FRIENDS

7

When I woke up in the morning, the menu screen for "Lilo and Stitch" was still playing on the television in my room but Michael was gone. I wondered where he was, but I knew he'd slept with me all night; I'd woken up at four in the morning to his legs tangled with mine.

I'd wanted to get up and get a glass of water but he'd looked so peaceful so I'd made the decision not to disturb him. Besides, I didn't really want him to leave and go to his own room while I was gone. I liked having him with me so I'd decided to go back to sleep thirsty.

I laid in bed for a few minutes, deciding on what I wanted to do to start my day. I was sort of scared of running into Ashton in the hallway since I didn't really know how angry he was going to be with me today. Maybe I'd shower and by the time I was done, Michael would reappear.

I finally made the decision that it was time to call my parents. I had been in Los Angeles for five days already and I hadn't made any sort of contact with my parents; the only reason they knew I was alive was because Michael had called them.

My father answered on the fifth ring and said hello before immediately passing the phone over to my mother.

"Jesus Ivy, it took you long enough to call." My mother started without saying hello. "We were worried sick over here. We're on the other side of the world, you know. It's not like how it used to be when you'd be around Michael, where we could just call the Clifford's and see how you are when we hadn't heard from you in a few days." I sighed but I couldn't help but smile. This was how my mother was. She had always been the type to nag and whine and bitch, but I loved her more than anything else.

"I'm sorry, mum. There's been a lot going on here. Besides, there's a huge time zone difference, you know. It's not like I can call at any time that I want to." My mother huffed on the other end of the line.
"Yes, I suppose you're right. How is it in America? Is Michael being nice to you?" I heard my father laugh in the background. He thought it was hilarious that my mother still acted like Michael and I were children still, like if he was being 'mean' to me she could ring his mum and we could all get together and discuss things like we had up until we were twelve years old.

And for a moment, I thought about whether or not I should tell her about everything that has happened so far on this trip. I wanted to give in and tell my mum everything, about how he'd already hurt me so much. I wanted to tell her about what had happened with Ash and how I'd never had to deal with him being angry with me before.

I decided against it in the end. Michael and I were older now. We were both twenty years old and we couldn't go running to our mother's for every little issue anymore.

Even when the issues weren't so little and he was actually very good at breaking my heart.

"Everything is fine with Michael." I finally told her. I knew she'd caught on to my hesitation but she moved on with the conversation, as if she knew better than to pry. She finally put the phone on speaker so I could talk to both her and my father without any difficulty.

I told them about my trip so far, about how I'd helped Michael write part of a song and Ashton had taken me to the Santa Monica pier. I told them about meeting Lacey in Starbucks and how she was coming to hang out with the boys and I today, and that I was glad to have a friend here.

In return, my parents told me about life at home. They told me that my dog, Queen, missed me, and that all of the regulars at our store had been asking where I was.

My parents ran a chic little coffee shop in Sydney that had been opened by my grandparents. I worked for them and I had become quite close with a lot of our customers.

After about twenty minutes we got off of the phone. I promised that I'd call again soon now that I had my phone up and running, but I was positive that my mother would find a reason to call me everyday. We had never been this far away from each other. It was a little bit strange for the both of us.