The Rollercoaster Life

I was putting the finishing touches on my make-up at around 5:00pm, nearly poking out my eye with my eyeliner. I had never been good with make-up...or with determining how long it would take me to accomplish something. I had gotten ready in under 45 minutes, and I didn’t think I could do much to make myself look any different. So, I had an hour to kill. I would probably recheck myself a dozen times or so, however. I wouldn’t admit it, I wanted to look good for a certain someone.

I really was bipolar when it came to Alex. I wanted him to like me, I mean, I really liked him. But I was terrified of what could progress out of this little infatuation I had. I was just opening myself up to be left, again. And that wasn’t something I was ready for yet. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to handle it.

“Hey, Jency,” Holden knocked on my bedroom door and peaked in.

“Hey, come on in,” I said, putting the offending pencil down and moving over to the bed to start putting my purse together. The All Time Low boys were coming over any minute and for some pre-party relaxing, and I wanted to be ready. Holden sat down on the bed near me and watched as I packed up. “What’s up?” I asked, hoping to get the conversation rolling.
“I just wanted to say, that...th-that I’m...proud of you.” I stopped abruptly and looked at him.

“What?” Was Holden willingly complimenting me?

“I’m proud of you, Jence,” he said more firmly this time. “I know that I give you shit and can be a real pain in the ass sometimes, but really, it’s just because I want you to do your best and to protect you. But, you’re twenty-one now, you’re not my little sister anymore.”

“I’ll always be your little sister,” I pointed out, sitting down next to him. My bag could wait, I was having a heart to heart with Holden for the first time in...well...forever.

“I know, but you’ve been through so much. And I wasn’t always there for you in the way I should have been. And when you really needed a brother I had to act like a father. I just think I got caught up in that, and I’m sorry.”

I felt myself choke up a bit, and I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. Hugging me back, Holden kissed the top of my head.

“You’re beautiful, Jency. You’re beautiful, incredibly talented, and one of the best people I know. I’m sorry I don’t tell you enough.”

“Thanks, Holden,” I whispered, still clinging to him. “And I know I don’t thank you enough for all you do. I really appreciate it. and I’m really happy to have you in the band.”

Holden pulled away and smiled at me. “I’ll let you finish getting ready.” He stood up and
headed back to the door. “Oh, and Jence?” He asked, looking over his shoulder. “Do you mind if I give you part of your present now?”

“No, of course – OH MY FUCKING GOD.” I screamed in delight as Maggie came bounding from behind him and tackled me onto the bed. She squealed as well as we collapsed into giggled, hugging each other tightly.

“What happened?” Quinn asked, running in and looking concerned. He grinned, however, when he saw us on the bed. “Oh, brilliant, are you two going to start snogging?”

“Come on, Irish,” Holden said, pushing him out of the room. “Leave the girls alone to get ready.”

“I thought you had classes!” I cried, hugging my best friend again. I mean, I love my boys, but having a girl friend is one of the great joys in life.

Maggie flipped her brown hair and beamed at me. “That was totally Holden’s idea. He wanted to surprise you!”

“Oh my God,” I said, my face hurting from smiling so widely. “I’m so happy you’re here, you have no idea.”

“Oh, Jence! I’ve missed you too. Skypeing just does not get the job done. So, while I get ready, I expect full details of everything I’ve missed in the last few days since we’ve talked. No detail is too small.”

“Alex has a crooked penis,” I replied, trying to keep my voice from cracking with laughter. Maggie stared at me for a moment, eyes wide.

“YOU SLEPT WITH HIM?” she shrieked, and I nearly fell over in laughter. I loved winding her up.

“N-no,” I gasped out. “I didn’t sleep with him. I was merely given this information by Jack, his friend. Alex and I haven’t even hung out alone together, which you know.”

“God, don’t do that to me,” she frowned, rubbing her chest slightly. “You’ll give me shock hiccups.”

“You’re so ridiculous.” Maggie just smiled and stood up, going over to my closet, immediately pushing through clothes looking for something appropriate to wear. She, of course, had her own massive wardrobe, but for some reason found mine more appealing.

“How long are you staying?” I called after her.

“Just the weekend. But, I had to promise Holden a full day of boyfriend/girlfriend stuff tomorrow, I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” I replied, only a little bummed about losing out on my Maggie Time. “I’ll probably be too hung over to be much fun anyways.”

“That’s my girl,” she laughed. “So, you’ve been talking about his penis. That’s progress, I guess. Has he been flirting with you?”

