Come Down With Love

The two weeks passed by slowly. It was hard to avoid Zach, especially on a tour bus. I was hoping it would eventually become a skill I could master. The tension in the bus between Cameron, Zach, and I was undeniably in your face. You could feel it. Cam and I tried to make it non-awkward by laughing and acting like friends but it didn’t work. We went from always side-by-side to let’s-not-look-at-each other. I didn’t blame him. I still felt horrible for the incident between Zach and I.

Zach and I… I avoided him at all costs. If he was in the back lounge, I wouldn’t go into the back lounge. If he was eating breakfast in the booth in the kitchenette area I wouldn’t eat breakfast. I would dolly around in the bathroom just so I wouldn’t have to look at him, or brush past his shoulder. I was mad. I hated that he made me hurt Cameron. But no matter how much I wanted to deny it, I loved him. He made me crazy and I loved him. But I didn’t want to be around him. I just couldn’t get over it.

When the two weeks of the tour were finally up it was a Friday when I got home. My mom had picked me up from the arena we played at in Los Angeles (our last show in our home state). I’d been so happy to see her, hugging her for a little less than infinity, as well as my sister Kaylee. Then I filled my mom in on everything that happened between Cam, Zach, and I. She told me to just give it time and it would all work out. I was hoping she was right.

Once I got home I unpacked my clothes and set my Nerd candy pillow and Boo on my bed. My room was a mess from when I packed (last minute) and my color coordination system in my closet was not in tact, clothes were strewn about my floor, bed unmade (when I got home), and I had three empty cups in my room. It was unusual because most of the time I was a neat freak. But I didn’t have time to clean.

Zoey came over about a half hour after I got home. I hadn’t talked to my best friend for about the last two months of tour. Crazy, I know. So once she came over we were very giddy.

“Zoey!” I said laughing as she came up the white porch steps.

“Audyyyy!” She said grinning, giving me a hug, her bag full of clothes on her shoulder, Pillow Pet in hand. She was spending the night.

“Look what I got,” She said as she pulled away lifting up her dolphin Pillow Pet. “Isn’t it cute?”

I giggled. “I want one!”

“I’ll get you one for your birthday,” She said and I remembered it was coming up.

We went inside, up to my room. She plopped on my neatly made bed, looking around my room. “Jeez, your room is a disaster. Very strange, very un-you.”

“I know,” I sighed. “I didn’t have time, since oh, I just got home thirty minutes ago.”

She smiled sheepishly. “Well, I haven’t seen or talked to you in forever. You really need to fill me in.”

I looked at her, picking up dirty clothes on my floor and tossing them into my pink laundry basket, maybe the only pink thing I owned besides the stuff I bought at Daisy’s.

“Speaking of,” She said pulling a magazine out of her bag, holding it up for me to see.

Teen magazine. On the cover was a cute picture of Cameron, his emerald green eyes shining brightly. In a yellow bubbly font below it said “CAMERON HAS A GIRLFRIEND: Page 16”. I widened my eyes at it. Well, it wasn’t in Popstar magazine.

Zoey then flipped to the page, crossing her legs as I continued to pick clothes up off my tan colored carpet. “Look,” She said eyeing me, holding up the page with a huge article and a picture of me dancing at one of the concerts we did, Cameron winking at me as he played bass.

“Read it,” I said cleaning faster, something to focus on.

Zo cleared her throat. “’Cameron Quiseng and Audrey Lancaster have been dating for two and a half months, sources say. Audrey is a dancer that went on Allstar Weekend’s summer tour. Cameron first announced it to a few fans at a ice cream shop called Ginny’s Ice Cream in North Dakota before their show just a town over. Then news spread quickly, and his manager is declaring that it is true, Cam does have a girlfriend. Almost seems a little weird that this Audrey girl was dating a boy from Allstar Weekend, then got to go on tour with the boys, in their tour bus.’ And then it has a little winky face and a picture of Cameron below the article.”

“I can’t believe this. I went on tour before I started dating him! And Zach made me stay on the tour bus. Oh gosh, every one at school is going to think I was dating him and that’s how I got on tour. Most of the dancers thought that too. And we’re broken up now so, now it’s just a huge mess,” I said upset.

“So you were going out?” She asked in disbelief.

I gave her a look. “No,” I said sarcasm screaming in my tone.

