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Rock and Roll Ruined My Life

Bass Hearts

Rock and Roll Ruined My Life – Chapter 46 – Bass Hearts

Kat’s P.O.V

I was walking home from the bus stop, when all of a sudden I feel someone hug me from behind. I look up and see Zack, smiling down at me.

“Hey,” he grinned.
“What are you doing here?” I looked around for the guys’ van, but it was nowhere to be found.
“I came here to tell you something.” I turned to face him, but he side stepped me and motioned for me to walk with him.
“What did you want to tell me?” I couldn’t keep the grin off my face, being around Zack just made me happy inside and out.
“Well, you probably already know this…”
“What is it?”
“I love you,” his neck turned red and he looked down at his sneakers.
“I love you too!” I smiled and took his hand in mine.

Suddenly, the screech of tires met my ears and I was violently flung down onto the ground.

I fixed my hair and looked around. I was in the middle of the street. Realization quickly hit me and I turned around to see Zack, covered in blood. Lifeless.

“Are you alright?” the driver of the car got out and came around to the front of the car to talk to me. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw him.

“Oh my God,” she gasped and leaned onto her car for support.

“You… you… KILLED HIM!” I shrieked, tears streaming down my face. “YOU KILLED HIM!” Sobs wretched my body as I ran over to Zack’s body and embraced it. I felt his warm blood seeping through my clothes as I held him tight.

“Z-zack? Za-zack?! No! Noo!” I clung onto his arms, but they didn’t have the same strong feeling that they used to. They were limp, weak; he was gone.

“Oh my God,” the lady muttered over and over. I saw her shakily reach for her cell phone.

“IT’S TOO LATE! YOU KILLED HIM! HE’S DEAD! Zack, my Zack-”

“-Katherine! Katherine wake up, honey!” I opened my eyes and saw my mother standing over me. I felt tears streaming down my cheeks; my hands were shaking.
“Shh. Come here, it’s alright. It was just a dream. Shh,” she helped me sit up and wrapped her arms around me.

“W-we were walking and then the car came and- and-”
“Shh, deep breaths. It was only a dream sweetie. Zack’s okay.”
“H-how do you know?” I pulled back from her hug.
“You were screaming in your sleep, honey.”
“Oh,” I sniffed and shakily leaned back against my headboard.
“You gunna be alright? Here,” she pulled out a small pack of tissues and held it out to me. I graciously took one and dried my face.

“Thanks, mom.”
“You’re welcome. You want to come down stairs and have some breakfast?”
“What time is it?”
“About 7.” I ran a hand through my hair, it was way too early to be up, but I don’t think I could stand falling asleep again.

“Alright,” I nodded.
“Okay. I’ll get started on breakfast. You can wash your face then come downstairs.”

She left the room, her robe flowing behind her.

I reached out for my phone on the nightstand and checked to see if I had any messages. Nothing except an old text message from yesterday. It was Julie saying: “Call me!” I had to know if he was alright, but I knew it was too early to text anyone in my age group…. Maybe there was a chance Julie would be up? I wrote her a quick hello and snapped my phone shut.

As I washed my face, I leaned over the sink to get a closer look at my eyes. They were blood shot. Well, crying and lack of sleep will get you every time. I walked down into the living room and made my way to our little counter/ bar that connected the living room and the kitchen.

“Here you go,” my mom said as she slid me a glass of apple juice and a plate of chocolate chip pancakes.

I silently ate my food and let my mind race with worries about Zack. I hated when I had dreams like that. Usually, something bad happened after I had one of those dreams…

“Do you have a lot of homework to do?”

I looked up from my plate and shook my head.

“That’s good… Have any plans today?”

I shook my head again.

“Oh. Well, in that case, do you want to go to the mall?”

I shrugged.

“Alright. Well, let me know and we’ll go.”

I nodded and went back to eating my breakfast.

It wasn’t until 9:00 that I got a reply:
o Hey Kat! What’s up? I have good news :o!
- Hey nm just woke up. Had a bad dream :/ What’s the good news? lol..
o Aw ☹ wanna talk about it? And it’s too much to text :P
- I had a dream Zack got hit by a car…
o OH MY GOD. He’s okay don’t worry he’s okay.
- Thanks
o No problem! And if you want I can call you back. You sound tired
- No you can call now
o Alright! :D

Not a minute later Julie’s ringtone went off:

“Don’t make this easy I want you to mean it, Jasey!”

“Hello?”
“Hey Kat!” Julie’s voice sounded heavy with sleep.
“Did I wake you up?”
“Yeah, but that’s alright. I need to start waking up earlier anyways.”
“Oh, alright,” I laughed quietly.
“Is the rest of your family still asleep?”
“Yeah.”
“Ah alright. Well anyways, I think I found a bassist!”
“No way!” I forgot all about my brothers and my dad sleeping upstairs.
“Yes way! He saved me from this mosh pit I was in-”
“-You were in a mosh pit?!”
“No, no, no!” She laughed, “What happened was I was on the edge of one and I didn’t get involved and right before the concert was over someone pulled my hair. It was worse than anything. It hurt so badly that I couldn’t even speak! But then I turned to the side and this random guy is holding the one who pulled my hair by the collar!”
“Oh my God!”
“Yeah, I know! He was all like ‘You don’t treat a girl like that’ and the other guy was like ‘You probably don’t even know this bitch’ and then he just came out and said ‘She’s actually my cousin so beat it’ and then he tried to get me to security so that I could get some ice for my head but we had to wait until the end of the concert.”
“What’s his name?”
“James. He has really green eyes and dark hair.”
“Oh! Wow that sounds nice,” I chuckled.
“Ha ha! I know! He was really nice but he was kind of flirting with me. But then when he got me to security and he realized everyone knew my name and all of the bands came out and came over to me and they all wanted to know what happened and I had to explain everything all over again.”
“Oh, God! What did Jack have to say?”
“Well, naturally, he hates him. But Kat, you know me. I would never give up Jack for the world. We’ve been through so much already and to just push him away would hurt me too much. I need him… although I’m not too sure he needs me…” Julie trailed off, lost in thoughts that were probably not all that pleasant. I had to say something to snap her out of it!

“Julie, don’t think like that. You and Jack are very close and really good friends.”
“Exactly, but, do you know what I heard?” Julie’s voice became a whisper.
“What?” I lowered my voice too.
“I heard that all Jack wants is to have sex.” I heard Julie holding her breath on the other end of the line, waiting for me to confirm or deny the rumor she had heard.

Honestly, I wasn’t all that in the loop. But, the few times I had been around for the after parties, it was pretty obvious that almost all of the guys wanted to have it. It’s just part of who they are… However, I knew I couldn’t just say that to Julie, she needed support right now. But, how to word it? I heard Julie sigh on the other end.

“It’s true, isn’t it?”
“I’m sure that’s not all he wants…” I struggled for the proper wording.
“But why else would he be with me? I remember the first day I met them as a band. I was dressed nice and my hair was done and all of them just kept nudging each other the whole night as they talked to me and the guys.”
“Um, did you ever think it’s because you’re pretty?”
“No! Kat, please. I honestly don’t need this right now. I’m not totally oblivious. I’m not pretty, but I’m not ugly. I’m in the middle – leaning more towards ugly at the rate I’m going. Why else would Jack stick around?”
“I- What- Are you on drugs or something? Julie, you are a beautiful person – inside and out! Your hair is amazing, you’re funny, you have a great taste in music, you have great clothes, you’re nice, you have nice teeth, you’re talented, you care about others around you – you’re great! If you’re going to keep talking negatively about yourself I’m going to hang up. You’re being ridiculous, and it’s making me pissed.”

“I’m sorry,” she sighed, “It’s just this whole James thing combined with the rumors I heard is just making me so worried. I don’t want to screw things up again.”
“Well… Jack is your boyfriend. You should just come out and tell him? No use keeping everything a secret…”
“I could… but it’s easier said than done. Imagine asking Zack if he wanted to have sex then saying that you were ‘just wondering’ ?” My face turned red as she spoke, my silence provided an answer.
“See? I have a point,” she laughed.
“Yeah, I guess so… But that’s really the only thing I can think of. Just talk to him about James and the rumor. Kill two birds with one stone.”
“You’re right. Thank you so much, Kat! Oh and do you have a Skype?”
“Ummm yeah. Why?”
“I have to ask Deanna if she has one so that I can have James play for you guys and me at the same time while he auditions.”
“Oh! Good idea! I’ll text you my username.”
“Alright, awesome. Thanks again!”
“No problem,” I smiled.
“Don’t forget to ask your parents about Maryland!”
“I won’t!”
“Bye!”
“Adios!”

I snapped my phone shut and my mom entered the kitchen.

“Well, that sounded like an interesting conversation…”
“Mom! You were listening?” I face-palmed.
“Well, you weren’t exactly whispering the whole time.”

I shook my head, a small smile on my face, and walked back towards the steps.

“Hey, wait! Come and put your dishes in the sink.”
“You mean the dishwasher?” I asked as I shuffled back.
“Yeah, that thing,” she rolled her eyes.
“There’s a difference,” I held my pointer finger up.
“Oh, just do it.”
“I’m going, I’m going.”

For the rest of the day, I kept looking for an opportunity to ask my parents about Maryland. It was after dinner I finally decided to bring it up. Chris and Austin were in an argument about something stupid, as usual, and dad was sipping his coffee. Mom walked into the dining room with a little chocolate chip pound cake. When she sat down I took a deep breath and began my proposition.

“So, I was talking to Julie today.”
“Oh, is that why I woke up at 7 this morning?” Austin – my older brother – frowned.
“Sorry about that,” I looked down at my empty plate.
“How is she doing?” my mom asked, shooting Austin a look.
“She’s doing good! She said there was a big crowd at their Pennsylvania show, and she said the people there were so nice!”
“Pennsylvanians are always nice,” my mom nodded.
“Yeah she says they are heading down to Maryland next.”
“They have good sea food down there,” my dad nodded.

So far, so good. Okay, I got this, I got this.

“I’ve been there a few times. It’s pretty nice down there.”
“Yeah…. And um, Julie actually wanted to know if I could um, go to Maryland for one of the shows,” I trailed off.

Chris looked at Austin who looked at Mom who looked at Dad who said,

“Which part of Maryland?”

YEAH BUDDY!

“Um I have to call her and find out from the manager.”
“Alright, I don’t see a problem with you going to a show there. But how will you get back?” my mother spoke the dreaded words.
“Oh, um, well, maybe I could sleep over?”
“I don’t know about that,” my dad shook his head.
“Please? It’ll be on the tour bus just like last time.”
“Last time you were closer. Plus, how will you even get down there? Who would drive you there and back? We’re working and we don’t know who’s on their crew.”
“I’m sure we could try to talk something out,” my mom countered.
“Juliet knows the manager and everyone on the crew is really nice. Plus, Julie’s parents are on the tour too. We would be staying with them on their bus.”
“Well, call up the manager then. I’ll have a talk with him,” my dad said before he took a sip of coffee.

I immediately ran up to my room and got my phone. There was a missed call and four text messages. I quickly glanced at the names on the screen. One missed call and one text from Zack, two text messages from Julie, and one from Deanna. I quickly went to my contacts and called Julie.

Ring

Ring

Ring

Ring

Ring

Ring

Ring

Rin-


“Hello?” I heard a flustered Juliet on the other end of the line.
“Hey, is this a bad time?”
“Oh! Kat! Hey! No, it’s not a bad time at all. What’s up?”
“Well, I asked my parents about Maryland…”
“Ohhhh what did they say?”
“They wanna talk to the manager.”
“Brad?”
“He’s the one in charge, right?” I furrowed my brow, it was hard to keep up with all of the names.
“Yeah,” I could visualize Julie nodding her head as she spoke, “I’ll see if I can get him on the phone. We’re kind of in the post-concert phase, so everyone’s getting ready to party and all that stuff. He should be around somewhere. Just stay on the line.”

