Finding My Way Back To The Start

Garrett’s Point of View

of my best friends are in love with each other. Not something I would have imagined could happen. It just didn’t seem like something that could happen in real life, and yet it was happening. It was hard being the only one who knew, or at least I believed I was the only one who knew. I hated being the secret keeper, so I decided to tell the one guy I knew both Jac and Kenny would trust: Jared Monaco.

It took awhile to find that ginger, but finally I found him hanging out with the VersaEmerge crew by the Fueled By Ramen tent. Getting him to finally come with me to the bus was a difficult challenge. They kept talking on and on about the stress about being the only one to come to for advice.

“What was so important that you had to drag me away from Versa and back to our bus, Garrett?” Jared, asked, sitting down on the couch.

“Well it’s about… Kennedy and Lynley,” I said, leaning against the adjacent wall.

“What about them?” Jared asked, shifting a bit on the couch.

“Well I might have, kind of--“

“What Garrett?”

“I know they like each other,” I said. The words tumbled out of my mouth quickly, but Jared was still able to comprehend.

“How?”

“What do you mean ‘how?'” I asked, knitting my eyebrows together.

“How do you know that Kennedy and Jac like each other?”

“Well, I might have overheard you and Kennedy talking that one night? You know when you fell off you bunk? I fell off too. I’m surprised that you didn’t hear me,” I admitted.

“What about Jac? She tells me everything. Why wouldn’t she tell me this major piece of information?” Jared asked, getting a bit frustrated.

“Oh, don’t get mad at her over it. I actually overheard it when we were at the water park. Callie and Dakota were harassing her about something, and she said that she liked him.” I shrugged.

“Well you know she could be saying that to get them off her back. She does that a lot to you guys too.”

“I’m not so--wait, she does? really?”

“Yeah, I can’t believe you guys fall for it sometimes.” He said, laughing a bit.

“Good to know I’m not that observant and dumb.”

“No, no. Don’t take it that way; you just don’t know Jac as well as I do.”

“Yeah, okay,” I said, standing up straight, and headed for the door. “Well, I’m going to go outside and hope not to be mobbed by fans.”

“Good luck with that.” Jared said from inside. I had a feeling that he wasn’t telling the truth, but I just shrugged it off. Maybe Jac did just say that to get them off her back. Who knew?
----------------------------

Jac’s Point of View

It was a new day in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The boys were off doing their thing with fans. Moose had taken over the first shift on the merch tent, and I was left in the bus to video chat with my dear older brother.

“So what’s new on the tour?” Eric inquired.

“Nothing really, Callie is on tour here with her brother, you know Dave from Every Avenue? Took me awhile to figure that out--“

“Smart Jac, very smart.”

“Shut up,” I said, trying to hold in a smile. It was weird only talking to my brother over a video. Even though he was on the AP tour two months ago, I still wasn' used to being away from my brother for long periods of time. It usually was a show they played an hour away, or maybe a weekend trip to California for an acoustic show there. The longest the two of us hadn't been together was during the Money tour when I was the merch girl for the guys, and he was off recording with Nick in L.A. for their EP. We both grew up practically attached at the hip. “What about you, huh? Anything new back home?”

“Nothing really. Nick is getting hyped up for our release in a week or two. It's going to be coming out on the week of your eighteenth birthday.” Eric explained.

“My birthday is coming up?” I asked, confusion rang clear in my voice.

“Wow Jac, you can't even remember your own birthday anymore? What am I going to do with you?” Eric said, shaking his head.

“Well, sorry. Too many exciting things on tour happened. I mean I actually have a boyfriend, believe it or not, and he is one of the sweetest guys I’ve ever met. Kennedy and I are actually friends, and everything is actually going well. I’m very surprised.”

“Damn, that is a lot of exciting stuff. Well you know we are planning to have the release party in Florida, so you and the guys can come because I think that you are there that week?” I took a quick look over at the binder Tim left on the table with all the tour dates and such.

“Sorry to break it to you, bro, but I’m in Massachusetts that week. Maybe Nick can relocate that party to his home state?”

“I’ll talk to him about that. Oh yeah, something came in the mail today for you.”

“Oh really? What is it?”

“Well I know you hate us opening your mail for you, but it’s from NYU, and well, you got in,” Eric informed, holding the paper up and smiling from ear to ear, literally.

“Are you fucking kidding me? I thought I was on the wait list.”

“Well it’s here lil' sis, right here in black and white. You are going to New York!”

