Page 53 of Selling Out
“Go away,” Rose says miserably.
I wince at the sound of more vomiting and look at Kelly.
She doesn’t look so good either.
“Areyouokay?” I know a lot of people are sensitive to the sound and smell of vomit, and the last thing we need right now is a vomiting train.
Kelly shakes her head and hurries out of her bed, pushing past me to join Rose in the tiny bus bathroom.
“Oh dear,” I say. I don’t have a weak stomach, but I don’t want to tempt fate, so I hurry to the front of the bus and then outside, my mind racing.
Rose and Kelly are throwing up, and we have a huge performance today.
I hesitate for a second, then run to Austin’s bus, pounding on the door. “Austin!”
It’s thirty seconds before the door opens, revealing him, boxer-clad and shirtless. His hair is a mess, and he’s squinting like I’m personally shining the sun in his face. “Mia?”
“Rose and Kelly are both sick,” I say, keeping my eyes on his sleepy face instead of… everything else.
“What?” he blinks a few times.
“They’re both throwing up.”
He rouses more, but he’s still squinting at the light, shading his eyes with a hand. “Here. Come in.”
I hesitate. “That’s okay. I only wanted you to know. I’m hoping it’s just a fluke. They’ll probably be fine in a few hours, right?”
“Yeah,” he says. “Hold on a sec.” He disappears, then returns with his phone. He taps and swipes, then puts it to his ear. “Paul, Rose and Kelly are throwing up.”
Silence.
“Jeez,” he says. “You think it’s food poisoning?” Pause. “Okay, I’ll check on you in a while.” He hangs up and blows out a breath. “Paul’s sick too. They all had oysters last night.” He runs a hand through his messy hair, something I’ve been wanting to do the last couple minutes.
“What do we do?” I ask.
He hits his phone against his hand, then shrugs his wide, defined shoulders. “Hope they feel better by the time we go on?”
“And if they don’t?”
He meets my gaze, his lips pressed together. “Come sit down. We can talk about it.” He makes room in the doorway.
I hesitate, and he gives me a weird look. “Why won’t you come in?”
I scramble for an answer that doesn’t sound stupid. “I need to get a new phone. I was just heading out.”
“How’re you going to do that? Your credit cards were in your purse, right?”
Dang. “Um, yeah.”
“I’ll go with you.” He slips on some shoes. “We can talk about the festival while we’re out.” He shuts the door behind him and slips down the stairs.
“Um, Austin?”
He raises his brows.
“You forgot a shirt. And pants.”
Austin paysfor my new phone. It was really my only option, but I promised I’d pay him back. He also paid for the medicine we got for Rose, Kelly, and Paul. A quick call to the sound guys reassures us, since they were smart enough not to go for the oysters.
