Take a Sad Song and Make It Better

Bailey's POV

I wiped the sweat that was forming on my brow and walked across the infield. It was warm, but I kept my sweatshirt and warm-up pants on despite the hot weather. I had just finished running and I needed to keep my muscles warm to prevent stiffness and injury. As I strolled, I glanced up into the bleachers of the Dulaney High stadium and shielded my eyes from the bright, May sunshine. My eyes landed on a skunk-haired, lanky boy who was standing on his bench, jumping up and down and flailing his arms. He had most of the crowd’s attention on him instead of the runners down on the track, whom they actually came to see. Although the majority of the crowd was gawking, the people he was sitting with merely glanced up at him and rolled their eyes, one taking it upon herself to deliver a quick stab to his shin.

I laughed aloud to myself and walked towards the fence to exit the track and go into the bleachers. I paused before crossing over the black track that I had just finished running on about ten minutes prior. After checking if the coast was clear of any runners, I quickly jogged across and walked speedily towards the stands.

“BayBay!!” I heard a nasally voice scream and soon I was tackled, my body swinging from side to side as he swung me around in his arms.

“Hey Jack,” I laughed.

“You did so amazing!!” he yelled, hugging me tightly and bouncing up and down. “You beat those chick’s asses!” I chuckled and thanked Jack for his somewhat of a compliment.

As Jack tossed me around, I spotted the other eight people of the group approaching, at a normal speed, and wiggled out of Jack’s arms. As they got closer, Melanie squealed and ran over to capture me in a hug.

“You did so fucking amazing, Bailey! You kick ass!” Her face held a surprised, yet proud expression. It was like she hadn’t believed that I was actually really good at running. Her eyes sparkled with excitement though, just like everyone else’s. Jade, Alex, Zack, Rian, Kara, Kaylie and Adam had all congregated around and were congratulating me for my excellent race. I made sure to hug everyone and thank them. As I did, I noticed they were all here to see me. They hadn’t come to watch me run a track meet all season; usually only Kaylie and Jack would attend to cheer me on and occasionally Zack when he was available.

To see everyone that I loved so dearly made me even more elated. I looked at my sister, who showed up for the first time. She was smiling brighter than everyone. Seeing her made me happier than winning the race and breaking the school record did.

I broke Dulaney’s two mile record the third tack meet I ran and from there on out, I continued to break and re-break it with my own time. Today wasn’t any different; I broke my record I had set, again, four days ago by four seconds. I was more than qualified for the section, conference and state meets. It never got boring though; running was a passion. Even though my coach and teammates were pretty confident that I would break my own record every race, I continued to be amazed and exhilarated by the huge accomplishment every time I did.

“So, this is the last meet, right?” Zack asked.

I nodded and smiled nervously. “Now I just have to qualify for conference, sections and then state.”

Kaylie flicked her wrist. “Psh! You’ll do that easily!” I shrugged apprehensively; it was a big task. “Bailey. Don’t even try to doubt yourself. You are beast. You will qualify and place. I’ve seen you run so many times, you’re awesome!”

I smiled sheepishly in thanks and Alex ruffled my pulled back hair, messing it up. I looked around at all their cheerful smiled and jumped to embrace them in a hug again. “I’m so happy you guys all came!”

“That’s what she said…” Alex muttered, causing the guys to chuckle.

A voice in the distance captured my attention despite the PA system, the cheering and the talking. I looked around for where my name was being called and spotted Clara. Melanie had exclaimed something about how “damn fly” the place was and ran off with a couple others to watch more races, so I walked towards my aunt.

“Bailey, I am so proud of you!” She embraced me in a hug against her chest tightly.

“Thanks, Clara. I didn’t know you were coming?”

