In the Background

A few weeks had passed and Jimmy still hadn't changed. Everybody was irritated since we would be graduating in two days, and they would be leaving for their tour the day after without him. They said that if Jimmy didn't get himself together that I would have to go with them.

"Noelle, get the fuck up." I mumbled something incoherently and swatted the person away.

The school said that seniors didn't have to go to school for the last few days unless they had work to makeup. I did all my work so I planned on sleeping late. But some idiot didn't respect my sleep and was bugging the fuck out of me.

"If you don't get up I'll get Ashley on your ass." That made me sit up fast. The last time they sent Ashley to wake me up; things were not pretty on both ends.

I opened my eyes. Brian was standing at the foot of my bed with an innocent smile on his face. I glared and I slowly rose up my middle finger.

"Good morning. We are going to beach. So get your ass up and get ready. We'll be waiting downstairs." He said then left Matt's room, closing the door after him.

I groaned as I got up. I was extremely tired, Matt and I had stayed up late editing the album. I walked to the bathroom and got ready.

Tying me hair into a pony tail, I walked down the stairs to where everybody was. They notice that I was ready and we left to the beach.

"Noelle? Can we talk?" Ashley asked me. I nodded confused and we moved away from hearing distance.

"Is everything alright?" I asked as we sat in the sand.

Ashley stared into the water. "Not really. Brian's been acting different. I'm afraid that he's gonna break up with me." I sat there shocked, not knowing what to say.

Everybody has been noticing he’s been acting different, but we all thought it was because he had basically lost his best friend.

"I'm sure that's not going to happen. I'll talk to him and find out what's wrong with him. Okay?" She nodded her head but I could tell she was still worrying over it.

We walked back to the gang. We spent most of the day at the beach just messing around. Before we were about to leave I pulled Brian aside.

"Is something wrong?" I asked him and he looked confused.

The look of confusion faded as he understood what I was talking about. "Yeah, something is wrong. I haven't talked to my best friend in forever because of a stupid girl. That's what's wrong." He said.

"Look, we all feel that way. But sooner or later he'll come back, and everything will go back to normal. Until then were just gonna have to deal with it. Your girlfriend thinks that you’re going to break up with her. So go talk to her. She's worried, we all are." I finished my small speech and walked away from him.

When Matt and I got home I went straight to bed. Before I went to sleep, I made a promise to myself that I was going to talk to Jimmy tomorrow. I was going to make him see how much he's hurting us all. And if I get a chance, I’m going to beat Jamie, just because she's the reason Jimmy's gone.

I woke up early and got dressed. I left a note saying that I was going for a walk, and left. I planned on searching everywhere for him, but he made it easy. I was looking in the park and saw him by himself on the swings.

I sat on the swing next to him. "Hey Jimmy" I said, startling him.

He looked at me and smiled. "Hey Noelle." We didn't speak after that. It was awkward to say the least.

"So how's it been going?" Smooth Noelle, smooth. But I couldn't help it; I didn't know what to say around him anymore.

He chuckled. "Not too well. Jamie and I broke up, my parents still hate me, and I'm living in a laundry mat." He shook his head.

"Wow. That sucks for you." We both laughed.

"Yeah, but I’m okay with it." He said and we were left in silence again.

"I missed you." We said at the same time, causing us to laugh together.

"Would you mind if I moved back in with you? I really don't like living in a laundry mat. Plus, I missed you, and the guys. I'm sorry to, I never realized what I was doing until Jamie broke up with me." I looked at him. He actually looked like he was sorry.

I got up and hugged him. "Of course you can move back in with me. Life hasn't been the same without you, everybody misses you. Even Kimberly, even though you had yelled at her." I told him as I pulled away