Dear Summer

Abbey was counting. She wasn't counting for the benefit of anyone but herself, but nonetheless, her counting was making her feel better. It proved that her irritation wasn't irrational or uncalled for. She could never get to three hundred without being interrupted.

"Abbey Road!"

She wanted to groan out loud, but she controlled herself and instead forced a smile onto her face before she flipped her sunglasses onto her head so that she could see who the new culprit was. Admittedly, she did become slightly less annoyed when she found her intruder to be Gabe Saporta. "There's my favorite Hispanic," she noted as she pushed her sunglasses back down and continued staring up at the sky.

"You been hiding back here all day, Abster?" Gabe asked as he dropped into the empty lounge chair beside Abbey. Originally, the chair had been set up for Kinsley, but as the day wore on, the blonde had gotten tired of sunbathing and had sought out more excitement, which she easily found at the New Mexico date of Warped.

"I was feeling a little pale," Abbey shrugged in explanation.

Gabe laughed before he grabbed the nearly full bag of Cheetos from the ground beside Abbey. "Mind if I take some?" he asked, hand poised above the bag.

"Not at all." Cheetos were usually Abbey's favorite chips, but she simply didn't have he stomach for them that day. Thinking about the artificial cheese and empty calories made her stomach churn uneasily.

With his mouth full of Cheetos, Gabe said, "Hey, you got a text message."

Abbey instantly sat up and pushed her sunglasses onto her head so that she would be able to see the screen of her phone more easily. She had been secretly praying that the text message would be from Matt as she hadn't spoken to him in a few days and was beginning to worry about whether he was ignoring her, but she was insanely let down when she noticed it was from Alex.

She sighed. "Gaskarth again," she noted dismissively without reading the message.

Gabe swiftly scooped up the phone from where Abbey had dropped it on the edge of her chair. He opened the message and frowned at the picture. "Why's he sending you pictures of Flyzik and his girlfriend?" he asked, still munching on the orange junk.

Arching a perfectly manicured eyebrow—she and Kinsley had recently indulged at the best salon they could find—Abbey held out her hand, in which Gabe placed her maroon EnV. "What are you talking about?" she mumbled as she reopened the message.

Sure enough, there was a picture of Matt and a girl that must have been his girlfriend. If she wasn't, Abbey still didn't like her. She and Matt looked much too friendly. The message from Gaskarth read, "Ouch. So that's why he hasn't answered your texts." Complete with a sarcastic sad face.

Every muscle in Abbey's body tensed, and she felt her teeth grind together. Gabe's chewing slowed as he studied her. "You don't... you know, like Matt, do you?" he asked, looking suspicious.

Too quickly, Abbey retorted, "Of course not." Then she crossed her arms over her chest, her cell phone clutched in a now white knuckled hand.

Gabe coughed on his mouthful of chips before he exclaimed, "You do!"

"I do not," Abbey countered hastily as she stood up. She pulled a pair of jean shorts over her bathing suit bottoms and searched for her white button up.

"Abs, you gotta go for it," Gabe prodded as he handed her the shirt in question.

Abbey rolled her hazel eyes. "That's ridiculous," she decided, "Matt's... you know, Matt."

"And you like him, right?" Gabe asked quickly.

"Well, yeah, but—" Abbey froze. "I didn't mean that," she instantly backtracked.

Gabe grinned. "Abbey, please. I'm like the community therapist on this tour. I know everyone's secrets," he explained.

"You won't tell anyone?" Abbey requested. To someone who didn't know her at all, Abbey's tone might have suggested that it was an order. But Gabe and Abbey had become quick friends over the week of Warped dates, and he was able to discern the question in her voice.

"Not a soul," he promised as he stood up. "So are we going to confront them? Are you going to bitch slap this girl?" He sounded enthused at the prospect of a girl fight.

"Not sure," Abbey admitted, "but that's not something I'm totally ruling out yet." Abbey abandoned her shirt buttoning halfway through and pushed her phone into her back pocket before linking arms with Gabe.

"To the barbecue?" Gabe questioned. Abbey nodded, then lapsed into silence.