I listened as she walked, it sounded like it was more of a jog though.

“HEY! JULES!”
“WHADDYA WANT, ALEX?” I could hear her pause as she yelled back.
“HI!”
“Oh my God,” she muttered quickly, “FUCK YOU!” she yelled – the grin evident in her voice.

Five minutes later she was stopped again.

“Hey, Juliet.”
“Oh, hey Tyson! Great show tonight!”
“You comin’ to party with us?”
“Yeah just gimme a second I’m on the phone.”
“Alright! I’ll save some beers for ya’!”
“Ha ha! Thanks, bro!”

After that it sounded like she was moving further and further away from the people. Suddenly, there was a scream.

“Julie! Julie are you alright?” I called into the receiver.
“Shit, Andy!” she exclaimed.
“Are you alright?” I heard a voice, presumably Andy’s, ask.
“Yeah, you just scared me. Hey, is Brad in his office? Does he even have an office over here? I need him to talk to someone right now.”
“Oh, um, yeah. I’ll take you to him. Follow me.”

The sound of her footsteps was clearer now, and they were walking at a much slower pace than she had been jogging before.

“I’m sorry,” she muttered into the receiver.
“It’s fine, really.”
“This is taking forever,” she whispered.
“It’s okay! Just as long as my dad gets to talk to him sometime in the near future.”

I heard the footsteps stop then two knocks on the door. Muffled voices became audible and I quickly ran downstairs.

“Hi, Juliet. What’s up?”
“Hey, I’m sorry to bother you, but my friend’s dad wants to talk to you about her coming to stay with us in Maryland for a little bit,” her words sounded kind of rushed and awkward.
“Um, sure! I’m not busy right now, everyone’s getting ready to settle down for tonight. Put him on.”

“Kat.”
“Hey, my dad’s right here. Dad!” I held the phone out to him and he took it.

“Hello? Hi Brad, I’m John Mayfield, Katherine’s father… I just have a few questions about her coming down to Maryland. First off, how will she get there?”

I nervously wrung my hands and sat down at the table. My dad was a businessman so whenever he had to talk to someone for the first time it sounds so formal and scary. But, Brad was a businessman too so maybe he understood.

I stole a glance at my mom and she gave me a ‘calm down it’s going well so far’ look.

“Okay that’s fine by me. Secondly, where will they be staying when she’s down there? … Is it on the property? … Well if there’s security then that’s alright. Lastly, how will she get home? … No, no I won’t allow it… I’m sorry but would you let your daughter get into a car with a few random men who happened to get a job working as stagehands? I didn’t think so.”

I sighed softly as Chris stuck out his tongue at me and silently mocked me. My mom shot him a look and he stopped. Austin just sat there, an unamused expression on his face.

“I’ll feel much better if that could be arranged. Just as long as she’s not all alone by herself I will let her go… Alright, it sounds like a plan. Thank you very much, Mr. Kendrick. Good bye.”

My dad was about to hang up my phone when I held out a hand and he passed it to me. I heard fumbling on the other end and waited for Julie to speak again.

“Hello?”
“Hey Julie!”
“Oh my God, this is so amazing! This is great I can’t wait to hang out, oh my God!”
“Ha ha me either!”
“This is going to be so much fun I can’t wait to come and pick you up!”
“Wait, what? You’re coming to get me?”
“Yeah! Didn’t your dad tell you?”
“No.”
“Oh, okay, well, lemme tell you! So on Thursday we are coming to get you with the bus or van or whatever and you are going to stay with us the whole time we’re in Maryland and then Zack and I are going to accompany you on the drive home in a rental car that Andy or Josh are going to drive. Then we’re going to the airport and taking a plane back to Maryland to save time cause there’s a lot of traffic. How crazy is that?!”
“Oh wow. That’s intense! So Thursday you guys are getting me?”
“Yup! Do you want to be in a van or on a bus?”
“Um, van.”
“Alright so we can go with All Time Low or Paramore.”
“All Time Low,” I smiled.
“I knew it! Why did I even bother suggesting anything?” Julie laughed.
“Well, I have to go to sleep now. School tomorrow and everything.”
“Ohmigosh! It’s like 11:30 that must be so late – I’m sorry!” She suddenly yelled into the phone. I jumped and let out a laugh as my family turned to stare at me. They probably heard her voice from where they were sitting.

“It’s fine. I’m used to staying up,” I assured her.
“Oh no, I feel bad. I’ll let you go. See you on Thursday!”
“See you on Thursday!”
“Byeeeee!”
“Bye!”

I snapped my phone shut, a big grin on my face. I was going to be away for Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and then coming back on Tuesday! So technically I would be away for, like, six days! I could hardly wait to see Zack and everyone else…

“G’night, guys!” I jumped up from the table and ran upstairs to my room.

Finally I opened up Zack’s text message.

- hey, heard u had a bad dream. u alright?
- It was so scary! It’s too much to text :/ But I’m alright now yeah ☺
- oh okay. so r u coming to maryland with us?
- Yeah! You guys are gunna pick me up on Thursday – so excited!
- nice i cant wait ;)

I heard footsteps coming up the stairs and I quickly shut my door.

“Kat, are you alright?” my mom’s voice asked through the door.
“Yeah I’m changing into my pajamas!” I called back.
“Oh, alright. Go to sleep!” she said before she continued walking down the hall.

I threw my phone onto my bed and pulled out my pajamas - I might as well change already. After I brushed my teeth and put my hair up, I went back to my room and picked up my phone.

Zack still hadn’t texted anything new, and I wondered what he was doing at the moment. Was he at an after-party? Or was he sitting in the van by himself? Was he just chilling with Julie and everyone else? Did he forget about me? Is he drunk? Probably not, he usually never got drunk when I was around. But what if he did it when I wasn’t around?

I didn’t really drink, ever. I was turned off to it when I found out that alcoholism was a problem for my family. Thankfully, neither of my parents had an issue with it, but who knows? I could be next. If anything, I could wait until I was 21. But, this didn’t stop me from worrying about Julie, Jack, Alex, Zack, and Rian. Not to mention everyone else. Hayley didn’t seem to drink either, which was good. I was still worried though.

I glanced at my clock; it was about 11:45. Not too late, but it was late enough for me – I was exhausted.

- Hey sorry about that, I was getting ready to go to bed.
- it’s fine. do u have school tomorrow?
- Yeah :P I’m gunna go, alright?
- alright
- Night ☺
- night

I drifted to sleep, dreams of Zack partying with everyone filling my head. I wasn’t going to get jealous, though. I would be with them soon enough. I just had to get through three days of school. Just three days.

************************************************************************************

Monday was boring as usual, Tuesday was annoying, and Wednesday was agonizing.

“Kat, you alright?”

I turned to see Tom, his brow furrowed.

“Yeah… I just really want to go home.”
“You sure that’s all?” he laughed.
“Yeah, I’m sure,” I smiled and turned back to face the board. It was second to last period. I was in Italian and I was ready to jump out the window.

“Only two more days left of school,” he tried to assure me.
“Actually, I’m not gunna be here,” I whispered at the teacher turned around from the chalkboard.
“Where’re you going?”
“Maryland,” I grinned.
“What? Why?”
“Just going down there for a few days.”
“Just because?”
“Just because,” I stifled a laugh.
“Just for the weekend? It’s Lauren’s birthday on Saturday, you’re gunna miss it.”

I let my shoulders slump. I had totally forgotten about Lauren’s party! She was going to be 17 and she was going to have a huge party. It would go down in Belleville history!

“I won’t be back until Tuesday or Wednesday…”
"That's like 6 days!" Tom raised his eyebrows in surprise.

We've known each other for three whole years. He knew my parents and he knew their personalities, which means he also knew that they were not the type of people to take a 6-day vacation to Maryland in the middle of the school year with finals approaching and last minute projects that had to be done.

"Yeah, I just need a break from everything…"

I really didn't want Tom to know that I would be with Julie and Jack. It's just not fair to him. He liked still likes Juliet. They had been so close to going out it was almost painful to watch Julie get swept away by Jack. But, who was I to say anything. Julie seemed smitten with Jack; I wasn't going to ruin that.

"Wow," Tom trailed off. Thankfully the teacher gave us a warning to stop talking, which caused the people in our circle to turn around and give us looks. Stacie gave me a "what's going on?" look, but honestly I didn't want to tell anyone else. Only Billie and possibly Juliana knew where I was really going.

Finally, after a torturous day at school, I was free to go home and finish packing.

I heard the phone ringing downstairs and no sooner than five seconds later my mom was calling me down the steps.

"Hello?"
"Um, Kat?"
"I'm sorry, who is this?"
"It’s Deanna..." I felt guilt wash over me.
"Oh my God I barely recognized your voice! I'm sorry, it's been so long."
"I know, it's alright. Listen, Julie's on Skype now with the guy who's trying out for bass."
"Oh crap! I totally forgot about that."
"Yeah. So go on now! We tried texting you but..."
"Sorry I was, uh, fixing up my room."
"It’s okay. But when you sign on just click on Julie's name and we'll all be connected"
"Okay I'm going right now!"
"See you then."
"Bye!"

I hung up the phone and rushed upstairs to the computer in our family office. Slowly but surely it turned on and I quickly signed into Skype. I had to try hard from letting my mouth fall open right then and there. There was a beautiful guy with dark hair and piercing green eyes staring back at me.

"Hey, Kat!" Julie popped up in the background, cell phone in hand.

"Um, hey," I blushed.
"Hey, Kat!" Deanna's face appeared in a second box.
"Hey," I smiled. It was nice to see everyone.

"Okay so this is James," Juliet introduced the boy.
"Hey," he smiled, revealing perfect teeth. Honestly, where does Julie find these people?
"Okay, can everyone see and hear? James come back here so that we all can see you, if you don't mind."

He stood up from his seat and walked to the back of the room. For the split second they were next to each other, James was just slightly taller than Julie, but not by much. I could see why Jack would be upset. His looks combined with his height combined with his music taste/abilities would make him fair game…

I saw Julie pull a chair up from whatever desk she was sitting at and she angled herself so that she could see both our faces and James.

"Alright, we're all ears," she smiled.

"Okay, um for my audition I'm gunna play 1985 by Bowling For Soup," And with that he took off.

He began singing the song softly to himself as he played, and then once he got up to where he was supposed to join in, he began playing.

I wasn't an expert, but I think it would have been fair to say that he was good. Really good. When he finished playing the bridge he played one last chorus-like part then stopped.

Julie turned to face the screen,
"Yay or nay?"
"Yay! Definitely yay," Deanna grinned
"Yay," I smiled.
"The ‘yays’ have it," Julie smiled.

"Holy shit! Thank you guys so much!" James pulled off his bass, his baseball hat falling off with it, and walked over to give Julie a big hug.

"You were awesome, bro!" she smiled kindly. Julie returned the hug quickly and pulled away.

"Well, guys, I say we start practicing as soon as this tour is up?"
"But we don't have a drummer," Deanna pointed out.
"We can do without for now," Julie shrugged and looked to me for my input.
"It doesn't hurt to get a head start," I nodded.
"Awesome!" James grinned.

"Julie? Julie you alright -" Jack burst through the door and saw the computer, the strewn baseball hat, and James' big grin.

"I take it the audition was good?" Jack asked, his tone of voice giving nothing away. Rather, it was the clenched fists that rested on either side of his lanky figure.

"Hey, Jack!" Deanna waved enthusiastically.
"Hey, Dee," jack smiled, "hey, Kat."
"Hey, Jack," I returned the grin.

"Actually, the audition went amazing!" Julie sounded like an announcer for American idol, "James is officially our bassist!"
"Congrats man," Jack leaned forward and gave James one of those man-hug-handshake things.
"Thanks," he grinned. "I can't wait to tell my folks."

