"I'm really gonna miss you Ava." Roger said standing on the porch with Ava.
"I know. I'm gonna miss you too Roger. I'll call you everyday, OK?" she said as with tears in her eyes.
"I'll be waiting." he said leaning down to kiss her.
"I love you Roger." she said holding him tight.
"I love you too Avalon. Have fun, OK?" he said kissing her head before letting her go.
"I will. I love you." she told him one more time before going to the limo.
"I love you Ava." he said watching as she got in and the limo drove down the block.
"Are you OK Roger?" Ms. Parker asked looking up at him.
"No. I won't be OK until my girl is back." he said looking over at her before walking down the stairs and starting to walk home.
"Are you OK Ava?" Mr. Donnelly asked looking over at Ava who was looking out the window quietly.
"Yeah, I'm OK dad. I'm just gonna miss Roger that's all. I'll be OK." she said quietly still looking out the window.
"Are you in love with that guy?" he asked looking over at her.
"Yeah dad, we are. We have been for a while now." she said looking over at him before turning back to the window.
"Is that the singer, guitar player your mom's been telling me about?" he asked looking over at her.
"Yeah dad. I haven't dated anyone else." she answered not looking at him.
"Oh OK." he said looking down. They rode the rest of the way to the airport in silence. Ava wasn't anticipating this being a good thing for them. She was willing to try, but she missed Roger so much and she had just left him 10 minutes earlier.
"Are you OK sweetie?" a beautiful leggy blond asked as they got out of the limo at the airport.
"Um... yeah, I'm fine." she said taking her bags and boarding the plane.
"Is she OK Frank?" the woman asked looking up at Mr. Donnelly.
"Yeah, she'll be OK. She just misses her boyfriend. Pretty soon she'll be having so much fun, she'll forget about that boyfriend of hers." he said looking over at the leggy blond before they both boarded the plane.
"Hey sweetie. Who's that handsome guy?" the leggy blond asked sitting next to her.
"My boyfriend Roger. He's gonna be a senior in the fall." she said looking at the picture.
"He's cute. How long have you two been dating?" she asked looking over at her.
"9 months." she said looking up at her.
"Are you two in love?" she asked leaning in to her.
"Yeah we are." she said putting the picture away.
"I'm Josie sweetie." the blond woman said introducing herself.
"Ava. I'm Frank's daughter." Ava said looking over at her.
"It'll be OK sweetie. You'll be back home with Roger before you know it. Just have fun now, OK?" she smiled looking over at her as Ava sat back in her seat.
"OK." Ava said looking out the window as the plane began to take off.
"Hey sweetie. Did you like your dads show?" Josie asked looking down at Ava.
"It was OK." she said looking up at her. She was holding a glass of some red drink. Ava just looked at it.
"Do you want one sweetie?" Josie asked smiling at her.
"Um... yeah, I do." she smiled as Josie handed her her drink. Ava lifted it to her lips and began drinking from it. It tasted really fruity and sweet.
"Do you like that sweetie?" Josie asked looking at her as she drank down the drink.
"Yeah, what is it?" she asked looking over at her.
"It's a vodka and cranberry juice. But you might want to slow down sweetie. You don't want to get trashed right away." she laughed looking down at her.
"Oh, sorry. It just tastes like cranberry juice." Ava said taking a breath from drinking.
"Yeah, but it'll knock you on your ass if you keep drinking like that." she smiled as Frank looked over at them smiling.
"Oh crap, my dad." she said handing Josie the glass.
"It's OK sweetie. Your dad parties too. I wouldn't have given it to you if I hadn't asked Frank first. He just wants you to have fun." she smiled as Frank approached them.
"Are you girls having fun?" he asked drinking light brown liquid that looked like iced tea but smelled horrible.
"Yeah dad. That was a great show." Ava said looking up at him.
"Thanks sweetheart. That means a lot. Did you call your boyfriend?" he asked looking down at her.
"Yeah, I did it while you were on stage. He liked it too." she smiled looking up at him. She was starting to feel the alcohol take effect. She understood what Josie meant when she said it would knock her on her ass.
"Are you OK sweetie?" Josie asked seeing Ava's eyes glaze over.
"Um yeah. I think I just need to lay down." she said looking up at Josie.
"I'm gonna put this one to bed. I'll be out in a bit, OK Frank?" Josie said smiling up at him before taking Ava's arm and leading her to her hotel room. "OK sweetie, we're almost there." she said gently leading her down the hall.
