Learn to Fly by Heidi Hutchinson

the grass.
    “ You’re
not dying, don’t be so dramatic.” Lenny rubbed his back
as he hurled some more. “You’re gonna be hella sick
tomorrow, though.” She added with a touch of sympathy in her
voice. Blake groaned in response.
    “ How
was the fishing?” Lenny looked at Mike.
    “ Good.”
Mike's expression softened with the subject change. “Peaceful.”
    “ You
do anything this exciting?” She gestured to Blake.
    Mike chuckled, “Not
in a long time.”
    Lenny motioned to
Mike to help her get Blake, who had finally stopped vomiting, into a
standing position. They helped him up the steps and into the bus,
pushing past the lecture in the front room. Luke stopped yelling and
assisted in getting Blake into his bunk.
    Lenny set a garbage
can next to him and propped pillows behind his back so he was lying
on his side. She took a seat on the floor and leaned against the
opposite bunk.
    “ I’ll
stay with him tonight in case we need to go to the hospital.”
She was worried and annoyed at the same time. She should have taken
Carl more seriously. How was she going to repair this?
    Harrison
and Sway felt badly, it was obvious. They should feel bad. They had broken their promise to Carl, they lied to Lenny
and now Blake had to be watched to make sure he didn't die in his own
vomit.
    Mike nodded and
headed for the door. He grabbed Luke’s arm, pulling him with,
on the way out.
    Luke stopped
momentarily and touched Lenny’s shoulder. “You sure?”
    She nodded but
couldn't look up at him. She felt too responsible for all of this.
    Luke paused just
above her then he leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “You’re
amazing,” he whispered in her ear before he followed Mike out
of the bus.
    Lenny expelled the
air in her lungs slowly. Luke’s sweet gesture had sent shivers
through her. She leaned her head back and stared at the ceiling.
The lines between professionalism and friendship were tangling. But
she was too tired to care at the moment.
    She
watched Blake’s sleeping form, his mouth hanging open. She was
more upset that they had lied to her than she was about the drinking
in general. I'm
the worst kind of hypocrite, she
thought bitterly. What kind of right did she have to be angry with
them for lying when that's basically all she had done since she'd met
them?
    She should have kept
a closer visual on them. She hoped Carl wasn’t going to fire
her. It would probably depend on what the media reported tomorrow.
    Sway and Harrison
hung their heads like ashamed puppies and went to bed without saying
a word. Lenny knew she had scared them with her outburst and part of
her was satisfied. She chuckled inwardly. If Sway hadn't stopped her
she would have given that little douche bag a good thrashing. She
hadn’t let her anger get the better of her in a long time. It
felt kinda good to unleash the back country girl, she had missed her.

    ***

    Mike sat on the
couch across from Luke and contemplated how to address the growing
concern he had for his band mate's feelings in regards to their new
assistant. He had thought it was a brief crush, but now he wasn't so
sure. Mike could see the attachment to her gaining strength and he
didn't want to see his friend get hurt. Either one of them.
    “ What's
going on with you and Lenny?”
    Luke's eyebrows drew
together and his mouth ticked up on one side. “I'm not sure
what you mean. Can you be more specific?”
    Mike rolled his
eyes. Was he really trying to play coy about this? It was
definitely not his usual.
    “ C'mon,
man.” Mike scratched the back of his head in frustration.
“It's me.”
    Luke took a deep
breathe and looked down at the floor. He leaned forward, bracing his
forearms on his knees and looked back up at Mike. His face was
serious and almost inquisitive.
    He dropped his voice
to just above a hush, like he was afraid someone would hear him.
“You know all those things we sing about? Love, passion,
truth, beauty, life...?”
    Mike nodded, feeling
his