Although it was nice for someone other than Gaskarth to know how she felt about Matt, Abbey still didn't feel totally okay. She wouldn't, not unless she could tell Kinsley, and that definitely wasn't an option. The news of Abbey and Matt might be too much for even Abbey's imperturbable best friend.

Then again, she was probably thinking too far into things. There obviously wasn't an Abbey and Matt if he was letting other girls hang all over him. Abbey's temper boiled slightly just at the thought of it.

Locating All Time Low and their crew wasn't a hard task at all. At the barbecue, everyone had a tendency to become louder and more boisterous than they normally were due to the enormous amounts of alcohol that were consumed, but All Time Low were skilled in the art of being louder and more obnoxious than any other group.

Having Gabe at her side made it easier for Abbey to approach the table that the large cluster was monopolizing. She fixed a calm expression on her face before she fell into the seat next to Gaskarth and directly across from Matt. "Hey guys," she smiled.

"Eli," Gaskarth grinned, dropping an arm around her shoulders. Gabe shot Abbey an amused expression, which confused and bothered her for some reason. "Where've you been all day, baby?"

She forced a smile onto her face before she replied in an even tone, "Just laying around. Trying to live up to the expectation of being Mexican." She held up her arm to Alex's paler one and smiled in sincere. "I think it worked," she noted.

As she didn't want to spend anymore time bullshitting with Gaskarth, Abbey turned her attention to the girl to Matt's left. "Who are you?" she demanded without preamble, causing Alex and Jack to erupt in a laughter.

"Where are those ever present manners, Abs?" Jack wondered as he took a drink of beer. Abbey considered asking him to get one for her.

"I'm Lola," the girl smiled, "Nice to meet you."

Abbey's smile turned into a sneer, and she didn't reply. "Gaskarth, come get something to eat with me," she requested, taking Gaskarth's hand firmly in hers, lacing their fingers together for effect and pulling him up from the table.

Gaskarth grinned and placed his arm around Abbey's waist so that he could pull her closer to him. "Sure," he agreed. As soon as they were out of ear shot, Gaskarth commented, "You're using me to get to Matt."

"Maybe," Abbey shrugged as she collected a beer for herself. She examined his face—which looked more amused and exhilarated than anything else—to be sure that she wasn't going to offend him with her next question. "Is there a problem with that?"

Alex laughed. "Of course not." He took a step closer to Abbey. "But while we're making Matt jealous..." He trailed off and grinned in an almost evil manner.

It wasn't difficult for Abbey to pick up on his train of thought, but before she going to agree, she discreetly checked to make sure Matt was watching. He was, with furrowed brows, which made Abbey grin gleefully. With no more premeditation, Abbey wrapped an arm around Alex's neck and pulled him close to her, being sure to keep her beer out of the way so that her white Cynthia Rowley shirt didn't get spilled on.

Alex was clearly in a dominating mood, and Abbey let him pick the pace, not surprised when his arms wrapped tightly around her waist and his lips became more demanding. But once she allowed him to deepen the kiss, she was surprised. It almost felt like he was holding back, and even though she usually found herself detesting Alex, now Abbey wanted more. She wanted everything he had to give.

This knowledge must have become clear to Alex, because he laughed and pulled away. "There are people around, Abs," he reminded her.

Her face flushed, and she nervously took a step away from him, confused by her sudden feelings. "I just wanted to make it look good," she explained, her eyes flickering to Matt.

"Ah." Alex nodded and began fidgeting as well. "So, er, you want to go get some food?" he suggested.

Abbey shook her head. "I had a big lunch," she lied, "Can you just grab me another beer? I'm going to go make a quick phone call."

"Sure," he said, his usual carefree smirk stuck on his face again. He planted a quick kiss on her cheek before he walked away in search of food.

As she stepped away from the general crowd at the barbecue, Abbey felt a sense of absolute content spread through her. And that was unsettling in and of itself. Alex Gaskarth shouldn't have made her feel so... happy.

She shook the feeling from her head as she scrolled through her contacts on her phone. She pressed her father's name and waited for him to answer; however, the ringing never gave way to his voice. Instead, she was greeted by his automated voicemail. "Uh, hey, Dad," she said after the beep in a tone of forced cheer, "I was just calling because we haven't talked in a while. I'll, uh, call Mom."

