12th June 2019

"Soon, she's gone and I'll be left,

With all these memories in my head."

I tapped my fingers against the steering wheel. The sound of Alexa's never-ending stream of words filling up all the remaining space in the car. I wasn't even sure what she was talking about anymore. My attention had diverted at least five miles back.

Her fingers flew over her phone as she texted her friends, her feet pushed up on my dashboard.

I leaned over and tapped her leg. "Feet down," I said for the third time.

She pouted but listened. "You know I just like to stretch out on long car rides." She batted her eyelashes at me, but I rolled my eyes.

"It's less than an hour's car journey, babe." Babe. One of the few nicknames that she approved of.

"I'm still not sure what's so fascinating about the observatory. I mean, by the time we get there we'll only have like two hours to shop before they shut." She sighed, sending a tirade of texts as she talked.

Sometimes I wondered just how much Alexa would accomplish if she only threw her phone away. It was as necessary to her as air, lest she lose her social media following.

"Where Evie's from, she can always see the stars. I guess Jaxon just thought that by taking her to the observatory she wouldn't feel as homesick."

She frowned. "Jaxon seems pretty attached. Tori and Hazel as well."

I glanced at her from the corner of my eye, her tone sounding a little off.

"I guess." I wasn't really sure what to say. Yes, the guys liked her, and she'd bonded with Hazel. But I saw nothing wrong with that.

In fact, it was nice to see Hazel getting some girl time. Between her shifts at the hospital and Tori, she didn't get a lot of girl time. She was just too used to always hanging around us guys.

Alexa put her phone in her lap and stared at Kotori's car in front. "How long is she here till, anyway?"

I glanced at her discarded phone from the corner of my eye, astounded that she'd finally put it down.

That can't be good.

"Only a few days." I hurried to reply when the novelty of Alexa without her phone had worn off.

I felt like I was trying to reassure her, but I wasn't sure why.

She nodded her head with a focused expression before diving back into her phone without a word.

I breathed an internal sigh of relief. Somehow it felt like I was walking on a knife's edge. I didn't want to upset Alexa, but nor did I want to upset my friends and Evie.

But the balancing act was taking its toll on me. I couldn't keep everyone happy all the time.

I pulled the car in next to Tori's, all of us exiting in one group.

"I think I need to find some place to sit down," Hazel said, swaying where she stood, an unnatural green tinge to her usual bronzed skin.

"I drove slowly." Tori gripped her shoulders.

"I know you did." Hazel patted his hand and attempted to smile, though it came out looking mangled on her sweaty face.

"But I wanted to go shopping." Alexa gave me puppy dog eyes, making me feel guilty.

"Why don't you and Sam go shopping and we'll take Hazel to get a drink till she feels better?"

Jaxon nodded, along with Evie's idea. "Yeah, we'll meet back at the observatory at 6?" he asked, already towing his sister and Evie in one direction.

"That works for us, right?" Alexa barely looked at me for confirmation before I felt myself being dragged away.

And boy could that girl shop. With only two hours to go, she systematically attacked every store as if she knew a meteor was heading for earth and it was her last opportunity to find the perfect pair of sunglasses to go with her white shorts. Unfortunately, she couldn't settle on just one pair, so we ended up with two pairs.

Whoever said materialism was dead had clearly never met my girlfriend.

By the time we met up with the others, I was exhausted. We'd just had time to detour to the car to rid ourselves of her many shopping bags before we all met at the observatory.

I was glad to see that Hazel looked a much healthier colour now, and that they'd obviously picked up some sandwiches for dinner.

"Come on, we're going to be late for the show," Jaxon demanded.

We rushed to our seats just as the lights faded. People filled the round dome, all staring with the same wide-eyed expression as Evie.

By chance, she sat next to me, with Alexa on my other side.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, to enjoy our show we suggest you put away all phones." The speaker strode between the aisle, his eyes momentarily lingering on Alexa.

She put her phone away and crossed her arms, sulking at having to put away her toy.

"Welcome to the Griffith Observatory and this is our centre of the universe show."

I had seen the show before, or at least a variation of it. It didn't take long for Alexa to get bored and pull her phone back from where it had been banished to her pocket, the screen on low so it wouldn't draw attention.

I turned to look at the others, but they were all watching Evie as she stared up at the 360 degree images with an almost reverent delight.

I chuckled as she shushed Jaxon for the fifth time, refusing to let him talk to her whilst the speaker was explaining about the ever-expanding universe. Her eyes lit up with every new fact and image. She twisted and turned, almost standing to get a better view of what was going on above our heads.

I don't think I had ever seen someone so enraptured with the demonstration before. Her face twisted in a mask of concentration as the show ended.

"So what did you think?" Jaxon was bursting to know.

"Hold on a sec." She drove into her bag and pulled out her scruffy notebook. She flicked through the pages without pausing, pulling a pen from the binding. "I just need to get this down whilst it's fresh."

Her pen moved across the paper in rapid fire, barely pausing to consider her next word. After a minute, she paused and tapped her pen against her chin, looking through her notes.

"What are you doing?" Alexa looked up from her phone, frowning at Evie.

Evie's pen stilled and she blushed. "Sorry, when I get a story in my head I have to just write it down before I lose it."

"So that's where you store all your ideas?" Jaxon looked skeptically at the battered book.

"Ever hear the term you should never judge a book by its cover." Evie shot back, making them both smile.

"Let's eat, I'm starving," Hazel announced, making a grab for the food bag, successfully snatching it from her brother.

We found a place to sit and started passing around the food.

"Ugh this looks so processed." Alexa took her sandwich with a sneer.

Hazel grimaced. "They did prepare them fresh for us."

Alexa sniffed but declined to reply. She peeled the paper wrapper back and took a small mouthful, scrunching her face up as if she was being forced to eat live bugs.

