Wasted Opportunities

Chapter 32

Michael's POV

“Uno!” yelled Ashton, placing his second last card on the pile. It was about 9 in the evening, and we were in the tour bus yet again on the way to Dublin for the first show of our UK tour, which was the next day. Unfortunately, the bus had some engine problems, and we had had to pull over in a field at the side of the road. We'd been told that the mechanics had arrived and said that it shouldn't take too long to fix, so we had decided to play some games to pass the time.

“This is so unfair,” complained Calum, picking up another card to add to the huge number he was already holding. “You're all ganging up on me.” I frowned and pouted as Emily added 4 cards to my pile.

“I was nearly catching up with Ash!” I whined.

“Sorry,” she laughed. “I couldn't play anything else.”

“This game is so biased,” said Calum as he failed to put a card down for about the sixth time in a row.

“Uno!” said Maddy. “Come on!”

“We're all so competitive,” smiled Luke.

“Because I have to win,” said Jojo, gritting her teeth.

“I will be victorious in the end,” promised Calum.

“Doesn't look very likely at the moment,” teased Flavia. “Sorry, darling.” Calum blushed, although Flavia called everyone darling.

“UNO!” shouted Ash, raising his arms in victory as he put his last card on the pile. “Yes! I am the champion! Everyone bow down before your king!” Maddy and Luke bowed obediently, but everyone else frowned, annoyed at being beaten.

“Uno,” said Maddy, more gracefully coming second.

“King and Queen,” said Ash, hugging her.

“I'll beat you next time,” she teased. The rest of us kept playing for a while before Emily, Jojo, Flavia and I were out.

“This is all just so unfair,” said Calum as it became clear that Luke was going to beat him. “I don't deserve this.”

“It's going to be okay you know, it's only a game,” said Flavia patronisingly, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“No, it's not,” he said, turning round and pretending to cry into her arm.

“Sorry, Calum,” said Luke as he put down his last card. Calum's fake weeping intensified. I was pretty sure he was using it just as an excuse to cuddle Flavia. Then again, she didn't seem to mind too much. She played along, rubbing his back gently and resting her head upon his.

“They need to just get together already,” Jojo whispered to me, smiling. I nodded in agreement. So do me and Emily, I thought to myself. She had seemed kind of distant today, and kept gazing into space as if she were thinking about something important. She was probably missing her family, seeing as they were so close but we were going to drive past without seeing them. She had never been away from them for this long, and I felt sorry for her; it was a massive thing, and most of us had started slowly, but she had been plunged right into the deep end. She kept glancing at Luke with an odd expression on her face, one I hadn't seen her wear before and couldn't quite figure out. I wondered if something had happened between them. Come to think of it, Luke had been acting weird the previous night as well when he had come back from wherever he had been. He kept smiling and daydreaming, but was really defensive whenever I spoke to him. I started to worry. What if something had happened between them? Maybe Luke had told her how he felt! What if they had decided to get together?