"About that… Please don't go around screaming this to the world?" Julie pleaded with him, her eyes growing wide. We all saw James' face fall.

"I'm really not ready for someone to discover this whole project we have in progress here. I'm not ready to be subject to fans and the press," she trailed off... At this moment Julie's voice sounded weary, weak, and vulnerable.

I realized that she wasn’t asking him because we didn’t have any songs or didn’t even have a name, she was asking because she would begin to get recognized by people. People would realize she’s Jack’s girlfriend, and that she was living with MCR, and that’s what she wasn’t ready for. She wanted to hold on to her privacy, her peace of mind.

I saw James nod and then bend over to pick up his hat.

"Thank you," she smiled wearily at him.
“No problem,” he nodded again, a small smile on his face.
“Well, let’s go tell everyone the good news! I’ll text you guys, okay?” Julie turned to face the webcamera.
“Bye!”
“Bye!” Deanna logged off right away. She probably had to go to dinner or something…

I saw Julie give what was supposed to be a final smile and at that moment my phone buzzed with a text message. I took my hand off the mouse and looked down to see Zack and Deanna had texted me.

It was also during this time that Julie, Jack, and James left. But Julie didn’t sign off of Skype. Maybe she thought she did? I finished typing Zack’s reply I went to Deanna’s message. It read:

- Omg how hot was James?

I laughed and wrote back my reply:

- Ha ha I know! Idk where Julie finds these people xD
- Seriously, though! I can’t wait to meet him lmao
- Same!
- Alright I have to go eat dinner :P I’ll text you laterr
- Bye :D
- Bye!

I snapped my phone shut and was just about to log off of Skype when I saw Jack and Alex walk into the room. I immediately froze. Could they still see me? Hear me? I didn’t know. Either way, I slowly inched off to the side so my face couldn’t be seen. I knew that I probably shouldn’t listen in on their conversation, but I mean, what if it had to do with the band? Julie also had suspicions; maybe I could hear something that would help her? I mean, c’mon. If you were me, wouldn’t you listen too?

“Jack calm the fuck down,” Alex said as he took a seat in front of the computer.
“I won’t! That guy is totally hitting on Julie and she already likes him, I can tell.”
“Bro, you really think she’s just gunna drop you like that?”
“We haven’t made out ever since she met him! She’s been running around trying to arrange a time for him to audition. On top of that everyone loves him. They think he’s so nice and everyone’s talking about his effing eyeballs,” Jack threw his hands in the air as he paced. Alex sighed and brought a hand up to his forehead.

“This fucking sucks!” Jack pulled at his hair and kicked out his foot.
“Look, he’s not that bad,” Alex tried to reason with him. Jack turned and looked at him incredulously.

“Seriously, he’s just a dude trying to get into the music business. Think about it. If you were in his shoes wouldn’t you wanna try out of a band that Julie was in? Hot girl, has connections to famous people, the girl’s looking for a bassist and you know you can play good - that’s it. That’s the whole thing.”
“Yeah, but that hot girl is my fucking girlfriend! I don’t want him around; he’s acting all nice now, and then watch when he gets her alone he tries something. Who knows if he tried something before she went on Skype with Kat and Deanna?” he pointed to the computer and I subconsciously backed up even further.
“You need to calm the fuck down,” Alex repeated, “Julie is totally in love with you. Seriously, trust me.”

Jack took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair again.

“But-”
“But nothing. You need to accept the fact that one, you’re not her controller – she can hang out with whoever the fuck she wants, two, you have Julie in the palm of your hand, three, she loves you with everything she has… I hear her talking about you all the time.”

I noticed how Alex’s face was distant. Like he could see everything he was talking about in his head, playing out perfectly.

“What? No she doesn’t.”

Alex turned to face him,
Oh my God that’s so funny! Jack actually told me about that,” Alex mimicked Julie’s voice,
Guess what Jack told me yesterday? - Oh, that’s so cool I’ll have to tell Jack about that later. - So, how’ve you been Tyson? Oh really? You poor thing! You can come and hang out with me and Jack if you want. - Oh my God! Jack will pee his pants when he hears that!”

He went on and on giving examples. As I thought about it, it was sort of true. Julie did like to add in little things about Jack as our conversations continued. It wasn’t in an obsessive way, but it was enough to remind you how often she thought about him.

“Maybe if you actually tried to talk to him like a normal human being, you’d see where he’s coming from.”
“Whatever,” Jack sighed.

I saw Alex turn towards the computer screen and I quickly dropped down to the floor.

“Oh, Julie didn’t log out of Skype,” Alex shook his head and stared intently at the screen.
“Who’s she video chatting with? They definitely heard everything I said,” Jack sighed again.
“Um, Kat. I don’t think she’s here either,” he chuckled.

I felt my ears turn red. I shouldn’t have listened in on their conversation. Now what? If he didn’t plan on signing out how would I make it look like I wasn’t there the whole time? You could see the door from the screen. All I could wait for was –

“Kat! Are you done using the computer?” Chris burst through the door. Before I could say anything, Alex saw him and spoke up.

“Hey!”
“Who’s that?” Chris asked, still talking to me.
“Um, I’m Alex.”

Though I knew it was pointless, I held up a finger to my lips and pleaded for Chris not to say anything about me sitting on the floor. He was going to rat me out, I could see it in his eyes. That’s what he always did, he was the little brother – ‘it was his job’.

“I’m Chris, Kat’s brother,” He sat down in the office chair and moved in closer to the screen.
“Oh, I didn’t know Kat had siblings,” Alex replied.
“Doesn’t she have two brothers?” Jack’s voice came from the distance.
“How do you know that?” Alex laughed.
“Julie,” he replied matter-of-factly.

“Who’re you?” Chris asked.
“I’m Jack.”
“You’re not from Kat’s school, are you?”
“No, no, no. We’re her ‘band friends’,” Alex smiled.
“Band friends?”
“Yeah. Juliet – aka Julie – introduced Kat to us a while back. We’re all good friends now.”
“Oh, I see,” Chris nodded.

“…So, um, how was school?” Alex laughed at his own awkwardness.
“Um, boring. I can’t wait until June.”
“Ugh that must suck,” Alex sympathized.

“What grade are you in?” Jack asked, coming in closer to the screen.
“7th.”
“Oh damn. 7th grade,” Jack laughed.
“Don’t worry, 8th grade is better,” Alex assured him.
“I hope so cause this middle school stuff is a bunch of bullshit so far.”

I had to resist the urge to yell at him for cursing, but Jack and Alex found this amusing.

“It doesn’t get any better, I hate to break it to you.”
“Damnit!” Chris exclaimed sarcastically.
“I like this guy,” Alex laughed.

I poked Chris’ foot and he snapped his head down at me.

“Log off,” I whispered.

He gave me a look and turned back to face the computer.

“Sorry, I’m seeing shit,” Chris laughed.
“That’s okay bro, I know the feeling,” Alex laughed.

I rolled my eyes and leaned against the desk. This conversation could go on for another half and hour!

“Katherine!” I heard my mother scream up the steps. Shit. How was I supposed to answer? How was I supposed to leave?

“Katherine, are you done packing?”

I looked up at Chris and begged him to make a diversion.

“That’s my mom,” he explained as he sat up and began swiveling the office chair around. As he was swiveling, I saw him motioning for me to leave the room. I looked at the screen and saw he was blocking the view of the door. Perfect! I quickly began crawling towards the door and when I was out and around the corner I stood up.

“I’m almost done mom!” I yelled back.

“Kat!” Chris called out.
“What?” I replied, coming back into the doorway.
“Look who left Skype on!” he teased and pointed to the screen.
“Chris!” I ran over and put on an upset face. And this is when I was thankful I took drama classes for three years.

“So, these are the ‘friends’ you’re staying with?” Chris asked suggestively. I felt my face flush.
“Oh my God! Chris! Get out!” I pushed the office chair towards the door. I heard Alex and Jack laughing in the background – perfect!
“Nah, I think I’d better stay. Unless you want mom and dad to come upstairs to talk to your lovely friends too.”
“Ugh! At least give me the chair?” I asked wearily.
“Nah,” he shook his head. I sighed dramatically and turned to face Jack and Alex.

“I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine, really,” Alex laughed.
“I hate little brothers,” I muttered.
“Hey! I’m a little brother too!” Jack exclaimed.
“That explains a lot,” I laughed.
“Ohh!” Alex exclaimed, making my not so good comeback sound good.
“It’s okay, Jack! I feel your pain,” Chris held hand over his heart dramatically.

After a few more minutes of talking, it was time for dinner.

“Wow, you guys eat dinner early,” Alex said.
“Actually, this isn’t the normal dinner time. We usually eat around 8:30 or 9.”
“Well, it’s probably better you do, so you can get lots of sleep before you hit the road with us.”
“Yeah cause we gunna be par-tay-ing!” Jack screamed and threw his hands up in the air. Chris turned to me and raised his eyebrows.
“I do not take part in those events,” I assure him.
“Mhm, alright,” He said disbelievingly.
“I’m serious!”
“Yeah, she’s right. Kat’s good,” Alex nodded.

“I’m only going to call you one more time!” My mom yelled up the steps.
“Okay guys, we really gotta go,” I said, taking the mouse in my hand.
“Okay!”
“See you at 6!”
“Okay,” I laughed.
“Bye!” Chris waved.
“Bye!” they waved back.

I smiled one more time then quickly logged off.

“You owe me big time,” Chris said as we proceeded downstairs.
“I know, I know,” I replied.

“Are you done packing?” my dad asked me as soon as we sat down.
“Um, pretty much, yeah.”
“That’s good!” he smiled. I nodded and dug into my mom’s delicious dinner.

By the time we had finished eating I was exhausted. I guess all of the excitement of today’s events had worn me out. Plus, didn’t they say they were coming to my house at 6 in the morning? Or did they mean nighttime? There was a big difference.

I finished throwing in the last of my toiletries and pulled out my phone.

- Hey what time are you guys coming to get me again? Sorry I forgot :P – Kat
- 6 AM –Juliet
- Alright! I’ll see you tomorrow :D
- Okay

I snapped my phone shut with uncertainty. Julie was usually very talkative, I hoped she was alright.

******************************************************************************

I felt my bed slope down as someone sat down on the end. I quickly sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes.

“Morning,” Zack smiled.

I kicked my covers off and tackled him into a big hug.

“Hey,” I whispered, my voice still horse from lack of use. He kissed my cheek and I felt my face flush. I could stay like this forever. I just felt so safe and comfortable in his arms. Finally, he pulled away to look me in the eyes. He had to fight the smile that was threatening his lips.

“I know, I know, my hair’s a mess,” I laughed.
“You look great,” he smiled.
“You’re just saying that, now get out so I can change!” I grinned and pushed him off of my bed.

I quickly pulled on the outfit I laid out last night and threw it on. Then, after I brushed my teeth and hair, I grabbed my suitcase in both hands and began trudging down the steps.

Zack immediately ran up the steps as soon as he saw me and grabbed my case.

I felt my face blush as I saw my Dad, Mom, Chris, and Austin staring up at us.

“Thanks,” I mumbled as we reached the bottom.

"Bye mom, bye dad," I hugged and kissed my parents goodbye.
"Bye Austin, bye Chris," I gave my brothers hugs goodbye as well.

"Call us if anything happens," my mom said.
"We'll come and get you ASAP," Austin added.

My dad just stood there taking in Zack's appearance. Sure, Zack had passed the ‘boyfriend’ test but that didn't mean my dad wasn't crazy about making sure I was safe with him.

"We'll see you on Tuesday," he finally gave us a small smile before we walked out the front door to the van waiting for us at the end of the path.

"Alriiiiight!" Julie screamed a welcome.
"Hey guys," I smiled.
"I need to get out and give this girl a proper hug. Jack move your fat ass," Julie climbed over the backseat she and Jack were occupying and tackled me.

