You Belong With Me

Alex's P.O.V.

If you were to come up to me right now and tell me that March was a busy month, I would have told you that you have just made the biggest understatement of the year. I did not have any time to spare between school and recording. When I wasn't at school or at home, I was at the studio recording and, when I wasn't recording, I was doing homework so that I could graduate.

So much went in to recording a song. You had to make sure the instruments were tuned correctly; you had to make sure your voice was warmed up; you had to sing exactly on-key, otherwise you would have to start again. Sometimes, the producer would go back and listen to the track and decide he didn't like the way it sounded after all, so then you would have to go back and record it again. Each day was designated to a different part of the song or album. One day, we would record drums and vocals and the next day, we would record bass, electric, or acoustic guitar. It could take up to a week just to finish one song. It was a tiring process, but I can honestly say I loved every tedious minute of it.

Taylor and I still hung out, but it wasn't the same. It was as if we were too busy for each other. She started working with her producers, so we had to spend a lot of time recording in different studios. We couldn't always ride to school together anymore because we each had to be at our respective studios right when school ended and sometimes we would be there into the wee hours of the morning. By the time both of us were home, we would be too tired to do anything other than homework and sleep. Our dreams had finally taken over our lives. Neither of us were complaining, but not being able to see her that often was the only downfall of everything. Now, the only time we really got to see each other was during lunch.

Speaking of lunch, that was probably one of the most awkward times of the day for Jack and I. I guess I should take this opportunity to explain to you just how hard it is liking the same girl that your best friend does. That night in my basement, Jack and I had each talked about our feelings for Taylor and eventually decided that we would do our best to not let it ruin our friendship. However, we decided on one condition: we would not do anything physical with Taylor while in the other's presence. We weren't going to make each other jealous; it just wasn't fair. We could tell that she noticed the way we were acting, but she never said anything about it.

Today was Friday, the second day of April, and it just so happened to be one of those rare days where we were both off from recording. Rian and Zack still had to go in to record their tracks, but Jack and I were off and so was Taylor, so I got to drive her to school. We spent the whole ride updating each other about how recording was going and sometimes even venting about our producers. I told her how, as an April Fool's joke, our producer had told us to meet him at a different studio, but we found out about the joke, so we showed up at the right studio and scared the crap out of him because he thought he had tricked us. She told me how, after she finished recording a track, they told her they had erased everything else by accident and she almost had a heart attack. Luckily, it was all a trick and all of her songs were still intact.

We were running late to school, so I did not have any time to walk her to homeroom like I hoped I would. I got to my homeroom and sat down as usual. I looked around the room and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that Katelyn wasn't there. Every time she saw me, she would try to talk to me and it was usually really hard to shrug her off. No matter what I said or did, she refused to get the message that I did not want to be around her. It's as if she fed off my hate for her; she just kept coming back for more.

“Guess what?” I heard a girl screech excitedly behind me.

“What?” her friend asked eagerly.

“Kyle finally asked me to prom!”

They began to talk about where they would go to get their dresses and when they would order the limo. I rolled my eyes as I tried to ignore it all.

Prom was a month and a half away and most of my friends already had dates. I knew I wanted to go, but I haven't had time to really think about it between all the recording. However, now it was the only thing that was on my mind. I imagined how amazing it would be to go with Taylor and watch her face glow in the fluorescent lights as we danced. It would definitely be a night to remember.

She hadn't mentioned anything about prom to me since that one day about a month ago, which must have meant that she didn't have a date. She had said that she wasn't sure if she wanted to go, so I would have to do my best to convince her to go with me. A nervous feeling developed in my stomach as I wondered how she would react. Would she be happy? Would she think it's weird? Would she feel obligated to go with me since I was her friend and she didn't want me to go alone? I tried to shake these thoughts off as the bell for first period rang. Eventually, I decided to ask her anyway. If I didn't ask her, I knew I would always have that nagging “what if” feeling that everybody hates. I decided I would ask her at her locker when school was over.

Lunch started off relatively normal. We told each other about our day and ate our food like normal. I felt the food swishing around in my stomach as I began to eat, so I put my fork down and watched as Taylor and Jack finished their lunch. My hands began to shake as I thought of what I was about to do later. How would I say it to her? Was it a bad idea to do it when she was packing up her books? How would I-?

“Alex!” Taylor nearly screamed, snapping me out of my reverie.

“Oh, uh, what?”

She looked at me closely, studying my face. “Are you ok? You seem kind of out of it.”

“Yeah, I'm fine,” I lied. “Why?”

“I was asking you a question, but you didn't seem to hear me.”

“I was just thinking about stuff.” She looked like she was about to ask me what I was thinking about, so I quickly said, “What did you want to ask me?”

“When will you guys be done recording?”

I looked at Jack. “I think we're aiming to be basically done by the middle of this month, right? Once we are mostly done, we just have to go back to add the finishing touches.”

Jack nodded. “Yeah, I think Matt, our producer, said that we're aiming for a June release date. What about you?” he asked Taylor.

“I think right now we're looking at July,” she said.

“That's awesome,” I said. “You know what that means?”

“What?” she asked looking at me curiously.

“It means that we can tour together to promote our albums.”

She seemed skeptical. “As much as I would love to tour with you guys, I think you are missing something,” she said. “If we ever want to really get noticed, we each have to tour with someone big. I don't think any big bands would want to tour with a country girl like me or any huge country stars would want to tour with a punk rock group. Our genres don't go well together.”

“That hasn't stopped us before, has it? We have always performed together and we have done pretty well,” I pointed out. “Besides, it's about the fun, not the fame.”

She looked thoughtful and then nodded. “You have a great point, Garth.”

“We should get this thing going,” chimed in Jack. “I will bribe our record label so that we can tour with you. I will get them all the candy they could possibly want for a lifetime. Who doesn't want candy?”

