I Have Been Right All Along

SARA’S POV

“And then he kissed me!” I exclaim, throwing my hands into the air.

“No…” Brendon replies, taken aback, his mouth slightly ajar.

“Yes! Then he proceeded to explain to me, once again that I should consider him and I as a couple.”

“Wow…he’s really desperate,” he says, rubbing his chin, his fingers rubbing against his rough stubble.

Brendon and I are sitting together at a white table near catering. No one else is around, they’re all at sound check. Brendon skipped out to eat lunch with me so I didn’t have to eat by myself.

“Yeah, no kidding,” I say, trying to shake off the feeling of Josh kissing me, it gives me the creeps.

“I don’t even know what to do. He’s really persistent. I have a hard time telling people ‘no’ when they’re persistent.”

Brendon laughs and tilts his head at me.

Smiling, he says, “You can’t let people walk all over you. If you ever don’t want to do something that someone is being persistent about you should be just as persistent with turning down that person.”

He pauses for a moment and takes in a breath. I listen.

“I think with Josh he’s just going to keep asking you out until he gets what he wants which is you saying yes and agreeing to date him. Now I’m not trying to tell you what to do, but just from how you’re acting when you tell me about Josh, it seems to me that you don’t want to be with him. I don’t think you should date him and that’s not just because I really, really like you and don’t want you to be with anyone else but me.”

He lets out a slight laugh and I smile at him, admiring his frankness and how much he wants to help me out.

“I think I’m just going to give an ultimatum to Josh,” I pause, licking my lips. “Over these past few days I’ve analyzed him…I’ve analyzed you.”

“What?!” he laughs, jumping slightly. “Uh-oh.”

“No, no! No ‘uh-oh’, you’re good, I promise.”

Brendon lets out a sigh, “Thank God!”

“Yeah,” I laugh. “Anyway, Josh…Josh is too caring. He’s constantly asking me if I’m okay. For example, I will hit my shoulder on the doorway when walking through it, which I do all the time and it doesn’t hurt, he’ll freak out and ask me if I’m okay. I normally wouldn’t mind, but he asks over the stupidest things!

“He acts too careful around me, like he’s never had a girlfriend ever. He never sits too close to me, I mean, wouldn’t you do that? I just don’t feel attracted to him at all. He isn’t what I’m looking for. I just don’t want to waste time dating someone I know isn’t right for me.”

“What about me? What did you analyze about me?” he asks hurriedly, leaning towards me slightly. I can smell his cologne, which distracts me for only a moment.

“Well,” I start, feeling a cool breeze pass over us, the scent of his cologne being blown in the opposite direction of my nose.

“You’re not afraid to sit close to me, for one. You don’t care if our skin touches. I’m attracted to every single thing about you; your facial features, your gestures, your body, the expressions you make with your face. You care, but not to the point where it’s overwhelming. You would do anything for me, and you have, for example, you’ve quit the whole drinking so much deal. I feel closer to you than I do with Josh, and that’s saying a lot since Josh and I have been friends for a long time. So far you’re everything I’ve looked for in a guy.”

“What do you look for?” he asks, his lips forming a genuine smile.

“Someone who likes me for me and can be goofy with me and neither of us feels stupid. Someone who makes me smile every single day I’m with them, even if I’m having a bad day. We can be ourselves around each other and don’t put on any act to be what the other wants. I look for someone who is a family-man, loves being with the family and loves kids; someone who isn’t afraid to express who they are even if it may be stupid to others; a hard worker; someone who is happy almost every day. Someone who would do anything for me and thinks I deserve the world. That’s the basics of what I look for in a man.”

“Quite the list,” Brendon says, eyebrows raised.

“Well, yeah, kind of, but you’ve met every single one of those things. That’s rare, Brendon!”

“Am I rare?” he asks, smiling.

“Yes you are. You are very rare,” I smile back

Brendon laughs, his whole face lighting up. My heart can’t do anything but melt at the sight.

“You’re rare too, Sara,” he says with the smile still plastered on his face.

“And I think you deserve the world and I would do anything for you, even climb the highest mountain in the world,” he pauses. “I can’t exactly remember which mountain that is, but if there’s something you need from that mountain, I am on the next flight out of here to go get it for you.”

“Aw,” I say, feeling my eyes tear up. “You really are rare, Brendon, and I mean it!”