"This is gunna be a great weekend, I can feel it!" she squealed. I just smiled and nodded along; she had WAY too much energy for me right now. It had to be 6:30 am.

**

Julie and Jack spent the entire time joking with everyone and cuddling in the back. I wondered if Julie had spoke to Jack about the rumors she had heard and Jack's issues with James…

Zack and I sat next to each other, not really saying much. At one point we shared headphones and showed each other some “new” music. Rian joined in on it too and we all talked as we drove along the highway.

“Alright, we’re gunna stop here once before we drive all the way down to Baltimore - so everyone out,” Matt announced as he exited the highway and pulled into the nearest pit stop.

I checked my phone, it was around 11 and it was close enough to lunchtime for me to be hungry.

“I’m starving but I have to pee before we get anything,” Julie announced as she climbed out of the van.
“Thanks so much for sharing,” Alex nodded with fake appreciation.
“Shut up,” she rolled her eyes and grabbed her bag from the back seat.

“So we’ll hit up the bathrooms first, get our food and Starbucks, then get back on the road,” Julie stated the game plan as we walked through the front doors of the pit stop.
“Aye aye captain,” Rian saluted her. We all burst into laughter.

“If I don’t come up with an plan, who will?”
“Your mom!” Alex coughed. Everyone laughed, but I saw Julie’s expression fall the tiniest bit before she just shook it off and rolled her eyes. After that she was kind of quiet, which I thought was strange. We usually joked around all the time like that; heck, even Julie said it sometimes! Plus, she had just been really hyper and peppy for the last five hours…

As we waited in line for the bathroom, I remembered about her big accident before she moved to Jersey. That’s why she got upset. I knew she called Lindsey her mom, but she probably felt weird saying that. She probably still missed her real mom; I know I would. I struggled for words to say as we waited on line in silence.

“Alex and the guys can be so rude sometimes,” I attempted.
"Yeah," she sighed, "but boys will be boys..."
"It’s not nice," I muttered more to myself than to her. She gave me an appreciative smile and I felt a little better. At least she knew I cared.

We met back up with the guys five minutes later. There was a Burger King, KFC, Arby's, Cinnamon Bun, and a Starbucks in the cafeteria section. When you thought about it, it was like a little mall in here!

"I want Burger King," Julie said.
"I think I'm gunna go there too," Rian nodded.
"Um I'll just go with them," jack nodded and they began walking towards the relatively short line.

It was just Zack, Alex, and I left.

"I still don't know what I want," Alex tapped his chin. Dare I say something? I knew it wasn't my place to say anything but I felt bad for Julie.... I had to decide now before he walked off.

"Alex?" He turned to acknowledge me.
"Um, you know before, when you said 'your mom' to Julie? She um, didn't appreciate that."
He gave me a confused look and I turned to Zack who looked just as confused.

I sighed and felt my ears turn red.

"Her parents... Not too long ago she lost them... She doesn't have a mom or a dad. I didn’t know if you knew..."
"Oh shit," Alex gasped, "I totally forgot about that."

I saw Zack's eyebrows furrow as he remembered.

"God, why didn't she say something to me?" Alex wondered out loud.
"Cause, she knows you didn't mean it... She knows you forgot. She probably forgot too..." I trailed off.
"I'm such an asshole," Alex smacked his head with his palm.

"Just try not to slip up, I know it's hard but for her sake, ya’ know?"
"No I got you," he nodded.
"I know it's not really my place, but-"
"No, please. If you hadn’t told me I would have never remembered."

Finally, we decided on KFC. Zack wanted to pay for my food but I insisted we split the bill in half. Jack and Julie seemed to be having the same problem too, except they were being super loud about it.

“Jack, let me pay for my own food!” Julie sighed, a smirk on her face.
“No! I’m your boyfriend!” Jack countered, a grin on his face.
“It’s not your job to feed me!”
“So what? I can’t be nice?”
“No!” and with that she pushed past him and walked to the cash register, a triumphant grin on her face.

I turned to Zack and he just shook his head and smiled.

“It’s like they’re married,” Alex laughed.
“So true,” I nodded.

Finally, we all made it back to the car.

“I’m pretty sure I heard you guys talking all the way in the bathroom,” Matt said to Jack as we strapped in.
“She wouldn’t let me pay for her food!”
“I didn’t ask you to pay for my food,” Julie stuck her tongue out.
“Well, I’m supposed to buy you stuff- I’m your boyfriend!”
“Thanks for the offer, but I don’t want you to…” Julie trailed off.

Since Zack and I were now sitting in the back, I was able to see Julie’s ears turn red. Judging by her tone of voice, I guess she was embarrassed.

There was an awkward silence…

“…Can someone pass me a napkin?” I asked.
“Yeah, sure,” Rian quickly passed a napkin to Alex, who passed it back to me. I took it and shoved it inside my empty KFC container. Somebody had to break the silence.

Matt reached out for the radio dial and let the music fill in the empty air.

I felt my phone buzz. It was a text from Julie. I nonchalantly shifted my weight so that it was harder for Zack to see my screen – just in case.

- I hate it when he does this

I sighed and Zack turned to look at me. I tilted my screen towards his face and waited until he finished reading. He shrugged and I started writing my reply:

- He was just trying to be nice…
- That’s not the point. I told him no and then he made it sound like I didn’t want to be his girlfriend anymore. That’s the last thing I want.
- Yeah I know… You’re just too independent for him lol…
- I guess so… I’ll just apologize now and get it over with

I saw Julie tuck her phone inside her pocket and turn to face Jack. I turned away to give them some privacy in the small space. I heard Julie apologize and that’s when I looked at Zack.

He gave me a smile and took my hand in his. His hand felt so strong, but delicate. As if he were afraid he’d hurt me. I felt a grin break out onto my face and he kissed the top of my head.

“Your hair smells good.”
“Thanks you!” I smiled.
“What is that, Pantene?” he joked.
“Actually, yeah,” I giggled.
“See? I know my stuff.”
“What other secret talents are you keeping from us?” I laughed..
“Uh, I think that’s the only one.”

I shook my head, a big grin on my face. Zack was actually really funny when he wanted to be!

I stifled a yawn. A full stomach and only a few hours sleep had me feeling super tired. I tried to get comfortable in my seat.

Zack patted his shoulder and I leaned my head over. Before I knew it, I was out cold.

***************************************************************************

“Kat,” I felt someone gently tapping my shoulder.
“Kat, we’re here.”
“Five more minutes,” I mumbled. I was so tired I could hardly move.
“You can sleep on Julie’s bus. You’ll be more comfy.”

It was then I realized Zack was talking to me. I slowly opened my eyes and saw a wall of gray leather material. Everything was sideways too?

“Look up,” Zack laughed softly. I turned my head and saw Zack’s face smiling down at me. That could only mean one thing – my head had ended up on his lap! I felt my face flush as I sat up and fixed my hoodie.

“Sorry,” I apologized.
“It’s fine. Not like we were going anywhere anyways,” he smiled. I nodded and took in the empty van.

“Where is everyone?”
“They hopped out about 3 minutes ago.”
“Oh alright… What time is it?”
“Like, 4-ish.”
“Wow, that was a long trip.”
“Mhm.”

I leaned back in my seat and turned my head to face him. I honestly didn’t want to move.

Before I realized what was happening, Zack leaned in and connected our lips. I found myself kissing him back, despite the fact I was exhausted. He wrapped a hand around my neck and deepened the kiss. I moved so that I was facing him so things weren’t as awkward. A few times he stopped to bite my lip, which was totally out of the blue. However, I wasn’t gunna complain.

It wasn’t until we heard voices outside the van that we pulled apart, our faces flushed and out breathing a little out of sync.

“Zack?” Rian pulled the door open, only to reveal Kara next to him.
“Oh! You’re here!” she smiled at me.
“Hey,” I waved.
“It’s about time you woke up!” Julie reprimanded me in a mock-parent voice.
“Hey, I’m not used to waking up at 6 in the morning.”
“Oh, I’m gunna crash later too,” she nodded.

“Here. Let’s move the chair so you guys don’t have to climb,” Rian folded the middle row down so we could walk out.
“Thanks!” Zack and I said in unison.

“Welcome to Baltimore!” Kara held out her arms to showcase our surroundings. We were in a huge lot surrounded by a lot of buildings.

“This isn’t where we’re staying, don’t worry,” Kara assured me as we walked over to the other bands, who were waiting for us. Julie had mentioned something about sleeping over somebody’s house a while back…

“Kat!” Hayley ran over to me and gave me a big hug. Next was MCR, then Avenged, then All-American Rejects, then MSI, then the rest of Paramore – the wave of people never ended!

Suddenly, a guy appeared, his two assistants at his side. He walked right over to me.

“Hello you must be Katherine,” he extended his hand and I shook it. I remembered his face, but I couldn’t recall his name…
“I’m Brad, and these are my two co-managers Andy and Josh.” They each shook my hand.
“If you need anything, just tell us and it’ll get done.”
“Thank you!” I smiled politely.

“Alright!” Brad addressed the group of performers, who had gone back to talking.
“Can we all gather onto one bus for a second? Just the bands and their managers, please,” he dismissed the crewmembers. I was about to leave too when Kara and Julie each took one of my arms and brought me along with them.

“We’re with the band, silly,” Julie smiled.

We all gathered onto a huge bus, crammed in, then turned to face the front. Brad, Josh, and Andy were the last three ones inside. The noise level was now even louder now that we were all smushed inside.

“Okay!” Brad called out once. The bus fell completely silent. I saw Hayley and her band take a seat on the floor in front of Brad like Pre-Ker’s would sit in front of their teacher for story time.

“I know some of your managers came up to me and asked if those of you who are native to Baltimore could stay in your own homes and be with your families. The answer is yes.”

I saw Julie, Kara, and the guys from ATL break out into grins.

“During your free time, you are allowed to be with your relatives. However, we only want you to sleep over one night. You can go home to have dinner, lunch, and –if you wake up early enough – breakfast, but you may only sleep over one night. It’s just a law suit waiting to happen if one of you,” I saw Brad quickly glance in Kara and my direction, “get’s hurt

“For those of you who aren’t from Maryland, you can sleep over too just as long as the relatives are okay with it.”

Small chatter broke out amongst everyone as Brad let the information sink in.

“Alright! Other than that I’ll see you all for sound check at 7. Thanks guys!” Brad waved and left with Andy and Josh.

Everyone immediately began filing off of the bus – it was really crowded.

As soon as we stepped off I saw Julie walk over to Jack, who was talking to Rian animatedly. When Jack saw her, his expression went completely sober.

Julie said something and Jack nodded and they walked off together. I guess they had a few issues to sort out.

“Kat, how’ve you been?” Kara asked me, leaning up against the side of the bus.
“I’ve been good! Just trying to get through the last few months of school.”
“Oh I know! My last day is on May 22nd.”
“Lucky!” I stuck my tongue out.
“I know, I know. But don’t worry; it’ll be here soon enough.

“Hey guys!” Hayley walked over to us.
“Hey,” we smiled.
“Is Julie alright? She seems a little upset…”
“I don’t know, I wasn’t there,” Kara looked to me.
“It’s a long story,” I sighed.
“I heard her and Jack were having a few issues,” Kara nodded. Before the conversation could continue, Rian and Zack appeared.

“So, what do you guys wanna do?” Rian asked.
“Well, let’s find Alex and Lisa, then we can start planning our sleep over,” Kara said.
“Where did they go? We just got here,” I laughed.

“Where’d who go?” the Rev burst into our conversation, towering over all of us.
“Alex and-”
“His girlfriend? Oh, I know where they went,” he grinned.
“Where?”
“They were looking really… happy to see each other,” he laughed.
“Which bus did they go on, yours?” Kara asked, crossing her arms in front of her. She didn’t seem to like Jimmy very much based on her curt tone.
“Nope,” he popped the ‘p’.
“MSI’s?” Rian suggested. Jimmy shook his head and laughed.
“Julie’s bus?” I asked hesitantly. He burst out into laughter and we all sighed and began the walk over to the bus.

