"Kasey, Stevie and Zander are screaming at each other again."
Kasey turned to the girl who was standing nervously behind her, wringing her hands together.
"OH God." Kasey said, "They are? Not again!"
The girl nodded, "It's really bad…" she trailed off, biting her lip.
"Thanks." Kasey muttered, before bolting in the direction of the band room.
Ever since Stevie and Zander had started dating, almost 6 months before, the two had had a lot of loud and dangerous fights. Though the yelling and screaming had been only focused on each other, the implications on the other three members of the band had been severe.
Nelson and Kevin had retreated further into their world of furious pigeons, and rarely emerged during one of the fights. So, the job of attempting to break up the disputes had fallen to Kasey.
Kasey stopped in the hallway outside the band room and listened, trying to get the jist of what she was up against.
"You are such a pig!" came Stevie's voice, "I am a girl, you know, why do you never seem to remember that?"
"Maybe," Yelled Zander, "It's because you don't act like one half the time!"
Stevie omitted a strangled sound, "Why are you dating me then?"
"I thought you had more of the brain than most of the girls in this school. You know what Stevie? Maybe I should date one of them. At least they wouldn't complain about everything I do, not like you!"
"Maybe you should! You certainly have enough brainless twerps following you around to choose from!" Stevie screamed.
"At least I have people who follow me!"
"I don't need mindless zombies to make myself feel good. Guess what Zander, now they're all you have left. Were OVER!"
Kasey gasped. The fights might be bad usually, and afterwards Stevie might cry for a little, but never, in all the time that they had dated, had the pair ever broken up.
Kasey rushed in, hoping to be able to somehow salvage the situation. But Zander was already leaving, ukulele in hand, while Stevie angrily shoved her base in to its case.
"Zander!" Kasey called, "come back." She turned to Stevie, "No, Stevie why?"
"Go away Kasey!" Stevie hissed.
Picking up her bag Stevie started to leave, Kasey caught her arm, pulling her friend towards her.
"Get. Off. Me. Kasey." Stevie's voice was even, but her tone was icy.
"Why?" was all Kasey could say.
"Stay out of my love life Kasey. I don't need one of your lectures this time." Stevie yanked her arm from Kasey's grip and stalked away.
Kasey took a deep breath. Usually, about now, Stevie would have dissolved in to tears in Kasey's arms, and sobbed about how Zander didn't love her anymore. It was the only time Kasey ever saw Stevie cry.
Last time, Kasey had stayed up half the night texting Stevie, attempting to calm her down. She had finally gotten to bed at 2 am. The next morning she received a tap on the shoulder from Molly.
"You really need to control your band mates Kasey. Making out in the halls is just plain gross."
Kasey furrowed her eyebrows, "But if you did it then it would be ok?"
"If I did, it might actually be cute."
Kasey rolled her eyes, "whatever Molly."
The first place Kasey looked was Zanders locker, the area was strangely vacant. Stevie's locker, they've got to be at Stevie's locker. She thought.
Sure enough Zander had Stevie pinned up against her locker, one hand resting next to her head, and the other snaked around Stevie's irritatingly thin waist. The two were furiously making out, seeming not to need air, as the crowd of onlookers watched.
Kasey watched for a moment, trying to figure out how to how this was so fascinating to everyone around her.
"OK!" she finally said, tugging at Zanders shoulder. "As much as I love that the two of you aren't screaming at each other anymore, making out like this in the halls is generally not accepted."
The two slowly inched apart, Zander took his hand off the locker and held onto his girlfriend's waist tightly.
"Where should we make out then Kasey?" Stevie asked boredly.
"Literally anywhere but here." Kasey replied.
The couple looked at one another, matching evil smiles starting to appear.
"MY locker." Zander said, mater of factly.
Kasey rolled her eyes, "no… just save the French kissing for somewhere where you won't be interrupted. By the way, when exactly did you to start talking again? Last time I talked to either of you, you were adamant that you would never speak again."
Stevie flicked a strand of hair of her face and frowned, "You were talking to both of us? At the same time?"
Kasey raised her eyebrows, "Of course. That's the smart thing to do…"
Stevie shook her head. She wanted to be mad that Kasey hadn't chosen just her, but she couldn't find a good enough reason.
"So… how exactly..." Kasey started
"We resolved our issues.' Zander explained with finality.
Kasey wanted to ask more, but she stopped herself. So she just nodded. "You need to tell Kevin and Nelson, they were really upset about the whole thing yesterday."
Stevie bit her lip, and glanced nervously at Zander. His arm tightened around her waist. He nodded.
"Well, I've got to get my books, I'll see you guys later?" Kasey smiled, and squeezed Stevie's hand as she walked past.
That had been so easy, neither had walked out. None of the fights ever lasted more than a day. Even though they usually they spent band practice glaring at each other, it was annoying, but it never really affected the way they practiced. But this time neither of them came back, they skipped the rest of the day of classes and neither of them were answering their phones.
Kevin and Nelson hadn't said a word when Kasey told them. They had just sat and stared at the orange lunch table.
That afternoon Kasey considered going to Stevie's house to attempt to get her friend to talk. She decided against it. Most likely, Stevie would forcefully shove her away, without saying anything. The whole thing would just drive a wedge further between them.
So, Kasey didn't bother Stevie. Give her time. Kasey told herself. She'll come around. Right?