Along for the Ride

by Rachel Meinke

  Once Jesse knew that I wasn’t sleeping, he sent me text updates every hour. They were just letting me know that Zach was still asleep, but I still appreciated it nonetheless.

  For the first time in a long while, I skipped my morning run. My body was too exhausted to fathom getting out of bed for exercise purposes, especially at four in the morning. We’d started the almost ten-hour drive at five—Jesse told me their bodyguard helped move Zach to the tour bus before everyone else had boarded so the rest of the crew wouldn’t see his condition—and by three in the afternoon we were still in traffic.

  I was sitting on the couch, constantly checking my phone to see if Zach had texted me yet. Jesse said he’d woken up a little after twelve; however Jesse also said Zach was usually a bit slower the day after a seizure.

  “Want to play a card game?” Connor asked me.

  Connor sat down at the table, a deck of cards in his hand.

  “Sure,” I agreed, making my way over to the booth seat.

  “You look exhausted,” Connor commented.

  “I didn’t sleep much last night,” I said. “I have a lot on my mind.”

  “Amen to that, baby sis.”

  He dealt out the cards for a game of rummy. “Mind if I play some music?”

  “Play away. I’m not really in the conversation mood.”

  “Same.”

  Connor scrolled through his phone and ended up playing through the top charts.

  We didn’t make it to the hotel until nearly five—twelve straight hours on the bus, due to traffic. We were all itching to get out and stretch our legs, to leave the confined space that the bus had to offer.

  “That was a long drive,” Mom said, as the bus parked in the designated garage for the hotel. “New York traffic is no joke.”

  There was no show tonight, thankfully; however I was scheduled to fly out to L.A. tomorrow to meet up with the team. Which meant that I had only this evening to be a tourist.

  “What’s your plan?” Connor asked me, once we were checked into the hotel.

  “I need to find my commemorative item for NYC,” I said. “I’m not sure where to look.”

  “Times Square,” Connor said. “You can find all the cheap tourist stuff there, as well as experience the most tourist part of the city.”

  “I think the Statue of Liberty might be the top tourist attraction spot.”

  Connor raised an eyebrow in question. “You think the Statue of Liberty ranks above Times Square?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “We’ll have to agree that you’re wrong.”

  “It’s agree to disagree, dumbass.”

  Connor smirked. “Except when I’m always right. Can I go with you?”

  “You want to go on an item hunt with me?”

  He nodded. “And I’m going to convince you to get a bobblehead of some sort. Not sure what kind yet, but I feel like a bobblehead is a must in a collection of miscellaneous tacky items.”

  I let my mom know where we were headed before the two of us took off walking toward Times Square. I’d forgotten how exhausting it was to travel with Connor. He had his bodyguard, Eddie, and was stopped every block for a photo or an autograph.

  What should’ve been a ten-minute walk ended up taking nearly forty-five.

  “Sorry,” Connor apologized, as he jogged to catch up to me once again.

  I’d taken to standing off to the side as Connor signed something. His fans weren’t interested in me; they wanted a one-on-one moment with Connor. And I didn’t want to third wheel on that.

  “For what?” I asked.

  “For holding you up.”

  “You’re not holding me up,” I said, with a shake of my head. “I like the walk. It’s much better than being cooped up in that bus.”

  Times Square was even worse—there were people that you could pay to take a picture with who got annoyed with the requests from fans to take pictures with Connor. This was definitely a lot harder than going out with Zach.

  “I should’ve worn a hat,” Connor said.

  But I knew that he’d never purposely duck his fans. There were times when I’d watched him go out of his way to make sure he got to see them. And while it could be tedious to have to stand around and wait for him, it’s also an awe-inspiring moment to see people clamoring after your brother.

  This was the guy who I yelled at for leaving the toilet seat up in the middle of the night and who tried to sing opera in the shower.