“I thought all of the buses were locked?” I asked.
“Um, no, not always,” Hayley answered.
“Rian, Zack, can one of you guys go in there and break them up before someone else walks in on them?” Kara asked as we reached the door.
“Ugh, we always have to stop them. Where’s Jack?” Rian asked.

We heard something fall inside the bus and a girlish squeal. I looked down at the ground, my ears turning red.

“We don’t have time to look for Jack! Just go get them!” Kara jutted her chin towards the door.
“I’m not going alone, man,” Rian pulled on Zack’s arm.
“Noo,” I heard Zack mumble in protest as Rian led him towards the door.

Rian took a deep breath and stepped onto the bus.

“Hey!” We heard Rian yell from inside.

“I know Lisa hasn’t seen Alex in a while, but she can be so erotic! It’s like all she wants is sex,” Kara rolled her eyes. Hayley took a deep breath and I took out my phone and texted Julie to see where she was.

Five minutes later Rian, Lisa, and Zack all walked off the bus.

“Hey guys,” Lisa smiled.
“Hey.”
“Hi,” I smiled.
“So, welcome to Baltimore!”
“Thanks,” I nodded.
“Yeah,” Hayley seconded my response.

“Hey, guys,” Alex hopped off of the last step of the bus, “Sorry I had to, uh, fix some things.”
“It’s okay,” Kara said, still not thrilled with either Lisa or Alex.

“Where’s Jack?” Alex asked.
“I don’t know.”
“I haven’t seen Julie either.”
“Oh, yeah! Julie’s here too!” Lisa smiled. I saw Kara hold back a witty comment before saying,
“We should go find them.”
“I saw them walk off towards the vans,” I piped up.
“Perfect, this makes our job a little easier,” Kara nodded and started leading the way.

I checked my phone to see if Julie had texted me back, but nada.

When we got to the vans we saw Jack sitting with Matt.

“Hey!” Matt greeted us.
“Hey!” Lisa smiled.
“What’s up?”
“We wanted to start planning our sleep over!” Kara said.
“Oh yeah! Okay we can do that now, we’ve got time,” Matt nodded glancing at his watch, “We have a little room inside the venue where we can all sit down and talk. Let’s go!” he stood up and led the way.

“Where’s Julie?” Hayley asked.
“She went to go find Brad,” Jack replied.
“Oh, okay.”
“Yeah, her being ‘in the crowd to watch the show’ phase is over,” he laughed weakly.
“You okay man?” Alex put a hand on Jack’s shoulder and pulled him back.

As they fell back, Lisa, Kara, and Matt took up the front and Hayley and I were left in the middle. However, we didn’t talk, we let everyone else’s voices fill the silence.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Are you sure? You’re quiet as hell,” Alex said.
“Yeah, Julie and I just talked for a little bit and… We’ve got a lot to sort out. We’re not fighting though,” Jack assured them.
“What did she say?” Rian asked.
“She said she didn’t like how we kept getting into fights about stuff and how I don’t like James… And stuff like that.”
“Yeah you guys do fight a lot,” Alex agreed, “What? It’s true.” Jack had probably given him a look.
“I’m sure you guys’ll be fine,” Rian nodded. Zack stayed silent, as usual. He didn’t like to talk much, which was fine, but it just made me wonder what his opinion was on the situation…

I stopped listening to the guys and switched my attention over to the girls and Matt.

“I can’t wait to invite everyone over!” Lisa smiled.
“Yeah, it’s gunna be amazing,” Kara agreed.
“Well, we can’t get too crazy,” Matt said.
“Aww c’mon, Matt! Being a manager has really made you a square,” Lisa giggled.
“No it hasn’t,” Matt mumbled, his ears turning red.

We got into the venue and made it to the little meeting room Matt had talked about.

“Alright so, everyone’s here, right?” Matt asked.
“Um, pretty much, yeah,” Kara nodded.
“Okay so, who’s house are we going to?”
“Umm my parents would probably be okay with it,” Rian offered.
“My parents wouldn’t mind either,” Alex nodded.
“Okay so which one of you wants to have it?”
“Well, I don’t know if I have as many rooms as Alex does, so do you wanna have this one?” Rian asked Alex.
“Alright,” Alex nodded.
“Okay so Alex’s house. What day?”
“Um, tonight?” Lisa offered.
“Nah, how about tomorrow?” Kara countered.
“Yeah, tomorrow. Gotta give my parents a day to get ready,” Alex agreed.
“Alright tomorrow night at Alex’s house. So, who’s coming to sleep over besides Kat and Julie?”
“Hayley wanted to come,” Kara piped up.
“And if you don’t mind, Jeremy wants to come too,” Hayley added.
“Yeah it’s not a problem. Everyone can come over! Invite All-American Rejects too. Everyone’s staying over!” Alex grinned.
“Alright so counting in the number of people who will crash that’s about 30 people staying over.”
“Okay so obviously, we’re gunna have to share rooms,” Kara said.
“Yeah so how the fuck are we going to do this?” Rian laughed.
“Okay well I think we have the attic room, then two guest rooms on the second floor, then on the first floor there’s the living room couch, then the den can hold a few people, and then the basement has a room down there but there’s couches and stuff.”

I raised my eyebrows as he listed possible sleeping areas. Alex’s house sounded huge!

“Okay so who wants to stay with who?” Matt asked
“Um, me and Jeremy can stay with Kat and Zack?” Hayley turned to me for an answer. I was fine with it, but I looked at Zack and he shrugged,
“I’m cool with whatever.”

“Okay so lemme write this down. Hayley, Jeremy, Kat, and Zack. Alright who’s next?” Matt asked.
“Um, Rian and I can stay with Jack and Juliet?” Kara suggested.
“I’m okay with that,” Rian nodded turning to Jack.
“Yeah, sure.”
“Alright so Kara, Rian, Jack, and Julie. Next?”

I saw Lisa’s shoulder’s slump the tiniest bit. It seemed like she didn’t want to share a room with anyone else.

“We could have Josh and Zac?” Alex suggested.
“Alright, I guess…” Lisa nodded.
“Okay,” Matt scribbled down the matching pairs, then paired up everyone else who would most likely not pass out on the floor.

After we got everything squared away Matt went off to go find Brad. It was when we were exiting the room that I felt someone roughly give me a side hug.

“Oh, hey Julie,” I smiled.
“Hey. Whatcha guys doing?” she asked, taking in our little pow-wow setting.
“We just planned our sleep over!” Lisa said.
“Oh, hey Lisa! I didn’t get a chance to say hello,” Julie walked over and gave her a hug.
“We made all of the room arrangements too,” Kara smiled.
“Awesome!” Julie looked at me and smiled, I guess she figured we were going to be staying together. I didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news; however, I wasn’t going to deny the fact that I was a little disappointed I wouldn’t be staying with Julie. A big part of the reason why I came down was so that we could hang out.

“Okay so while Hayley and the guys are up there doing their thing, we’re gunna be in the light designer/tech room watching everything from a birds-eye view. Sound okay?” Julie asked Lisa, Kara, and I.
“Sounds good to me!” Lisa nodded.
“I’m fine with that,” Kara agreed.
“No mosh pits,” I gave her a thumbs up. Julie laughed and gave me a knowing grin.

“Kat, what’s on your lip?” Julie walked over and stood in front of me.
“What do you mean?” I brought a hand up to my face and ran my hand over my mouth.
“Right here,” she took my finger and placed it on my lip.
“It doesn’t hurt,” I shook my head.
I know what it is,” Lisa grinned as she studied my face.
“Lemme see?” Kara stood next to Julie to get a better look, “Oh, I know what it is too!”
“Zack! What did you do to Kat?” Lisa called out. Immediately everyone came over to look at me. I felt my ears turn red.

“Oh damn!” Alex laughed. I saw Jack steal a glance at Julie, which she met and they smiled at each other knowingly.
“What did you try to do, bite her lip off?”

It was then that I remembered Zack and I’s kissing session. He had bitten my lip multiple times! I felt my face turn crimson. Zack had bruised my bottom lip.

“Oh my God! You’re making her blush stop it!” Lisa hit Alex’s arm.
“The lip bruises easily,” Rian shrugged, a grin on his face.
“Yeah Zack! Getting’ it in!” Jack thumped Zack on the back.

“Sorry,” Zack apologized, a grin on his face as well.
“You’re not sorry, look at his face,” Alex laughed. Zack came over to me and wrapped me in a tight hug.

“It’ll go away soon,” Lisa assured me.
“How soon is soon?” I asked in a small voice.
“Um, it depends on how hard he bit it,” she said with the nonchalance of an expert. All of the guys burst out laughing at this and I felt Zack chuckling as well as he was hugging me. I could picture him trying to tell the other guys to stop as they all roared.

“Don’t worry Kat, I had the same problem not too long ago,” Julie sympathized.
“Yeah, Julie had a hickey!” Alex laughed.
“Right on her neck!”

I pulled away from Zack to look Julie in the eye. I didn’t believe it! Julie pointed to a spot on her neck where there the mark used to be. I was shocked! But then again, I was also the one with the bruised lip. I saw Julie’s face blush. She looked at Jack, bit her lip, and shook her head, totally embarrassed. Jack wore a look of pride that only Jack could wear as his hickey story was re-told.

After much more teasing and laughing at our love marks, everyone quieted down.

“Can we take naps? I’m exhausted,” Rian yawned.
“Well, if you’re tired I guess you better rest up. Gotta have energy for the show,” Matt patted him on the back.

“I could take a nap too,” Julie nodded.
“Let’s hit the hay,” Alex stretched.

As we walked back to the lot, I noticed Jack and Julie were walking next to each other, but not saying anything. I also realized that Julie was walking towards her bus instead of the vans with Jack. Where did that leave me?

“Do you wanna go on Julie’s bus?” Zack asked me. I felt bad for wanting to say yes, so I shook my head no. Zack smiled and took my hand in his as we walked. I saw Hayley fall into step with Jack and strike up a conversation. She always knew what to say to make people smile. Sure enough, Jack had a small smile on his face by the time we reached the vans.

“I’ll see you guys at sound check!” Hayley waved as she walked off to her band’s van.
“Bye!” We all replied.

Jack opened the door to the first van, where the seats were all folded down with sleeping bags spread out.

Jack climbed in, kicked off his shoes, and laid down so that is face was towards the door and his back was to us.

Zack climbed in after him and I followed. I saw Rian give me a friendly smile before he closed the door behind us. Zack kicked off his shoes and I did too. Finally, I rested my head down on one of the pillows below and Zack laid down facing me. We stared at each other for a long time, before we actually fell asleep. The last thing I remember seeing was Zack's amazing smile.

***

At 6:40 Matt woke us up and dragged all of us into the venue. You could hear all of the fans lining up outside- it was so exciting!

When we got there, Julie was already waiting for us.

"How was your nap?" she asked all of us.
"Great," Zack nodded. I smiled in agreement.

Julie was still sitting in her chair up against the wall when Kara, Lisa, Alex, Hayley, and Jeremy all crowded around her and started talking to her. Hayley, Lisa, and Alex sat down on the floor next to her, Jeremy leaned up against the wall to her left, and Kara stood on her right. They formed a little bubble around her, which eventually grew as more people came in for sound check.

I was about to start walking over to Julie myself, when Jack walked in and stood by Zack and I. I stole a glance at Zack who just raised his eyebrows quickly so that only I could see it. I knew exactly what he was trying to say- it was like we had our own silent language.

"Sorry I was such a cock block before," Jack laughed. Even though he was smiling and joking, it wasn't his normal laugh. It sounded tired and kind of forced. However, this did not stop my face from flushing.
"It’s okay," Zack laughed genuinely and took my hand in his.
"Kat, just you wait. He's an animal," Jack continued. Jack nodded in an “I would take my warning if I were you” way.

