We Can't Forget Last Summer

John and I exited the ferris wheel cart and much to my surprise, I was still alive. The greatest part of the whole thing was me snapping at John, which caused him to shut up for the rest of the ride. No gimmicks, no jokes, no innuendos, nothing; which of course, was the way I liked it.

We walked side by side back to the exit of the stage, hoping to meet up with the rest of The Maine before leaving. I wanted to say goodbye, you know, to be polite. The rest of the guys weren't dicks like John.

What amazed me most about this whole situation was that Jared actually thought John and I were alike. Alike? Is he on crack?

I shook the thought out of my head and looked off into the distance. The must have caught John's attention, for he spoke for the first time since the beginning of the ferris wheel.

"You think a lot, don't you?"

I didn't question him. I already knew I did. I over-analyzed the shit out of everything and over thought situations and events and really anything else way too much. I couldn't deny it either, but I had to say something to him. He had caught onto something that most don't.

"How can you make a statement like that after only knowing me for about a day, not even." I avoided eye-contact with the tall boy. I stared straight forward down my path, eyeing the stage in the distance. I wanted to go home. Home, as in Aunt Sara's house, which still technically wasn't home. But to me, my 'home' was not a home. It was a fucking nightmare.

He shrugged. "Well, you stare off a lot and you have this look on your face... I, uh, I don't know how to describ-"

"You can't describe it?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. "You, the writer, a lyricist for arguments sake, can't describe it? Isn't that what you do for a living."

"I sing." He slumped back. I had obviously struck a nerve.

"And write. And apparently you're not too-"

John held an arm out in front of me and turned to me. "Now hold on just a second." His facial expression scared me for a moment. He was serious. This, the dick that hit on me every time he got the chance was actually being serious.

"I may not be the smartest of the bunch, but I know for a fact I'm a damn good writer. I put my emotions and every feeling I've every experienced into every song I write then sing the fuck out of it on stage. I know I'm good because of that."

He stalked off and I stood there awe-struck. I felt guilty. I know I really shouldn't, John kept harassing and pissing me off the past two days, but I had said something that just...... was really bad.

"John, wait, I'm, uh, I'm sorry." I raced up to him.

He whipped around, running a hand through his hair. "No, no," he shut his eyes tightly and shook his head. "I shouldn't have exploded on you. You were just joking. "

"I'm really sorry." I wanted to cringe, apologizing to this guy, but hell, I felt really bad.

"Let's pretend it never happened, okay?" He asked.

"Alright." I nodded my head.

John and I walked back to the stage to find Jared, Pat, Garrett, and Kennedy sitting there eating food they had gotten from various stands.

"Hey, where'd you guys go?" Pat asked, food in his mouth.

"We went on the ferris wheel." John replied.

Pat's jaw dropped. "Wh-what? You went on it without me?!"

John shrugged as I stood there awkwardly and completely uncomfortable. "Sorry Pat."

I had just met these guys, but I had the feeling I would be seeing them a lot. Or at least I would like to see them. They were nice and although when I parted ways with Jared I already knew I wouldn't be hanging out with him or his band, I had obviously made a complete misconception.

"You guys want to go out for drinks? At Larry's?" Kennedy asked.

"Yeah, lets go!" Garrett cheered.

John through his hands into the air as if he was already drunk. "Woo!" He ran over to Garrett and they gave each other over the head high fives.

"Uh, guys?" Jared interrupted them, eyeing me.

The over-excited guys stopped and looked at Jared.

"What?" John asked.

"Carson is only nineteen."

John's eyes went wide and shot over to me. "You're only nineteen?" He asked, completely shocked.

I nodded my head with a light grin. "Yeah."

"Holy shit." He placed a hand on his head. "I could have sworn you were 21 or maybe even 22."

"Oh, well, we can still get her in," Kennedy said. "Larry knows us and I mean, if she wants to drink, she can pass for 21, like you said...." Kennedy trailed off.

I waved the guys off. "It's alright you guys, I should probably getting back, uh," I was about to say home, but then I realized Aunt Sara's wasn't my home.

"No!" John yelled. "I want you to come. So does everyone else."

The rest of the guys agreed with a chorus of "Yeah!"

I sighed heavily. "Alright. Well, we can always work something out when we get there, right?' I suggested.

"Yeah, good idea. Let's go." John waved, and we all followed him to wherever we were go.

Soon, we were approaching the white van I had saw yesterday. John told me to ride shotgun next to him in the driver's seat. I did as I was told and hopped in then buckled my seat belt. Once the rest of the guys were in the car, John pulled out of the fairgrounds which many people were still attending despite it being almost pitch black. I guess all of the flashing and bright lights made it better.

After about three minutes of nosey chatter amongst the band, we pulled into a dingy looking, dirt parking lot. The bar, or whatever the building was, was a hunter green brick square with a large, wooden sign the read: LARRY'S.

All of us made our way into the bar and sat down at a booth. Practically nobody was there. I eyed the guys oddly, then after several moments cracked up with laughter.

This time, they gave me a weird look.

"What?" Garrett asked, furrowing his brow.

I shrugged then sighed. "Oh, I don't know. It's just that, this place seems to be really happening." I joked, stifling my smile.

Garrett looked around the bar and then started laughing with me and I was finally comfortable. Pat and Kennedy joined in, as well as Jared.

John elbowed me in the side. It wasn't until then that I realized he had slid in next to me. I looked up at him. "Don't worry. Give it about an hour and this place will be crowded."

"An hour?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"What? You can't wait an hour? Are you that impatient?"

I shook my head. "No... but..."

He sighed. "Here come with me." He grabbed my wrist, but then immediately let go. I smirked at him, which made him smile weakly. Had I really scared him that much? I chuckled lightly to myself.

We left the guys inside as John took me outside.

"Oh god." I said, placing a hand on my head.

"Now what is it?" John groaned.

"We're practically in the middle of the desert here. It's a perfect place to murder me and get away with it."

"Holy crap." John ran a hand through his hair, which I now noticed was a habit of his. "Why do you think I'm going to murder you? This is like the fourth time we've talked about me either killing you or molesting you? What about me gives you that vibe?"

Although his tone was completely serious, he was smiling, which caused me to smile. I kind of hated it; having him get to me like that. I didn't want to smile at his jokes, but I guess it was fair, he smiled at mine.

"You drive a white van."

He furrowed his brow. "My van is what causes you to think I'm going to kill you?"

I nodded my head. "Kidnappers drive those type of vans."

John erupted in laughter and placed a hand on my shoulder. He shook his head. It wasn't until now that I noticed how white and straight his teeth were. I liked making him laugh, and smile.

Yet again, I hated myself for that.