"I think we should stop for food." I said as we walked into yet another store.
"We will once we're done with this store, I promise." Lisa said as she started going through the clothing on the rack in front of her.
"Lisa, I don't think you need any more clothes." Kara said as she began to also look through the rack.
I rolled my eyes as Lisa shook her head and then held up the shirt she pulled off of the rack to her. "Guys, seriously. Seven months pregnant and starving." I said while gesturing to my stomach.
"We're almost done Josie, I promise." Lisa said as she placed the shirt back on the rack.
"You said that two stores ago."
"It would go quicker if you shopped with us!"
"Lisa, I don't fit into any of this. I don't like shopping when I feel like a whale."
"You're not a whale."
"Lisa, I feel fat. Please can we just go get some more food so I can continue to be fat."
"Shut up Josie or I'll call Jack." Kara warned and I scowled. Jack had been gone for a little over two weeks and I missed him terribly. With Jack gone I had been hanging out with Kara and Lisa a lot who were freaking skinny and I felt fatter than ever around them. After saying I was fat for an entire day last week they had called Jack who had promptly yelled at me for forty-five minutes and I was not looking forward to a repeat of that.
I sighed and frowned as I was kicked sharply by Noah. "Guys, you've made him mad. He's kicking the crap out of me."
"Okay, we're leaving." Lisa said replacing the shirt before reaching over to rest a hand on my belly. "Behave yourself Noah." she scolded gently which made me giggle.
"So where are we going for food?" Kara questioned as Lisa and I led the way out of the store.
"I don't care, just somewhere in the mall!" I whined as Noah began to kick again.
"Okay, how about The Cheesecake Factory?" Kara said pointing to the where the entrance was.
"Wonderful." I said as we all walked inside. Kara went to the podium to get one of the beepers that would tell us when our table was ready as Lisa and I sat down on the long bench.
"So how are you doing without Jack?" Lisa inquired.
We had gotten so much closer in the two weeks, closer than even Kara and I, Lisa calling me almost every night to see how I was feeling. When I didn't have class or work I found us hanging out, often doing nothing but enjoying each other's company. Alex and Jack were overly pleased that we were friends now and Alex often screamed "I told you she was great" in the background whenever Jack and I talked about Lisa on the phone.
"Eh, I miss him and it's hard to sleep but our bedroom is spotless."
Lisa chuckled before looking over at me, "I completely understand. Alex stays over a lot and always leaves my room a mess." she told me as Kara came over and sat down beside me so I was in the middle.
"Yeah, Jack cleans up but I have to remind him. The only thing I love about him being gone is not finding crumbs in my bed."
"Rian was telling me about Jack's bed eating, I guess they were forced to share a bed at the hotel and Rian found crumbs in the bed."
"Yeah, that sounds like something Jack would do." I said and both girls laughed before going off about their own boyfriends. I was half listening when the two people I didn't want to see came into my sight. "Crap." I hissed.
"What?" Lisa asked looking at me curiously as I ducked my head down.
"Can we go?"
"I thought you wanted to eat here? What's the matter Josie?" Kara questioned.
"Shush, don't say my-" but it was too late. Josie wasn't a popular name at all and when Audrey and Charlie heard it they instantly turned their head in the direction it came from, their eyes landing on me. Charlie's face lit up and Audrey looked shocked.
"JOSIE!" Charlie screeched causing me to wince as she ran towards me. Audrey stayed bolted to the spot and I smiled weakly at Charlie.
"Hi Charlie." I said as she pulled me in for a hug.
"Oh my god, I've missed you so much. You never call!"
"A phone works both ways Charlie."
"Well I just thought after what happened that you wouldn't exactly want to talk to us."
"Of course I wanted to talk to you." I said while putting a lot of emphasis on the you. "Uh, Charlie this is Lisa and Kara. Guys this is my best friend from high school." I said and they all began to say hi. I looked behind Charlie and saw that Audrey still hadn't moved. I swallowed deeply, did she still hate me?
"I think we should get a table together and catch up! I mean look at you! Did you figure out if it was a boy or girl yet?" Charlie asked and then she began to babble on like she always did. I looked over Lisa who was cringing at her shrill voice and Kara who was watching Audrey hesitantly. I had told Kara about Audrey and I knew she didn't like her at all.
"Maybe that isn't such-" I started.
"No! I insist! I'll even pay!" Charlie said while pulling out her father's credit card.
"Charlie maybe-" I tried again but she shook her head.
"I will not take no for an answer. Come with me." she instructed. I looked back at Kara and Lisa who looked petrified. Somehow Charlie managed to get us a table within minutes and we sat down, Kara, me and Lisa on one side, Charlie and Audrey on the other.
"So, uh, how are you?" I asked nervously.
"I'm great." Charlie said before looking over at Audrey and elbowing her sharply.
