A little over two weeks had passed since they left. You wanna know what happened? Nothing. At least, not until today.

It was Joe's birthday today, and I know I promised him that I would call, but I every time I tried, I'd get to six digits and choke on the last one, hanging up quickly. I was just too scared that hearing his voice would make me miss them even more; and then I'd break.

Sure, Kevin had texted me something every day since they've been on tour, but it wasn't the same thing anyway. If I didn't hear the voice, I'd be okay.

I grabbed my cell phone and even though my hand was a little unsteady, I texted Joe:

Hey, Happy 19th Birthday!

He didn't respond for a while, and I realized that they were probably busy with a photo shoot or an interview or something. I guess I hadn't gotten used to the new schedule.

Then, a half hour later, my phone began ringing, making me jump a little.

I looked at the text that read:

Oh, so she is alive after all. I think I hear the Hallelujah chorus!

Haha. Very funny.

I miss not hearing you. Hint. Hint.

I smiled a little at his not so subtle hinting.

I'm not calling you.

Fine then. :'(

You are such a drama queen.

Pleeeeeeaaaaaaase? It's my Birthday for crying out loud.

I knew I wouldn't be able to handle hearing him, as bad as I wanted to.

Fine. Give me a second.

Slowly, but surely I dialed his number. It barely rang once when he picked up.

"Hey there." My heart pounded. It felt like he was right there next to me.

"Hey. Are you having fun?"

"You have no idea. This is awesome Kenz, seriously." Then he slyly added, "Course, it'd be even more awesome if you were here."

"Oh stop. You're gonna make me blush," I said, being sarcastic, but I think I felt my cheeks getting warm.

"Hey Joe! We gotta go do a set!" I heard someone yelling in the background.

"'Kay! Just give me a second!" I heard him yell back. "Listen, I gotta go, but can you not fall off the face of the earth and call me sometime?"

"Yeah, sure," I said. "But Joe."

"Yeah?"

"The phone line works both ways." Then I hung up.

I sprawled out on the couch, realizing just how painless that was. Maybe I was just overreacting.

Just then, Ayden and Sarah came stumbling in for the fifth time this week. Only this time, they weren't on each other's faces.

Ayden kissed her quickly on her cold, evil lips and ran off to his room. He must've forgotten something.

Sarah glared at me for a second, and I was dead sure she was going to grab a knife from the kitchen and finish me off. But she just went over and sat on the stool at the kitchen counter.

She cleared her throat once. Twice. Three times...four, five, six.

Finally I looked up to see if she was choking on her own bitterness, but instead she just looked at me with it.

"So," she started, "are you still dating Kevin?"

"Uh-huh," I said, turning my attention to the TV.

"And you and Joe have absolutely nothing going on?" she said suspiciously.

"Nope."

She scoffed. "Liar."

I turned back to her again. "What do you know?"

"I know you both are crazy about one another," she said, bored.

"Please. You don't know anything about feelings unless they're bad."

She rolled her eyes. "Do you really think I'm that evil?" she said, her tone sounding almost human.

"Yeah," I said knowingly. "I do actually."

"Well I'm not," she said as if, just like that, I'd believe it.

"I've seen you in action. Trust me, you are." I didn't care how mean I sounded; I knew she'd be able to take it. It's just who she was.

She tapped her freshly manicured fingernails on the countertop. "I guess I'm just gonna have to prove you wrong then."

Before I could come back with anything, Ayden came bursting out of his room, a bag in hand.

"Got it," he smiled.

"What is that?"

"Party stuff," he said vaguely. Translation: Tequila and Captain Morgan. "We're gonna be gone a while. Are you gonna be okay?"

"Yep." They were halfway out the door when Sarah turned around, and smiled back at me.

Well that was weird.