Time And I

Forty-Four

"Should you even be at school right now?" Buddy questioned as I hopped into his car.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You can sleep in first period."

"Yeah, well, after the doctor, I wound up falling asleep, and I woke up at four. Couldn't fall back asleep, so I've been doing homework since I woke up."

"Gee, what a great way to start your day."

"Fuck off."

"How did your appointment go?"

"Great." Since I didn't get any actual sleep since Friday, I was a zombie throughout school yesterday. Devon and Buddy were basically my crutches. One always had their arm around me, supporting me. I zoned out through all of my classes. I tried to pay attention so I wouldn't fall behind, but it was impossible to. It would have made no difference if I stayed home and slept, but I wished I did.

Devon insisted on taking me to my doctor's appointment. I was worried about him missing work, but he said Dan told him to take the day off and make sure I was okay. Buddy offered to drive me instead, but I was glad that Devon insisted on going with me. As much as I loved Buddy, it was getting harder to see Devon. I'd take any time I had to be with him.

The visit was moderately short. Dr. Kasim came in, took my vitals, and asked me questions about my sleep and work load. She agreed with Devon and Buddy about me needing to get more sleep.

"I told you so," he exclaimed, smiling cheekily.

"Shut up."

"Did she give you anything?"

"No, she doesn't want me to take pills right away since she thinks it could just be stress from the amount of work I have this month. If it still continues after, she'll prescribe me something, but she doesn't want me to take them if I don't need them. You know? Opioids, and everything," I explained. "She told me to stop drinking Five Hour Energy's. Thinks that could be part of the problem as well."

"No shit. You shouldn't be taking that crap, regardless."

"Well, I need something to wake me up for my concerts!"

"Drink some coffee or pop or something. Doesn't the adrenaline help enough?"

"Not enough. I need to make it to the end of the concert. I can't take something halfway, or I really won't be able to sleep."

"Just promise you're going to take better care of yourself."

"Just a few more weeks of this, and then we're back to one to two concerts a weekend."

"Two still seems like too much."

"Maybe it is, but at least I will get either Saturday or Sunday off. If I have one day where I can relax and not do anything, I'll be good to go."

Sighing, Buddy pulled into a parking spot and said, "Don't be afraid to tell your bandmates you need some time. They're not the only ones in the band. If you need a break, take a break."

"Thanks, but I'll be fine."

"Mel-"

"It's just three more weeks. I can handle this. This is what it's going to be like when I'm famous."

"Yeah, but you won't have to deal with school."

While school was making my work load more stressful, I couldn't worry over quitting either of them. I would not be a drop out; I would graduate from high school. And I would not quit the band now that I was finally in one. I'd tell them at rehearsals that after these next few weeks I wouldn't be able to do the 'three concerts a weekend' shindig until I graduated. They'd hopefully understand.