“Well I can’t believe you never told me. Before I came over me and my mom went to Walgreen’s and there I was, looking through the magazine aisle and I find that you and Cameron were going out! I didn’t think it was true, just a stupid rumor.”

“It’s a stupid but very true statement,” I said.

She shook her head, it being hard for her to believe.

“Tell me everything else,” She said.

So I stopped cleaning, and began to tell her everything in the ‘love triangle’ between Cam, Zach, and I.



“Oh. My. Gawd,” Zo exclaimed after I told her everything, reminding me of Janice from the TV show “Friends”.

I rolled my eyes.

“You and Zach KISSED?!”

“Well, no,” I said. “He kissed my neck. It wasn’t a kiss on my mouth.”

“But he was going to kiss your mouth.”

“Until I stopped him,” I finished.

“So he cheated on Sophia,” She said.

I nodded.

“Oh well, from the sounds of it, I don’t like her.”

I laughed. “Well, she hates me.”

“Why? Did Zach tell her?”

“Yeah. Michael and Nathan told me that he told her, and broke up with her. Then during warm-ups before the shows she would glare at me and purposefully bump into me. Hard.”

“Oh wow.... Bitch,” She said laughing. “So now what?”

I shrugged. “I love him but I’m just so mad at him. Like seriously, he had to make a move when I was with someone else, falling for someone else? He hurt Cam. And I hurt Cam. And Cam’s his best friend. It just irks me.” I was rambling, getting worked up.

“Well how are you going to get over it?”

“Time? I dunno, that’s what my mom said.”

“Has he called?”

I nodded. “Yeah, like ten times when I was in the car. And he tried to talk to me a ton on the bus but I ignored him. I just don’t want to deal with it.”

“I think you two belong together,” She said smiling.

“What happened to I need to ‘play the field’ and ‘there’s someone way better’ and all that other crap?”

“I said that?”

I rolled my eyes and nodded.

“Well,” She said tossing the magazine into my waste basket at the foot of my bed. “This summer’s events have proven me wrong.”



The next day Zoey left around ten in the morning. I was exhausted as we stayed up until six AM and we woke up at nine. Zoey had to leave because she had to work. She had recently gotten a job at the supermarket bagging groceries.

Right when I was about to crash onto my twin bed my phone buzzed from my nightstand. I groaned, hoping it wasn’t Zach. I glanced at the screen. Instead it was Lisi.

“Hello?”

“Hi,” Lisi said. “You just got back in town, right?”

“Mhm.”

“Glad you’re back!”

“Me too,” I said tiredly, my eyes closing as I lay down on my very comfortable bed.

“I was hoping you could help me arrange a dance routine for a ballet recital for the class,” She said. “I’m stuck in a rut.”

My eyes fluttered open. “Sure, I’d love to!” I said excitedly, suddenly a little less tired.

“Okay,” She said. I could tell she was smiling. “Can you be at the dance studio around seven?” She asked.

“Yes, I sure can,” I said happily.

“See you then,” She said then hung up.



A week later and I had gone back to school. Four of my classes I had with Zach, so it was impossible avoiding him. He sent me worried looks constantly, tried to stop me in the hallways, and called nonstop.

Girls were being petty at school, too. Now everywhere I turned, people thought I had only got on tour because of my relationship with Cameron. They gossiped and snickered when I walked by. Not only this but Cameron had told one of his friends (not from the band) that we had went out, and then I cheated with Zach. So that spread around the school, and everyone had another reason to hate me. Zo stuck by my side though, as did Nathan and Michael.

Instead of focusing on the drama at school, I focused solely on the dance recital. I had come up with the routine, which Lisi loved, and the girls had fun doing it. I took care of the dance moves and Lisi took care of the music and the girls’ outfits. I couldn’t wait for the recital, coming up in the next week on Saturday. I was very jittery and nervous, yet I wasn’t even in the routine.

The recital approached quickly, my days at school dreading on, but my nights improving any steps went by fast. My mom said she would come to watch the recital. Even Kaylee wanted to go. And Zoey said she would definitely be there. I was so ecstatic for them to see it, but very nervous, kind of wishing that my nights would go by slower so I could have the girls ready to go. So it could be perfect. But perfection can’t ever be reached.

The night of the recital had come. I was backstage at the little auditorium, spazzing out in my blue jeans and turquoise Converse. I was so excited, and so nervous—exactly the way I was before a concert with the boys. And for some reason I loved the feeling.

