After rehearsals, Finn and his band mates sit around relaxing backstage. With their busy schedule, they barely have time on their hands.
"I hope we don't have anything else to do today. I'm already so tired," Ben complains.
"That's the cost of being a band," Henry shrugs.
"I didn't say I didn't like it," Ben says.
Finn ignores his friends as he examines the room. The gray walls and the carpeted floor. The black couches they're sitting on. A white coffee table. Bright lights. Pictures of past acts plastered onto the walls.
Seeing the pictures, he pulls out his phone. He decides maybe he would feel at home if he looks at old photos.
The first picture is of the whole family in front of the airport before he left. Next is of him and his younger sister making silly faces. There is one of him and his dog, Molly. One of him and his brother pretending to make something in the kitchen. Another of him and his parents. Him and his band mates in a recording session.
The pictures begin to blur as his goes through them.
Mom. Dad. Younger sister, Helen. Older brother, Tyler. Grandparents. Molly. Recording sessions. Adventures with the band. Old friends.
His mind begins to race with old memories now.
When he was five, they had just gotten Molly. Seven, he met Danny. Ten, he began to play guitar. Thirteen, his first kiss.
Finn freezes and drops his phone.
The loud clatter captures his friends' attentions.
"You okay, Finn?" Rian asks.
He doesn't answer. He just stares down at his empty hands.
"Hey, Finn," Henry says.
"Finnegan?" Danny asks.
The boys repeats his name in hopes to wake him from his entrancement.
Finn blinks a few times before he wakes up from his thoughts.
"Sorry. Did you say something?" he finally asks.
"We've been calling your name for five minutes," Ben replies.
"I was just thinking," he says.
"Well, you dropped your phone," Rian says.
He picks up his phone as Danny asks, "Are you okay, Finn? You seem different lately."
Finn thinks on this question. He bites his bottom lip. A war rages between telling the truth or lying to his best friends.
"Just homesick is all," he decides to say.
"How about we go grab some coffee? Get your mind off of home, mate," Henry suggests.
He's hesitant, but agrees to go anyways. Maybe it's a getaway he needs.
YOU ARE READING
Where Home Isn't | ✓
Short StoryInspired by a true story. • ". . . he just says, 'I just want to go home,' before crying again." • Finn Chapman is a singer in a rising band. Touring with his best friends was the best feeling in world, but that soon faded. After two years of tour...