I looked up to Zack for confirmation of Jack’s words. He just smiled and gave me an over-dramatic wink. I giggled and stole a glance at Julie, who was talking with Lisa and Hayley. She looked alright, but I made a note to go and talk to her later.

After about ten more minutes of bands testing their equipment and getting ready for the show, brad came out and told the opening acts to get their instruments.

"Break a leg!" I smiled and gave Zack a hug. He pulled back and brought my chin up so that he could kiss me. Before it could go anywhere, he pulled away and ran off to get his bass. I saw Alex and Lisa playing one last game of tonsil hockey before they went on stage, and Kara and Rian had already seemed to have said their adieus for now. I looked for Jack so that I could wish him well, but when I found him, I couldn’t help but smile.

He and Julie were in a super-duper cute hug. Julie's head was resting on his shoulder and Jacks head was resting on top of hers.

One of the crew guys called his name and Jack let go and gave Julie a kiss on the cheek. She smiled and waved him off even though he had already turned around.

I walked over to her and have her an encouraging grin.

"We’re getting there," she nodded, a smile on her lips. She brought a hand up to her cheek and left it there, as if she wanted to hold on to the feeling of his lips on her cheek.

"So Julie, where are we going to watch this concert from again?" Lisa asked as she walked over to us.
“Oh snap! I forgot we aren’t staying back stage! It’s a bit of a climb, but it’s worth it. Follow me!” Julie took off walking to the left.

“Um Julie, I hate to break it to you, but this is a wall,” Kara chuckled as Julie stopped at was our apparent final destination.

“No, no it’s not,” Julie smiled. She found a notch in the wall and tugged. When she stepped back, we saw a tiny little rectangle cut into the wall. It was a little room! The lighting was very dim backstage, so it was hard to see what she was trying to show us.

“It’s not a closet, it’s a staircase,” Julie reached out and tapped on something metal. There was a tiny staircase inside the wall! We all moved in to get a closer look, and there it was: a tiny, black, metal staircase going up into the blackness.

“Holy shit,” Lisa mumbled.
“Yeah, it’s a little scary, but don’t worry, you get used to the dark,” Julie said before she stepped forward to take the lead, “Oh, and Kara, since you’re the last person in line, please close the door behind you?”

Kara bit her lip and nodded.

I saw Julie go up three steps. After that I could only rely on the sound of her feet to let me know she was there. That’s how dark this little staircase was. I looked up and saw that there were places where lights used to be.

“Yeah, there used to be lights here, but they have to get them fixed,” Julie said, reading my mind, “Alright now be careful climbing up these, they are metal and if you trip it’s gunna hurt like a mother. You’ll also get a really bad black and blue.” Julie sounded like a tour guide and I couldn’t help but smile to myself.

Lisa gave Kara and I one last look of “Oh my God!” before she took the slick railing in her hands and began climbing.

I let Lisa go up about seven steps before I started climbing too. The last thing I wanted was for one of us to trip and then we all go tumbling down!

I heard Kara muttering to herself as she closed the door and began climbing the steps behind me.

“Okay guys, there are more lights up here. You’ll see me when you’re at the top,” Julie called to us.

“Where the hell are we going?” Kara asked.
“We’re going to the light tech’s room.”
“They stay up here all the time?” Lisa asked.
“Well, no not really. They only come up here for shows. They’re in a different place depending on what venue they’re at. Usually they’re in the back of the crowd because you get a good view, but this one’s different,” Julie’s face came into view as we made it to the top of the steps.

Suddenly, we heard the muffled roar of the crowd.

“Oh shoot, we’re late. C’mon follow me this way,” Julie took off down the long black hallway. There were no windows or doors, just endless black walls with a few directions posted every now and then.

“Julie, how much farther? I’m tired,” Lisa pouted.
“Well, we’re technically walking to the back of the venue right now. This is the more complicated way to go, but if we had cut through the crowd it would be just as long of a walk and a climb.”
“Oh.”

In a way, I was glad we didn’t have to walk through the crowd - too many people.

Finally, Julie stopped at a door. The music coming from the concert was muffled along with the crowd’s screams.

"Okay, the view from here is amazing, but if you're afraid of heights you probably might want to just take a second to breathe before you come in," she warned us. After we all nodded and braced ourselves, she turned the handle and opened the door.

We were standing over the crowd. The music was very audible from here, but not to the point where you felt like you would go deaf. It was like having the radio on in the car.

"Oh my God!" Kara exclaimed, causing everyone to turn their heads.

"Hey, Juliet," a guy in a black t-shirt walked over to Julie and shook her hand.
"Hey how’s it going? This is Kara, Lisa, and Kat," she introduced us.
"Hi," Kara mumbled, her hand shaking as she greeted the man. Her eyes were focused on the huge window in front of us.
"Hi," Lisa smiled. She didn't seem too nervous about being this high up.
"Nice to meet you," I smiled politely as I shook his hand.
"I'm Mike, nice to meet you all. Okay, well, welcome to the light tech room, booth, whatever you wanna call it. There's seats and food and drinks for you guys, and there's also a bathroom if you need it, but it's kind of small so if you want to, you could go downstairs."
"Thanks!" Julie smiled and took the lead past the other tech guys, who took time to turn from the monitors in front of them and wave at us.

"Julie, this is so cool!" Lisa leaned over the little counter in front of us and looked down at the crowd. It looked like she would fall out, but her hand was pressed up against the glass - she wasn’t going anywhere.

"Ha ha thanks," she smiled, "I knew you guys would like it."
"Kara, you okay?" I asked. She quickly sat down and kept her eyes straightforward.
"Yeah, I'm gunna be alright," she nodded, "I just can't look down."
"No, Kar, you gotta come look!" Lisa tugged on her hand the way a toddler would.
"No! No, don't touch me," Kara stole her hand away.
"Let her get used to it," Julie said, grabbing a soda and offering it to me.
"Thanks," I smiled and twisted the top off.

"So," Mike walked over, "who do you guys know here?"
"Well, me and Kara went to school with the guys playing right now," Lisa answered.
"Oh really? That's cool," he nodded. As I observed him, I noticed he had to be in his late 20's even though he looked a lot younger. He seemed like a stress free guy!

Mike turned to look at me, since he already knew Juliet's story.

"I'm friends with Julie and Zack."
"Alright! You guys are welcome to walk around and look over our shoulder's to see what we're doing. But we have to get ready for the main performances so I'll catch up with you guys later."
"Thanks, Mike," Julie smiled politely.

We spent the rest of the show watching, listening, and talking in the tech room. Honestly it was one of the coolest things I had ever done! It was like being in a box seat at Madison Square Garden, but instead of having one plasma screen on the sidewall, your whole view was a plasma screen! The bands looked so close yet so far away, and everything was wonderful.

During one of the switch ups between the bands, I got a chance to talk to Julie. Kara and Lisa were in their own little conversation about nails and Lindsey Lohan.

"So, Julie, how've you been? We never got a chance to sit and talk," I turned to face her in my swivel-chair.
"I've been alright I guess..." she stole a glance out at the stage. Lights and smoke machines distracted the audience as the next band got ready.

"Jules, I can see right through that. Tell me the truth, please? I'm here to listen." She turned to face me, an appreciative smile on her lips.
"It's Jack and me. We're just not on the same page anymore. Either we're arguing over something, or we're making out. It's never a happy medium. I mean sure, both of those things are going to happen, but they shouldn't happen 100 times a day everyday. What's the fun in that?"

"Are you talking about you and Jack?" Lisa asked, jumping into our conversation with ease.
"Yeah," Julie nodded.
"Well, I know with me and Alex, we always argue over little things, but then we make up for it by going out to eat when we see each other again."
"Maybe that's it!" I exclaimed.
"Maybe what's it?" Julie cocked an eyebrow, confused.
"Maybe you guys spend too much time together! You're always with each other so the little things are getting to you guys. It's like you guys don't know where to go from where you are, because there's really nothing more to fix other than the fact that you guys are always with each other."

The other girls just stared at me, mouths slightly agape. It wasn't until the next band - MCR - came out with their opening song that Lisa spoke.

"How are you so good?"
"Good at what?"
"Figuring out what's going on in people's lives?"
"I wish I could do that," Kara added.
"...I think you're right," Julie nodded.
"But how are you going to fix that?" Lisa tapped her chin.
"Well, didn't you say that you and Alex went out to eat? How about going on some dates?" Kara suggested.
"Yeah! And they don't always have to be just you two. We could quadruple date!" Lisa grinned.
"Let's do it!" Kara squealed. Julie looked at me in an "do you think this is a good idea?" look and I smiled and nodded. Going out with a bunch of other couples might not be my forte, but it sounded really fun!

"And, on top of that, we can have some girl time and we can let the guys go out and do their own thing!" Kara kept the ball rolling.
"Yeah! We have that party at Alex's tomorrow and we need to get ready for that! We can go out, get our nails done, then go out with Alex's mom and help her do all of the shopping and set up the house!" Lisa added.
"Whaddya say?" Kara turned to Julie for a reply.
"Well, I guess it couldn't hurt to try it..." she shrugged.
"Yay!" Lisa clapped.
"Okay so we gotta start first thing tomorrow," Kara said seriously.
"Yeah, we still have to have time to do our makeup and hair," Lisa nodded. I cringedfor Julie when Lisa said that. It was a miracle if the girl took her hair out of a braid, let alone consider putting on some clear mascara and eyeliner!

“Well, we don’t have to get too crazy,” I tried to intervene.
“Um, are you kidding me? These are our friends from high school, we’ve got a lot of catching up and showing off to do!” Kara said.
“You know for a fact Amanda and Dominique are gunna show up,” Lisa rolled her eyes.
“Some people from our school are really stuck up, and they made fun of us for hanging out with the guys,” Kara explained, tilting her head towards the window.
“So, now that they’re on tour and stuff, we can show them that we’re not as big of losers as we appear to be,” Lisa laughed. We joined in and then went back to watching the music.

**

Finally, after Avenged came out and wrapped up the show, we were able to use the short cut to get backstage and meet everyone just in time for the after-party.

“Hey!” Zack greeted me, a big smile on his face, “That show was fucking rad!”
“It was!” I agreed.

“Let’s get this party started right!” Jack yelled. He was in a group with Tyson, Nick, and Chris, who seemed to have pre-gamed. Everyone cheered and made a mad dash to the lot.

Zack and I spent most of the party like we usually did, sitting outside one of the vans or buses and talking and eating chips. However, in the middle of one of our conversations, someone came and pulled me out of my seat.

“Dance with me!” I recognized the voice to belong to Julie. I laughed along with her and started dancing to the music being played from MCR’s bus. Each night each band took turns providing the main party area, which would explain why Julie smelled like alcohol.

“Jules! You’re crazy!” I laughed as we spun and pretended to tango.
“I wanna dance too!” the Rev burst in-between us and took Julie’s hands from mine. They started doing some crazy dance and I stood there watching them for all of two seconds before Zack tapped me on the shoulder and began dancing with me – normally – off to the side.

When the song ended and Julie almost literally fell down before the Rev caught her and stood her upright.

“Learn how’t hold yo liquer gurl!” he joked.
“I’m okay, I’m okay,” Julie giggled.

The rest of the night followed suit, and was spent laughing and joking around. Everyone seemed so carefree and happy to be where he or she was, and I loved that. At this point, I couldn’t wait until Julie, Deanna, James, and my band started practicing! Even though we didn’t even have a name yet, I couldn’t wait t create and get out and create music.

That night I fell asleep on the bunk over Julie’s, thinking about everything that awaited us in the future.

******************************************************************************

“I’m not waking her up,” I shook my head.
“C’mon Kat, you know her the best,” Lisa sighed. Her and Kara were standing outside the steps of the bus, sunglasses shielding their eyes from the beautiful spring sunshine.
“Do you know how drunk she was yesterday?” I shook my head.
“If she doesn’t wake up in 10 minute we’re going to be running late,” Kara frowned.

