Come Around

At three in the afternoon, Cassie was still in her pajamas. The TV was on and muted. Music was blaring through her laptop's speakers, which was open in her lap, and she was hard at work on her article. A bowl of ramen was on the table next to her, half eaten. A ridiculous sight, not to mention a waste of electricity.

The front door opened and closed and Angie walked into the living room, "Look who I ran into at Jamba," she said over the music.

Cassie tore her eyes away from the computer screen and looked in the direction her friend's voice had come from, "I hope no one got hurt. Hi Rian."

"Cassandra, you are insane," he said, laughing, "Do you really need the TV and the music on?"

"Need, no. But it creates a whole ambiance that I find ideal for writing difficult articles sparked by difficult interviews."

"How can you even think with the music so loud?" he asked.

She shrugged and turned the music down, "I don't question things that work, okay?"

Rian laughed again, "Speaking of difficult interviews, Alex wants a do over."

"Tough shit," she said.

"That's pretty much what I told him. He shouldn't have been such a dick the other day. But he wanted me to ask you anyway. And by the way, he's been bugging me nonstop for your phone number."

"Did you tell him you don't have it?"

He nodded, "I did. He doesn't believe me."

"Did you tell him to go through your phone?"

"Yeah. Dude, he thinks I have you under some other name, or something. He really does not believe that I don't have it. What did you say to him the other night at the party that has him so crazy?"

"I told him that I'm not like other girls, I think he's immature and I'm not interested in playing games, and that I don't think he knows how to be himself and not the image he's created," Cassie said.

"Well that explains it," he said.

"What?" she asked.

"He's taking it as a challenge."

"Great. So really, I just made everything worse, instead of getting him to leave me alone?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Alex isn't going to give up," Rian said.

"Oh, fuck me," she groaned, "Why doesn't he understand that I don't like him?"

Rian laughed and shrugged, "I'm going to the beach," he said, changing the subject, "Come with me."

"Working," Cassie said, pointing at her laptop, "Take Angie."

"Take a break," he said.

Cassie looked at Rian, then down at her pajamas, "I'm not dressed for the beach.

"Go change!" he laughed, "Quit making excuses. It's a really nice day, you know you want to go."

"Fine," she said, giving in.

After saving her work, she closed her laptop and headed upstairs. She stood in front of her closet, staring at the contents for awhile, trying to decide what to wear. Somehow she had acquired over ten swimsuits. Why anyone would ever need that many swimsuits was beyond her. But she had them.

She finally decided on one and put it on. Over it, she wore light blue board shorts and a white tank top. She quickly threw her dark red hair into a messy ponytail and went back downstairs. Rian and Angie were standing by the door.

"Took you long enough," Rian said.

"Shove it up your ass," Cassie replied, "You're the one who wanted me to come."

He laughed and opened the door. Angie walked outside and he followed. Cassie grabbed her keys and purse and joined them.

"I'm driving myself at the very least because I don't want to have to wait for anyone else if I decide I want to leave," she said.

Rian nodded, "I'll drive too. That way you really can just leave if you want."

When they arrived the beach, Cassie locked her things in the trunk of the car and went to find a nice piece of beach where she could lay down and relax. She was doing just that when a shadow fell over her, blocking the sun.

"Damn, you are smokin'."

She sighed and opened her eyes, looking at Alex through her sunglasses, "Rian failed to mention you would be here."

"Yeah, he knew you wouldn't come if he did."

"Obviously," she said, sitting up, "Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"Why would I?" he asked.

"Because I don't like you."

"Not yet. But if we give it time, you might," he said.

Cassie laughed, "You know, it's that attitude, right there, that makes me not even want to get to know you," she said as she stood up, looking around.

"There's no one around to save you from me."

"Well it's a good thing I drove myself here then, isn't it? It means I can leave," she said, dangling her keys in front of him.

Alex reached out and swiftly grabbed them out of her hand, "And now I have your keys. Looks like you're stuck with me."

"Give me my keys back, Alex. I'm not fucking around."

He grinned, "I'm not scared of you. You don't have a beer bottle to threaten me with like the other night."

Cassie glared hard at him. If looks could kill, Alex Gaskarth would be dead.

"Oh, don't be upset," he said, "Just take a little walk with me and I'll give your keys back."

"Or you could just give them back now," she said.

"Or not," he said, bending down to pick up her towel and tank top, "Come on, I'll even carry these for you."

Cassie sighed, "I would rather put my shirt back on," she said.

"That won't be necessary," he said and started walking.

She sighed once more, loudly this time, and fell in step next to him, "Just for the record, I'm only walking with you because you took my keys and I have no other choice, not because I want to in any way, shape or form."

"So noted," he replied.

They walked in silence for awhile. The sun felt nice on their skin and the occasional breeze was perfect. The water looked gorgeous and all Cassie could do was stare at it. Before she knew it, the two were on a deserted stretch of beach.

Not exactly where she wanted to be.

"I'm not going to try anything," Alex said, as if reading her thoughts, "I just want to be able to talk without being interrupted."

Cassie rolled her eyes. She didn't really want to talk to him so she just stayed quiet and stared at the water.

"What made you want to be a writer?" he asked.

"Well, we can't all be rock stars," she said, not taking her eyes off the water.

He sighed, "Cassie, I'm trying really hard here. Can't you even just cut me a tiny break and give me a chance?"

"No!" she said, "That's exactly it, Alex, I don't want to give you a chance. For the way you treated me, you don't deserve one. And the fact that you're trying so hard just makes it worse. Quit trying to impress people. Just fucking be yourself."

He stood there, very quiet for a minute, then finally spoke, "You want to know who I really am? I'm a goofy kid from a nowhere town who got lucky. I can come off as cocky as fuck and immature at times, but I'm just a silly guy. I prefer to act like a child because acting like an adult makes it seem like you always have a stick up your ass. I love my mom. I call her two or three times a week to update her on my life. Sure, I like to drink and dance and make out and I like the sound of my own voice. But I also like to hang out at home and watch TV or movies or listen to music and read a book or write songs. That's the real Alexander Gaskarth and he's much less interesting than Alex from All Time Low."

Cassie looked at him for a moment, almost in a state of shock. "Honestly," she said, "Alexander Gaskarth sounds like someone I might be able to put up with and I think people might like you better if that's who you were more often."