I Have Been Right All Along

SARA'S POV

I suddenly become aware of everything in my dark bedroom. The way the shadows from the blinds on the window dance across my walls. The way everything looks black and white in the dark, losing their normal color saturation. I also notice the way my breathing has picked up in the still, silent room due to the sudden sound of a door slamming and a series of footsteps, seemingly more than one set. I hear one scurry to the bathroom, which is down the hall a little ways from my bedroom.

I slide out from under the thin comforter, slipping my legs out first, feet hitting the soft, luscious carpet without any noise. I fully slide my body out from under the covers, making my way to my bedroom door, which is opened slightly because I know she’s coming home tonight; any minute, actually.

My roommate, Hayley, is in a band I’m sure you’ve all heard of; Paramore. We have a small apartment (that’s really just an old building) in the heart of Franklin, Tennessee. She is supposed to be coming home tonight. She and the band are coming home from a tour meeting with Pete Wentz and the other label executives. All bands on Paramore’s next tour were meeting up in Chicago at Pete’s house to discuss “important things”.

I head out into the main living space, filled with only one couch only big enough for two people and an old recliner Hayley’s grandfather donated to us. I see the kitchen light and on immediately make my way in there.

“HAYLEY!” I yell, running up to her, giving her a huge hug.

“Sara! I didn’t know you were awake!” she yells, though it’s not equally as loud as I was.

“Well I am! How was the flight? How are the guys?” I ask, taking a step back to take in her small figure that I haven’t seen in two days.

“The flight was long and boring and the guys are great. They asked me to tell you they say hello,” she says, letting out a small laugh.

“Well, good,” I proclaim, opening the fridge to grab a bottled water, no longer tired. I hadn’t seen the guys since about a month go.

“Who are the other bands on tour?” I question. When she left she had no clue and me being me, I was very curious, mainly because I was asked to come on tour to keep Hayley company.

Before I continue, let me tell you a little about myself. My name is Sara Kline. I am a short girl, five foot one. I have long, wavy, sandy blonde hair and bright blue-green eyes everyone occasionally gets obsessed over. I am a very happy and sometimes hyper person. I usually get along quite well with people. I’ve lived in Frankiln, Tennessee for about five years now and went through high school with Hayley as my best friend. I am currently jobless. I just quit Barnes and Noble because I am supposed to be touring with Paramore for a few months.

You’ll find out more about me as this story progresses. That should be enough to give you the gist of me. Anyway, back to reality.

“And, yeah, that’s about it,” Hayley finishes up whatever she was talking about. I couldn’t begin to tell you what it was because I zoned out.

“Well that sounds awesome. What did you say, again?” I ask, leaning in the doorway that separates the living room and kitchen.

“I said the other two bands on tour with us are Fall Out Boy and Panic at the disco. I then went on to name some crew members, but I don’t think you even care,” she says, amusement overly-present in her voice.

“You’re right, I don’t care. Just curious about the other bands,” I say, taking a big gulp of my water.

Hayley smiles and looks beyond me momentarily as I continue to drink my water, quickly flicking her eyes back onto me with that stupid smile still on her face. I don’t pay as much attention to it as I should, and I know this; I should know better.

Just as I bring the bottle down from my lips, someone yells from behind me, scaring the shit out of me, or water, rather. I spit out the water that was in my mouth and choke on the water that was once making its way down my throat. I turn around quickly, seeing a male figure quickly disappear down the hallway that leads to the bathroom and Hayley’s room as well as my room.

I let out an annoyed sigh and follow said figure, still coughing.

“Whoever you are, I hope you know I’m going to kick your butt,” I yell down the hallway, peeking into Hayley’s room first.

I quickly flip on the light and don’t see anyone in there. I then make my way to the next door; the bathroom. The door is shut, which usually stays open unless someone is doing their business in there. I push on the door lightly, but it doesn’t move. I figure whoever it is, is in there hiding from me. I knock on the door lightly, and it flies open, and a dark haired boy quickly exits the bathroom.

He tries to slip past me, but I grab a hold of his grey t-shirt. He immediately stops and turns around. Grin on his face, he stares at me.

“Who are you?” I ask, letting go of his t-shirt.

“Brendon,” is all he says, still grinning; that stupid grin.