My mind raced with things to come back with, but I stayed shut. Kara and Lisa were on a whole different page than me, and I just wasn’t up to arguing at 12 in the afternoon.

“Where’s Jack?” I tried switching gears.
“I don’t know, probably asleep in the van?”
“Someone say my name?” Jack rounded the corner, basketball shorts hanging loosely from his hips. His hair was all messy and his voice was still horse from lack of use.
“Thank God you’re up!” Kara smiled.
“Oh no, what’d I do now?” he groaned.
“It’s not what you did, it’s what you’re going to do,” Lisa smirked.
“Well, what is it?” he asked.
“We need you to go and wake up Julie and have her out the door in,” Kara stole a glance at her phone, “five minutes.”
“That’s not happening,” Jack shook his head.
“Why not?” Lisa frowned.
“She’ gunna have the hangover of all hangovers… And even on a good day, she takes at least a half an hour to get ready.”
“Just try for us, please?”

Jack stole a glance at me and I shrugged. I wanted no part in this waking of the beast that was my best friend. After 10 minutes of staring, Jack sighed and walked towards the entrance of the bus. I quickly turned around and hurried up the steps. I was standing in the kitchen when Jack shuffled past me to the bunks. Kara and Lisa climbed on also, but stopped to wait in the kitchen with me.

“Julie,” we heard Jack say softly. The bus was empty; everyone had either woken up already, or fell asleep on someone else’s bus.

We all stole a glance down the isle to see Jack, one knee on the floor, the other holding up his arm, next to Julie’s bunk.

“Jules,” he reached out and shook her arm gently. We heard a mumble then a moan of pain.
“How you feeling?” Jack asked. We saw a hand fly out from the bunk and cover his mouth. I heard Kara and Lisa giggle, and I couldn’t help but smile. Julie was always funny, even if she wasn’t trying.

Jack reached up and took her hand away.
“You gotta go with Kara, Lisa, and Kat, remember? …. Yeah that’s today,” Jack said after a minute. He was probably interpreting Julie’s hangover sign language.
“Fuck,” we heard Julie sigh audibly - Such a beautiful phrase to say first thing in the morning.

“They are waiting for you,” Jack nodded his head in our direction. Jack stood up and held out his hands. After hearing the rustling of covers, Julie’s legs and hands appeared. When she stood up, I couldn’t help but giggle. She was a mess; but not in a bad way. It was more like a ‘wow I had fun but I shouldn’tve done that’ mess.

“Good morning, beautiful,” Lisa grinned as Julie made her way to the front of the bus. She held out her hand and weakly gave us the finger as she walked over to the kitchen cabinets.

“Get my sunglasses,” she mumbled. Jack suppressed a laugh and hurried to the back of the bus.

Julie grabbed a bottle of Advil, took out two pills and popped them in her mouth. Then, she grabbed a glass and filled it up with tap water and downed them. I was surprised, Julie usually never took pills. Ever. Jack came back and handed her a big pair of dark aviators. She took them gratefully and sighed in relief as her vision was submerged in the darkness.

“Julie, I know you’re not feeling up to par, but you gotta get dressed. We have to go to the store with Alex’s mom so we can go get our nails done at 3:30.”
“What time is it?” Julie winced at the sound of her own voice. Her hair, which had somehow gotten out of its braid, was a bird’s nest around her face. However, she looked good in a weird rocker way.
“It’s…12:13,” Lisa confirmed as she snapped her phone shut.
“Lemme take a shower,” Julie mumbled before she began shuffling away towards the back of the bus.

“Please don’t take too long,” Kara asked in the kindest way possible. It sounded like she felt really bad for Julie, which we all did, but she was the only one verbalizing it. Julie held up a ‘thumbs up’ as she continued walking towards the shower. Jack looked like he wanted to make a witty remark, but he held his tongue. I shook my head as joke after possible crude joke passed through my brain.

*

Julie was looking much better after she cleaned herself up, and Lisa drove us out to the suburbs of Towson, Baltimore to the Gaskarth house. Contrary to my previous thoughts, Alex’s house was about the size of my house. It wasn’t too big but it wasn’t too small.

We all waited patiently at the doorway as Lisa rang the doorbell. Seeing as Lisa was Alex’s girlfriend, it seemed appropriate that she was first in line.

Alex’s mom appeared at the door, dressed in typical mom clothes and looking like a typical mom. What I was not expecting… was her voice.

“Hello girls! How are you?”

A British accent. A fucking British accent. Are we at the right house? The right neighborhood? The right country?!

Mrs. Gaskarth stepped aside and let all of us file into the foyer. The house was so bright; I winced for Julie as she removed her sunglasses out of courtesy. The walls were practically all white. Everything was spotless.

“Hello Lisa, Kara,” she opened her arms and gave each of them a hug and kiss on the cheek. Then she turned to us and said with the properness that only an English person could muster,
“Good afternoon girls, I’m Mrs. Gaskarth.”

“Hello Mrs. Gaskarth, I’m Juliet. Nice to meet you,” Julie stepped forward and shook her hand, a polite smile on her face. If she had a hangover, she sure was good at hiding it.
“I’m Katherine,” I followed up with a handshake as well. There was an awkward silence, and I cursed myself for not being more amiable and saying something like Julie had.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” she smiled.
“Juliet is going out with Jack, and Kat is going out with Zack,” Lisa clarified. I felt my cheeks flush. I stole a glance at Julie, who was also pink. At this we all giggled and waited for Mrs. Gaskarth to say something.

“I give you a lot of credit,” she laughed, “The boys are so foolish sometimes.”

After a little more chit-chat and a tour of the house – which was much more spacious and modern than I thought it would be – we headed out the front door to our cars.

“Oh my God,” Julie moaned as she strapped into the backseat of Lisa’s car with me.
“That was some impressive acting,” Kara nodded at her.
“Yeah, seriously! I thought you would have died when you took off your sunglasses,” Lisa added.
“I didn’t want to make a bad first impression,” Julie mumbled.
“I don’t think you did. You both passed the Gaskarth test,” Kara giggled.
“Aren’t we lucky?” I smiled and turned to Julie, who just kept a straight face.
“Look, we’ll all put on sunglasses too, since it’s sunny outside, and then you won’t look like the only one,” Kara reached into her bag and took out her sunglasses along with an extra pair for me.
“Get mine?” Lisa motioned to her purse. Kara reached over for Lisa’s bag and gave them to her at the next red light.
“Thanks,” I smiled as I put on the obnoxiously big glasses.
“No problem,” Kara smiled.

When we made it to the shopping center, Kara and Lisa did most of the talking and assisting with the food. Mrs. Gaskarth was actually much nicer than she appeared to be, she just had to warm up and then she was fine. She even included Julie and I into most of her conversations, in which Julie put up a very good front once again. We exited the food store and walked over to the party store.

“I think we should either do red or blue,” Lisa held out two tablecloths.
“How about green?” I suggested.
“I like green,” Julie nodded.
“Um, I don’t know,” Kara scrunched her nose.
“Why not give green a go? Everyone always uses blue and red. Why not change it up a bit?” Mrs. Gaskarth spoke up.
“Green it is!” Lisa grabbed a bunch of green tablecloths and put them in the shopping cart.

After that, our color scheme was reduced to black, white, silver, or gold. We piled the shopping cart high with different plates, napkins, utensils, and cups. And in the end the bill was about $150. Julie and I wanted to help split the bill, but Mrs. Gaskarth insisted on paying for the whole thing herself:
“Girls, it’s my own son’s party, I think I should be allowed to cover the expenses. But thank you both for your generosity.”

“Guys, it’s like 2:30 and the nail salon is like a half an hour away on a good day,” Kara scrunched her nose.
“Oh shoot. We better get going then,” Mrs. Gaskarth led the way back to the parking lot, taking half of the shopping bags with her. We had to take the other half.

When we got to the house, it was all hands on deck. Everyone was bustling around setting up tables and platters to be placed in the fridge. Finally, at 3:18, we finished setting everything up.

“We’ll see you later!” Lisa called as we made our way towards the front door.
“Goodbye, dears!” Mrs. Gaskarth called after us.

“I’m so happy Alex’s dad is away on a business trip,” Lisa sighed as we buckled ourselves into our seats.
“Yeah, he wouldn’t have wanted us to have a big party. But Alex’s mom is really cool,” Kara nodded.
“I didn’t know she was British!” I finally exploded.
“Oh, yeah, that too,” Lisa smiled.
“His dad has an accent too,” Kara added.
“That’s so awesome! Why doesn’t he have one?” I referred to Alex.
“Cause they moved over when he was younger and he lost it. But he can do a great ‘impersonation’,” Lisa took her right hand off the steering wheel to do air quotes. The car didn’t swerve the tiniest bit.

We got to the nail salon about 15 minutes late, but it was okay because there were a few people who were there before us that were just finishing so we had time to compose ourselves. I had gotten my nails done before, but I wasn’t sure about Julie, who looked like a freshman on their first day of high school. Despite her hangover, Julie looked completely mesmerized and interested in everything that was happening. This was the complete opposite of Kara and Lisa, who were talking and watching the TV, even though it was all in Chinese.

“So, Kat, how are things with you and Zack?” Kara turned away from the TV.
“Good,” I smiled.
“You two are so alike it’s not even funny,” she laughed.
“Really?”
“Yeah! I’m happy that you guys are together. It’s so cute watching you two!” she gushed. I felt my face turn red, which only made her laugh more.
“Julie, how you doing down there?”
“I’m feeling better,” she nodded. Her sunglasses were off and she looked tired, but not as in pain as she did before.

“Jack stayed with you the whole night, you know,” Lisa turned to her.
“Really?” Julie raised her eyebrows in surprise.
“Yeah. He didn’t drink after you came over either.”
“I don’t remember much,” Julie confessed.
“Well, he kept you out of trouble. And he didn’t leave.” Lisa’s tone sounded bright and cheerful, but it didn’t reach her eyes. It was almost like the look I had seen Alex ware when he was giving examples of how much Julie loves Jack. I kept these thoughts to myself. When Lisa and Alex wanted to talk things out, they would.

“All done!” the lady painting my nails took off her facemask and smiled at me.
“Thank you!” She nodded and pointed in the direction of the UV dryers. I sat down and put my hands and feet under the radioactive lights.

It was also at this moment that my phone decided to ring… inside the front pocket of my jeans. I sighed as the ringing continued. It was a phone call, probably from my mother, or possibly from my father, or Zack, or Billie, or Jimmy, or Stacie, or Mike, or even possibly Lauren. In a nutshell, the possibilities were truly endless.

“Hey,” Julie said as she too the seat next to me.
“Hey,” I nodded.
“Was that your phone ringing before?”
“Yeah,” I laughed.
“I had a feeling it was yours.”
“As if the ringtone weren’t obvious enough,” I grinned. I changed my ringtone to a Blink-182 song: the instrumental version of Dammit.
“I love that song…I love all of their songs, actually.”
“They’re a great band,” I nodded.
“How long is this supposed to take?” Julie asked.
“Um, well, if you don’t want to come back and have it done all over again, it could take at least half an hour.
“Just sitting here?!” She raised her eyebrows.
“Yup,” I popped the ‘p’.
“Oh, this shit is for the birds,” she sighed. I saw the old lady next to us give Julie an un-approving look, and I tried to stifle my laughter. I guess Julie had seen her too, because she gave me a big mischievous smile before saying,
“I honestly couldn’t give two fucks about my nails. Like who the hell is looking at them anyways? It’s all gunna come off in the shower anyways. I don’t give a damn!” She said obnoxiously.

At this point, Kara and Lisa had joined us, and were laughing just as hard as I was as the lady grew more and more upset with Julie.