"I'm good." she mumbled and I frowned. Charlie began to carry most of the conversation and I stared at Audrey whose eyes were trained to the menu. I wanted nothing more than but to reach across the table and grab her hand. I missed her, even if she was a bitch. Audrey was my best friend since high school and I loved her but I had a feeling that our friendship could never be fixed.
"Alex, I'm serious! Give me back my phone!" I shouted as he ran off of the bus. I jumped off after him and was instantly greeted with the shrieking of a bunch of fans.
"Jack! Alex!" girls were shouting as they crowded around me.
"Excuse me but I really need to kill Alex Gaskarth at the moment." I said gently pushing my way through the mass of girls.
"Come and get me Jacky!" Alex yelled from somewhere in front of me and I scanned the crowd hoping to find him stuck in a circle of girls. "Jacky!" Alex cooed again and I looked up to see he had somehow managed to get on top of one of the other band's van.
"Alexander Gaskarth give me my cell phone back!" I demanded as I came closer to the van.
"You can talk to her after Jack, just do some signing!"
"Alex, she's in bed by ten! And it's almost ten there! Please just let me tell her good night!"
"Fine but you better be out here in five minutes to talk to these beautiful fans." Alex said as he tossed me the phone. I caught it before it could smash to the ground and then hurried back onto our bus.
"Hold on mom….You managed to get it from him?" Rian asked while pulling the phone away from his ear.
"Yes but only if I promised I would keep the phone call to under five minutes."
"Good luck with that." Zack said as he stood up, snatching a sharpie off of the table and going off of the bus.
I dialed Josie's number and then locked myself in the back of the bus with an annoyed Matt who only stopped what he was doing to glare at me. "I just wanna talk to Josie and then I'll leave, I promise." I said and Matt pursed his lips but went back to watching whatever he was on his laptop.
"Hey Jack, I was starting to think you weren't going to call today." Josie said once she answered.
"I'm sorry babe; my phone got stolen by Alex."
"Oh, well tell him and the rest of the guys I said hi."
"I'll do that. How was your day?" I questioned while standing up and going over to the window to see if Alex was busy. I smiled when I saw he was surrounded by fans and realized I could get a couple more minutes with Josie.
"I saw Charlie and Audrey when I went out with Lisa and Kara."
"You saw who?" I questioned, not exactly sure I heard her right.
"Charlie and Audrey. Then we had lunch with them and Charlie said we need to hang out more."
I scoffed, "So wait, she wants you to hang out with her and the bitch who punched you?"
"Jack, she was my best friend once."
"She punched you Josie….."
"I know Jack but I miss her sometimes. I mean I love Lisa and Kara but they're not Audrey and Charlie."
"Exactly, that's why I like them."
"Jack!"
"Josie!"
"Don't mock me Jack."
"I'm sorry but do you really think this is a good idea?"
I heard her exhale deeply and I could just picture her face, the way her forehead would wrinkle and then she would bring her fingers through her red hair. "I don't know Jack but doesn't everyone deserve a second chance?"
"Not Audrey."
"So are you saying that I can't go see them?"
"I'm saying that you can do what you want but I would prefer if you didn't." I said choosing my words very carefully. The last time I had told Josie what to do she had snapped at me and I wasn't looking forward to getting yelled at again.
"I don't know Jack."
"Think about it, okay?"
"Okay. So tell me about your day."
"Uh, Alex and I went to Taco Bell. We played an awesome show and I thought about you like a million times."
"Sounds like fun baby. You're playing a show in Baltimore right?"
"Yeah, the last day. Why?" I asked while picking with the hem of my shirt where a string was loose.
"Cause I wanna see you guys play."
"You don't have to if you don't want to baby."
"Jack, I want to!" she exclaimed and I nodded even though she couldn't see me.
"Okay, then you can come see us play."
"Why do you sound like you don't want me to?" Josie asked and I could hear the hint of pain in her voice.
"I do want you to go Jo-Jo; I just don't want you to think we suck." "Believe it or not I've listened to a couple of your CDs and I think you guys are great, so don't worry." she told me and my stomach filled with happiness.
"Okay, I won't worry." I said as Alex started banging on the door.
"Get out Jack! It's been way more than five minutes!"
"Okay, I gotta go. Love you Josie."
"Love you too Jack." she said before hanging up.
"Alex, you couldn't wait a couple more minutes?" I whined as I pulled open the door.
"Nope, all the fans wanna see you anyways." he said as he began to yank me down the bus.
"What about Rian? He's still on the bus!" I shouted as Alex dragged me past him.
"No one cares about Rian!"
"I care about Rian!"
"Thank you Jack but no really, I'm comfy here." Rian said as he shifted his phone to his other ear.
"Fine, come on Rian." Alex said grabbing Rian's wrist and yanking him off of the bus too. Rian glared at me and I shrugged, if I wasn't allowed to be on the phone than neither was Rian.