Thank you for the hoodie," Ellody said, reaching for the red disconnect button to hang up.

"Alright, bye. Love ya."

"Love ya, Zachy."