"It's for you, again." Abby sighed as she passed the phone to the giddy Eliza.
She threw the phone up to her ear and grinned when the person on the other line began to talk.
"Dave! How are you?"
"I've been good. These shows are gettin' wilder and wilder every night. The crowds actually know our songs, Eliza!"
"That's so great, Dave. I'm so proud of you." Eliza said, twisting the phone cord around her finger.
"I really miss you." He said, his voice growing somber.
"I miss you, too." She sighed and sat down on her bed. "Only two more months until my break and I can come see you."
"Oh, I know. I've been counting down the days."
Eliza smiled on the other end of the line, just wishing that Dave could be with her now.
"Hang on." Dave said, pulling the phone away from his ear. After a few seconds, he returned. "Sorry, Eliza. I gotta go. The boys need help setting up the stage."
"Oh, that's ok. I love you very much David Grohl."
"Love you too, sweetheart. Goodbye." She heard the click, and knew that he'd hung up the phone.
She sighed and rolled off her bed, hanging the phone back up on the wall.
"Awe, does Liza need a hug?" Abby said, coming over and mocking her.
"Oh shut up, will you?" Eliza said, going into their bathroom and slamming the door.
It had been three weeks since Dave left, and since then Eliza had gone off to college. She'd been living in the dorms, with Abby as her roommate. On paper, everything should be going perfectly well in her life. She just began college and was living with her best friend. Yet, something was missing. And that was Dave. As much as Eliza wanted to put on a brave face and prove to everyone that she didn't need her boyfriend with her to have a good time, she was really struggling with the distance that was forced between them. She knew that she was supposed to be happy with this new chapter in her life, but she just couldn't stop waiting for the day that she was reunited with Dave.
"C'mon Eliza, talk to me." Abby said from the other side of the bathroom door.
Eliza took a deep breath, opened the door, and fell into her best friend's arms.
"Oh honey, it's ok." Abby said while stroking Eliza's hair to calm her.
"I just miss him so much. I hate how far away he is." Eliza said in between sobs.
"Let's go out." Abby said, pulling Eliza off of her chest and looking her dead in the eye.
"Where?" Eliza asked, wiping her eyes.
"Out. We're in college. There's parties happening everywhere. Let's go find one. You need to get out of those sweats and realize that there is life outside of Dave Grohl." Eliza sighed, unmoving. "Let's go." Abby said, shoving her towards her closet.
She opened the doors, and rummaged through her closet until she found an outfit that was suitable for going out. Eliza walked in the bathroom, and came back out twenty minutes later looking like a completely different person.
She wore her hair down in loose curls, and had spent time perfecting her makeup. Her top was a black tank top, with lace covering the top half. She had on light washed mom jeans, and finished her look with her favorite pair of black Doc Martens.
"Oh my god, you look amazing!" Abby raved. "Let's go have some fun." She said, grabbing Eliza by the hand and leading her out the front door of their dorm room.
They walked around campus until they found a frat house that seemed to be hosting a party, which didn't take much searching at all.
"Wanna go there?" Abby asked, pointing to the house in front of them, it's loud music pouring out onto the street.
"Sure." Eliza said. She was nervous, but deep down she knew that she needed to do this.
They walked up the driveway, and were let in by the guy who was manning the front door.
"Let's go get drinks." Abby said, leading Eliza to the kitchen of the house where the drinks were being served. Solo cups littered the counter, along with cans of various beers.
Eliza picked up an unopened can of Bud Light and Abby poured herself a drink into a solo cup. They both then entered the living room and began to dance.
"C'mon, don't tell me that you're not having fun." Abby said, yelling over the music.
"This is fun." Eliza admitted. Just as she finished, she felt someone bump into her shoulder. She looked over, and caught eyes with the guy who did it. He had the most gorgeous blue eyes she'd ever seen and his shaggy blonde hair just touched his eyebrows.
"Hey, sorry for that." He said, his voice deeper than Eliza would have imagined. "I'm Mason." He said, sticking out his hand for her to shake it.
"Eliza." She said, smiling.
"You're very pretty, Eliza."
"Thanks, Mason." She could feel the blood rush into her cheeks.
"Want to go get a refill?" He asked, motioning towards the empty can she was clutching in her hand.