Hayley rounds the corner and comes to a sudden stop, seeing both Brendon and I stopped in the hallway.

“Sara, meet Brendon,” she says, holding back a laugh.

“Hi,” he says, smiling.

“What’s he doing here?” I ask outwardly, pointing my thumb in his direction.

“I wanted to see Tennessee,” Brendon blurts out.

“Why?” I direct towards Brendon. He just shrugs; I just nod. Hayley claps her hands together once.

“Actually this all was Pete’s idea. He sent Brendon home with me, and everyone else is … somewhere else with a different band member. I don’t even know who all is with who, but I think he sent guitarists with guitarists, drummers with drummers, and yeah.”

“Great idea,” I say sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

“Hey I thought it was!” Brendon says, sounding slightly offended.

“So it’s kind of like getting to know a part of the other bands or what?” I ask, still kind of confused at the arrangement.

“Yeah I guess so,” Hayley replies.

“So where’s Patrick Stump? He’s a singer,” I ask.

“He’s with his family doing some annual family thing; couldn’t come,” Hayley answers.

I nod, trying to stifle a yawn. Conversation ends for a minute and we all just stare at each other, not knowing what to say next.

“Well, it’s late. Sorry we woke you up, Sara,” Hayley says quietly just before the awkward silence swallows us whole. I wave off her apology.

“Oh shut up, Hayley! I was barely asleep waiting for you to get home. I wouldn’t have cared even if you woke me up on purpose,” I say, laughing afterwards.

“I know that, but I’m just saying. I feel bad,” she says, scratching her arm nervously.

“Hayles, it’s fine! I am more than happy to be up welcoming you home! And meeting Brendon, even though he scared me,” I say, smiling towards Brendon for a moment before looking back at Hayley.

“Alright, you win! Are you tired?” she asks Brendon. I look over at him, catching him mid-yawn.

“Yeah,” he says as he rubs his eyes and leans against the wall behind him.

“I’ll get the air mattress out,” Hayley starts walking towards her bedroom, but stops. “Is the living room okay to sleep in or do you want a real bed?”

Brendon laughs and waves his hand around quickly.

“No, no, living room’s fine.”

“Are you here for a week?” I ask as Hayley walks into her bedroom.

“Yeah until tour starts. When Pete called me for the meeting, he told me to pack for tour as well as this week.”

“So you have like…all your tour shit here? And you had to fly from home to Chicago and then to here with all your shit?”

“Yeah, but my tour stuff was flown directly here from Vegas so I didn’t have to worry about it. I kept one bag with me for this week and picked up the rest of my stuff when we flew in. It’s all in Hayley’s car still.”

“Oh,” I laugh.

“Wow. Pete’s a genius,” I say sarcastically.

“Let’s get this blown up!” Hayley says loudly as she walks quickly out of her room past us to the living room. Brendon and I follow, ready to help.

Within minutes, the air mattress was blown up and covered with sheets and a huge blanket for Brendon. Hayley and I went to our own room to let Brendon change and go to sleep. I turn off my bedroom light and crawl back into my bed that I was just in not even twenty minutes ago.

I’m so close to sleep when I hear a light knocking at my door, causing my eyes to snap open.

“Come in,” I say loud enough for the person on the other side of the door to hear.

I turn over in my bed to face the door to see who is coming inside my room and quickly find out its Brendon.

“Hey,” he greets quietly, not sounding tired at all.

“Hey yourself,” I say, waiting for him to explain himself.

“Did I wake you up?”

“Yeah, but its okay. What’s up?”

“Uh…I’m not tired anymore,” he says, scratching his head and looking around in the dark room. I laugh at him and sit up, turning on the dim light on my nightstand.

“Well, uh…what do you want to do?” I ask.

“I’d actually like to sleep,” he says in all seriousness. I laugh and smack my forehead lightly.

“Do you need sleeping pills or...” I trail off, not sure what he’s wanting.

“I just need to talk until I fall asleep,” he explains, shifting his weight. I pat the bed next to me, motioning for him to come over and sit.

“What do you want to talk about?” I ask as he sits down on the edge of my bed awkwardly.

“Girl talk!” he says excitedly, looking at me with a huge grin on his face.

“Are you serious?” I say before laughing loudly.

“Sure. Who do you like?” he asks sarcastically in his best girl voice.