That is, until Lisi came to me with bad news. “The lead girl got sick with chicken pox, who caught it from our sister, who is also one of the dancers. So two spots have to be filled.” She sounded calm as if she already had found a solution.

I however freaked out, sweat breaking out on my forehead. “Are you kidding? We have only ten minutes until it starts!”

“Here’s my solution,” She said and I fixed my blue eyes on her brown ones. “You be the lead, and Kaylee can do her sister’s part.”

“Kaylee doesn’t know the routine. And it will look silly with me, a teen, out there with seven year-olds.”

Lisi shook her head as mothers readied their kids, putting on their identical pink dresses and fixing their hair backstage, the dad’s in the audience and anyone else who had come to watch the show. “It will be fine. And the girl’s part wasn’t that bad. And Kaylee can dance, and from when she did get lessons, she caught on quickly.”

I sighed, more nervous then before. And this time I didn’t love the feeling. “Fine, okay. I’ll go get her.”

“Hurry!” She exclaimed. “In the meantime, I’ll find you girls’ some dresses.”

I ran out to the auditorium, searching in the seats for Kaylee, Zoey, and my mom.
People were giving me weird looks. I guess I would too. A crazy, nervous, close-to-hysterics girl running up and down aisles, looking for someone, or something.

Finally I found her. “Come with me,” I said grabbing her hand and she gave me a look as I forced her in the direction towards the stage.

“Where am I going and why?” She asked as I pulled her.

“Backstage. I need a favor, Kay,” I said using her nickname.

“This can’t be good,” She said once we got backstage, the girls almost ready to go.

“Two of the girls can’t make it and the routine can’t be done without them. So I need you to be in it. I’ll teach you the steps in the next five minutes. And don’t worry, it’s easy.”

Kaylee widened her eyes at me. “You owe me,” She said sticking out her hip and resting her hand there.

Lisi ran up to us holding two dresses. One was strapless and white, the other a light pink with straps and sequins. “This is the best I could do,” She said holding up the dresses to us. “They were in a trunk over there. We’re lucky. Now, teach her the steps, I’ll hold the crowd. And then change.” She talked fast and then ran out to the stage.

I went over the steps with Kaylee as fast as I could while Lisi entertained the audience and then I changed into the dress, which luckily fit me perfectly. Kaylee’s was a little small as she had grown over the summer but it was as close to perfection as it could be.

Lisi came backstage finding us. Right then I remembered we didn’t have ballet slippers. I told Lisi frantically and she sighed at me, almost smiling pulling out two pairs from a trunk that she had found the dresses in. “We are so lucky that I found these,” She said smirking.

I sighed in relief. Thank the lord.

I changed out of my Chuck Taylors and into the worn shoes, which unlike the dress didn’t fit my small feet well. Kaylee’s were too big as well but it was better then going barefoot.

Lisi set a crown on my head, my wavy hair resting at my shoulders. I gave her a look.
“It’s a princess theme,” She said and I looked at the line of girls behind me. All of them were wearing crowns exactly like mine.

“Cute,” I said.

“Go,” She ushered me onstage.

I went and began the dance. It started out a little bad, Kaylee confused. But it transformed into a really great performance. Parents clapped loudly at the end, some standing up in their seats. I saw Zoey and my mom cheering from the back of the auditorium and I smiled, glancing at Kaylee as we bowed. Then we left the stage in a neat line.

“Great job, girls!” Lisi exclaimed and all the girls danced and hugged, Danielle (Lisi’s daughter) beamed, her front teeth then having grown back.

Lisi hugged me and all the other girls, as did I, thanking Kaylee from the bottom of my heart. I couldn’t have done it without her.



Twenty minutes after the performance we left the auditorium. When I was going to take off the white dress and put it back in the trunk, Lisi stopped me.

“Keep it. You deserve it,” She said grinning at me. “I’m very proud of you.”

I smiled. “Thank you. But uh, isn’t this considered stealing?” I asked looking down at the dress.

“Maybe,” She said laughing. “They’ll never know.”

So I kept the dress on me, liking the fit. But I put the shoes back as they were useless to me. Next I changed back into my Converse.

Once my sister and I had gotten home, before that dropping Zoey off at her house, I went upstairs to my room, in a cleaning mood. I hadn’t cleaned since the day I got back. I had been lazy, only focusing on the recital.