Four hours later I’m face-to-face with a not-so-rare situation; Josh asking me to date him…again. This time it’s after the show and we’re on Paramore’s bus heading to the next city. I was just heading to bed
after an intense game of Scrabble when Josh followed me to my bunk.

Stopping me from getting my pajamas out of my suitcase, Josh bombarded me immediately with his most popular question.

“Sara, will you please date me?”

I look at him sternly, hand on hip, “As if I haven’t explained to you the many reasons why I should not and will not be your girlfriend.”

“But you never even gave me the time of day. You’ve given me a hundred reasons why we shouldn’t date, but will you please just give me one chance? That’s all I ask for.”

I pause, considering all of the reasons why I should not date Josh; he’s not my type, he annoys me slightly, and what will Brendon think?

The reasons on why I should date him outnumber the reasons why I shouldn’t, even if it is just one reason: maybe, just maybe, he will leave me alone about dating him after he figures out for himself that we’re just not meant to date.

“Fine, I’ll be your girlfriend,” I let out after a long sigh.

Josh freezes in place, seemingly surprised by my answer.

“Really?” he asks, staring at me intently.

“Yes, really. But don’t think that I’m like…for real into you that way, I still see you as ‘just friends’ material.”

A smile spreads across his face and he opens his arms out towards me, pulling me in for a hug. I willingly hug him, seeing as this is a normal thing for me to do with friends. I’ve hugged Josh before, this just seems like normal to me.

“I’ll be everything you want, I promise,” he says, sounding like he’s promising me anything in the world that I could ever want. He’s not Brendon, so his promise is definitely going to fall through.

I just snort out a laugh and grab my pajamas, shoving past him with a short, “excuse me,” as I make my way towards the bathroom to change.

I don’t forget to grab my cell phone, eager to text Brendon and tell him the news. I just hope he doesn’t get upset with me or completely give up on me. After all, I did tell him that I would not date Josh but here I am being a liar.

I shut the bathroom door turning on the ugly florescent lights, immediately feeling regret. I lock the door and open up my cell phone and text a quick, “oh my god,” to Brendon.

I change into my pajamas and grab my cell phone, heading back to my bunk. I run into Josh on the way there and bid him a good night, dodging a gag-inducing kiss before crawling into my bunk.

My cell phone vibrates, signaling a new text message. I check the screen to see Brendon’s name.

“Oh my god what?” is his reply.

“Josh,” I reply.

“Sara?” I hear Hayley say quietly outside of my bunk. I pull back the curtains to see Hayley’s smiling face.

“So…you and Josh?” she asks in typical girl-talk fashion.

I roll my eyes and let out a short laugh.

“Right,” I say, nodding my head. “I couldn’t say no to him for the fiftieth time. You know how I am.”

“Yeah, I get ya,” she says, pausing a moment to think. “So are you into him now, or what?”

“Heck no,” I’m quick to respond. “Not in a million years.”

“Then why did you say yes? You can’t lead him on, Sare.”

“I’m not leading him on! I can’t even tell you how many times I told him that he isn’t my type, yet he still pursued me. I’m just hoping that if we date, maybe he’ll figure it out himself.”

“Well hopefully he will-“

“Yeah and soon,” I butt in, causing Hayley to laugh. I laugh along with her, feeling my cell phone vibrate in my hand with Brendon’s reply.

“Are you still going to two-time Josh with your lover-boy Brendon?” Hayley asks, pointing at my cell phone.

“You bitch,” I laugh quietly, swatting her hands away from my cell phone. “I’m not two-timing.”

“If you say so,” she replies, heading off to her bunk. I guess she’s opted to keep her nose out of my business this time. Someone call a psychiatrist, it isn’t like my best friend Hayley to keep out of my business!

I open Brendon’s text, laughing immediately.

“Are his panties in a bundle with his extreme efforts to win you over?”

“They sure are. So much so that I just HAD to agree to date him. You’re not mad are you?” I reply, really hoping he won’t be mad.

A million different scenarios play in my mind over how Brendon could react, but I couldn’t get to the worst of them all before he texted me back.

“Of course not! I know it won’t last long.”

“You bet your apple bottom buns it won’t!”

“I’ve got them apple bottom jeans, boots with the fur… Now get some sleep! I’ll see you in the next town, woman. Goodnight!! :] “

“Goodnight, Bren!” I reply, setting my cell phone down next to me in the bed.

The song ‘Low’ plays over in my head as I drift off to sleep. Thanks, Brendon.