I Wanna Be Your Last

Alex’s POV;

I couldn’t sleep that night. I tossed and turned, waiting to fall asleep, but my mind was so stuck on Anna and how worried I was about her. I kept my phone near just in case she did call or text me. I sighed and turned over to face the window. The moon was big and shining through. My mind wandered back to the night when Anna and I had last talked before tour.

I looked at her straight in the eye.

“I have to go. It’s my band,” I spoke softly.

It was around midnight and I had just dragged her out of the party we were at. I had given her my leather jacket to keep warm.

“Alex, you can’t go,” she replied, grabbing both of my hands and standing in front of me.

“Obviously I have to. I have a CD to finish and a tour to go on,” I said in my disappointed tone. “Plus, it’s not my choice.”

“Yes it is.” She looked away from me and dropped my hands. “You know what? I get it.”

She turned away and remembered she was wearing the jacket. “I’m sorry Alex.”

Those were the last words before she handed me my jacket back and walked away from where we stood. People, mainly her girlfriends, said that she got quite drunk, not enough to make her pass out, but enough to make her get sloppy.

I hit a button on my phone and looked at the time. Three? Ugh! I thought and put my phone back in its spot.

It was very uncomfortable. Jack was snoring and clinging to a stuffed animal. It was still hot outside and we had the air conditioning going, which was making it extremely cold throughout the room. I pulled the covers up over my shoulders and yawned. My hair was tickling my face. I pushed my bangs off of my face. This wasn’t going well.

What if I didn’t ever find Anna? Would I be lost forever? Ugh! I couldn’t bear the thought of never seeing her again. I was in love with this girl and she couldn’t take a rejection since I was going away and I was only thinking of her. I honestly didn’t want her to suffer with the thoughts of me being away on tour for months and never coming home to see her.

I continued to think about that night I seen her. I wanted to just go down to the street and get mauled by crazed fan-girls. I sighed and rolled back over, stretching and falling asleep almost instantly.

****

The next morning I woke up with Jack sitting in the middle of me. I sighed and hid my head under my pillow.
“COME ON ALEX!” he yelled at me. “Today’s the day we go find Anna!”

Rian intervened, or so I was guessing, and pulled Jack off of me. Zack was in hysterics on the floor. I pushed the pillow off my face and grabbed my phone. I sat up and threw my legs over my bed.

“Jack, you know how much you’re dead to me right now?” I asked him.

“Oh, you don’t care. It’s ten to eleven and you should get a good start on trying to find Anna,” he replied.

“I don’t even know if she has any family or friends here,” I sighed and walked across the room to get my bags.

“We could always call her dad,” Zack said, picking himself up off the floor and going into the bathroom.

“Does anyone have his number?” I asked, hoping to receive a reply.

The silence overwhelmed. I sighed.

“Fine, okay, I’m getting ready,” I mumbled.

Jack and Rian went downstairs to get some food. I slid into some clothes and went downstairs. I was hungry and tired. Tonight, I was going to try and actually get some sleep.

I caught up to Rian and Jack. We grabbed what we wanted to eat and headed back upstairs, away from everyone who looked at us funny. I didn’t know what to do if someone started attacking me- take it or not?

****
Anna’s POV;

I woke up at about eleven thirty to my grandma’s kitten wandering around in my room meowing. I rubbed my eyes and sat up, looking around. I was still at my grandma’s house. Kie, my grandma’s kitten, jumped up on my bed and walked towards me. I smiled and pet him and reached for my phone. I seen that Zack, not Jack, had texted me.

To Anna
Alex’s is going to come looking for you today.

Re: Zack
Are you sure he’ll find me today? How sure are you that I’m even in SF?

Reply:
We might not find you today. But we’re sure you’re in SF. Your dad, nor you, will lie to any of us.

Re: Zack
Z, I’m in SF, yes. But there are a billion people here. Where are you going to find me at?

Reply:
Wherever you happen to be when we find you.

Re: Zack
Alright. Well I’ll tell you now that I am going out with the person I’m staying with when I get up and going.

Reply:
Thanks for the hint, hun. ;) I’ll talk to you later! Gotta tell Alex!

I sighed and flipped my phone back, sitting it down on the bedside table. I picked up Kie and wandered downstairs. My grandma was up, eating breakfast at the kitchen table. I sat the kitten down next to his food bowl and sat down across the table from my grandma. She smiled at me and ate her toast. I yawned and grabbed an orange from the bowl in the center of the table.

“Grandma, how did you say Grandpa found you?” I asked, wondering if Alex and I would end up the same way.

“Well, after I moved away from him when we both lived in Phoenix, he went off for a vacation in London for a few months. He came back to find I had moved out here to go to college. He tried calling me every day and I would refuse any phone call that came through. I would usually call my parents when I needed to talk.

“A month went by, then two, and by the time the second month was over, I was out of college for the summer. I had made friends by then and was planning on a trip out to the beach the week after we got out.

“The beach-day came and right as we left my apartment, we seen him. I tried not to make it noticeable that it was me, but he walked right up to me and started throwing questions in my face. I could tell he was worried,” she spoke softly. “After that, we started talking more and more. He apologized, we starting slowly dating, and then we got married.”

I had peeled my orange and ate the entire thing by the time she had finished her story.

“I’ll be very afraid if the same thing happens to me, since Alex here looking for me,” I sighed.

“You shouldn’t hide from him, sweetheart,” she advised. “You’re hurting him.”

“But that’s the point. He hurt me, now it’s my turn to hurt him.”