“Sweetness! Wait, did you tell any of the guys?” I asked, wincing a bit. I didn’t really tell them that I applied for NYU, or any colleges in New York, actually. All I did tell them was that I applied for colleges in Arizona, close to home, or a few in California. They made such a big deal when I mentioned a Florida school, so what would they think about me going to New York?

“Nope, only you, me, mom, and dad know.” Eric said, putting down the acceptance letters.

“Good, and let’s leave it that way, swear?” I begged, holding out my pinky.

“Swear.” Eric said, holding out his pinky too. So what if we still did pinky swears? It was our thing. “But you do know that you have to tell them sooner or later, like right before you leave for New York?"

“I know, I know, but for now, not a word,” I said, firmly. The bus door opened, and I jumped a bit in my seat. Luckily, it was just Moose coming in.

“Hey Jac, it’s twelve. John is looking over the tent right now, but girls are mobbed over him. You might want to go save him,” Moose said, taking a Red Bull from the fridge.

“No problem,” I replied, and then focused my attention back to the boy on the screen, “Hey, I have to go save John from screaming fan girls and think some stuff through. I’ll talk to you later?”

“Sure, just call. I’ll be up, probably chilling with Justin or L-Train,” Eric said.

“'Kay, bye.” I disconnected the video, and put my Mac to sleep. Thinking that I might want to take it with me to the tent, I stuffed it into my messenger bag with my iPod and Sidekick. I made sure I looked halfway decent in the outfit had picked today, before heading out the door.

Just seeing all the girls swarmed around a tent, I knew that was where John was. I pushed through many girls before I got to the table. John gave me a glance of relief when he saw I was there and I just smirked.

“Hey, a free autographed shirt from The Maine for the first girl to get Kennedy’s guitar pick and bring it back here,” I yelled over the crowd. The crowd of girls around John dispersed and they ran around, trying to find the brown-haired guitarist. I pulled out my Sidekick to send a quick text to Kennedy that read, "Go hide on the bus."

A few seconds later I got a reply that asked, "Why?" and all I said in return was, "Trust me, you’ll thank me later."

“Hey thanks, but isn’t Kennedy now going to get chased around the venue?” John asked, getting behind the table.

“Yeah, but I sent him a text saying to hide on the bus. Your set is over right?”

“No, it’s in thirty minutes. Why? Ready to get of me already, Daisy?” John inquired, nudging my shoulder, as I tried to set up my Mac on the table.

“No, just wondering how long Kennedy has until he is going to get attacked by girls. You might want to go get him beforehand, just in case, you know?” I said my attention still on my laptop.

“Right… I’ll see you later,” John said, sprinting off in the direction of the bus. I laughed at his stupidity. Why must all those boys be such idiots at times?

An hour later, I was still alone at the tent. Only a few girls came by, asking for a shirt or a bracelet. I helped them as politely as I could, but my mind kept wandering back to NYU. I really wanted to go there; they had the best art program I had ever seen in my life. Plus, living in New York sounded fantastic. I already had my friend Elizabeth there, so I would know some people through her connections. There really was no downside excluding the fact that I would be leaving all the guys. My thoughts were interrupted when a guy came up to the tent.

“Hi, you want something?” I said, most of my attention still on the graphic I was designing on my Photoshop.

“Yeah, are you Jaclyn Halverson?” he asked.

“Yep, but I rather be called Jac, or whatever nickname you can come up with,” I explained, finally pulling my attention away from the computer.

He laughed. “Well Jac, I’m Mark, from Glamour Kills? I heard you designed everything for The Maine’s line.”

I shrugged. “Yeah and I also did A Rocket To The Moon’s merch too, except for that one Valentine shirt. It was just a side thing the guys ask me to do awhile ago.”

“That is really cool. Have you ever thought about doing that for a living?”

“No, not really. I actually haven’t really thought about my future too much, really,” I said, shrugging. I tended to do that a lot these days.

“Well, if you ever want, you can intern for Glamour Kills at our New York offices in the fall. And no, before you say anything, we do not make our interns just get coffee.”

I laughed a bit. “That sounds pretty cool. You have your number on the site right?”

“Well, no, that’s just the business number. Here’s my cell phone number,” Mark offered, handing me a slip of paper. “Think about it and I really hope we see you there.”

“Sweet. I’ll totally think about it… “ I said, still slightly unsure.

Both were amazing opportunities in New York, so what should I choose to go or stay?