Show Them What it Means To Be Alive

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let's dance the night away.
The microphone emitted an ear-piercing shriek as Alex shakily adjusted it’s place on the stand. Kara and Melanie stood watching from closer towards the center than before as their friends situated themselves on the small wooden stage.

More kids were standing up and paying attention to the four boys than they had anyone before. Melanie cracked a smile; That was a good sign, right?

“Hey, sexy fuckers!” Alex called over Jack and Zack’s energetic guitar intro, Rian smashing away at his drum set. Although he didn’t seem as nervous as before, Melanie could tell as clear as day that the smile plastered on his face didn’t nearly reach his eyes. The lead singer seemed slightly preoccupied as he glanced around the room, seemingly searching for something.
“We’re All Time Low, this song’s called I Can’t Do The One-Two Step!”

Alex now joined in, strumming his yellow guitar, as the other three had switched from random guitar-strumming and drum-bashing into a song intro. Jack jumped around the stage twice as energetically as he had on the floor a few minutes ago; Zack was the same.

Alex’s chocolate brown eyes were still searching the room, until they finally locked on the blue ones that belonged to Melanie Fischer. She flashed him a reassuring smile, and suddenly, it was like a warm glowing smile shattered through his old one. Alex turned around, bouncing on the balls of his feet, and eventually ran back up to the microphone, pulling it close to him.

“Front page of the magazine says,
‘Don’t believe a word you read,
I’m just telling lies, just telling lies’.

Fall short this time of goals
You rose to meet that night,
Don’t worry yourselves, worry yourselves,
We will carry ourselves, carry ourselves…”

Melanie was sure you could hear her jaw hit the floor from a mile away. Never had she heard a voice that compared to the one coursing through her ears – let alone someone as young as he had been.

It wasn’t a the typical whiny, loud and high pitched voice that hit you in the face; rather than a warm and soft, although certainly not quiet, singing that invited you to listen.

“How does it feel to wake up
knowing that you're playing on something
that could have been nothing but a sad, sad song,
about a group of kids who lost it all to the great, big city?

Are we both crazy?
Or are we searching for more than this life behind the same four walls...
Pour me another drink I'll commit myself to it
and lose track of reason to believe in nothing”

The pace picked up slightly into what she assumed to be the chorus.

“I know, this is ridiculous, that’s just like me.
Make the most of living while you’re young
And have the chance to take your chances,
Cause I’ve got to, I’ve got to go…”

“Don’t be afraid, I’ve got your back
when times get rough and bring you, down.
Maybe you don’t understand we’ve got to take this or break this off.
It’s all up to us and you better, better, better, better, better, believe it.”

At this point, although the sound given off from the four boys was just as beautiful, Alex was practically screaming the lyrics. The flames of passion in his eyes were clearly evident with every word that escaped his lips.

The pace of the song picked up one last time, as Jack and Zack gave what was left of their energy to bouncing around the stage, Rian’s to hitting every beat with all the strength he had.

Alex took one final deep breath and sang his heart out:

“I know, this is ridiculous, that’s just like me.
Make the most of living while you’re young
And have the chance to take your chances…
Fuck regrets and let’s burn this city down!”

The crowd cheered their heads off.

Melanie tried, but couldn’t make a sound.
She was so speechless that she had to fight the tears begging to escape. Every little thing she had just witnessed was so perfect. From the beautiful yet youthful lyrics, to the way the boys completely let themselves go into the music, giving everything they had and more.

And before Melanie even knew it, she was running up to the stage, Alex jogging down the few steps that separated the stage from the concrete ground.

The small girl stood on her tiptoes as she threw her arms around Alex’s neck, pressing her body against him in a warm hug. He quickly responded, pulling her body as close as it was possible to be.

No words were spoken, as their actions detailed every thought and emotion that didn’t dare leave their lips.

Melanie pulled away to slowly look at him, his warm eyes burning with as much intensity, if not more, than they had mere minutes ago. Before she had time to take a breath, his soft lips were pressed against her own.

Although first melting into his lips, the younger girl reluctantly pulled away to take a breath.

Alex looked down, “I’m sorry.” He mumbled.
“Really? ‘Cause I’m not.” Lightly grabbing hold of his chin, she pulled his lips back to hers. As Alex pushed back into the kiss, Melanie could feel his crooked smile against her. Their lips moved together into kisses separated only by tiny breaths of air. She had never wished to not need to breathe more in her life. With every little kiss, Melanie could feel everything around her become more heated, and nothing around her could stop that.
Or so she thought.

“SAFE SEX!” Jack casually yelled, walking past the two like it was nothing

Needless to say, they reluctantly pulled away. Melanie scoffed in embarrassment at Jack’s comment, but couldn’t keep away from Alex long enough. She wrapped her arms around his neck once again, pulling her high enough so she could rest her head on Alex’s shoulder. She felt one of his arms wrap around her waist, and saw the other one stick out to give Jack the middle finger.

Softly giggling, Melanie dug her head into the crook of Alex’s neck with a smile that could reach to the stars and back.