I picked clothes up off the floor, finally taking the empty cups downstairs to the sink. I went back upstairs and arranged my closet so it was color-coded, the way I liked it. Then once my room looked neat and organized again I decided to vacuum. I brought the red vacuum cleaner out of the hall closet and began to scan my floor with it. I pushed it towards my white bureau and began to push it under it. The vacuum cleaner began to make urnnnng noises so I flipped the off switched and pulled it out to see what it caught.

Zach’s sock.

I lay down next to him and stretched my legs out, yawning. Zach was next to me, his feet at the foot of my bed by my face.

“Your feet stink!” I told him.

“How do you like em’ now?” He stuck both feet in my face. I struggled to breathe and couldn’t lift his legs off of me. I was weak.

I wrapped my arms around his legs and forced a sock off his foot. “I wonder how much this would go for on EBay. Zach Porter’s from Allstar Weekend’s Smelly Sock for one million dollars!”

“It’s not worth that much,” he said lifting his legs off of me sitting up.

“Yeah you’re right. It’s probably worth ten dollars.”

“Higher then that.” He said insulted.

“Nah. But can I seriously put this on EBay?”

“As long as you buy me some new socks.”

“Okay. Let me get a picture of you holding it for proof,” I said getting up off my bed to take a picture on my phone.

Zach made a ‘gross’ face as he held the sock next to his nose and widened his eyes. I laughed and threw the sock on the floor.

I picked it up. It was a off-white color being dirty. It also had a burnt hair smell and I laughed, wondering if I actually did put it on EBay if someone would wanted a gross-smelling sock. That day brought a smile to my face, as did Zach no matter how much I wanted to push him away from my mind or from my heart.

Maybe it was just that he got me or I was on my period (which I was emotional on), but tears welled into my eyes as I thought about Zachary David Porter, my best friend since kindergarten who I built moats with around toy castles, to whom I now loved with all my heart.

I sniffled and heard a tap on my closed door. I turned around and there was standing Zach in all his glory.

“Aud…” He whispered and I stood up, the sock in my hand. “Please, can I talk to you?”

I nodded as he came closer, taking my hands. “I love you,” He started and I looked down at my bright blue shoes. “I didn’t know I loved you as more then a friend until that day. And I’m sorry it took so long for me to figure it out. You’re right, as always, that I did lead you on. I’m sorry for that too. I shouldn’t have treated you like my girlfriend, since you weren’t and at the time I had no interest in you being my girlfriend. I’m sorry I was so clueless.”

He took a breath.

“But I want you, Audrey Shirley Lancaster,” He started and I looked up into his amazing blue eyes that sometimes turned green, “To be my girlfriend. You don’t have to answer now. I’ll wait. And if you say no, then I’ll understand. But you’re the one that I want, the only one.”

The only way to make him believe my answer was an absolute, positive, sure, yes was to wrap my arms around his neck, close any space between us, and bring my lips to his by standing on my tippy toes. So that was exactly what I did.

He hugged his arms to my waist, lifting me up off the ground as he kissed me. I let my hands tangle in his hair as electric bolts ran through my body, wanting to kiss him more until my lips were numb.

He moved his hands to my waist and pushed me closer to him, which I thought was impossible. We pulled away so we could breathe, and he buried his face in my shoulder, kissing it. I smiled as he looked into my eyes. This was the boy I’d been waiting for and he was mine, finally. He grinned at me, kissing my cheek.

“You know, your outfit is just a little ironic,” He said, running his hands through my hair.

I smiled as he looked down at my white dress, turquoise Chuck Taylors, and then back up to the crown I had forgot I was wearing.

“So, Princess Shirley, I take it that you will be my girlfriend.”

I nodded, giggling, and he grinned again, hugging me, swaying on our feet.

“You know something,” I said tilting his chin so his lips were brushing mine.

“What?”

“I hear the second kiss is better than the first.”

“Really?” He asked smirking. “We’ll have to see.”

He kissed me softly. I smiled into the kiss, in total utter bliss. And with Zach kissing me, perfection could be reached.



Audrey's dance recital outfit

Author's note: Thank you SO MUCH everyone who commented throughout the entire story. It kept me going and I loved all of the support. 80 something subscribers and over 150 comments? That's AMAZING. Also, TEN stars?! Thank you, thank you, thank you.

PS... There used to be a sequel, but I stopped writing it because, well, I lost interest and I wanted Zach and Audrey to stay the way they were--no more drama. So I deleted the sequel. Just letting everyone know in case anyone is confused.

That's all. Love you guys!