Bound To Happen

The cold wind from outside seeped into the dance studio as Carley opened the door. She closed it quickly in hopes that it was still warm inside for the other dancers. She slipped on her gloves and prepared for the long walk home. If only her brother hadn’t borrowed the car to go to a party. Luckily there was a Starbucks on the way so she could get a hot cup of coffee.

Inside the Starbucks, it was a good twenty degrees warmer. Carley went up to the barista and ordered her coffee. After she got her coffee, she was back out into the cold winter of Baltimore. It was snowing, but not a whole lot, which Carley was thankful for. She put in her ear buds and turned on some music, humming along with the singer.

“Yeah, I’ll be there in a sec Alex, just calm- OOF!” Carley came tumbling down, her coffee splattering all over her and the boy who ran into her. His phone and her iPod skid into the street and were run over by a car driving by.

“Oh god, I’m SO sorry!” The boy helped her up and threw away her now empty coffee cup. Carley was wringing out her scarf when he came back with napkins. He handed her half and they tried getting rid of the coffee stains.

“I feel terrible. I’m sorry; I wasn’t paying attention to where I was walking. Are you alright?” Carley nodded and looked up at who ran into her before doing a double take. Standing oh so close to her was the bassist of All Time Low.

“You’re Zack Merrick?”

He chuckled and nodded. “Was that a question?” She shook her head and blushed, looking down at her now stained scarf and sweater.

“You have no idea how bad I feel. I-“ Zack was interrupted by a van honking its horn right next to them on the sidewalk. The passenger side window rolled down to reveal Jack Barakat. Beside him in the driver’s seat was Alex, honking the horn repeatedly.

“GET IN LOSER, WE’RE GOING SHOPPING! Just kidding, we have radio thing, just get in the car.” Alex turned towards Carley and smiled. “Sorry sweet thang, but we’re gonna have to kidnap this hunk o’ man.”

“Come with us! It’ll be an ADVENTURE!” Jack reached out to Carley, half of his body sticking out of the car. Alex slapped his butt and he howled, sitting back down.

Carley laughed and weighed out the options. The bad: She just met them and has no idea what they’re capable of. The good: She could have a few hours away from her family. She’d take getting away from her family any day. With her mom always pissed at the world, her dad constantly drunk, and her brother no better then either of them, the longer away the better. Carley nodded and Zack opened the back door for her to go in before him. She smiled and sat in between Rian and Zack.

Jack turned around in his seat and waved. Carley waved back and Jack clapped his hands and bounced in his seat. “So cutes patoots, what’s your name?” Zack turned towards her with a confused look. “I totally forgot! I don’t even know your name!”

“NO! We’ll introduce ourselves first! We all have to say our names and some things about us! Alex go first!” Jack poked Alex and he jumped, nearly ramming the car next to them.

“Okay okay, my name is Alex and I-“

“Full name Alexander.”

“My name is Alexander William Gaskarth and I sing and play guitar in All Time Low, I have a girlfriend named Lisa, I have 2 dogs, and Jack’s an eternal loser.”

“Okay Rian! Go!” Jack completely ignored Alex’s last comment and focused on Rian.

“Well uh, my names Robert Rian Dawson but I prefer to be called Rian, I play drums in All Time Low, I like candles and coffee, and I have a girlfriend named Kara. Yeah.” Rian smiled, showing his teeth and gestured for Zack to go.

“Okay well my name is Zachary Steven Merrick and I play bass in All Time Low. I like photography, skateboarding, and working out, and I don’t really talk much.” Zack smiled at Carley who smiled back. He couldn’t help but think that she was so pretty with her adorable smile and her bright green eyes, which were partly hidden by her bangs.

Zack’s thoughts were interrupted but Jack yelling towards the back of the van. “My name is JACK BASSAM BARAKAT! I enjoy long romantic walks to the fridge and I like to think I can play guitar but I can’t I just kind of stand on stage and flail around and I don’t like clothes that much and I think your hair is pretty!” Jack reached his hand out and ruffled Carley’s hair. He squealed and pat Zack’s leg over and over again. “HER HAIR IS SO SOFT! FEEL IT FEEL IT FEEL IT FEEL IT FEEL IT!” Zack hesitantly ruffled Carley’s hair like Jack had and smirked. Her hair was very soft.

“Okay lady fella! Your turn! But yours has to be EXTRA detailed because I said so!”

“I’m Carley Jane Champs, I like photography, I can’t play an instrument and my voice sounds like a dying walrus, I’m a dancer –“ Jack interrupted her and screamed way too loudly for the car. “YOU’RE A DANCER?!” She nodded.

Zack couldn’t help but think how she would look without her sweater or scarf or jeans. Dancers usually have amazing figures, and he was curious to see what Carley looked like under her winter clothes. Just as quickly as the thought came, it left and Zack was back to paying attention to what Carley was saying.

“And uh, I’m not really sure what to say. I’ve never really had friends.” Carley’s voice was about an octave lower towards the last part, her cheeks burning red as she looked at her lap. Rian and Zack put their arms around her and Jack leaned forward, all but Alex giving her a big group hug. “We’ll be your friends!” Rian said, though his words were muffled. Jack on the other hand was screaming in Carley’s ear. “YEAH! WE LOVE YOU ALREADY!”

“Interrogation time!” Carley narrowed her eyes in a confused manor. Rian explained. “That’s basically when anyone in the room, or in this case car, gets to ask someone virtually anything and he or she has to answer. It’s something Jack likes to do.”

Immediately after Rian finished his sentence, Jack spoke up. “Carley Carley Carley what’s your favorite… food? Animal? Movie? Candy? Sport? Color? TV Show?”

