This Story's Going Somewhere

Chapter 5 - Patrick

                For two weeks, I sat around and deliberated calling Nora. I stared at her number that Ellie gave me for days before I even had the courage to put it in my phone. Now, I look at it every day, daring myself to hit the call button. I know I should talk to her, even attempt to be friends with her, because it seems that my best friends are close with her best friends, and we keep avoiding said friends just to stay away from each other. We can't keep doing that to them; We both need to man up and just decide what that night meant to us and where we stand with each other.

After our meeting with our label, Pete has been religious about getting us all together to practice. Andy comes over to the apartment almost every night to play with us, and I'm almost getting sick of our own album. Still, the thought of playing to hundreds, possibly even thousands of people one day, terrifies me. Pete tries to keep me calm, but I guess it's just a fear I'll have to conquer when the time comes. Meanwhile, we've set up a set list already and sent it out yesterday to our label to have them approve it, since they're still pretty much in charge of everything we do at this point.

Tonight, we were all sitting around the apartment, waiting for Andy to come over and practice with us yet again. Pete was on the phone with our label, discussing what our first music video would look like, and Joe was sprawled out on the couch, watching TV. I was in my room, staring at Nora's number in my phone, like usual the past couple of weeks. Ellie and Shauna had just left actually, since Pete and Joe had gotten lunch with them, and Ellie made a point of asking if I'd talked to Nora. I told her no, and she only rolled her eyes at me with a smile. "You two," she had teased, "What am I going to do with you?" I had shrugged and changed the subject.

She was right though, I did need to call Nora. Even if it was just for my own benefit, I at least needed the closure. So, I pressed her name in my contacts list and then hovered my finger over the call button. I don't know what kept stopping me, but I was almost more nervous about talking to her than I was about performing in front of a crowd. Suddenly, there was a knock at my door. I jumped at the sound, dropping my phone as if I had been doing something that I shouldn't. "Patrick!" Pete called, "Get ready, Andy's here!" I heard him walk away from my door, and I slid my phone into my pocket. I would just have to talk myself into calling her again later, after Pete was satisfied that we had practiced enough.

I climbed out of bed and grabbed my guitar, then headed out to the living room, where Andy was setting up his drums. He looked up as I walked in and smiled. "Hey Patrick," he said happily, and I answered back just as happily, even if I was a turmoil of uncertainties on the inside. We set up quickly, and played through the usual songs. We even practiced a few songs we didn't write ourselves. We were in the middle of a song when my phone started to ring in my pocket. Normally, I would have ignored it while we were practicing but I got a sudden feeling in my gut when it vibrated, like something bad had just happened. I stopped singing, pulling the phone from my pocket. Pete glared at me, but Nora's name was illuminated on the phone's screen. I held it up to show him, and he nodded once, but they kept playing as I walked away. I headed for my room, to dull the sound of the music, and answered the phone as soon as I set down my guitar on the couch.

"Hello?" I said as I walked into my room and shut the door.

"Patrick?" Nora's voice came over the phone shaking, and I wasn't sure how to respond at first.

"Nora?" I asked, trying to gather my racing thoughts. There was no reasonable explanation coming to mind as to why she could be calling me, and I started to wonder if something was wrong. "Uh...hi," I said, "How are you?"

"I, um...I needed to talk to you, about something," she said quickly. I hesitated, knowing something was definitely off.

"Oh...okay. What's up?"