“I really, really like myself, actually,” I say, also being sarcastic.

We both laugh at that and then the room gets quiet. Brendon looks around at the photos on my walls all while sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Make yourself comfortable,” I say as I take my own advice and lean back on my pillows. He leans back and lies down on the lower half of my bed.

“Are you coming on tour with us?”

“Heck yeah!” I answer and he turns his head to look at me.

“Have you ever been on tour?” I shake my head no.

“Really?”

“Really.”

“So…you’re best friends with Hayley and you’ve never been on tour. That blows my mind,” he says, bouncing his leg causing the whole bed to shake. My eyes immediately stare at his leg, hoping to stop it with my mind. I look at his face then back to his leg, doing that several times before he questions it.

“Do you want me to stop?” he asks, trying to hold in his laughter.

“It’s shaking the whole bed,” I say laughing.

“Sorry. I’ll try not to. I have ADHD and I always have to be doing something,” he says, stopping his leg.

“Oh it’s fine. If you need to bounce your leg, then by all means, do it.”

He gladly bounces his leg again, smiling as he does so.

“So…you’re from Vegas.”

“Sin City,” he says, referring to the town’s nickname.

“How’d that go for you?”

“Not bad, not bad. It’s warm there.”

“Well, I bet,” I say, letting a small laugh escape my mouth. My eyes start to droop and I try my hardest to keep them open.

“Do you miss not being there all the time?” I ask, trying to keep myself awake with conversation.

“I love travelling, so I don’t miss it that much. I miss my family and everything, but travelling with the band is exciting. I like it a lot,” he says, gradually stopping his leg bouncing.

“Have you lived in Tennessee all your life?” he asks.

“The past five years,” I reply groggily, closing my eyes lightly, hoping not to fall asleep.

“Where did you live before then?”

My eyes open quickly at his question, momentarily feeling wide awake.

“Um…I don’t really want to talk about it,” I say quietly, fidgeting with my hands. Brendon just nods.

“So yeah, tour,” I say, leading the conversation elsewhere and gaining a short laugh from Brendon.

“Yeah, tour,” he says, nodding slightly.

“It’s going to be great,” he says quietly, closing his eyes.

“Are you falling asleep?” I ask, getting really tired again.

“No way,” he says, voice rough, sounding really tired.

“Me either,” I reply, turning off my lamp before sliding down to a laying position, bending my knees so I don’t kick Brendon off the bed.

“You’re lying,” he says loudly, but doesn’t move.

“I’m not lying,” I say quietly, almost falling asleep.

“You’re lying down. That means you’re probably falling asleep,” his voice cracks out.

“I’m not falling asleep,” I mumble out, feeling myself drifting to sleep.

“I’m going to go back to the living room,” he says, barely audible, not making any movements.

“Okay,” I whisper before falling asleep.

I wake up to the golden morning light shining through my bedroom window’s blinds, reflecting off the wall in front of me. I turn over, facing my room, my legs stretching out and kicking something hard in my bed. I quickly retract my legs and sit up, startled at the unknown thing in my bed. I let out a sigh of relief to find Brendon still sleeping on my bed and not some random wolf or…something. I prop myself up, leaning back on my hands and stare at Brendon. He is no longer lying with his legs hanging off the bed. Now his legs are bent against the wall, his knees down are even with it, and his back is facing towards me, his head near the edge of the bed where his legs were last night when I fell asleep.

I glance over at the clock, quickly deciding it’s time for me to get out of bed as it is 10:30am. I slide out from under the covers and stand up, stretching. I turn back towards my bed to make sure Brendon is still asleep. I pull my comforter towards him and cover him up before quietly leaving my room.

“Good morning,” I say quietly to Hayley as she leaves the bathroom. She rubs her eyes and smiles.

“Good morning to you,” she says as she makes her way to the kitchen. I follow, of course, because I’m hungry, as usual.

I walk over to the cereal cabinet, pull out some Lucky Charms. Turning around I see Hayley walk back into the living room for a moment before coming back.

“Where’s Brendon?” she says worriedly.

“My room, sleeping,” I say as I pour the cereal into a bowl. Hayley cocks her head to the side, looking at me oddly. I explain before she spews out any sort of assumptions that are not true.

