Serenading Sirens

The night went by quickly, and so did the weekend. Time that I got between customers was spent with the guys at their table. Alex was particularly quiet, which worried me. But I didn't have much time to worry until I was comfortably in bed at three in the morning. When I actually got that time to think about it, it plagued me. That was all I thought over during my free weekend.

He had been so content with everything while I was in my car and as he walked me to our destination. The moment we were apart is when his mood went south. I then wondered if this had anything to do with what he wouldn't say in class. Both things involved me, in the physical sense anyway. I could only hope that I was left out in the mental sense.

My only wish though was that I had someone to talk about all of this with. By Sunday night, Hadley still wasn't speaking to me. But I hadn't tried either. At this point, I wasn't sure if she would have been the right person to talk with anyway. Even though she hardly knew Alex and only thought he was good looking, I was sure she would find some reason to hate me because I was falling for him.

There was no point in hiding it from myself anymore. After so much time alone to think about him, I knew that it was happening. One week. He had to have known that that was all it would take. That was the only explanation I could come up with to his mood changes. He knew, and now he regretted it. He was changing his mind. I was starting to like him, but he lost interest in me.

I didn't know what to do with my newfound information. Even if Alex wasn't relinquishing his enthusiasm, I still would be at a lose. I wasn't one to throw myself at boys when I did like them; hence my lack of a boyfriend since elementary. And letting it play out like I probably normally would do wasn't going to work out with his state of mind. If I wanted Alex Gaskarth to be mine, I had to work fast.

And I had once sworn to myself that I would never say anything along those lines. Oh, how things change.

________________________________________________

On Monday, I lingered at my locker, expecting Alex to show up. He had grown the habit of meeting me there the past few mornings, sitting in my homeroom and skipping his own. After a few minutes, I gave up and entered the classroom alone. I made the assumption that he was just late, but I was also left to walk unaccompanied to first period. Rian and Jack sat in the back, like usual, where I joined them.

I was still looking around curiously as I questioned, "Where's Alex?"

Jack snorted while Rian answered. "He's a bit hung over," he whispered, leaning toward me. "He got a little vodka friendly at the party after our show last night." He shook his head in disapproval. I knew it was only mocking toward his friend.

"He'll be back tomorrow," Jack reassured.

I put my hope into that. The next morning though, I was seemingly in solitary yet again. Until first period. My eyes scanned the room and found Alex easily with his two best friends. I sat diagonal from him since Jack was in front of him and Rian beside. He made no effort to notice me throughout the entire class.

His charade didn't end there either. One word to me didn't escape his lips all day. He didn't even wait for me after lunch. This whole thing made my heart drop to the pit of my stomach. Of course, it only led me to believe that I was right. Alex had no interest in me anymore and was resorting to avoiding me the best he could. I just had to figure that it was inevitable. He was getting to know me and he was bored. Too bad it was working the opposite for me.

I would have loved for a hole to open beneath me so that I wouldn't have to deal with my feelings anymore.

At least the others didn't seem to be sharing his thoughts. Jack and Rian happily conversed with me when I saw them. Zack continued to fill in as my new best friend. That was never to be admitted to him or to Hadley. Surely, Hadley would flip out way more over this than her petty reason of the moment. And Zack would be all too pleased for me to handle.

So I sucked it up and acted like nothing was affecting me. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, though it was only the first day. But no one knew the thoughts that I kept a secret. They would never have time to suspect that I was slipping. They hadn't even had a chance to see me light up when Alex was around, since it surely would have happened if the situation were different. I'd been nothing but let down since I had figured it out for myself.

I headed to work that day holding back the urge to bash my head off the steering wheel. It was stupid of me. So, so stupid. I knew I shouldn't have ever started talking to any of them. My instincts told me that I would be led to a bad place, and here I was. It wasn't the path I thought I would be on, yet it was horrid enough to hate.

Zack was waiting out front like always, his vest already on. I didn't stop to greet him. Mumbling a quick hey, I stomped right through the door he was holding open for me. I was going fast, but he kept up easily and followed me right to my locker. I didn't want my bad mood to affect the rest of the day, but I just couldn't help it.

"What's up?" he asked. I glanced over at him to see that his eyebrows were ruffled in confusion.

I didn't want to tell him. So I pretended like I didn't know he was asking about my mood. "Nothing. Anything new with you?" I questioned, shoving my arms into the cheap, green polyester of my own vest.

It took him a moment, but he shook his head quickly. Clearly, he was shocked that I answered differently than he expected. "Uh, no. Same old school," he said.

Now we were both at a lose for words. He led the way back to the counter where we both sat like any other day... this past week and a half. It really didn't seem like such a short time since all of this had started. The guys made it so easy to get along with them. I couldn't help but wonder why I had held back for all those months. It was so simple to feel like I had known them for as long as they had known each other.

Zack cleared his throat, causing me to look up from my drink. He seemed concerned with something, but it was hard to say what about. It just didn't seem like he had anything to worry about.

"Hm?" I asked, now concerned myself. Anything that put him on edge was bound to do the same to me.

