Running Into You

"Oh. My. God," I said, walking into the house, grocery bags in hand.

"What?" Megan asked, pilfering through the bags like a racoon in a trashcan.

"Half of All Time Low. In the store," I told her, still amazed. "Oh my God," I repeated.

She dropped the box of Pop-Tarts she was holding.

"ALL TIIME LOW?!" she screeched.

I nodded and she went running out of the door and across the lawn to Krystina and Ali's house.

I followed after her at a fast clip, but I was still not as fast as she was.

When I walked in, she had just finished blurting out "They were there!"

Ali and Krystina's jaws dropped.

"Oh my wow...LET'S GO STALK THEM!" Krystina screamed.

"Oh no. No, no, no, no, no. We're not gonna stalk anybody. Y'all are gonna stay and not stalk them. If you see them out around town or whatever, y'all treat them like normal people. Seriously," I told them.

They all looked at me.

Finally, Krystina broke the silence.

"Let's go!" she yelled, grabbing her keys and heading for her car.

ALi and Maddie ran after her. I shook my head and followed, trying to stop them.

By the time I reached the car, it was pulling out of the driveway. It was amazing how fast my friends could move when stalking someone was on the line.

I sighed and looked down the street at the large house.

As I looked on, a van came rushing by my driveway. It slowed and backed up a bit, and Alex poked his head out of the window.

"Hi again!" he called cheerily.

"Hi," I said, wondering why it has to be him and not Zack.

"Alex, leave her alone," a voice called from the back, and then Zack appeared.

"Sorry about that," he said to me and smiled.

I blushed. "I-it's fine," I managed to spit out.

"So, I never managed to catch your name," he told me nonchalantly.

"Oh it's...It's Audrey," I told him, still shocked that Zack Merrick, THE Zack Merrick, was talking to me.

"That's a cool name," Zack said.

"Thanks," I told him.

Zack smiled and nodded.

"It was nice talking to y'all, but I guess I should let y'all go and...Do whatever y'all were gonna do," I said, turning and walking back into my house.

---

"You didn't tie them up and keep them here?!" Krystina yelled once I told her what happened.

"I'm not a stalker, 'kay thanks. I treat them like normal people," I told her.

"That's such a nerdy thing to do," Ali said, shaking her head at me.

I glared and she smiled.

"Anyway," I said, rolling my eyes. "What do y'all wanna do?"

They all looked at each other and screamed, in unison, "BEACH!" before running off to get changed.

I walked in a more leisurely place back to my room to retrieve my still damp bikini and a new towel.

By the time I walked out to the beach, all of my friends were in the water, messing around.

I lay my towel out and sat there, looking at the calm water.

"Hi again!" a familiar voice said, next to my ear.

I groaned and turned. "Hi."

Alex smiled and sat down next to me. I looked off to the side and saw that the other three guys were walking this way as well.

I saw Zack and got all giddy. He had always been my favorite, for reasons unknown...He just had that vibe.

"Hey guys! OVer here!" Alex yelled, waving his arms.

All three of the guys looked over and came straight for us.

I tried to shrink away, as I was not that big of a people person, but before I could get up, Zack was in front of me.

"Hi," he said smiling.

I blushed. "Hey."

"And all I got was a measley 'hi.'" I heard Alex complain from behind me.

I looked over as Rian punched him in the arm.

"It's okay Alex. You still have me," Jack said, smiling and opening his arms in a 'Give me a hug' gesture.

"You're so right, Jack..." Alex said, then gave him a hug.

I chuckled and turned my attention back to Zack.

"So, what are you doing out here?" he asked, sitting down on an edge of my towel.

I scooted over to give him some more room before replying. "Well my friends," I said, pointing out to the water, "wanted to come, so I came to just sit here."

He nodded. "I came to try my hand at surfing again. Earlier this morning it wasn't that great," he said, gesturing to the surfboard he stuck in the sand a ways away.

I nodded and looked out towards the water again, where my friends were walking up the beach.

"Oh crap," I muttered.

"What?" Zack asked.

"My friends. Kinda obsessed," I told him.

"Oh..." he said, a worried look crossing his face.

I looked back at the other guys who were palling around in the sand.

"But...Maddie's favorite is Rian, Krystina's favorite is Alex, and Ali's favorite is Jack, so you should be good," I told him, trying to make him feel better.

"So who's your favorite?" he asked, smiling.

I blushed and looked down before I heard a shriek.

"Oh my God, it's All Time Low!" Maddie's voice yelled out, then she made a beeline for Rian.

"Saved by the bell," Zack whispered in my ear.

I shivered slightly, and blushed again as I heard two more shrieks and saw my other two friends running for Alex and Jack.

All three of the other guys looked over as my friends ran up to them.

Slight looks of fear crossed their faces before they were bombarded.

"Well," I muttered, laughing slightly.

Zack laughed too.

Me and him sat there for a while, talking while my friends crowded around Jack, Alex, and Rian.

FInally, I got up.

"It's about time for me to leave. It was nice talking to you!" I enthused, brushing myself off.

"You too," he replied. "Oh and uhh," he started.

"Yes?" I asked.

He blushed slightly before moving on. "Uhhh, here's my number. Text me or whatever...Umm, yeah," he said, handing me a sheet of paper.

"I will," I said, smiling before turning to gather my friends and walk inside.