“Revenge isn’t ever sweet. I know- I did it to Grandpa,” she said. “I hurt him so much by not talking to him the entire time he was in London and avoiding him when he came back.”

I looked at her confused. She must have noticed.

“It’s not good. You’re only gonna hurt him more than he hurt you.”

I thought about this and then excused myself from the table, throwing away the orange peel as I went. I walked upstairs and set a clean pair of clothes on my bed, then made a break to the bathroom.

****

After my shower, I got ready for the day out with my Grandma. I wandered into my room in my towel, shutting the door behind me. I checked my phone. Alex must have decided that if I would text Zack and Jack, that I would text him.

To: Anna
Please stop hiding from me. I’m not here to hurt you.

I didn’t reply back. I didn’t want to talk to him, or even talk to his friends, but I had no choice with the friends. They were funny and my friends as well. I would use them to get Alex closer and closer to me until they found me.

I brushed my wet blond hair and started to blow dry it, watching myself in the mirror of my vanity. After that, I did my makeup. By that time, Grandma was ready to go. I put some summer clothes since it would be a warm day in the city.

I got into the car with my grandma and went into the city. We stopped by Costco to get some food. Jack texted me when we first got there.

To: Anna
We are on the prowl. Be alert and ready!

Re: Jack
Obviously I am. I’m hiding. :P

Reply:
Alright!

I slid my phone into the back pocket of my shorts. I didn’t have time to waste. I had to get in and out, avoiding the crew if at all possible. She knew I was in a hurry to get out. I was glad I had someone to talk to about this kind of stuff, even though she was telling me not to hide away from someone.

****
Alex’s POV;

“Where did she say she was going, Zack?” I asked, cornering the poor kid.

“Just out with the person she was staying with,” he said, shaking.

He knew I wouldn’t hurt him. “Let me see. Give me your phone,” I said, holding my hand out for his phone.

He gave it up willingly, sitting it in my palm and dodging under me to hide behind Rian who was standing behind me, his arms crossed. I looked through the texts between Anna and Zack.

“Eh, you were right Zack. I should’ve trusted your word.”

I handed the phone back and walked out of the suite. It was time to go find her. She didn’t really give anything away, just that she was with someone. I needed to know who she was staying with to find her. The guys followed me out of the room and downstairs. The Escalades were summoned to the front of the hotel and we got in, splitting off as we did yesterday. I looked over at Jack who was texting furiously.

“Woah, slow down, maaaan,” I laughed.

“Gotta. Find. Anna,” he muttered. “Brain. Set. On. Her. Only.”

I glared at him. “You suck at mocking me.”

“Well that’s all you’ve been thinking about since you got the news.”

“I know, I know. But this is more important than tour, recording, or anything, really.”

Jack scoffed and I rolled my eyes. Today was not my day. My friends were getting angry with me and the girl I was madly in love with had ran away from me and was now hiding in San Francisco.

****
Anna’s POV;

“I’m just going to go look at the CDs, alright?” I told my grandma.

She smiled and nodded at me. I wandered around Costco to find the electronic area. I moved through crowds of people and found it. I wandered to the pop/rock area and looked around. I started at the front, forgetting that Alex was in a band called All Time Low. I shuffled through plenty of hard plastic cases, but found their CD. I sighed and turned it to the back. The songs sounded interesting. I took it to the counter inside the electronics and paid for it. I stuffed the bag into my purse and stalked back to find my grandma.

****

We left Costco after buying all of the groceries. We were getting hungry so we dropped by a café to have a small lunch. She got a coffee and some banana bread. I got my usual- hot chocolate and a blueberry muffin. We ate in almost silence. We did speak, but in a few words. I decided to ask her about her take on me hiding away from Alex.

“What should I do?” I asked her.

“About the whole ‘running away from your high school crush’ thing? Obviously whatever you feel like,” she said.

“But I don’t know what the right thing to do is. Do I continue to run away or just sit out in broad daylight… waiting?” I asked, hoping for a good answer.

“I would play along with his game, but go out trying to find him, with the intentions of- I’m not going to tell you to stalk him- not getting caught.”

Grandma was amazing. She knew how to help me. “Alright. I think I will do that. Should I drop hints to as where I am?”

She nodded. “Most definitely. You should at least try to see what Alex wants, dear. Let him make it up to you.”

“Operation Anna and Alex is now in place,” I chuckled. Grandma got a kick out of what I said and laughed at me too.

“Should we go?” she asked.

“Yes. I need to get started on getting Alex into my trap.”

We left the café and got back into the car, driving home. When we got there, we unloaded the groceries. After we put all of the food and stuff away, I played with Kie in the living room while I watched television. Grandma walked down to one of her friend’s houses to have a chat. I decided that I wanted out of the house and there was a park close by.

I left a note for my grandma on the front door saying that I had left to go to the park, blah blah blah. I walked down the street to the park. Kids and parents were outside. All of the benches were taken so I took up a spot under the shade of a big tree. I pulled out my phone and texted Jack.

To: Jack
I’m sitting in a park, blahh. I’ve decided to play your guys’ game. If you can find me, Alex can talk to me.

Reply:
Which park?

Re: Jack
It’s right on Haight Street. I won’t leave, unless I text you saying so.

I sat the phone back into my lap and waited for a reply. This was going to be good and tiring. Maybe I would let Alex find me today. My heart yearned to see him and talk to him after all this time.

The phone buzzed and I seen that Jack had replied.

Reply:
We’re on our way!