217. The Drifters

Warning: nudity

Monte Vista, present day...
Michaela couldn’t go back to sleep after she spoke to her father. Talking and thinking about Cameron always did that to her.

“Cam,” she cried as she stared at his photo. She missed him something awful, and not a single day went by without her calling him, she felt bad for the way she left, the way she'd treated him and she didn't know what to say to him, so to avoid hurting him even more, she always hung up when he picked up the phone, Of course she’d turned off her caller ID so he wouldn’t see it’s her, but she guessed he already knew she’s the stalker. 

The need to hear his voice was so strong then, without thinking she dialed his number.She hung up before their lines could connect though. It was just after 4:15am, way too early to be drunk calling anyone, okay she wasn’t exactly drunk calling him, but still, it was an ungodly hour to be on the phone.

With a loud sigh she sprung out of bed, collected her toiletries from her luggage bag and headed to the bathroom.

She spent a long time in the shower, thinking about her father’s call. Talking to him had made her miss home even more.

At first she was diligent with her text messages, but when she started losing herself in the new town, Bridgeport seemed so far away, and the people she loved seemed just as far, reaching out to them became harder each day.

Before her father’s call she’d dropped from three weekly texts to just one. It wasn’t fair on her parents; they were obviously worrying about her.

“Note to self: call home every day without fail,” she told herself as she lathed more of the vanilla scented shower smoothie into her hands.

Half an hour later, she was ready to tackle her day. She was surprised to find Hayden in the kitchen, making a fresh pot of coffee.“No sleep for the damned, huh?” She murmured as she took a seat at the island and patiently waited for her first cup of coffee.Hayden half-turned from the coffee machine and gave her a brief smile. “What’s your reason for being up so early?”“I was on the phone,” she replied.“Cameron?” Hayden’s attention was back on the coffee now.“I wish. It was my dad.”

“Ah, the legendary J.D. Summers.” A bassist himself, Hayden was J.D.’s self-proclaimed number one fan, it’s the first thing he’d told her when they met first met.“He’s just my dad, nothing legendary about him,” Michaela brushed him off.Of course her dismissal made him all the more excited, and it wasn’t long before she was listening to one of his long lectures about why her father was a legend in the music circles.

Lowell joined them moments later. The lecture moved from J.D. to her uncle. Lowell was a drummer and Krisis’ biggest fan boy if there was ever such a thing. Michaela took over the task of making coffee; Hayden had obviously decided talks of music were way more important.

Soon, over their steaming mugs of coffee, the brothers kept ribbing her about Cameron, saying he wasn’t as legendary as his band mates.Being Cameron’s biggest fan she took their bait, and defended him viciously. “Music was never his first love! He’s a photographer first, then a keyboardist. Besides, he is and always will be a legend to me; after all he stole my heart.”

“I’m with Michaela, Cameron wins hands down!” Rene added her two cents worth from the doorway; they all turned to her, surprised to see her there.

“What?” she held up her hands, “it’s not my fault you all get so worked up over music you forget everything else exists.” She explained her quiet presence throughout their exchange.“To what do you base Cameron’s legendness?” Lowell demanded.

“Is that even a word?” Michaela made a face at him as she turned to the coffeemaker to pour Rene a cup.

Her friend gratefully accepted the mug. “On his looks alone, of course.”

Her reply earned her a high-five from Michaela, and the boys groaned in their seats, they could see with Rene on Michaela's side, they'd lost this round.

“But I’d do your mom any day. She’s hot!” Rene added with a wink.

“Dude, come on, that’s just nasty,” Michaela slapped her arm playfully. Rene’s bisexual, but at the moment she had a thing for Lowell, who in turn was a little hesitant to start something with her because he didn’t know how long Monte Vista was going to be his home.

“I have an idea!” Hayden’s eyes were ablaze with excitement.The three of them turned to him with mild curiosity.“Let’s start a band!”Stunned silence followed his announcement.

“Okay, feel free to look excited anytime now,” Hayden growled when he didn’t get the reaction he’d hoped for.

“How?” “Where?” “Why?” Suddenly they all spoke at once.

“It’s simple really; as things stand right now, we are all play separately around town, so why not combine our acts? This will draw bigger crowds, and bigger crowds mean more tips.”

“I say let’s do it,” Rene was the first to jump on the band wagon.

Michaela and Lowell were still on the fence, they didn’t know how long they were staying in Monte Vista.“Let’s do it for as long as we’re here, nothing formal, and when the time comes to move on, we pack up our instruments and go our separate ways.” Hayden suggested.

The longer Michaela thought about it, the more she liked the idea. Yes, why the hell not.“Okay,” she smiled at Rene and Hayden.“I guess more tips can’t hurt,” Lowell added.And just like that The Drifters were born.

By the time Adrian and Sofia, Rene’s parents, came down for breakfast; the band members of The Drifters had already decided who’d be playing what instrument. Michaela would take lead vocals and guitar; the boys would be on the drums and bass respectively. Rene was pretty decent on the piano, so channeling Cameron became her life’s mission.

Sofia and Adrian were thrilled with their announcement, and music talks continued to dominate as they prepared breakfast.

Once upon a time, before they retired to the provincial town of Monte Vista, Sofia was a small time Flamenco singer, and Adrian’s parents had owned a small coffee shop in Sunlit Tides where she used to play, that’s how they met and fell in love.

Michaela thought they were the second coolest set of parents in the whole world, the first being her own parents of course.

They were best landlords too, not that she’d had many before them.

After breakfast, they all retired to their daily chores. The boys helped Adrian paint the rain pipes and clean out the storm drains, Michaela tended to her vegetable patch and Rene was somewhere inside the house, doing the laundry.

They didn't have to do the chores, but because Sofia and Adrian were so kind and didn’t charge them exorbitant rent prices, helping around the house for one hour a day seemed like the right thing to do.

The whole time she was pulling weeds and watering the plants, Michaela kept thinking about her looming phone call to Cameron, she needed to tell him what was on her mind, and ask him to wait for her.

Of course now that she was starting a band it looked like her stay in Monte Vista might be longer, so chances of returning to Bridgeport any time soon were dwindling fast. But it didn’t mean Cameron couldn’t come out to see her.

She liked the idea of his visit so much she immediately dumped the watering can and ran upstairs to get her cellphone.

With shaking hands she called Cameron's cell . It went unanswered a few times.

After the third attempt she decided to try his home line. She died a slow, painful death when an unfamiliar female voice picked up.

“Is Cameron around?” She asked in a slightly bewildered voice.“He’s in the shower,” came the sultry reply, “I can take a message if you want.”“No, it’s okay,” Michaela cut the call before she could yell obscenities at the girl…