“Anyways, don’t you hate it when people get their nails done the ugliest color? I hate mauve and all of those skin tones. If you’re gunna waist all that time,” she quickly stole a glance at the lady’s nails next to her, “ you might as well do a color that pops. You don’t wanna look like an old hag,” Julie said completely straight faced.

Kara and Lisa were in tears, as was I. We all knew Julie wasn’t doing it to be mean, she just enjoyed having a crowd and telling crude jokes. Now, the lady was pink in the face and fuming, but Julie simply reached into her shirt and pulled out her sunglasses and put them on.

“Fuck it’s so bright in here,” she mumbled.

The lady stole a glance at Juliet’s nails, which were painted electric blue, and huffed. It was easy to see she was going to loose it if Julie said anything more, but she didn’t. Actually, Julie turned and pretended to look at the clock on the wall behind her and gave her the biggest smile.

When our 30 minutes were up, we grabbed our bags and hurried back to the car. It was 5:00 and we were running a little late.

“Julie, can we please choose your outfit tonight?” Kara turned around in her seat to give Julie the puppy eyes. Julie sat there, sunglasses on. It was hard to tell if she was awake or not, but I knew better since she had just been looking out the window.

“Please?” Lisa stole a lance at her face through the rear-view mirror.
“Sure,” Julie said. The girls high-fived. “But, you’re not going crazy, okay? If I don’t want to wear it, I don’t want to wear it.”
“Okay, we promise,” Lisa nodded enthusiastically.
“Kat, we’ll help you too!” Kara added.
“Thanks,” I smiled. I didn’t mind getting some fashion advice from them; they always looked fabulous.

***************************************************************************************

“Julie, come out here so we can see you!” Frank laughed from his seat at the kitchen table.
“Don’t say it like that! She’ll get embarrassed,” Lindsey hit his arm, “Kat, you’re looking lovely as always.”
“Thank you!”
“Your makeup totally makes your eyes stand out, it’s great!” Lindsey gushed.
“Aw, it’s nothing.”
“Now I know where Julie gets some of her clothing choices from, she likes shirts like that too!” I looked down at my semi-formal tank top, capris, and Vans.
“Oh, really?” I smiled.

“Okay! Here she is!” Lisa and Kara stepped out from the shadows of the bunks, looking even more pretty than they usually did. Finally, out walked Julie.

Everyone was silent.

“Oh my God!” Lindsey squeaked.

Julie looked amazing. She was in a white loose fitting crop, with mid-thigh shorts and sandals.

“Who are you, and where did Juliet go?” Ray joked, light heartedly.
“Oh shush, I’m still here,” Julie smiled. Her glasses were gone, and her long legs and stomach left her looking like a model.

“You girls all look great,” Gerard smiled encouragingly.
“Aw, thanks!” Kara grinned.

“Bob, get the camera!” Frank nodded toward the counter where someone’s digital camera was charging up.
“Oh no, please don’t,” Julie shook her head. Bob grinned and took the camera off the counter and passed it to Mikey, who was leaning against the wall.
“Yes! This is a momentous occasion!” I exclaimed, flipping my straightened hair back.
“Ugh, Kat, you look amazing!” Julie smiled.
“You too!” I nodded positively. I knew Julie’s self esteem wasn’t as great as it should be – whose is? - so I knew this night was super important for her, as well as me!

“Alright, everybody say glamour girls!” Mikey joked as he held out the camera. No one said it, but burst into laughter. The blinding flash and the click of the camera went off and that was as far as our photo shoot went.

“Don’t forget your stuff!” Lindsey reminded us as we sad our goodbyes and made our way towards the bus door.
“Okay! Bye m- bye!” Julie stuttered as she yelled one final wave before closing the door.

We all hopped in Lisa’s car for the last time today as we drove off to Alex’s house. The guys were apparently already there, along with the early party arrivers, so we were running a little late. It was 7:46 and the party started at 8.

When we pulled onto Alex’s block, there were cars everywhere.

“Oh my God,” I heard Julie mumble.
“This party is going to be huge!” Lisa grinned.
“I can see that,” Julie said more audibly.

We found a spot relatively close to the house and began the walk up the block. I heard someone wolf-whistle at us from across the street.

“This is only the beginning,” Kara laughed.
“Just stay next to the guys, and no one will bother you,” Lisa assured Julie and me.

When we got to the door, the music was audible from where we were standing.

“Should I ring it or?” Julie asked.
“Try the handle,” Lisa replied. Julie tried but to no avail. I guess someone must have seen the handle move, because the door flew open, and there was one of the crew guys I recognized – Vinny Vegas.

“Welcome, welcome ladies,” he stepped aside, not recognizing Julie or I until Lisa and Kara walked in. We all dropped our bags inside the front closet and kept walking.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Julie?!” he shrieked. We all burst into laughter and Julie turned to face him, her long hair cascading down her shoulders and back. She waited silently for him to say something.
“Holy shit! Jack is going to flip out!” he brought a hand up to his mouth and shook his head, “You guys are good,” he nodded at Kara, Lisa, and I.
“It was nothing,” Kara grinned.
“I have to see this,” Vinny laughed as he closed the door.
“Let us go first,” Lisa took Kara’s hand and took the lead into the living room.

Everyone turned to look at us as we made our way to the guys, who were apparently in the kitchen. Everyone who saw us said hello to Kara and Lisa, giving us approving looks when they caught our eyes.

“Oh! Now we can start the party!” I heard Alex exclaim as we came into view.
“You look amazing,” Alex said before he kissed Lisa on the mouth.
“Hey babe,” Kara said as Rian came to give her a hug.

“Where’s Kat and Julie?” Alex asked.
“Hey there,” I waved.
“Oh my God! Kat!” Alex looked over to my left and saw Julie standing there, a small smile on her face, “Oh my God!” Alex backed up and screamed.

Everyone burst into laughter and Alex pushed Kara and Lisa off to the side to get a better look at her. Julie NEVER got this dressed up for ANYTHING. EVER.

“Damn,” Alex shook his head, a huge grin on his face. I saw him steal a glance at Vinny, and they both grinned.
“Zack! Jack!” Vinny called out, “Just act natural, get some drinks or something,” he shooed us towards the counter and ran off.

Lisa opened the fridge, pulled out various drinks, and passed them to us. I stood with my back to the room, Julie leaned against the counter, and Lisa and Kara stood with Alex and Rian. At this moment Hayley and all of the other bands from tour walked into the kitchen as well, which caused even more of a diversion when Jack and Zack walked in.

“Did Vinny call us?” I heard Jack ask. No one replied but kept on doing their thing.
“Kat?” I heard Zack ask. I turned around and saw Zack’s mouth go slack. I felt a huge grin spread across my whole face as Zack walked over to me. I closed the space between us with a hug, and I saw Jack staring at me, a friendly smile on his face,
“Hey, Kat!”

“What, you aren’t going to say hi to me?” I heard Julie ask. I pulled away from Zack so that everyone could see Jack’s reaction.
“Julie?” Jack raised his big eyebrows
“Hey there,” she smiled, her white teeth standing out against her face. Her brown eyes seemed to glitter like obsidian underneath her long eyelashes.

“Jack’s gunna get a boner,” we heard Vinny tease from the background.
“No I’m not you fucker,” Jack laughed, his face flushing slightly.
“Do you like it?” she asked him, biting her lip nervously. As if to showcase herself, she spun around in a circle.
“I love it!” he grinned and closed the distance between them with a kiss on the lips.

Everyone “ooed” and wolf-whistled at them. When they pulled apart I saw Alex rush into the living room. Five seconds later, music started blasting through the speakers and everyone began dancing.

“Kill the lights!” Someone yelled in the distance.

One by one, the rooms got dimmer and dimmer. Even in the kitchen! I saw the track lighting fade from blinding to Hollister lighting in two seconds.

One by one, everyone we knew disappeared out of the kitchen except for Zack and a few crew guys I didn’t know by name.

“Let’s grab some drinks,” Zack walked over to the fridge. I saw Zack grab a Heineken. He looked at me, waiting to see what I wanted. I looked around for the drink I was sipping five seconds ago, but it was nowhere to be found.
“Umm, Mike’s Lemonade please,” I smiled.
“We gotta get you to have a beer by the end of the night,” Zack joked, a grin on his face.
“We’ll see, we’ll see,” I laughed.

We made our way around the house, Zack introducing me to the few people he knew at the party. Finally, after bumping into Julie, Alex, and Vinny a few times, we hit up the living room where everyone was dancing. Slowly but surely we got jumbled into the crowd, always within arms reach of one another, and we danced with almost everyone.

Good song after good song came on, and when we went to the kitchen for another drink, I took a Heineken too. After that, I began to loose my nerves. Now the party really started.

**

At one point, when the music slowed down for a second, Julie came over to me and told me that we should take our things out of the closet and bring them to our rooms so no one would step on them or fall asleep on them. I was on my third beer, and Julie seemed to be fairly sober herself. When we opened the closet, we found our bags buried under hoodies and shoes galore. We finally made it to our designated rooms, where we found Hayley and Kara putting their things away too.

When we came downstairs, almost everyone was slow-dancing or slow-grinding to the music. I couldn’t help but giggle as I scanned the crowd for Zack. I didn’t see him, so I made my way to the kitchen again to get another drink.

It was when I closed the fridge that I saw Zack staring at me from across the kitchen, a smile on his face. When I was about two feet away he quickly walked into the den and when I rounded the corner, I felt a pair of lips meet mine. I felt a smile break out onto my lips as I realized it was Zack.

He tucked one hand behind my neck and wrapped the other around my waist, pulling me closer to him. I gasped as he suddenly began attacking my neck. By now we were fully pressed up against the corner of the den. People were dancing all around us, but I didn't care. I let the driving bass line of the music take over the rate of my heartbeat as Zack's hands roamed over my torso and my hips.

"Kat," he said gruffly in between kisses. I went to reply but all I got was another passionate kiss and another bite on the lip. That was all I needed to send me over the edge. Between the party and the alcohol, I was overcome with emotion. And right now, all that mattered was keeping Zack's lips pressed against mine.

Before I could say anything, Zack picked me up and carried me down to the guest room we were staying in with Jeremy and Hayley. Thankfully, it was empty and we didn't have to worry about kicking anyone out.

Zack rested me gently on the bed before walking back over to the door and shutting it. It was pitch black. The only light I could see was from the window on the other side of the room, and there was only enough light to illuminate the windowpane.

"Zack?" I asked, a smile on my face. I could feel the adrenaline kicking in. I knew I was the prey, I knew he was there watching me and I ached to have him next to me again.

Suddenly, he jumped onto the bed and I let out a squeal. Zack laughed and stared at me for one second before grinning and leaning in to connect out lips once more. Hands roamed and hips grinded as we rolled around and let our feelings take over.

Zack pulled the scrunchie out of my hair and ran his hands through it. I tugged at the hem of his shirt and without a second thought he tore it off. I ran a hand over his abs and sighed. He was perfect! Thankfully, Zack didn't try to take anything of mine off. I wasn't exactly ready for that- this was totally new to me. Zack normally walked around shirtless just for the heck of it, so this was nothing new for him.

I had honestly never seen this side of Zack before, but I loved it. He was so gentle yet controlling and he made me feel like everything was supposed to be this way. Nothing felt forced or awkward because we were both going at our own pace.

Finally, after another 20 minutes of sheer lip locking, we both collapsed on the bed. As we drifted off, I wondered what everyone else was doing at this very moment…. That was the last I remembered of that night in Baltimore.

Comments

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MyChemFREAK MyChemFREAK
2/7/15

Please keep writing it cant end here I've spent two days reading this, PLEASE I need to know what happedns.

McRbAnDfReAk McRbAnDfReAk
10/21/14

NOOO! This can't be the end! Please keep writing, you're amazing at it!!!

AShotToRemember AShotToRemember
4/27/14

At some point I do believe fall out boy should make an appearance