"I'm sorry. I don't drink, so I guess I can't handle my alcohol too well." Ava said looking up at her as Josie opened her door.
"That's OK sweetie. By the end of this tour you'll be a pro. Your boyfriend is gonna be so impressed." she smiled helping her into her bed.
"Roger doesn't drink. I miss Roger. You know, we have sex?" she slurred looking up at Josie.
"Oh yeah? Is he any good?" Josie asked amused.
"I never did it with anyone else, so yeah." she giggled curling herself into a ball under the covers.
"Well good for you sweetie. By your age, I was a pro at that too." Josie laughed tucking her hair behind her ear.
"Me and Roger are in love. We wanna get married one day. And we're gonna be rich and famous." she smiled looking up at her.
"I bet you are sweetie. Why don't you get some rest, OK? I'll see you in the morning. I'll be the one with the fist full of asprin." Josie laughed looking down at her.
"OK. Good night Josie. Thank you." she mumbled before drifting off to sleep. Morning came too quickly for Ava. The sun was shining into the windows and the phone was ringing. At least she was hoping it was the phone. When she reached over to answer the phone she could barely talk. Her mouth was so dry she felt like she ate a bag of cotton. "Hello." he grumbled holding the phone to her ear.
"Good morning Baby. Did I wake you?" Roger asked on the other end of the phone.
"Um yeah. What time is it?" she asked looking around.
"It's 10:30 Baby. You must have been hanging out late last night." he said laying in his own bed.
"Yeah, you can say that. So what did you do last night?" she asked trying to sit up, but the pain in her head stopped her.
"Nothing, I stayed home. You called me last night, remember?" he asked sitting up in his bed.
"Oh right. Sorry I just woke up." she said playing it off.
"Are you OK Ava? You don't sound right." he asked confused.
"Yeah, I'm OK. I'm just tired." she said hoping that would satisfy him.
"OK, well I just wanted to hear your voice. I'll let you get back to sleep. I'll talk to you later, OK?" he said swinging his legs over the side of his bed.
"OK Baby. I love you. I miss you so much." she said propping her elbow up.
"I love you too Ava. I miss you so much too." he said leaning forward on his legs.
"Bye Roger." she said before hanging up the phone. As she laid back in the bed, she felt horrble for lying to Roger. But she didn't think he'd like the fact that she had gotten drunk the night before. He was very protective of her and she didn't want to upset him.
"Knock knock. Does anyone in here need some asprin?" Josie asked entering the room.
"Yeah, I could use about a bottle." she said trying to sit up without disturbing her head.
"Who was on the phone? That cute boyfriend of yours?" she pried smiling over at her as she sat on the edge of the bed handing her 2 asprins.
"Yeah, he just wanted to hear my voice." she said popping the asprins into her mouth before gulping down the glass of water Josie had given her.
"Did you tell him about your little adventure last night?" she asked smiling over at her.
"No. He's really protective of me. It would only upset him that I was doing it without him here to look out for me. He's really very sweet." she smiled looking over at the picture of Roger that was sitting on her nightstand.
"He does sound sweet. But you know, whatever happens on the tour, stays on the tour. So all bets are off." Josie laughed looking over at her.
"I'm not gonna cheat on Roger. I love him. He's the only guy I've ever loved and the only guy I ever want to love. And he loves me." Ava said looking over at her.
"OK sweetie. But just remember, you're here to have fun. Your dad tells me you have a great voice. Maybe you perform with him one night?" she suggested smiling at her.
"I'm in a rock band with Roger and few friends. Roger and I sing together. He's really great. That's actually how we met." she said smiling at her.
"That's sweet. Are you hungry? Your dad sent me up here to see if you want to come down for breakfast." she asked looking over at her.
"OK. I'll be down in a little while. Thanks for the asprin Josie. I appreciate you taking care of me like this. My dad isn't exactly the most parental person." she said smiling upat her.
"That's OK sweetie. I don't mind. But hurry up, OK? Pretty soon they're gonna be serving lunch and then no pancakes for you." Josie smiled before leaving the room. As Ava sat on the bed for a minute she picked up the picture of Roger and just looked down at it. She felt guilty for lying to him, but what else could she do. He was all the way in Hicksville. There was no reason to worry him for nothing. She had Josie looking out for her. She got out of bed and began to get changed to go downstairs to the dining room for breakfast.