  There were people who would die for a chance to meet him, to get to spend a couple of seconds with him. And as a fangirl myself, I more than understood it. Connor stopped at a corner store, buying a hoodie. He pulled it on, tying the strings tight around his face.

  “You always look ridiculous when you do that,” I said, with a laugh.

  “I can meet everyone after we complete our mission,” Connor said. “But right now I want to find you the perfect bobblehead.”

  “And who said I agreed to getting a bobblehead?”

  “Me. And I’m always right, remember?”

  “You’re definitely a pain in my ass.”

  We made our way through the many shops along Times Square.

  Connor was insistent that we had to find the perfect item, and I found it amusing to watch as he tested out each and every bobblehead.

  “What about a mini Statue of Liberty?” I asked.

  “Nope,” Connor declined. “Not cool enough.”

  In our seventh store, Connor held up a bobblehead for me to see—a rat with two buck teeth, dressed in an NYC hat.

  “What is that?” I asked, as I took it from him. “It’s hideously cute.”

  “It represents the Subway Rat,” Connor said. “Something you’ll probably experience before you leave tomorrow, so . . . a realistic object.”

  “It’s a rat,” I said, unable to contain my laughter.

  “It’s perfect.”

  And that’s how I ended up adding an NYC bobblehead rat to my collection.

  There was a knock on my hotel room door as I finished packing my suitcase the next morning. I’d already showered and dressed for my flight, so I’d had to stuff all of my belongings back into the suitcase in order to fly to L.A. My body was never going to understand time zones again. I opened the door to reveal Zach standing outside, with two coffees in hand.

  “Hey,” he said, his voice still hoarse.

  I immediately wrapped my arms around him, pulling both him and the drinks in close. I hadn’t seen him at all the day before, and I wanted to give him his space, but I missed him terribly.

  “I know,” Zach said, quietly. “I’m sorry.”

  Despite my mom’s rule, I brought him inside and closed the door behind us.

  Zach handed me a drink. “It’s an Iced Caramel Macchiato.”

  I took a sip, savoring the sweet flavor. “Yum.”

  He took a seat on the edge of my bed, resting his drink on my bedside table. “We need to talk.”

  “Okay.”

  I rested my drink next to his before standing in front of him, a few feet back.

  Zach’s eyes flickered around the room, and I could feel the nervous energy radiating off him. And so I bent over, cupping his cheeks in my hands as I gave him a tender kiss.

  He pulled away. “I understand if you can’t do this anymore.”

  What? I took a step back once again.

  “I know my seizures can be a lot to deal with,” he continued.

  “Jesse said that was a pretty mild one, but that was a taste of the broken connections in my brain. Sometimes things just . . . stop working. And I don’t want you to feel like you have to take care of me or watch me or—”

  I cut him off with another kiss, before pressing my lips against his ear. “Listen to me very closely, Zachary Matthews. You having epilepsy doesn’t change how I feel about you.” I took a seat next to him, taking his hands in mine. “I won’t lie, it was a little scary for me. But the only thing it changes is that I want to learn more ab
out partial seizures, learn more about what I can do. This doesn’t change anything between us.”

  He leaned in, resting his forehead on mine. “Are you sure?”

  “More than sure. I like you. And I want to keep doing this with you.”

  He pulled away from me, his shoulders visibly relaxing. “I like you too. I wanted to make sure that you were okay after seeing that, seeing me like that.”

  “The only thing on my mind right now, and for the past day and a half, is you. I just wanted you to be okay.”

  His lips curved into a small smile. “I am. And I will be.”

  There was a knock on the door.

  “That’s probably Jesse,” Zach said, with an eye roll. “He wants me to do an urgent care trip to make sure my voice is okay.”

  “Then you should.”

  He shrugged as he stood up, grabbing his drink. “And give into Jesse that easy? Where’s the fun in that?”

  As Zach predicted, it was Jesse on the other side of the door.

  “We’ve got to go,” Jesse said. “Sound check is coming up soon and we still have some stuff to do.”

