Beat Your Heart Out

Why when we are children do things like fairy tales and happy stories build a girl’s hopes up, when we all know that in the real world, Prince charming rides off with another princess. We all wish it could be simple, like a retro pop song “I want you to want me” Boom, end of story. We all live happily ever after. But it’s never really like that is it? Sometimes living in our each individual fantasies would be better than leading the lives that we already do. But they say everything happens for a reason, even in film and TV, when they create going back in time they say if you just mess up on tiny thing it could alter you future in an enormous way. If you had the chance to change your future would you?

“Ugh Alex I need you down here… like now!” a short man with brown hair pointed his finger.

“Chase if you can just give me one sec--”

“No, no I said now missy”

“Sorry here is you’re Mocha Double Shot Latte, have a nice day” she walked back to the register only to be greeted with her manager’s angry face “Yes?”

“Alex can you pick up the pace, Jesus you’re acting as if you’re on vacation or something” he put his hands on his hips and gave a fake sympathetic look to the female customer waiting in line.

“Chase I’m working as fast as I can ,I’m the only one managing the register and I’m the one making the orders”

“No need to make excuses for your mistakes…”

She scoffed and threw the sharpie on the counter “Excuse me?”

“Look hunny we haven’t got all day now take their orders and make them snappy” he motioned her away with his hand.

“No”

“What?”

“I said, NO. You know what, I quit. I’ve had it with you’re bitchyness and I do not plan on dealing with anymore of you’re annoying bullshit Chase I’m done”

“You can’t quit, I’m all alone doing this!”

“Well then you should of though of that before you decided you wanted to be an asshole to people, buh bye!” she walked out the door marching proudly towards her car.

“Alex…Alex…Hello earth to Alex…Do you read me” a pale hand waved in front of Alex hazel blue eyes bringing her out of her thoughts.

“Huh?”

“I said if you can put more coffee grounds in the machine; it’s out”

“Oh yea…” she sighed heavily as she bent down to pick up the bag of coffee beans from the covert beneath the machine. Sadly she hadn’t bravely marched out of her boring coffee girl job at the ever popular Starbucks. Don’t get her wrong the girl is addicted to Starbucks coffee as much the next coffee addict but working there is another story. She was beyond bored and she missed James. Sure she was still bummed about ’that night’ but after her last conversation with Rylee and Jess she was sure none was going to know about the mishaps of that night other than Alex her self Jessy, Rylee and well Oliver of course. She kept thinking that she shouldn’t have let him go so easily or that she just should have gone with him to the studio anyway, Rowan would have understood right? Anything would have been better than having sex with Oli. Sure he gave her some of the best sex she’s had in her entire life but I mean none of that mattered, so long as it wasn’t with James it didn’t matter. She picked up the bag and dumped it into the opening for the coffee beans. She watched as the water slowly started to drip into the glass jugs.

“You ok?” a petite girl with wavy black hair and black rimmed glassed asked.

“Yea just bored and I miss my boyfriend…” Alex pouted “Normally it’s really busy in here, I find this strange”

“It’s the aliens” the girl laughed “They’re coming to put an end to this Starbucks coffee, place of eatery and hot beverages”

Alex laughed and put her hands up as if she were being arrested “We come in peace, we just serve the coffee!”

“Haha, see got a smile out of you”

“Thanks Leighton”

“Grrr is it quitting time yet?”

“Nope another ten minutes…” Leighton leaned on the counter.

“You mean other painful, dull ten minutes?”

“Geez you sound like me when I was in high school”

“You still are my dear”

“Don’t remind me” she stuck out her tongue.

“Oh hey do you mind I have to take this?” Alex pointed to her cell phone.

“Oh no by all means” she smiled.

“Hello?” Alex walked into the back room.

“Hey babe how are you?”

“Oh sweetie I missed you so much! I’m good how are you? Are you having fun on tour wit the guys?”

”I miss you too. I‘m pretty good just hanging out wanted to say hi…Listen I wanted to as you something…”

Alex heart beat quickened “Y-yea what about?”

“oh nothing just you’re sister’s birthday party”

She swallowed hard “O-oh?”

”I heard that Oliver was there, he didn’t try to bother you or anything at all? Did he?”

“N-no we used protection--I mean we kept a distance! yes we kept a distance.”

”That’s good , as long as he didn’t try anything funny”

“Oh believe me it wasn’t funny…” she mumbled.

”What was that?

“I said I really miss you hunny”

”Alex…I love you

“I love you to James Donnelley, always have always will” she wiped a small tear that ran down her cheek.

”Alright baby I have to go but, I’ll call you later. Tell Jessy and RyRy that I say hi. I love you, bye”

She held her phone so she could see the minutes on it stop indicating that he had hung up, she didn’t want to be the one to end the call she wanted to cherish those last few seconds of hearing that click at the end of he call. She thought to herself that it sounded childish to do something like that but she just wished she could be with him and show him how much she loved him. Maybe she could plan something with Johnny and go visit them for a few days as a surprise, anything just as long as she’s with him and she doesn’t have to think about the horrid thing she did with Oli.

“Hey McMahon, guess what…We get to go home early Chris just got here” Leighton peaked her heard through the threshold.

“Ok…” Alex walked into the manager’s office to collect her things; her bag and her jacket. She said her goodbyes to her coworkers and hugged Leighton before she was out the door and in her car. On the way home she turned on the radio to see if anything good was on she stopped at 103.3 and laughed. ’Are you tired being alone? Do want to find yourself a nice girl but can’t because of that secret you’re hiding on your head? Well your solution is finally here new and improved--’. She changed it to 106.7, they were playing Buddy Holly by Weezer. She sang along to the final chours and bobbed her head ”Woo-ee-oo I look just like Buddy Holly, Oh-oh and you’re Mary Tyler Moore, I don’t care what they say about us anyway, I don’t care about that..”.

“Alright that was Weezer with Buddy Holly. But right now we’re going to see who’s caller number ten, the winner for the Avenged Sevenfold tickets. Not only will the lucky winner be able to see their show but also there will be a meet and greet backstage. Ryan lets look at the lines right now see who won shall we? Hello this is Justin”

“Oh my god am I the tenth caller?”

“Yes, yes you are you’re our lucky tenth caller what is your name?”

“Oh my god I can’t believe I won! Uhh my name is Jessica”

“And Jessica where are you calling from?”

“Anaheim, California”

“Well Jessica in just a few days you’re going to meet Avenged Sevenfold”

“What, oh my god! Oh my god! I can‘t belie--”

Alex laughed to herself and turned down the radio. She found it funny how other people freak out over meeting people she had grown to know and hung out with almost on a regular basis. She pulled into the parking lot of her apartment complex and parked into her usual spot right in front of her building. She took her time getting to her building that over looked the Hollywood Hills. She took a deep breath and in her head thought that in a city that is praised so much on it’s beauty, wealth, security it sure didn’t feel like that to her. It’s weird how by only a few peoples’ experiences can influence many that it will be the same for them. Like Brody Dalle once said ’they say this is the city, the city of angels, all I see is dead wings…, In Alex’s perspective she thinks one has to have lived it, to know what it’s like. Because once you see the reality of the Tinsel Town, it doesn’t really appeal to the appetite.