Stupid Love

A Replacement

I woke up to the scent of medicine and the annoying sound of somebody pacing the floor. As soon as i opened my eyes, I was blinded by the light above me and i winced.

"Ashley! You ok sis?"

I was about to ask what happened but Alex covered my mouth immediately.

"No. You can't talk for...a while."

A while? How long was 'a while' going to be?

Leo came out of the corner of my eye. For the first time in months he looked sad and concerned. He saw the panic in my eyes when i realized i lost my voice.

"Relax. Doc's saying you'll be alright. He doesn't know what it is though. Said it was too complicated to tell. He did say that you got infected or poisoned somehow..." Leo looked at me, as if waiting to see if it was true.

I looked down and suddenly became very interested in my fingernails.

"Jason told us about the uhh... Gummy Bear of Doom."

I smiled at him. He smiled back. Leo really does know how to cheer people up when they're down...

Then my best guy friend appeared at the door. Jordan was panting, his green eyes wide and crazy like he just saw a ghost. The front of his shirt was half soaked in his sweat and he still looked cute despite the messy hair.

The thought of Jordan waking up at three in the morning just to see me... He's seriously the best friend ever.

"You're awake." He said, as if he couldn't believe it.

I smiled at him and shrugged.

Then he ran up to me and hugged me like its the last hug we'll ever have.

"Jeez. Don't EVER do anything like that ever again." He said, still not letting go. I laughed at how sweet he was to me, even though i woke him up in the middle of the night. And when he finally did let go, I saw Jason at the end of my bed. For a split second he looked sad and disturbed, but when he noticed me looking at him he smiled.

"Good to know you're ok," He said, tossing a small box to me. I caught it in midair and opened it. 'A talker'?

Oh. Right.

"We programmed your voice into it," Alex said.

I decided to try it out.

"How long do i have to stay here?" the talker said. I laughed at my new voice.

"You can leave tomorrow. Or later, actually." Jason said.

"Oh. Ok then. And guys, since when did i sound like this?"

The guys around me laughed. At least i still had my sense of humor with me.

"Oh and since you're being discharged tomorrow, you can come for the auditions!"

I typed. "Auditions?"

"Auditions! You know, to uhh..."

Everyone looked uneasy.

"Replace you."

My heart sank. A replacement. What will happen to me? After two years of jamming, is it the end?

"Just a temporary replacement!" Jordan said, trying to chip in. "Right guys?" He said, eyeballing my brothers.

"Yeah! Just temporary! Like uh... two,three weeks?"

I sighed. Two weeks of no singing. Not even talking.

"At least i have the guitar!" My talker said.

That night.

The guys decided to sleepover at the hospital that night, or what was left of it anyway.

"We wanna protect you in case some zombie Care Bear comes after you!" Leo had said.

At five everyone was asleep. Or at least i thought so.

I was lying down on my back with my head turned to the left. Then i felt a small portion of the bed on my right sink. I thought i was dreaming, taking the fact that i was half asleep into thought. But then a voice started to whisper.

"Hey, you asleep?"

Jason...

"Guess you are." He sighed. "I'll tell the sleeping you anyway." He leaned in closer.

"I'm really relieved that you're ok. I spent five hours worrying you know." He scoffed. "Do that again and i swear-" He sighed again.

Then he hugged me. Lightly. Like he didn't want to 'wake me up'.

"Take care of yourself. You're more important than you think."

The next day.

We were prepared. We were so prepared. We set up a small stage in our studio, got a table with five chairs around it and each had a cup of water like what they did in American Idol. We were prepared for a long period of auditions.

You have no idea how stupid we looked when we only had two participants.

"Okaaayyy. Let's start with uh... Dianne Geronimo?" Alex said.

A girl with curly hair stepped up onto the stage with an acoustic guitar slung on her shoulder.

"Can i start now?"

"Whenever you're ready."

She cleared her throat and started singing 'Penguin' by Christina Perri. That was a full-guitar song.

Not to be mean to her but my first reaction to her performance was:Meh. I mean she could play ok and she could sing ok. I would've given her a 40 on guitar and a 60 on singing.

"Thank you. Now can we have... Ania Alinie?"

The second girl came up on stage. She had no instrument with her, but she sang better than Dianne. I would've given her a 70 on singing.

"Ok girls, please give us a while to confirm who will be the replacement."

We gathered around.

"I vote Dianne. She has the guitar." My talker said.

"Me too," Jordan said. "You guys can't cope with just one guitar."

"Sorry i'm with Ania," Alex said. "Dianne has the guitar, but Ania can sing better. People hear mostly the singing and not the guitar anyway."

"I make stupid decisions so i'll just go with Alex. Ania for me." Leo said.

All of us turned to Jason. The tiebreaker.

He took a breath.

"Ashley just lost her voice. She still has her fingers. She can go on the guitar..."

He stood up.

"Ania Alinie, Congrats. Welcome to the band."