Chapter 8: Another Near Death Experience

I managed to break up the fight, but the guys were brooding all the way to motel and even Jed and Kyle stayed quiet. The next morning we started driving again and I waited for them to snap out of their funk. Mika wouldn’t even look at me. If he was mad at me then I had no idea why. Neill had chewed dad out last night for giving her his number, but he hadn’t spoken since then either. It was eerie in here so I tried to work on my writing.

 

She should be go downstairs. Sara knew she couldn’t go down there though she was still recovering from her last coughing fit. She could scarcely sit up and she was so tired. She hated when she got sick like this. She got super sick once a month at least and she was a total mess during that time. She just hugged her pillows as her stomach didn’t a figure eight on the inside. The girl just pulled herself into a sitting position and checked her forehead which was very hot. It was rain outside so she’d look insane if she turned the air conditioning on. She had a fever anyways but a little cold air might ease her suffering.

She started coughing up phlegm again and sneezing like she was never going to stop. She felt herself gag and then the coughing continued causing damage to her throat. “Are you okay noise maker?” she heard Heath say before she hacked up some phlegm. She heard footsteps and then silence. Well there was silence except for her coughing up a lung. She tried to reach for her water but it slipped and her hand slipped. She coughed and lost her grip on the bed falling to the floor. “Sara”, Heath ran in and sat beside her, “are you alright?”

“Water”, she choked out.

“Here”, he handed her a new cup along with a thing of Nyquil.

“Thanks”, she drank some water then downed the Nyquil. She took a few deep breaths with a few more coughs. “Sorry about that”, she pulled herself over to sit against the bed.

“Couldn’t sleep anyways”, he sat down next to her, “do you need anything else?”

“I can go downstairs myself”, she started to get up and her head rang out so loud she almost fell on the floor but Heath caught her.

 

I was really starting to feel a detachment from the story I was writing by this point. Heath didn’t feel realistic anymore; people were more complicated than the good boy and the bad boy types. I was determined to keep writing though. It was the only thing that could keep me from losing my mind. I tapped my pen against the notebook trying to reign in ideas. I was still lost when I smelled something strange. “Gross,” I covered my nose, “Is there a skunk in here?”

“Hey,” Michael reached forward and I looked up and breathed in the scent of alcohol that had been filling the car, “Deke is asthmatic, idiots.”

“Settle down, old timer,” Jed coughed, “It’s just a light mist to cool down the environment.

“Smoking,” I snatched away the joint and threw it out the window, “You’re wasting your lives.”

“No,” both guys went for the door. Mika grabbed Kyle as Jed opened the door.

“Save it,” Jed tried to jump.

 

“Em.” I wrapped my arms around Jed and held him back.

“We’re not going to make it; we aren’t going to make it,” Jed struggled, “We’re broken.”

“Close the damn door, Jed,” Mika commanded, “Now.”

“You’re not our king; you don’t decide what we do,” Kyle bit his hand and I climbed into the backseat.

“Lap dance,” Jed remarked.

“Jed,” Neill and Mika both shouted. I tried to close the door and I tripped over Jed’s knee.

 

“Em,” the guys shouted and my hand caught on the handle before I completely fell out. I held onto it for dear life until the car pulled over and stopped. My body shook and my heartbeat was in my throat. I could have been road kill if I hadn’t reacted fast enough. I realized in that moment that the last thing I wanted was to lose this life. It was dull and bland before, but there were people here who understood me. I couldn’t lose them; never again. I put my feet down on the ground then my shaky legs collapsed underneath me. I was breathing hard and seeing a corpse of a dead deer in the ditch made my breathing come out faster.

“Mika,” Neill came over to me and knelt down beside me, “Emmy, I thought you were going to fall out.”

“I could have been that deer,” I felt tears welling up in my eyes.

 

“Hey,” Neill hugged me, “You have too much to live for, darling; you aren’t going anywhere for a long time.”

“Jed, Kyle if I see any alcohol for the next week; I’ll throw it all in the river,” Mika warned.

“I’ll help,” Max agreed and I wrapped Michael’s jacket tighter around me.

“We never wanted something to happen to Emmy,” Jed had tears in his eyes, “I am so sorry, Em; I tried to grab you, but there were two of you.”

 

“Oh, is that so?” I found myself laughing through the tears.

“This isn’t funny,” Neill commented and then Mika snorted, “What are you doing?”

“Maybe it’s the whiskey, but trying to catch two people seems pretty difficult,” Mika said and we both burst out laughing.