“He couldn’t sleep so he came in my room to talk until he was tired enough to go to sleep,” I put the cereal away and open the fridge, getting out the milk.

“Why didn’t he come back out here?” she asks, obviously amused at the situation. I pour the milk over my cereal and place the milk jug back in the fridge before looking at Hayley. I shake my head and laugh lightly.

“I really don’t know. The last thing I remember is him telling me he was going to go back to the living room. I fell asleep right after that,” I sit down at the table after getting out a spoon and begin to eat my cereal.

Hayley makes herself a bowl of Lucky Charms too and joins me at the table. We sit in a comfortable silence as we both devour into our breakfast.

Once I’m done, I clean up our bowls and place them in the sink.

“What are we going to do today?” I ask, turning around from the sink to look at Hayley.

“We should probably go grocery shopping; I don’t think we have much to eat here for three people. I don’t even know what Brendon likes to eat,” she says, standing in the doorway.

“Good idea,” I say making my way towards the doorway. Hayley moves out of the way and I walk past her towards my bedroom.

“I’m going to shower then wake Brendon up,” I turn to say to Hayley before going into my bedroom. I have a bathroom in my bedroom, making it easier for me to get ready at the same time Hayley does.

I open my door as quietly as I can and shut it lightly, peeking at Brendon still sleeping on my bed except he has moved from the seemingly uncomfortable position. He has now taken over my bed as if it’s his own, his head placed just below my pillow and the covers twisted around his body tightly, untucking them from under the mattress where I once had them neatly tucked.

I go ahead and get out some clothes for the day and get in the shower.

Once I’m out and dressed and done with straightening my hair, I go back into my bedroom. Brendon’s still sleeping on my bed, not having moved from how he was when I first got into the shower. I decide I should wake him up so he can get ready for a day of grocery shopping…or at least a few hours of it.

I walk over to the bed and lean over his body to his ear.

“Brendon,” I whisper. I decide to whisper because I absolutely hate when people talk loudly at me to wake me up.

He takes in a sharp breath through his nose before bringing his hands up to his eyes, rubbing them lightly. I stand back and watch as he stretches, then settles back into my bed, going back to sleep.

“Hey, no, don’t go back to sleep,” I say in a slightly whiny tone. “We’re going grocery shopping, get up.”

He rolls over and rolls off the bed into a standing position.

“I’m up,” he says, losing his balance slightly before rubbing his eyes again. I laugh as I watch him stand there, half asleep.

“Do you want some breakfast?” I ask, walking towards my door.

“No. I’ll just get dressed and we can go. I’ll get something while we’re out,” he says, following me out the door.

“Where’s Hayley?” he asks, unzipping the only suitcase he brought in last night.

“Getting ready, I think,” I say, sitting down on the couch.

“Oh,” he says, taking his shirt off. Then reaching down to unzip and unbutton his jeans.

“Are you changing right here?” I ask while he pulls his sweatpants off. I cover my eyes, having seen the answer to my own question. He starts laughing at me.

“Sorry,” he says.

“Hey are you guys-OH MY GOD, BRENDON,” Hayley yells. Brendon starts laughing again and I join in from my spot on the couch.

“I’m just changing. Don’t act like you don’t want to see my body,” he says coolly. “I’m done now.”

“I’ll admit it’s nice, but seriously?” I reply, uncovering my eyes.

“Seriously what?” he asks through a half-smile as he looks at me.

“Seriously warn me next time before you randomly undress,” I laugh and get up from the couch to get some shoes on.

“Where’s the Red Bull?” Brendon asks, frantically reading the directories above each isle, looking for drinks.

“Isle four, it looks like,” I say, pointing two isles ahead of us.

“Oh, man, we have to get some Red Bull,” he says before running to isle four, leaving Hayley and I.

“I think Pete did this on purpose,” Hayley admits to me.

“Did what?” I ask, not sure of what she means.

“Pairing Brendon with me. He’s the most hyper, talkative guy on this tour. I don’t think Zac is even as hyper as Brendon,” she explains, referring to Zac Farro, Paramore’s drummer. She turns the cart down isle four where Brendon is contemplating the slim selection of Red Bulls.

“Hey, Brendon?” I say, walking over to stand next to him.

“Is Red Bull really a good choice?” I ask, scanning over the cans in front of us.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” he asks, almost sounding offended.