A beautiful, high-pitched laugh came out of her mouth. “Jack, you wouldn't be bribing your label, you'd be bribing your tour manager.”

“Oh, well then if it's a girl, I will make her feel pleasure she has never even dreamed of and, if it's a guy, I will buy him whatever he wants and give him hugs every day.

Taylor laughed again. “Leave it to you to turn everything into something sexual.

He gave us a wide, toothy grin and said, “It's what I'm good for.”

“Yeah, I'm sure that's about all you're good for,” I joked.

This kind of banter continued for the rest of the lunch period until the bell finally rang. I couldn't walk with Taylor and Jack because I realized that I left a notebook for my next class in my locker, so I had to go get it quickly.

You know how time has that tendency to speed up when you need it to slow down? Before I knew it, the school day was over and I was packing up my backpack about to head over to Taylor's locker. I could not concentrate on any of my classes that afternoon and my legs could not seem to stop shaking no matter how much I tried to get myself to relax.

I saw her open her locker and put some books into her bag as I walked up to her. I felt my heartbeat begin to rapidly accelerate as she looked over to me and smiled.

“Hey,” she said. “How was the rest of your day?”

“Pretty boring,” I answered. “What about yours?”

“Same,” she said. “We just reviewed for some tests I have next week. Thank God it's the weekend now so I can at least study a little bit in between recording.”

“Yeah I know what you mean. I barely have any time for school anymore.”

She zipped up her backpack and slammed her locker shut. I took a deep breath. It was now or never.

“Hey, I have a question.”

“What is it?” she asked with wonder in her eyes.

“By any chance, do you have a d-date for the p-prom yet?” My anxiety nearly overtook me, but I managed to stay as still as possible. It took longer than I was hoping for her to answer.

She hesitated, not quite knowing how to respond. “Alex...” she began quietly looking down at the floor. “I'm so sorry,” she said sadly, “but I already told Jack I would go with him.”

“Oh,” I said, trying desperately to swallow the large lump in my throat.

“Hey, guys!” Jack nearly screamed as he ran up and put an arm around both of us. So much for our agreement. He took a look at both of our faces and then said, “What did I miss?”

“Uhm, nothing,” I responded. “Listen, Jack, would you mind taking Taylor home? I have to stay after school.”

“Yeah, sure that's fine.” He could tell I was upset, but he didn't say anything.

“Alex, wait...” Taylor said.

I looked at her and saw pain in her eyes. She somehow knew that she had hurt me and that hurt her in turn. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt her, so I forced a smile on my face. “Don't worry about it, Taylor. I'm fine. I have work I have to go do.” With that, I turned and walked down the hall away from the both of them.

Taylor's P.O.V.

Jack and I walked silently out to his car, but we could each hear the loud sound of guilt beating within our hearts. My best friend was hurting and there was not much I could do about it without hurting my other best friend. Alex tried to hide it, but, when I turned him down, his face turned completely crestfallen. It killed me to know that I had hurt him.

After lunch, while Alex was at his locker, Jack walked me to class and reminded me that neither of us had a prom date, so we agreed to go together since it had been over a month. The last thing I expected was for Alex to ask me right after I said yes to Jack. In fact, Alex even asking me at all was the last thing I expected. I wondered if I would have still said yes to Jack if I knew that Alex was planning on asking me. Deep down, I knew that answer without a doubt, no matter how much I didn't like that it would hurt the other man.

“Ok, someone needs to say something!” Jack finally exploded. “I can't take the silence.”

“Sorry,” I said.

“Look, Taylor, I know you feel sorry about Alex, but he's a big boy. He'll find someone else to go to prom with I'm sure.”

“I hope so. I just want him to have a good time.”

“He will. I'm sure everything will work out.”

“I hope so. He looked at me like I had betrayed him when I told him I was going with you.”

“That's his fault though. He should have asked you beforehand if he really wanted to go with you.”

“I know and you're right, but I just feel really bad because I feel like I hurt him.”

“You are being too hard on yourself. It's not your fault and Alex will get over it.”

“I hope you're right,” I sighed as I looked out the window.

A few minutes later, I finally got home and went straight up to my room like I usually do. My eyes couldn't help but wonder over to Alex's window, but his room was dark just as I had expected. It was highly unusual for him to stay after school on a Friday afternoon, so he must have had something important to do.

Two hours later, I looked back at his window and saw that his light still wasn't on. It was now past the time that kids were allowed to stay after school. I couldn't shake the nagging feeling that something was wrong with him and I knew that it had something to do with me. I decided to text him to see what he was up to, but I did not get a response.

Around 6:00 that night, my phone started ringing and number that came up was Alex's house phone number. I practically lunged for the phone.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Taylor, it's Robert. By any chance, do you know where Alex is? He was supposed to be home an hour ago. I have been calling him nonstop and he hasn't picked up,” said Alex's dad.

That horrible feeling in my stomach just got a lot worse. “No,” I swallowed. “I swear, I don't know where he is. The last time I saw him was when we were about to leave school. He said he had to stay after for something and I haven't seen him since.”

“I called the school and they said he wasn't there.”

“Where do you think he is?”

“I don't know but his mother and I are worried sick.”

“Yeah, so am I. He's almost always home by now if he doesn't have anything else to do.”

“Well, if you hear anything, could you please call us and let us know?”

“As long as you do the same for me.”

“Of course. Bye, Taylor.”

I hung up the phone and flopped down on my bed helplessly. I looked around my room as I tried to figure out where Alex could possibly be. My eyes finally rested on a picture of Eric, Alex, and me smiling at the camera. My intuition hit me smack in the face and suddenly, I knew exactly where Alex was. I got my keys and practically ran out of my room.