He shook his head, trying to get his thoughts together. "I know that you're already in a bad mood," he started. I grimaced unintentionally. He paused because of my actions, so I had to beckon for him to go on. "Well, the guys and I are playing a show Saturday. Actually, like every night this week," he rambled. "But I figured you would want to be able to actually stay to watch us and be able to wake up in-"

"Zack!" I interrupted. He stopped on cue, looking at me. "Please, just get on with it."

We both chuckled before he continued.

"We were just wondering if you would want to come," he offered.

I bit my lip, my teeth digging into the soft flesh. Would I be able to handle it? Could just a few short days be enough for me to get over Alex if he continued to ignore me, just like I had done to him? I thought about lying, saying that I already had plans. The craving to want to see them play live was what decided my answer. "Sure, why not?" There were plenty of reasons, but he didn't need to know.

Zack shot me a wide smile. "Awesome! They're gonna be so stoked," he claimed. It was hard to tell if he was talking about all three of them.

I lived through the rest of the day with this on my shoulders. The next three days played out in almost the same order. Alex didn't make an effort to realize that I existed. The others pretended like his mood hadn't shifted dramatically. I would have thanked them if it wouldn't put the issue in the spotlight.

I didn't bother to keep my distance, either. Whenever they wanted me, I was there. That just happened to be every time they saw me. And I was still going to their show -Jack had hooked me up with a free ticket- whether Alex cared if I was there or not.

This was how it was going to be then. All I could wonder was if it would be harder to get over him if I was spending so much time with his friends. He would more than likely be where they were.

Saturday rolled around quickly. Life seemed to be on semi fast forward now that I was in my last year of high school. Maybe it was just because I actually had friends outside of Hadley now. Either way, this day came too fast for me. The nervousness hit me the moment I woke, twisting my stomach in a knot. I lay in bed in hopes that it would pass, but it stuck around until it was unbearable to sit there anymore.

I tossed the blanket to the floor at the foot of my bed before getting up. I twisted my hair in my hands, a nervous habit that I surely wasn't going to forget tonight. I wasn't positive what time I needed to be ready by. Zack had been cryptic and told me that he -or someone else- would be picking me up. The ticket said that the club doors opened at six, so I decided to set out on getting ready directly after lunch.

I sat and looked in the mirror for a while, trying to decide how well I wanted to look. It would probably be hot, it being early September and cramped in with a hundred-plus others. Would I take the risk of every bit of me melting? Or would I try to look as simple as the day I had tried to change to get recognized less? That thought was all it took me to decide to risk it. I was going to look the best I had ever intentionally looked for this night.

It didn't occur to me until I was completely done and waiting on the front porch at half past four that Zack didn't know where I lived. None of them did. I panicked. The first thing my mind jumped to was that this has all been a setup. I had to give it to them though. They had stuck it out a rather long time to go to the trouble to humiliate me. I was also glad that I hadn't made a big deal out of this in front of them. They didn't have any proof that they had succeeded.

I was still working over this when a beat up car pulled into my driveway. I stopped my mental, and slightly psychotic, episode to examine it. The driver was invisible to me at first. But once they saw that I was sitting there, he stuck his head out the window. Jack's smile radiated as usual as he called my name. I drew in a deep breath and let it out in relief before descending the few steps to get in the car.

Way to go me for jumping to extreme conclusions. That was just how my brain worked after so long.

Jack and I exchanged pleasantries once I was in the passenger seat. I kept my questioning for when we were on our way though. "How do you know where I live?" I burst out once we were off my block. That was all the longer I could keep it in.

Jack chuckled, obviously amused with my speed talking. "Don't ever underestimate Alex... about anything," he answered with a serious tone. The smile was still on his lips.

I nodded in understanding. "So he was stalking me," I said sarcastically. This had us both laughing for real. Laughter always seemed simple around Jack.

This led us into an easy conversation. I asked if he was nervous at all. To this, he snorted and replied that playing in Towson was the easiest thing he would ever do.

"Except for coming out of my mom's vagina," he admitted. He did what seemed to be a slow motion karate chop with his hand. "Like butter." He used his best New York accent.

I giggled. "I don't think that expression applies," I attempted to correct.

He shot me a look that told me to go with it. I may have cringed if it weren't on Jack's face. It was just hard to take him seriously.

"The ticket was just a precaution, really," he told me as he led me to the back door of the club once we arrived. "You're with the VIP, so you're automatically in." He shot me his usual wide smile.

I grinned back and entered behind him. It was a lot warmer inside, but not unbearable. I shed my red hoodie as he brought me to the others. Once it was safely shoved in my purse, my hands shot to my hair. I twisted it enough that it was probably no longer straight, but in knots and curls much like my insides.

I wasn't sure what happened. But one moment, I was directly behind Jack, his back easily in view. The next, I was blind to the world. I could feel arms around me.

As I freed myself of this inconvenience and looked up, the person spoke.

"You came!" Alex exclaimed.

His excitement had my heart racing.