I, along with the rest of the group, had no such reservations. After wandering behind Alexa carrying her bags and then dashing to the observatory, I was starving. My sandwich was finished far too quickly for my liking.

"Anyone want something from the vending machine?" I asked.

"I'll come with."

I rolled my eyes at Jaxon, knowing he would be the one.

Everyone else shook their heads. Alexa's too buried in her phone to even reply.

Me and Jaxon walked back to the observatory. I peered at the selection, pretty pleased with what they had to offer. I punched in the code and my chocolate-covered peanut balls dropped to the bottom.

"They don't have what I want," Jaxon whined. "I'm going to find another machine. Meet you back with the others?" He punched my shoulder and disappeared inside.

I was shocked to see just Evie in the same spot we'd left. She was led down, looking up at the sky. It was still a little too bright to see the stars, but the colours from the setting sun made up for it.

"Enjoying yourself?" I asked.

She closed her eyes and just smiled. "Yep. It just feels peaceful here."

I agreed. The observatory looked out over L.A. It was a quiet place of refuge for many who wished to escape the sprawling streets below.

If L.A. was the oncoming storm, then the observatory was the lighthouse. The beacon that could save many a passing soul from the concrete jungle.

"Where is everyone?"

Evie's eyes remained closed. "Tori and Hazel decided to take a walk." She opened one eye to give me a knowing look, before shutting it again with a half smile. "And Alexa had to take a call."

We sat in comfortable silence, just enjoying the peace. It was nice not to have to make conversation or feel the need to. Evie was just as relaxed as I was by the silence.

The sounds of birds and chirping critters provided the perfect backdrop to just lose ourselves.

In that moment, we could have been the only two people there.

Evie's eyes fluttered open, and she pulled a folded up piece of paper from her pocket.

"This is for you." She pushed it into my hands and sat up, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"What is it?" I turned it around in my hands.

"A leaflet." Evie laughed at my deadpan expression. "Just bloody read it, would ya."

I followed her demand and unfolded the leaflet. My eyes skimmed over the words, my smile slipping from my face as I seriously considered what I was reading.

"This place creates music for the film and TV industry and they're looking for bands. I just thought this would be perfect for you all. You get your music heard and you can stay in L.A." Evie watched my face eagerly.

"They're holding auditions tomorrow." I read out the date at the bottom of the page.

"I know it's soon, but you guys already know your songs and how to play them. I just thought...maybe... it would give you another option." She looked away, feeling awkward. "It was just a thought. Don't feel you have to do it."

"No, no, it's not that. It's just we never considered anything like this." I tried to explain but my head was still thinking of possibilities.

I didn't even know something like this existed. And Evie was right. It would solve a lot of our problems.

"So you'll do it?" Evie's head lifted.

"I'll have to talk to the guys..."

"But do you want to do it, Sam?" She folded her head on her hands and stared at me, a small smile creeping onto her face as she took in my genuine excitement.

I folded the leaflet and popped it in my pocket. "I think I do."

"Then Samuel Mateo, I think you've figured out your next step." Evie held out her hand for a high five, and I reached out and tapped mine against hers.

Where our hands touched, an electric charge flooded up my arm, radiating out from my fingertips. She pulled her hand back quickly, her expression as surprised as mine.

"Electric shock," she joked, faking a laugh. But I could see that whatever had passed between us had unnerved her.

"Yeah, must have been." I looked at my hand, expecting to see something different. But it was exactly the same as it had always been.

"Um Evie?"

We both jumped, startled at the sudden appearance of Hazel and Tori.

"Oh, hey, guys," Evie squeaked.

They looked at us with questioning eyes. Hazel looked thoughtful whilst Tori's eyes just narrowed at me.

"Evie, I've got a favour to ask. Would you mind riding with Sam and Alexa on the way back? I need to lie out this time, and we can't let Sam drive back with Jaxon AND Alexa in the car."

"We're not that cruel." Tori chuckled darkly, though his gaze continued to jump between me and Evie.

Evie twirled a strand of hair around a finger, looking like she would rather do anything else, but she agreed, knowing that Hazel's motion sickness was bad.

Alexa, however, wasn't as accepting. Her nostrils flared when I told her about the change to the car arrangements.

"Why can't she ride with the others?" she whispered to me harshly.

"Because Hazel needs to lie down. She doesn't want to get car sickness," I explained again, trying to be understanding rather than irritated with her.

"But that's got nothing to do with us."

Evie saved me from arguing with Alexa as she fell into step with us.

"Ready guys?" She rubbed her eyes, stifling a yawn.

"You okay, Evie? You're looking a little tired." Jaxon put his hand on her forehead and one on his own. "You don't feel warm."

She batted his hand away with a laugh. "I'm fine, just feeling a little worn out."

I peered at her, also noticing the pale parlour to her skin and the purple bags under her eyes.

"Why don't you have a little nap in the car?" I suggested.

But she brushed our worries aside. "I'm fine guys, really."

Despite her protests, I kept an eye on her in my rearview mirror, not surprised to see her fall asleep a few minutes after we started driving.

A delicate snore started up from the back, which set Alexa's teeth on edge, but she refrained from commenting. It was a wise move. I was still annoyed at her for the way she'd acted towards Hazel.

Lights from the oncoming car illuminated the backseat and for a split second I thought I saw something resting over Evie's cheek. Her skin was paler and the purple bags under her eyes were more pronounced.

But as the lights faded, Evie returned to normal; a little worn out, but healthy.

I reasoned that it could have been a strand of hair covering her cheek, or an errant fibre from her clothes.

But in that split second I knew what it had locked like. I had seen one before when I went to visit my sister on the maternity ward.

It looked like a breathing tube.