Mrs. Eliades was always easier for Abbey to get a hold of. "Hello, darling!" her mother greeted her upon answering the call. "Oh, George, dear, it's Abbey."

The sentence didn't illicit much from Mr. Eliades. "Tell her I said hello,' he responded. Then there was the rustling of some paper, and Abbey assumed that he had resumed reading the newspaper or something of the sort.

"Your father—"

Abbey cut her mom off, knowing that she would lie and expand Mr. Eliades' message. "Yeah, I heard," Abbey said, forcing a smile. "I just haven't talked to you guys in a while, and I just wanted to call and let you know that Kins and I are fine. We've been hanging out with Matt, and he's taking good care of us."

"So I've heard," Mrs. Eliades replied. "Kinsley is a much better correspondent with hers parents than you are with yours."

Abbey chuckled. "Sorry. I've just been busy, I guess."

"Understandable," her mother agreed, "Big summer before you head off to Yale, isn't it?"

The thought of college made Abbey feel nauseous. "Uh, yeah, I guess."

"Which reminds me, dear," her mother added, "we've got a lot of parties coming up at the end of the summer, and I've been talking to Karl and Ralph and Valentina, and I need your measurements. Should I bump you to a six? You always gain weight in the summer."

Her mother chuckled at the end of her sentence, but Abbey's jaw still clenched in anger. "Actually," Abbey countered, "Get them all in zeroes. They'll fit, I'm sure of it." She pulled at the waistband of her size four shorts and frowned when they didn't give much.

"That's wonderful, Abbey!" her mother praised her. "You're still exercising and dieting, right?"

"Yep," Abbey replied, just not mentioning to the extent of either.

"Great, darling. I'll see you in a few weeks."

The line went dead, and Abbey pressed the 'end call' button a little more harshly than intended. She had just shoved the phone into her pocket when an arm slithered around her waist and gave her a little squeeze. "A zero's pretty small, isn't it?" Alex inquired.

She stepped away from him. "Were you listening to my conversation?" she demanded, crossing her arms.

"I just caught the end," Alex said in defense of himself. "I was bringing you your drink."

An article that Abbey had once read about how weight loss could be achieved by reducing alcohol consumption popped into Abbey's head, and she pushed the red cup back towards Alex. "I changed my mind, but thanks anyway. And just so you know, dress sizes are naturally smaller," she lied, hoping that he didn't mention it to Kinsley or Matt. Neither party wouldn't be thrilled if they knew she was shooting for a zero.

That is, if Matt still even cared about her a little bit.

Abbey sighed. "Let's go back to the table," she said, offering her hand up for Alex almost reflexively.

When he accepted it and laced his fingers through hers, it also seemed very natural. Neither spoke on the short walk back to the table, though Abbey could feel Alex examining her face. He paused before they had quite reached their friends. "Do you want to go back to the bus?" he asked.

"Alex, we're not actually a couple," Abbey reminded him.

He rolled his eyes. "I didn't mean it like that, you perv," he teased. "You look tired. You could go to bed early, I could catch up on CSI, and everyone will think that we're getting busy. Everyone wins."

Abbey nodded slowly as she thought about the idea. "That sounds great," she agreed. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Kinsley waving her over.

"I'll text you," she mouthed to her friend. In order to make even the blonde believe that something was going on with Alex, Abbey executed a smirk and wink. Kinsley responded with an excited grin and mimed texting Abbey, to which the brunette nodded.

Once they were away from the general population of the tour, Abbey's exhaustion really caught up to her. "Thank you," she said as she leaned into Alex's side.

"It's fine," Alex responded as they reached the bus. "My bunk's the top one on the left," he added as he took a seat on the couch.

Abbey nodded and stumbled to the bunk area. The remainder of her strength was used to pull herself into the coffin-like bunk, and it took less than five minutes for her to drift into a deep sleep that wasn't disturbed when the rest of the band walked onto the bus, when a dance party erupted in the front lounge, or even when Alex climbed into the bunk beside her.