Walls

Alex stretched and sighed, his hangover making his head pound. He rolled out of his bunk, to see the bus empty minus Flyzik and Colussy. He walked to the fridge and pulled out a carton of orange juice and poured some into a glass.

He then trudged to the back and sat on the couch. An hour later Rian came on with Vinny and Danny K in tow.

“You’re awake. It’s a miracle.” Alex rolled his eyes and laughed. “Yeah, you can’t get rid of me that easily.” He looked around and sighed, “Where did Jack and Amanda go?”

They shrugged, “I don’t know. I think Amanda wanted to spend the day with him, since she’s staying here with V for a few days.”

“So she and Zack made it to their house okay, I take it.”

“Yeah. She didn’t drink very much last night though. At least, didn’t drink that much here. She had a shoot this morning.”

Alex nodded, “How is she?” Rian raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean?” Alex shook his head, “Never mind.”

A few hours later he Rian, Vinny, Alex and the two Matt’s were out. Danny K said that he had some stuff to do by himself so the four left him to do whatever it was. “Mannn am I hungry!” Alex said, walking down the sidewalk.

They all decided on Panera Bread and when they went inside and ordered, some girls stopped them for pictures.

“Where are Jack and Zack?” one asked. Alex shrugged, “Out. Zack went surfing earlier and I think that Jack went shopping.”

“Out of you,” a different girl asked, pointing to Alex, “Jack, you” the girl pointed to Rian, “And Zack, who has a girlfriend?”

The group was quiet for a bit, and then they shrugged, “I don’t have a girlfriend.” Alex said, smiling, “As for the Jack and Zack, you’ll have to ask them yourselves.”

“Oh and I have a girlfriend.” Rian said, smiling. Alex laughed, “Yeah. That too.”

They ordered, and then answered some more questions until their food came, “Well, it was awesome meeting all of you. Have fun for the rest of tour.”

“Thanks.” The group said and then began to eat.

“You know, you can’t keep dodging the questions about Zack and Jack having girlfriends. People are going to see them out with Amanda and V, and the rumors are going to start to fly.” Vinny said, taking a bite of his sandwich.

“Yeah, but they’re going to say stuff no matter what. So I’d rather it come from their own mouths than mine.” Vinny nodded, “Makes sense.”

Later that day, when everyone was at the beach, Alex could tell that something as up with Jack. He had been moody and pissy since he got back from lunch with Amanda. Alex decided to investigate, so he wandered over to him.

“Jack, what has got you more pissy than a teenage girl?” Jack made a sour face at him and then sighed.

“Just some drama. But I’ll get over it.” Alex nodded and the two watched the waves. Amanda and V were splashing each other and laughing, while Zack was out surfing. Rian was sitting in the water with Vinny and Colussy.

“What’s it like to have a girl waiting for you to get home?” Alex asked quietly a few minutes later. Jack raised an eyebrow and bit his lip.

“Well I mean, it sucks being away from Manda so long; but when I pull up, and she’s running out the door to greet me, with a huge smile on her face...well it just makes it worthwhile. Knowing that she missed me just as much as I missed her.”

He paused and Alex realized Jack was looking at Amanda. Alex followed his gaze, to see the two girls laughing in the ankle deep water, “And knowing that she’s at home waiting for me, that she’s willing to spend all this time apart for just that short time, it feels like, together. Knowing that she’s so supportive of me and my dreams, and whatever it will take to make that happen. That’s worth it. That’s what it feels like. Like no matter what I wanted to do, she’d support me.”

Alex took this profound thought in, “You, Rian and Zack are lucky.” Alex said finally, “I want to know that feeling; the feeling that a girl is waiting for me at home.”

Jack was quiet for a bit and then sighed, “You’ll find her, just wait.” Alex nodded and then Amanda and V walked over, and Alex grinned at them.

“You girls having fun?” they nodded, “Yeah. I miss you guys. I went from hanging out with you all the time, to rarely seeing you.” V said, her nose scrunching at the sun going through her sunglasses and into her eyes. Alex grinned, “You should come visit us more.”

She laughed and sat down in the sand next to him, and Amanda sat next to Jack. Alex flung his arm around her shoulders in a friendly manner, and she smiled at him. “I have a steady job,” she paused, “A job that might require me to travel at times. So I can’t really come visit more than I do.”

“You never come to Maryland unless you’re with Zack to visit his parents.” She laughed and shrugged some.

“Maybe that’s the only times I can? Plus I do have to visit mine occasionally in Texas.” Alex shook his head.

“Liar.” She laughed and hit his shoulder, and Alex grinned.

“Okay well maybe I miss you, but I don’t miss Maryland. Too damn cold.”

Alex laughed,“You sound like Zack.” He paused for a second, “What about Texas?”

She shook her head, “Nope, too humid for my taste. I like it out here. I’ve always wanted to live out here.”

“But you’re still so pale.” She laughed and shrugged, “I don’t tan, I fry. What’s a ghostie to do?”

Alex laughed again, taking his arm from her shoulders, and Zack came and sat down next to his girlfriend. They shared a kiss, and then Zack sat back on his palms, his face towards the horizon.

“What was the intense conversation about?”

“Us visiting them in Maryland.” V responded.

Zack shook his head, water flying from the tips. “Well, we do visit.”

“Only on holidays.” Alex said rolling his eyes. Zack laughed and shrugged, “Maybe we’ll get a house there someday. But for right now, I’m pretty sure we’re both pretty content on living here.”

Zack smiled at his girlfriend and pulled her in for a brief kiss. Alex smiled at them, happy that his friend had found a girl that would stick by his side no matter what adventures he wanted to go on. She loved traveling as much as he did, and didn’t mind just laying out on the beach while he surfed.

Alex sighed, “Well, I think that there is cooler containing beer that has my name on it. See you two lovesick couples later.” He got up and walked to the cooler, opening the top and pulled out a beer. He popped the top and waltzed over to where Rian was sitting. “Hey brah.”

Rian nodded, “What’s up?”

“Oh just drinking at the beach.” Rian rolled his eyes. “Really?”

Alex laughed and shrugged, taking a sip from the beer. The singer sat on the sand and watched the suns movement as the hours passed, and when twilight rolled around, he stood up and left the beach with the rest of the group. They walked to the van and then they drove to Zack and V’s house.

The drinking resumed in the backyard, and Alex knew that as long as he had these people in his life, then he’d be okay. He didn’t need anyone else.