“I don’t know,” I shrugged, not completely disappointed we were back on the subject of Alex. But really, how does one determine what flirting is? “He’s really nice, and he smiles at me a lot. But he’s not really touchy-feely, I guess.”

“Well, that’s a good thing,” she said, settling on a sparkly black top and reemerging. “It means he’s taking it slow and making sure you’re comfortable with him.”

“Or, he’s not interested.”

“Or, he’s taking it slow. It means he isn’t looking for a quick ‘wham-bam-thank you ma’am-sorry about my lopsided man jewels.’ Listen, J, I’ll observe tonight and give you the official ruling tomorrow, yeah?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Alright, but I’m pretty sure you’ll see nothing from him that suggests more than a platonic affection.”

“We’ll see,” she replied with a knowing smile. She then jumped up and clapped her hands together. “Come on, I’ll finish your make-up.” God, I love her.

Twenty minutes later, we were ready to go (Maggie was like me and got ready ridiculously quickly), I was sitting on the end of my bed, leg bouncing.

“How long ago where they supposed to get here?” Maggie asked, peering out my window the backyard and over to the ATL house.

“Four minutes. Approximately. But I’m not counting.” She turned and stared at me, daring me to lie to her again. “Fine,” I groaned. “I’m nervous, okay. And you telling me he likes me isn’t helping.” I flopped backward on the bed. “What if you’re right?”

“Jence,” Maggie said, coming over and sitting next to me. “I know it’s hard for you to open up to people, and you have every right to be cautious. And anyone who pressures you into anything is not worth your time. But, from what you tell me, Alex seems like a great guy and if you like him, you should give him a shot. I know it’s hard, but loosen up a bit, enjoy yourself, let down your guard just for tonight.”

“I think the alcohol will help with that,” I replied, dryly.

“You’re going to be with friends, and we all love you no matter what. You just need to live it up. It’s your birthday, so have fun.”

I smiled. I knew she was right. I wanted to make this a night to remember (or not remember, depending on how much I consumed). I was still nervous, however, and jumped with a squeak when the doorbell rang.

“That’s them,” I said, I heard Quinn open the door with an obnoxiously loud greeting. It sounded like he and Jack were seeing who could give a tighter bro-hug.

“Well, it’s not like the birthday girl to keep her guests waiting,” Maggie said, pulling me up off the bed. “You look hot, you’re 21, and you have easily the best friend in the world in moi,” she did a little twirl. “You don’t have anything to be nervous about. Come on.”

She took me by the hand and together we headed downstairs. All the boys were in the kitchen and connecting living room – Quinn, Zack, Jack and Rian were starting in on an Xbox game, while Holden, Eric, and Alex were opening up some beers in the kitchen. The three of them turned as we came down, and I felt myself blush as Alex met my eyes and smiled.

“Close your mouths boys” Maggie scolded as we came to a stop. “You’ll let the flies in.”

“You girls look beautiful this evening,” Holden said, smiling at me and planting a kiss on Maggie’s lips. I bit my lip in embarrassment, and decided to make introductions before their PDA continued.

“Alex, this is my best friend, Maggie. Mags, this is Alex Gaskarth.” Alex gave a friendly smile and stuck out his hand for her to shake. She took it, but was clearly staring directly at his crotch, snug in the tight jeans he was wearing.

“You can’t even tell,” she said happily, turning back to me and giving a grin. My hands went to my face in embarrassment as she moved away from Alex and went back to Holden, who gave her a disapproving look. Maggie, however, looked very proud of herself, and Alex’s smile grew as he looked at my bright red face. Fantastic.

Luckily, the doorbell broke the moment again, and I immediately went to answer it. Anything to get away from the amused look Alex was giving me.

“That must be Pete,” I called over my shoulder, waving at the other ATL boys on the couch as I bolted past them.

I pulled the door open and the smile dropped immediately from my face as I saw a very unwanted person standing on the threshold,

“Naughty, naughty, Jency Burke not giving me a call,” Alicia Durham shook her long finger at me. “I thought we agreed on an interview?”

“Um, I’m sorry, but how did you find our where I live?” I was completely shocked to see her standing there. I had torn up her number her number for a reason, and I didn’t remember agreeing to anything.

“Sweetheart, all it took was a few calls and a feel thinly concealed blackmails. Information like this isn’t exactly difficult to come by. Now, where should we go to have our little chat?”

I stared at her dumbly, unable to believe the complete audacity of the woman. I was about to call Holden over, who was much more adept at handling situations like this that I was, when I felt a hand on the small of my back.

