Page 54 of Make Me Laugh

Stop ignoring me!

A few more minutes go by without a response.

Me

Sometimes I think you hate me.

Is this because of what I said when we were playing Mario Kart?

You know I’m competitive, baby, I didn’t mean any of it!

Don’t make me beg

Enzo

Being paired with you as a best friend is my punishment for something wrong I did in another life. You’re insufferable.

That’s Enzo’s way of telling me he loves me.

I still send him a middle finger emoji as a reply before his next text comes in.

Enzo

Her train got delayed.

My heart deflates.

Oh. The train’s delayed. Of course.

The car pulls up to the club seven minutes later, and when I get to the door of the RV, I can’t let myself think about what I’m walking in on. I grab the handle and hop up the two stairs.

Enzo’s standing at the tiny fridge, pouring cream into his coffee.

Kell’s eating what’s probably his third bowl of Froot Loops.

Joey’s sitting at the dinette, her hair pulled back in a clip with a few pieces of blonde falling free to frame her makeup-less face. Her hands are wrapped around a warm coffee mug, steam rising from the contents inside. From where I stand, I can’t see the color. I don’t know why my brain continues to focus on all the little things there are to know about Joey.

She’s sitting criss-cross, looking comfortable and not at all ready to bolt out of here like I’d expected.

“Did you teleport?” Enzo asks, looking down at his watch.

“I grabbed a ride.” I look around, kind of confused at how calm everyone is. “So, here I am. What’s going on?” I look to Joey, hoping she’s the one who answers.

“My train got delayed, and Enzo said you guys would just drop me off since you’re going back to Boston for a couple days. Probably would have been the best option to begin with.” She takes a sip of her coffee, and it shouldn’t surprise me or anyone else for that matter that I watch her lick the excess off her lips before speaking again. “Then he started talking about all the things we needed to get done, the shows he thinks would be best to post about, and the venues with the best opportunity for good content. He even offered to buy a filming set up if needed.”

“Woulda been nice if you told me she decided not to stay,” Enzo grumbles.

“Did you expect her to?” I fire back.

“Wait, you’re not staying?” Kell asks, flabbergasted and talking through a mouthful of cereal.

This is the last thing I want to talk about, so I turn to Kell and answer for her. “No, she’s not stay⁠—”

“Well, hold on,” she interrupts, putting her mug down. The coffee is light brown, like there might be a splash of the oat milk creamer Enzo keeps on hand. “This was your idea, right?” Joey asks Enzo.

He’s leaning against the counter, a steaming cup of fresh coffee beside him. Enzo shrugs his shoulders, arms across his chest. “Well, yeah, but I was thinking about it from a business standpoint. We’re not social media people.” We all shake our heads in unison. “West and I toyed with the idea of hiring someone to do this offsite before the tour started, but we didn’t have the budget, nor do I think any of us are actually good enough to do it ourselves, even with your brilliant plan laid out for us.”

Joey has this far-off look in her eyes, gears spinning, the tip of her pointer fingernail between her teeth.