I Ate My Gluestick

	Billy Jo slammed the door behind her as she stormed out of the garage the band used as a practice room when they didn’t feel like trekking out to the Gym. With an angry grunt Roxie let her bass drop to the ground, then walked over to sit in a seat against the far wall of the room and buried her face in her hands.
	“Rox, you want me to go after her?” Nicky asked.
	Roxie didn’t respond right away, but finally said, “there’s no point. Let her go.”
	The drummer got up from his place behind his kit to stand next to the moping girl. He put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it sympathetically, but didn’t say anything. The two stayed in silence for a little while, before Roxie spoke.
	“I don’t know what’s happening with us,” she said. “We were always so close, but we fight so much now… She’s going to leave the band at this rate.”
	She started to play with the sweatband she always kept on her left wrist. Nicky looked down at it, concerned.
	“Rox, you all right?” He asked.
	“Y-yeah, I guess.”
	Not convinced, he slowly moved his hand to Roxie’s wrist, but when she saw what he was doing she pulled away. She stood up suddenly and walked to the door.
	“Could you lock up?” She asked. Her voice cracked, and Nicky could see that she was crying.
	“Listen, if you need to talk— about anything— I’m here for you. D-don’t go doing anything stupid.”
	A small smile formed on her face. “No, don’t worry about it. I’m fine.” She closed the door behind her as she left Nicky alone in the garage.
	She walked for a while in a haze, not knowing where she was going or even what was going on around her. When she finally snapped out of it she realized she was walking through a park. It was one she always used to visit when she was younger, and she instantly remembered how she and Billy Jo had always planned to follow the railroad tracks that ran alongside it, although they never did. Roxie thought about how they likely never will now. She felt her eyes starting to water again and resumed walking.
	She kept walking until she was crossing the bridge over the river that ran through the park, where she saw someone familiar leaning against the barrier, looking down at the water below.
	“Billy Jo!” She said, running over to the other girl.
	Billy Jo turned to Roxie, obviously surprised to see her. “R-Roxie? Did you come after me?”
	Roxie was about to lie and say yes, but decided not to.
	“N-no, it was just a coincidence.” She answered.
	Billy Jo looked at her skeptically, but shrugged. She turned around and sat on the ground, with her back against the barrier. Roxie sat next to her. They sat in silence as Roxie tried to work up the courage to say something to the other girl. She took a deep breath.
	“Billy, I’m really sorry. I di-”
	“”No, don’t apologize. It’s not your fault.”
	“Then what is it? Why do we keep getting into fights? We haven’t gotten any actual practice done in forever. We can’t keep going on as a band like this.”
	Billy Jo sighed. “Roxie, no offense, but is the band all that matters to you anymore?”
	“Wh-what? What do you mean?”
	“It’s all we do anymore. We get together, we play for a while, and we leave. We never actually hang out anymore. I mean, when we started playing together it was just so we would have something to do when we hung out, but it feels like now us as bandmates is more important than us as friends. If it’s what you want that’s fine, but it’s not what I want. I think it would be better if I left the band.”
	Roxie tossed her arms around Billy Jo. Tears were streaming down her face now. “No! Please don’t. I-I…”
	She pulled away from the other girl and began fumbling to pull her wristband off. She shoved her bare wrist at Billy Jo’s face so she could get a good look at it. The names “Billy Jo” and “Nicky” had been tattooed on it.
	“R-Roxie-“ She started to tear up too.
	“You guys always have been the most important part to me. It wouldn’t be the same without you. I guess I have been a little too focused on us as a band lately, but I didn’t know it was bothering you. For me it was just as good as hanging out. If hanging out with you is all it takes to fix this then done.”
	Billy Jo pulled Roxie in for a hug. They stayed like that without speaking for a while, until they heard a voice call both of their names. Nicky had found them. He sprinted over to them, so when he reached them he was panting. After taking a minute to catch his breath he said,
	“I was so worried about you, Rox. The way you were acting, I thought you were ready to kill yourself.”
	“Wh-what? I-I know I was crying and stuff, but what gave you that idea?”
	“Your wrist, the way you were hiding it from me. You wear that sweatband to hide scars, don’t you?”
	Roxie just stared at him, completely stunned. “N-no, that’s not it at all.” She raised her arm so he could see what actually had been hidden.
	“Are you kidding? I got all worried for nothing?” He started to laugh. “You’re such a dork.”
	Roxie wanted to protest, but Nicky pulled her in for a hug of his own. “God, don’t scare me like that again. Please.”
	“S-sorry.” Roxie said as she returned the hug.
	The two pulled apart. Nicky looked away and awkwardly tried to hide that he was wiping tears out of his eyes.
	“So, uh…” He said, “what do we do now?”
	Roxie smiled. “I have an idea. Let’s go find out where the train tracks lead.”
	Nicky looked to the tiny girl confused, but Billy Jo understood immediately.
	“We never did that, did we?” She said, smiling, “sounds like a plan to me.”
	Roxie grinned at Billy Jo, then took both of her friends’ hands in hers, and they were off.