She tucked a piece of hair behind my ear, motherly, and talked frivolously, “Well I didn’t want to miss your last regular meet, and I thought I could spare a couple minutes before I went into work to see my niece run. Which reminds me, I left some money at home for you and Jade to buy some groceries because the cupboards are pretty empty. I’m off to work and won’t be home ‘til late.” I nodded as she continued to ramble on, telling me useless things. She really needed a boyfriend to talk to.

I looked around as she blabbered. The 400 meter dash was going on at the track. Off to the side, boys were warming up for their 200 meter race. On the infield, teams were camped out, sleeping, eating and chatting with their friends. Coaches walked around. The announcers were constantly announcing times and events. There were lines for the bathrooms, lines for the concession stands. Teams were jogging around the outside of the stadium and constant chatter came from the stands when they weren’t cheering on the people on the homestretch of the track.

All the hustle and bustle was so familiar to me, but to the others, this was completely brand new. I spotted Rian glancing around and Melanie jerked her head around constantly at new events that evolved every second.

I glanced over at my sister, her hands entwined with Alex’s. They had obviously just got done saying something sweet to each other because Alex’s signature, crooked smile tugged at his lips and he leaned his forehead against the blonde in front of him. I saw a small blush rise to Jade’s cheeks and she leaned forward to give Alex a quick peck on the lips. I gushed at the amount of cuteness and perfection one couple could contain.

Clara had just finished saying goodbye when I felt two fingers behind poke at my sides. I jumped at the tickle it gave me. Zack’s smiling face graced me when I turned around to see who startled me. “Nice job out there, Bails.” He poked at my nose and I crinkled it in response. “I saw definite improvement in your arms. You looked good.” I nodded. Zack watched me run and since he knew a little about it himself, he was able to give me pointers that my coach failed to relay to me. Throughout the season, I continued to have problems with my arm position, but I finally got it fixed and I was waiting for Zack to give me another thing to work on, to make me even better.

“What, you’re not going to give me another pointer?” I prodded him.

“Nah, we can talk about it later,” he said, bumping me with his hip. I rolled my eyes and bumped him back and we walked to join the others who were perched on the fence, cheering on the Dulaney runners.

“I got to get back to camp and my other teammates. Can I catch up with you guys later?”

“My mom is having a huge ass barbeque for her scrapbooking club or some shit like that. She invited all of us to have something to eat. We were going to head over there now,” Melanie said. “But we can wait?”

I told them I had to stay until the meet was done, to support my other teammates and the meet would be a while longer.

“I’ll stick around and drive you.” Zack jumped at the opportunity.

“Bailey drove. She can use her car to drive home…It’s not like—”

“Sounds great!” I interrupted my sister’s suspicions with enthusiasm. I looked at the rest of the group that started to gather together so they could leave. “Thanks for coming you guys, you rock!”

“That’s what she said,” Alex sang quietly, making Jade laugh beside him.

“I’ll miss you, BayBay!” Jack yelled, picking me up in his arms and running around with me.”

“Jack, Jack, I’ll see you in a little bit. You’ll live.”

“I might die. You’re my best friend.”

His big puppy dog eyes bore into me, and I pinched his cheek. “I’m pretty sure you’re going to live.”

“If he doesn’t, and you kill my guitarist, I’ll be out to get you. You better watch your back, Bates,” Alex threatened.

“Come on, Gaskank,” Jade smile, pulling on Alex’s arm to follow her and the rest of the group that was leaving. “See you in a bit, Jazz!”

=========

“It’s May 19th” Zack said, swinging our interlocked back and forth as we stepped in Clara’s house.

“Yeah?” I said confused.

“It means that we kissed about two months and…some amount of days ago.”

I laughed at Zack’s attempt at being romantic and shut the door behind us. “Mmhmm,” I agreed sweetly. After I pulled off my tennis shoes, I felt Zack grip my sides and turn me roughly to face him. I was taken by surprise and barely had time to look into his eyes to see what he was thinking before his lips quickly attacked mine.