“Creative people,” Deke shook his head, “When they snap, heaven help us all if this continues.”

“I totally did a Matrix move back there,” I said still giggling, “That road wasn’t going to get me.”

“It was afraid of you; it cowered away,” Mika agreed and the other guys cracked smiles.

 

“You two are the strange people we know,” Max commented, “Why don’t you just end the foreplay already?”

“You’ve been using foreplay for what four years on one of the fans,” Michael remarked.

“She is the one who keeps getting away,” I added, “You’re still after Clary.”

“For two very smart people, you should know not to touch on that subject,” Deke snorted, “Clary is his soul-mate after all.”

“The problem is that Max can only talk in Shakespearean around her,” Max joked and I got up to my feet feeling much steadier, “You have strange taste in men, Emmy.”

 

“If last night was any indication then we have a problem,” Mika sobered up a little.

“I’ll be more picky about men; I am sorry you guys had to get involved,” I apologized, “I know you’re all probably mad at me.”

“Why would you think that?” Kyle questioned.

“None of you were talking to me,” I reminded him.

“That wasn’t because of you,” Mika commented, “So self-involved, Miss. Foster.”

 

“What was it then?” I demanded.

“One of the music producers offered us a recording contract and we’re all kind of in shock,” Neill told me, “The producer was from Nevada; he enjoyed our performance in Vegas and came up here looking for talent when he ran into us.”

“He is a strong believer in fate,” Mika made a face.

“That’s great; you just have to keep your beliefs to yourself,” I shrugged climbing into the back again.

“If I believed in fate then I’d probably be even more of a pessimist, Foster,” he followed me in.

“Mika, maybe you could get Emmy to help you write some lyrics,” my brother suggested, “Keep her mind off souring subjects.”

“Good plan,” I gave my brother a look.

“She’s already sour, but I don’t think my current direction of songs is very uplifting.”

“Now that’s a challenge,” I moved to sit next to him.

“When do I get my jacket back,” he inquired.

“Try never,” I replied then opened his notebook, “Rules are Made to Follow; is that your anthem?”

“It’s just a reminder,” he sighed then I started to read the lyrics, “Is it sappy enough for you?”

“You know I hate sappy romantic stuff,” I continued to read, “I’m going to say this isn’t quite dark enough for the subject matter; it isn’t serious enough.”

 

“Do you think the lines should be shortened in the chorus?” he asked me pointing it out.

“Definitely and use some metaphors and create images like you used to in your poetry,” I underlined the lines that I didn’t like, “You cannot mass produce music, Townsend.”

“I think it’s my turn,” he picked something green up and I heard pages being flipped.

 

“What are you doing?” I looked up and saw him leafing through my notebook, “Hey, I didn’t give you permission.”

“Heath,” he raised an eyebrow, “You named the main character after your ex boyfriend.”

“Yes,” I lied.

“Why is it in third person?” he flipped to the next page, “What is this?”

“It’s a fan fiction,” I said defensively.

“You’ve been writing since you were four,” Neill called from the front, “You can do better than fan fictions, sis.”

“No, I can’t,” I closed the book.

 

“Just let me read it,” Mika ordered, “You could use another writer’s critique; although, I am not an expert on this supernatural stuff; I watched the first Twilight movie, but afterward I regretted it so this could be hard.”

“I don’t want you to read it,” I argued stealing it back, “I write this to keep myself sane and so that I can believe I’m alright; I don’t care if it isn’t the greatest piece of literary fiction in the world it’s mine.”

“You know you can write something better,” he took back his book, “I may be stuck in a rut, but you have an idea every time you let yourself consider new things; I see you writing in the back of the book.”

“Those are just anecdotes,” I insisted, “Stuff about van conversations, my mom and the fan addicts.”

“Speaking of fan addicts,” Deke called back from the driver’s seat, “I see Marianne’s red BMW two cars back.”

“Lose her,” Mika looked out the back, “The girl knows no boundaries; I never did anything to lead her on.”

“Addicts lead themselves on,” I watched her, “She must have something else to live for; she should be in school still.”

 

“According to her Twitter, she dropped out and her parents sent her to her Aunt’s after a drug overdose,” Max turned around, “This may just be her life.”

“That just makes her more dangerous,” Mika said.

“It also makes her more like me,” I wrapped my arms around myself.

“You aren’t her, trust me,” he took my hand and I knew that I did trust him.