  I stood up, giving Zach one last kiss before he left. Before I left.

  “Try not to miss me too much,” I said.

  “I’ll do my best.”

  LONDON, ENGLAND

  CHAPTER 25

  The team was flying to London for our next game stop. Yesterday I had flown from New York to L.A., so my body clock already felt like it was three hours later than it was. But London was eight hours ahead of L.A. time, and by the time we arrived it would be eight p.m., but it would feel like three p.m. And to make matters worse, we’d have to be in bed early for practice the next day. I feared my body clock would never be the same again.

  Coach handed us our boarding passes after we checked our bags, and we made our way over to the security line. I stood with Jenica, the two of us catching up on the latest gossip.

  Marci and Nancy came up behind us.

  “There’s our little rebel,” Marci said.

  “Rebel?”

  “Don’t act like you forgot our last practice,” Jenica said, with a huff.

  “You still owe me big time for pulling off the cover-up of the century.”

  Falling asleep in Zach’s room, leaving my best friend scrambling with Coach Tom: not my proudest moment.

  “And how does she know?” I asked.

  “I brought Marci with me to come over and watch Drama Llama,”

  Nancy explained. “And then . . . you weren’t there.”

  “Was the Zach-boy worth nearly losing your spot on the team?”

  Marci asked with a smirk. “Because that doesn’t sound very captain-like to me.”

  I was instantly annoyed . . . but Marci had kept my secret, so I held my tongue.

  “For the record,” Jenica said, “as her best friend, I’m the only one allowed to give her a hard time.”

  I glanced over my shoulder at Marci. “I’ll call truce if she will.”

  Marci’s lips pressed together in annoyance. “I’ll call truce if she will.”

  “Deal,” Jenica said. “Now both of you shut up and don’t ruin this for me. I’ve never been out of the country.”

  “And we’re going to both England and France,” Nancy said. “I can’t wait.”

  The wake-up call came at nine a.m. I was pretty sure I hadn’t fallen asleep until seven.

  Coach knew our bodies would be trying to adjust to the time difference, so he proposed yoga at ten a.m. We had no idea what tortures he had planned for the rest of the day after that.

  After tossing and turning all night due to jet lag, my aching body wasn’t quite ready to let go of the hotel room bed.

  “No!” I groaned, pulling my pillow over my face. “I can’t do it.”

  We didn’t have much time to lie around and protest, as Coach Tom had explicitly stated the night before that he wanted us downstairs by 9:30.

  Jenica and I rode the elevator down in silence.

  “Good morning, ladies,” Coach Tom said, with a bright smile.

  “Oh, it is way too early for this,” Nancy muttered.

  We piled onto the bus in silence. For most of us it was too early to try to start conversations.

  “All right, ladies,” Coach announced, once the bus was on its way to the stadium, “here’s the plan for the day. After yoga, you’re free to sightsee for the rest of the day.”

  A cheer came up from around the bus, the team excited.

  “Curfew is at ten p.m. sharp,” he ordered. “I will be doing room checks. If you’re not in your room by ten, you will not play tomorrow.

  I am very serious about this rule, ladies.”

  “Hey, Nancy,” I said, turning in my seat to face her. “How good are you at keeping time?”

  “Oh, trust me,” she said, raising her eyebrows at me. “We will all be in that hotel room before ten. Chances are we’ll be half-asleep by dinnertime anyway.”

  “It’s up to you,” Jenica informed her, turning around to face Nancy. “Because Katelyn and I suck when it comes to curfews.”

  “Don’t worry,” Nancy promised. “I got you.”

  We pulled into the stadium and all filed off the bus and onto the fields, which were still wet with morning dew.

  “Hey,” Marci said, joining me in the front of the team.

  “Hey.”

  “Do you mind if I, um, tag along with you guys while you sightsee today?” she muttered.

  My knee-jerk reaction was to answer with a sarcastic what happened to the rest of your friends? remark. But I also knew what it was like to be on the outside of a team.