"Sure." She said. As they both walked away, she could feel Abby's confused gaze drill a hole into the back of her head.
She followed Mason into the kitchen and watched as he pulled her another can of Bud Light out of a cooler on the floor.
"Want to do a shot with me?" Mason asked, motioning towards the bottle of Tequila on the kitchen counter.
"Yeah, sure." She responded, knowing she'd need it if she was going to make it through the night.
He smiled and grabbed the bottle, beginning to pour two shots into the little plastic cups that also lined the table.
He handed one to her, and she could feel his hand linger on hers much longer than he needed to. They clinked cups and then both knocked back their shots. After, he looked up and shot her a charming smile.
He moved close enough to her that she could feel his breath across her face. She could feel her pulse quicken, and couldn't tell if it was she was nervous, or if it was something else.
"Hey, wanna take this upstairs?" He whispered into her ear.
All of a sudden she panicked, knowing that this was now crossing the line. "Umm, no thanks. I gotta go." She rushed out of the kitchen and ran into the living room to find Abby.
She scanned the dancefloor, and eventually saw a cloud of red, curly hair that most definitely belonged to Abby.
Eliza rushed behind her and grabbed her arm. "Abby. I want to go. Now."
"Is everything ok?" Abby responded, immediately adopting a concerned expression on her face.
"Yeah, everything's fine. I just gotta get out of here."
Abby recognized that everything was not fine, and quickly wrapped up her other conversation before nearly running out the door following Eliza.
"What happened in there?" Abby asked once they made it back onto the street.
"Some guy was hitting on me. Asked if I wanted to go upstairs with him. I don't know, I just panicked. I didn't wanna be there anymore."
"Hey! It's ok." Abby reassured her. "You went out in the first place. That's the first step. I'm proud of you for just putting on makeup today."
They both laughed as they made it back into their dorm. Eliza made her way into the bathroom and got ready for bed. She re-emerged in her pajamas and her face wiped clean of makeup.
"Now that's the Eliza that I'm used to." Abby said, laughing.
"Oh you just shut up." She responded, smiling,
Eliza made her way towards her bed, trying not to look at the phone on the wall. She feared that if she looked at it, it would only encourage her to call Dave again.
"Oh, just do it. You had a rough night." Eliza heard Abby call out from behind her back.
"It's a little bit scary just how well you know me." Eliza said, shaking her head. Sighing, she picked up the phone and dialed Dave's hotel room.
After many rings, he answered. "Heyyy Eliza. What's up?" Dave studdered.
"Is everything alright?" Eliza asked.
"Yeah, of course. Just came up after the after party." It was very clear that he was drunk. That didn't bother Eliza, because of course he was going to drink. As long as he was safe, she was happy.
"How did the show go?" She asked, trying to hold a conversation with him. Even though he was not in the best state of mind, she still treasured every conversation that they could have together, knowing that they would be infrequent.
"It was great, man." He let out a loud burp before continuing. "I gotta go, Eliza. It's bedtime."
"Oh, that's ok. I love-" She was cut off by the click of him hanging up.
She stood there for a moment, processing what just happened. They'd never ended a conversation like that. She tried to let it go, knowing the state he was in right now was affecting his actions. She knew he would never do that sober.
Eliza spent the next few minutes trying to come to terms with the way their conversation ended, to no avail. She made the decision to call him back and attempt to end things on a better note.
This time, the phone was answered almost immediately.
"Dave?"
"Hey Eliza, this is Franz."
"Is everything alright?" Eliza could feel the concern in her voice grow. What happened to Dave that Franz had to answer the phone?
"Yes, everything's ok. Dave is just, sleeping." He paused before he said the word sleeping.
"Sleeping?" She inquired. "I just talked to him a few minutes ago."
"Yeah, he's sleeping." Franz sighed. "Call back in the morning, ok?"
"Ok, thank you so much, Franz."
"Of course." He said right before hanging up.
Eliza climbed into bed and turned out her lamp. Why did Franz answer for Dave? Why did he sound so suspicious? Was Dave really sleeping? She tried to sleep, but she had all of these questions floating around her head. She knew that Franz said everything was ok, but could she really trust him?