“Is there a problem here?” Alex asked over me, glaring at our unwanted visitor.

“Oh, Jency, you didn’t tell me Alex was here. I’m so sorry, did I interrupt a date?” She gave me a sugary smile and a wink. I couldn’t contain my frown.

“It’s actually Jency’s birthday,” Alex replied. “A bunch of us were about to just leave to celebrate.”

“Oh, really?” Instead of looking put out at losing what she thought was a chance at an interview, Alicia instead looked completely ecstatic. “Oh, well, sweetie, you don’t mind if I tag along do you? Just take a few notes, maybe a few pictures for your devoted fans?”

“Actually, it’s a private function,” entered a new voice, a Irish tinted one. “Friends and family only.” I had told the boys about my first encounter with Alicia, and they immediately set about googling her and digging up all the dirt they could. Naturally, they immediately took a dislike to her as well, only more venomous than mine. They weren't took happy with their perceived insult of me. Usually, Holden would keep his cool when dealing with the media, Eric wouldn't say a word, but Quinn took no shit.

“And which would you be?” Alicia asked, and I got a nasty taste in my mouth at the appreciative look she gave him. “You know, Jency, if I didn’t know better I would think you purposefully surrounding yourself with attractive men for a reason. Like to have your fun, don’t you sweetie?” She gave a high pitched laugh. She was trying to make a joke, but it just was not funny. Quinn surprised me by not rising to the ego boost and her undressing of him with her eyes, and instead took a step in front of me and down onto the front step, forcing Alicia to take a step back.

“Surely you have a botox injection scheduled?” he asked. “Those Shar-pei wrinkles aren’t going to lift themselves. Now, if you’ll be so good as to excuse us.” He had used his no-nonsense tone (which appeared once in a blue moon and usually involved Guinness in one form or another), and Alicia immediately knew she was getting no interview today. I bit my lip to stop from laughing out loud at her appalled face, and I felt Alex chuckle next to me.

“Be sure to call me Jency,” Alicia said in annoyance over her shoulder as she headed back down the drive. “And don’t bother bringing you’re little Scottish terrier here to the interview. I’m allergic to dogs.”

She stomped away, high heels clicking obnoxiously against the sidewalk, and slipped into her red convertible.

“I’m bloody Irish,” Quinn called after her, with a disbelieving shake of his head. “God, I hate fucking journos,” he said after she had screeched away. “Please don’t make me do an interview, Jence, I’m begging you. ‘Describe your ideal girlfriend. If you were a crayon what color would you be? Which band mate would you eat first on a desert island?’ God, why can’t it be about the music anymore?”

“You’re preaching to choir, man,” Alex muttered.

“Don’t worry, Quinn,” I chuckled, wrapping my arms around his waist and pulling him into a hug. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.” I felt him place a kiss on my forehead. “Just don’t mention to Holden this little incident, you know how he is with public appearances.”

“My lips are sealed, Baby Girl.”

“Who would you eat, by the way?” I asked, a playful smirk on my face. “Just out of curiosity.”

“Ah, that would always be you, love. You are, by far, the most tender.” With that he slapped my ass and darted with a mischievous giggle back into the house.

“Bastard,” I hissed, laughing.

“I really like him.”

I smiled up at the guitarist, happy that he appreciated Quinn as much as I did.

“It’s hard not to,” I admitted, despite my stinging ass.

“Holden was right, by the way,” Alex said, out of the blue, in a completely different tone. I looked up at him, confused about the change.

“About what?”

“About you looking beautiful tonight.” He gave a nervous, lopsided smile and I felt myself blush in pleasure.

“Thank you.”

Once again, the moment was broken, but this time by a car horn. We turned and looked out the open door and my jar dropped. There, sitting outside my house, was the longest stretch Hummer limo I had ever seen, Pete and Gabe Saporta sticking out of the sun roof, grinning like fools.

“Happy Birthday Jency Dayne Burke!” They cried together. I let out a bark of laughter, completely mystified by life. How did I get so lucky?

I was suddenly jostled out of the way, and pushed into Alex’s chest as Jack and Maggie bounded out of the house, screaming like kids.

“A limo!” Maggie yelled, jumping up and down. Jack merely attempted to hug the massive vehicle, throwing his arms and legs against the sides in attempts to embrace it.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, pulling myself out of Alex’s steadying arms.

“No worries,” he smiled back.

“Ready?” Holden asked, coming up behind us with the rest of the group. I grinned at them and then back out at the street.

“You have no idea.”