“It’s an energy drink,” I say slowly.

“I know. I drink it all the time.”

“Okay, sorry, sorry,” I say, walking away before I come off as rude, which is unintentional. Brendon laughs and yells after me as I walk away.

“Why are you sorry?”

“Well,” I smile and cock my head to the side. “I thought I was coming off as rude after I asked you if you really should get Red Bull.”

“How was it rude?”

“I was pretty much telling you not to get it because you have ADHD and you’re already hyper enough as it is,” I say, he just shakes his head and smiles, grabbing a few of the boxed up cans and bringing them to the cart.

“That’s not offensive to me. The guys tell me that every single time I even lay my eyes on a Red Bull,” he says, placing his hand on my shoulder momentarily.

“They’re a lot more rude about it than you were-which you weren’t, so don’t worry about it,” he says, leaning on the front of the cart.

“How do you get when you drink Red Bull? Do you talk a lot or what?” Hayley asks.

“I don’t know,” he says, unsure, scratching his arm. He stops leaning on the cart and walks around to the side of it.

“I just want to know what we’re getting into buying you this,” she says, pushing the cart down the aisle. Brendon and I follow closely behind.

“It’ll be okay,” he says, laughing afterwards. I glance at him.

“What else do you want?” Hayley asks from in front of us.

“Red Bull was pretty much all I wanted,” Brendon says.

“You don’t want any food? You’re here for a week and stuck with whatever we have,” I say.

“Any food is fine. I’ll eat whatever,” he says, thumbs in his pockets, fingers tapping against his legs.

“Remember you’re also stuck with catering on tour. This is your week to have anything,” Hayley says.

“I’m really open for anything,” he laughs out.

“Well so be it,” Hayley says, heading straight for the checkout counters.

“What is taking him so long?” Hayley asks me from the driver’s seat as we sit in the car waiting for Brendon to get out of the Arby’s we’re parked in front of. He went in about ten minutes ago to get us all some lunch.

“I don’t know. Maybe I should go in and find out,” I say, unbuckling my seat belt, wondering why I bothered to keep in on while we were parked.

I get out and head inside of the restaurant. I see Brendon standing at the counter, the cashier, a younger looking girl, has all her attention placed on him, talking quick and animatedly. As soon as Brendon sees me, his face lights up and he smiles wide at me.

“Sara!” he yells and I walk over, slightly embarrassed at his announcement of my name to the entire restaurant.

As I get closer, he reaches his arm out, wrapping it around my waist as I stand next to him, confused at this gesture. The cashier gives me a dirty look.

“Can I help you?” she asks rudely.

“Oh, no, I’m with him,” I say, pointing to Brendon. She looks at him and smiles flirtatiously.

“Can I take your order?” she asks him. My face immediately turns into one of disgust.

“You haven’t taken his order yet? He’s been in here for ten minutes,” I say, annoyed.

“We were talking,” she says in her snotty tone.

“You’re working. You should be doing your [i/job, not trying to flirt with guys twice your age,” I say slowly, hoping she’d understand what I’m trying to say. She doesn’t reply.

“Let’s go,” I say to Brendon, heading towards the door. He still has his arm wrapped around my waist. As soon as we get outside, though, he retracts his arm.

“Thanks,” he says, opening the car door.

“Let’s go home. I’ll just fix us something myself,” I say dully to Hayley as I shut the door, quickly bucking myself in. She looks at me oddly.

“Where’s the food?” she asks, ignoring my offer to make everyone food.

“Well if the cashier in there was doing her job and not flirting with Brendon, we’d have food right now,” I say, looking out the window as Hayley just sits there.

“She was flirting with you? What did she say?” Hayley asks, turning back to Brendon, laughing, obviously amused at the situation.

“Well she knew who I was and kept asking me about stupid stuff,” he say, joining Hayley in laughter.

“Classy,” Hayley replies, staring into the Arby’s.

“So what do you guys want me to cook?” I ask, turning around to look at Brendon who was busy watching people walking out of the restaurant from the back window.

“You know what? I’ll just go in and get the food myself,” Hayley says, getting out of the car and heading inside.

“Well that solves it,” I say to myself, knowing Brendon isn’t paying any attention as he stares out the back window.