We hadn’t had a lot of alone time the past week or two because of my busy schedule and All Time Low’s constant required dedication, so it was safe to say I was definitely missing Zack’s touch. I kissed back passionately with the same amount of fervor. He backed me up and pushed me against the door. Soon our kisses started to get sloppy. I moaned at his rough tongue and slipped my hands under his shirt. His skin was radiating heat and I felt him jump at the sudden touch of my cold hands against his chest.

I heard a rumble come from deep in his throat and he grabbed the back of my thighs to lift me up, telling me to wrap my legs around his frame. I twisted them around his legs for more support and I felt his strong muscles press against my stomach. He moved his lips down to my neck and started to suck on my jaw line.

Without thinking, I pulled the bottom his shirt up and stopped so he could remove his lips from my neck, allowing me to pull the shirt all the way over his head. I tangled my fingers in his short blonde hair a pulled at chunks of it. Zack was panting when he brought his mouth back to mine, breathing thick hot air on my skin. He shoved my sweatshirt and uniform up and then pressed me against him so we could feel each other’s steamy skin rub against the other.

I felt my pants starting to slide down and wasn’t sure if Zack was the one doing it or the friction that we were creating was the cause. My shorts hooked with my pants and I could feel Zack’s shaky hand pull them down, leaving me just in my spandex. I moaned into his mouth as his fingers roamed over my skin, not able to settle in one place. His touch drove me crazy and I let out a couple more soft moans as I attacked his tongue with my own.

The door that my back was against suddenly was gone and Zack’s feet were moving towards the living room. I shook my head and tried to mutter, “room” through all my panting. Zack got the message and with his lips still attached to my skin, he managed to carry me up the stairs.

I gripped his flexed arms as I felt him fall backwards. We went crashing on the bed and we landed with me straddling his waist with my bare legs. I was able to take control a little more and trail kisses down his neck to his chest. I felt his fingers pulling at my sweatshirt more and more. He tried to get the chunky piece of material over my head but finally I realized what was happening.

“Zack,” I breathed, pulling my wandering lips away from his. “Zack,” I repeated. He grunted at looked at me. “We, we can’t,” I panted, “We have to stop.” Zack strained his neck to look around and I slowly crawled off of him.

I looked at both of us. Zack was shirtless and his pants that usually hung low on his hips were almost pushed off his butt. My pants weren’t even around my ankles. They were lost somewhere in the hall, leaving me in my spandex with my sweatshirt hanging limply around my neck. Zack’s hair was sticking up everywhere and I could feel strands of mine falling out of my loosened pony tail.

We sat on my bed, not saying anything and catching our breath. I wondered how far that would have gone if I hadn’t said anything. We had never been that intense with each other before. I didn’t know what had gotten into us, but the eagerness we both showed was new to me. What did Zack think? Was he irritated that I stopped him? I sensed Zack was going to say something, but he was interrupted by a faint door slam from down stairs.

“Oh, shit!” I whispered. I jumped up from my spot on my bed and looked at Zack. His eyes looked alarmed and I could tell he didn’t know what to do.

“Bailey?!” a male’s voice shouted. “Zack?!”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I whispered harshly again. “What do we do?!” Zack just looked at me with scared eyes.

“Bailey?!”

The voice got closer to the stairs and I sprung into action. I quickly adjusted my sweatshirt by pulling down over my stomach and I darted out into the hall to search for my pants.

“Zac—Bailey?” I was in the middle of shoving my leg in a leg hole of my sweats when the voice saw me standing in the hall.

“H-Hey…Rian…” I said with a smile. I tried acting as smooth and as regular as possible.

Rian watched me put my pants back on and gave me a questioning glance. “What are you…?”

I forced a laugh, “Sorry. I threw my pants off when I got home to change but I couldn’t find my jeans. I-I think Jade stole them. I still can’t find them,” I laughed nervously again, hoping I didn’t sound jumpy. I felt my heart beating against the walls of my chest and it was a miracle if Rian couldn’t hear the loud thumps.