  “Of course not,” I said.

  “Cool, thanks.”

  Coach was standing by the entrance of the stadium next to a woman with a British accent.

  “Everyone take a mat,” he ordered, as we approached them.

  We each took a mat as we passed the British woman, who I assumed was our yoga instructor.

  “Have you ever done yoga before?” Marci asked me, as we laid our mats out at the head of the team as instructed by Coach Tom.

  “Nope,” I said, shaking my head.

  “Awesome,” she muttered. “We’re stuck at the front of the team and we’re going to look like idiots.”

  “Well, at least it won’t just be one of us.”

  “I guess that’s true.”

  Coach silenced us with a whistle. “All right, ladies! Let’s listen to what Ms. Jackie here has to say.”

  “Shoot me now,” Marci muttered, as the yoga instructor started us in downward dog.

  Our first stop on our sightseeing adventure was caffeine.

  “I want to visit Buckingham Palace,” Nancy said, as we left our hotel lobby.

  “How do we get there?” Marci asked.

  I glanced around the group. “I’m not sure anyone here has experience in London.”

  “Found a Beans!” Jenica announced, holding up her phone. “This way.”

  Nancy let out a long yawn, causing a chain reaction amongst the four of us. “There’s no way I’d make it through the day without a coffee. A massage would be nice too.”

  “Cassie and her friends were booking massages at the hotel,” I pointed out, as we hurried across the street.

  “Jealous,” she muttered. “But I’d rather sightsee.”

  “Have you guys seen the London team at all?” Jenica asked, switching the subject.

  We all three shook our heads.

  “I hear they’re a powerhouse,” Jenica said, showing us the news article on it. “And that they work on a dual striker system, like us, but a flat-back defense.”

  “You can crash a flat-back defense,” I said, with a nod. “You two definitely have the speed.”

  “Marci has the speed,” Jenica corrected. “I mean, once we slide that ball through, it’s a simple footrace. And Marci, you can have them beat every time.”

  “What’s so powerhouse about them?” I asked, as w
e reached Beans.

  “Their defender Elizabeth,” Jenica read off. “She has the fastest sprint times in her city.”

  “Katelyn and I have the fastest sprint times on the team,” Marci said, as we entered the coffee shop. “I bet we can give them a run for their money.”

  I ordered a shot of espresso and a blueberry muffin before finding a seat in the small coffee shop. I pulled out my phone.

  “I have the directions to get to Buckingham Palace,” I said, studying the map. “We need to find the nearest subway station so I can figure it out.”

  Nancy cleared her throat. “It’s called the Tube here,” she said, in a terrible British accent.

  “Never do that again,” I said, as Jenica laughed.

  Once Nancy’s coffee was ready, we took our Beans to-go, heading to the nearest station as I followed my phone’s directions to Buckingham Palace.

  “Are we sure we want to trust Katelyn?” Jenica teased.

  “Shut up and follow me.”

  I stood back as Jenica snapped picture after picture of Buckingham Palace.

  “You’re such a tourist,” I teased.

  “Be nice,” she ordered, snapping a picture of my face.

  I walked away from her, FaceTiming Zach. He was quick to answer.

  “Welcome to London,” I said, showing him my surroundings.

  “Here we have the Royal Family.”

  “Very nice.”

  I flipped the camera back around to face me. “Next sight I’ll be calling you from is the London Eye.”

  “Looking forward to it.”

  We spent the day like true tourists, taking a ton of photos and having fish and chips for dinner.

  “We should head back,” Nancy said, as we came out of an ice cream shop.

  Jenica pulled out her guide to London. “We can totally fit in one more thing.”

  “No,” Marci said, firmly. “We’re heading back.”

  “But there’s so much more to see,” Jenica argued. “We have time for one more thing, I’m sure of it.”

  I couldn’t help but nod along. “Maybe we could fit—”

  “We’re heading back,” Marci confirmed. “You two are the worst at this.”