“I like M&M pancakes, Pokémon over animals any day, How To Train Your Dragon, rock candy or lollipops, football, red, and Misfits.” Carley smiled and nodded at Jack who was quiet for once. Rian chuckled and flicked Jack’s nose, causing it to wiggle and Jack to flinch.

“Whatcha deep in thought about, Jackaroo?”

“For once, someone answered all my questions without getting confused. THIS IS MADNESS!”

“THIS. IS SPARTAAAAA!” Alex cried from the drivers seat, waving his arms around. The car started moving to the next lane and the cars behind us honked. Alex took hold of the wheel again and sank lower into his seat.

“Rian’s driving on the way back. I would rather not crash today, or any day. Jack if you fucking touch the steering wheel we will all explode right here in the middle of the street.” Zack looked at Jack who retreated his hand and put it in his lap. Carley looked at Zack with a confused expression on her face, which to Zack was completely adorable. He smiled and pointed to Jack from behind his seat. “Don’t ever, ever, EVER, let Jack drive. There is a 99.999999999 percent chance of you dying,” He whispered. Carley laughed and poked the back of Jack’s head, making him turn around.

“Are you really that bad of a driver?”

“NO! They just exaggerate. I’m really an excellent driver!” Just then, the other 3 boys started laughing hysterically. Jack glared and all of them and turned back around in his seat, facing the window.

“Don’t listen to him,” Rian explained when he finished laughing. “He’s crashed about 4 times, almost crashed 10, totaled the car 3 times, and broke a girl’s neck, all while driving. This is why we don’t let Jack drive.”

Carley stared in horror, the thoughts of so many cars being wrecked and the poor girl with the broken neck embedded into her mind.

“No no! It’s okay! He hasn’t been allowed to drive in 2 years, don’t be scared!” Rian hugged her and she calmed down. Thank God Jack wasn’t allowed near a gas pedal.

- - -

The building for the radio station was huge, 25 stories at the least. Luckily it wasn’t crowded, so Carley and the boys had no problem with checking in or the elevators. When they got to floor 13 and went through the third door from the right, Carley still had no idea what radio station this was. She usually didn’t listen to the radio for two reasons; her brother almost always had their car, and she liked listening to her iPod more. Speaking of her iPod…

“Crap!” The boys stopped walking and turned to face Carley, who looked like she was about to have a panic attack. “My iPod. And Zack’s phone! They were run over by a car!” Carley’s eyes started to water at the thought of her iPod being crushed. She had spent months saving up for it and couldn’t get another unless she saved up again. But she was currently saving up for a new pair of toe shoes, a pair that were carnation pink and had long ribbons. They weren’t cheap, a hundred dollars to be exact. One of the girls at the studio has had them for almost 3 years and they still work like a charm.

“No no don’t cry! It’ll be fine, really!” Alex tried.

“Yeah, don’t worry! I can get a new phone and you can get a new iPod! Everything will be fine, just don’t cry, please don’t cry.”

“You can get a new phone easily though. I have to save up for months to be able to get a new iPod.” She started mumbling to herself and sat in a chair far enough away to not interrupt the interview, but close enough to listen.

The boys took their seats and soon the interview began, the two radio hosts firing question after question and the boys answering like this was no struggle at all. If Carley were in their place, she’d be a mess.

Thirty minutes passed by and the boys got up, shaking hands with the radio hosts. Carley could hear music, so she guesses it was a music break for the hosts. They followed the boys into the section of the room where Carley was, still in the same spot they left her in.

“So who’s your friend here and why are there stains on both her and Zack’s shirts?” The short one pointed at Zack and I and giggled. She was about a foot shorter then Carley, who was about 5’8. The taller one nodded and flipped her jet-black hair over her shoulder.

“It’s a funny story actually. I was on my way to meet the rest of the guys to e on time for this thing, and Carley here was walking the opposite way. Neither of us was paying attention and we crashed into each other and her drink spilled on both of us, which was horrible considering it was scalding hot. Luckily Carley’s scarf saved her from a nasty burn.”

The shorter girl gazed up at Zack and started twirling her bright red hair. “And what about you?”

Zack smiled. “Oh it was no problem, the coffee didn’t bother me much.”

“Okay Zack let’s goooooo.” Rian grabbed Zack and dragged him off to the elevator. Carley couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy, but shook it off. She didn’t know the guy; he could be a jerk for all she knows.

“Carley! I almost forgot! Gimme yo numbah gurlfrand!” Carley laughed and handed Jack her phone. He opened it and turned it upside down, a confused look on his face. “You sure this is a phone? It, like, flips open. And it’s tiny. What is this?”

“It’s a razr, silly. It’s a bit old, but it calls and texts so that’s all that matters.”

Jack put his number into her phone and her number into his phone and passed it off to everyone else in the elevator. Zack stared at it for a while before copying Jack and handing back her phone. Carley blushed and stuffed it back in her pocket.

“That hardly even counts as a phone. And you have no iPod anymore either. And your nice shirt and scarf are both stained. And you wasted like four bucks on a coffee. That’s it, we’re taking you to get new stuff.” Zack leaned his arm on Carley’s head and waited for her response.

“I don’t know… I don’t really have any more money with me.”

“We’ll pay for it, don’t worry!” Carley looked around to the four boys in the elevator and shook her head. She’d feel so guilty if they spent their hard earned money on her. She wasn’t worth it.

“Too bad! We’re buying you stuff no matter what you say! To the car, TALLY HO!” Jack ran to the van and got in the backseat with everyone else following behind. When everyone was seated, Rian started the car and exclaimed, “TO THE MALL WE TROLL!”