Rian nodded slowly and finished walking up the last two steps of the staircase. “Okay, well…I just came over to see what was taking you guys so long…so…”

“Yeah, I’ll be ready in a few.” I walked backwards as I talked to him, noticing his suspicion as well as his discomfort as I spoke.

“Alright, well I’ll see you at Melanie’s the—Zack?!” I followed Rian’s line of sight and saw Zack sitting on my bed, shirtless through my doorframe. He quickly stood up, surprised.

“Where’s your shirt, man?” Rian chuckled. Zack forced a laugh out to chuckle along with Rian.

“I spilled…something…on it and so Bailey was trying to find me another one?” Zack offered, sounding like he was asking a question.

“Right…” Rian said. I knew he didn’t believe anything Zack had said. My lie was half believable but with Zack’s shirt laying on the floor downstairs, him sitting in my room shirtless and me emerging out of my room with no pants on, we had some explaining to do.

“Well, I’ll go finish finding that shirt that Alex left over here for you, Zack…” I said playing along. I brushed past Rian and headed towards Jade’s room.

“Why don’t you go try looking downstairs. I saw a shirt lying on the entryway floor,” Rian yelled after me, taunting. I blushed and closed the door to Jade’s room, pressing my back against it. I let out the breath I had been holding and sunk to the floor. Rian wasn’t stupid. He could put the pieces together easily; Zack and I didn’t make it hard to do.

A sat there a while, lost in my thoughts. A couple minutes later there was a knock on the door. “Bailey? Open up, Bails.”

I got to my knees and crawled to open the door handle. I opened the door a crack and peeked up at Zack. He looked down at me strangely. “Rian’s gone,” he commented softly. I nodded and opened the door so he could come in.

He joined me on the floor but I couldn’t bring my eyes up to meet his. For some reason I felt embarrassed, ashamed almost. Rian had found us and he realized something was going on. Zack and I had been running behind people’s backs for two months and now that someone walked in on us, I felt horrible about keeping everything a secret. It was just like me and Jade’s secret about Sam:

The longer we kept it a secret, the harder it was to tell.

“Bailey. Bailey,” he continued saying my name.

“Yeah.”

He took my hand. “He left, Bailey. He doesn’t know anything.” I scoffed. Rian wasn’t clueless. He knew Zack and I were doing something. My pants were on the ground and Zack’s shirt was flung off. Zack picked up on my doubt. “Okay, well, he won’t say anything. Our secret is safe.”

Why did this have to be a secret? Why couldn’t I have a relationship with Zack? I was tired of sneaking around and making excuses just to see him. We had this hush-hush thing going on, but we didn’t have a label for it. I wasn’t saying that I needed a label for Zack and me, but without it, where were the boundaries? How far should we or should we not go?

I ignored the badgering question in my head and kept my thoughts to myself. I nodded and finally looked up at him. When I did, his hazel eyes were gleaming down at me. Without thought, a smile immediately appeared on my lips. Some reason, Zack could take unspoken fear away and he didn’t even know it.

I thought about our kiss earlier. It gave me tingles just thinking about the pure passion we had. It was so raw, and we had barely been “together” for three months.

“You okay?” he questioned.

“I’m fine.” I cocked his head to the side, doubting me. He knew that something was nagging me, but I didn’t want to talk about it. Instead, I lightened the mood. “Your new obsession with working out has definitely paid off,” I smirked at him.

“Oh really?”

“Mmhmm,” I hummed, running a hand over his arm, where his muscles were becoming more defined. He gave me a quick peck on the lips.

“We better head over to Mel’s house. We don’t want them sending a search brigade over here.”

I clasped my hand tightly with Zack and we stood up together. My nerves still stung my skin when Zack touched me and I lost all of my thoughts when I was with him. We walked down the stairs hand in hand after I changed for the barbeque, a smile plastered to my face the whole way.